October

At last, a new update! Spring has sprung in a big way here, with cute little goslings, chicks, baby goats, lambs, calves and baby donkeys popping up all over the show (see pictured). I even had a newborn baby donkey nibble my calf (and scare the living daylights out of me, until I realized what was going on) while talking to my sister on the phone the other day. Less cute (but very amusing) is how funny the kids find it when horses and dogs start humping next to the preschool fence.

October has been a very exciting month, with a real hodge-podge of excitement going on in my life. On the research front there have been some challenges –my translator signed up to be a census taker, meaning she has been working full time going house-to-house for the entire month of October collecting all kinds of data for the government. I certainly don’t blame her for taking advantage of this opportunity; its full-time work (unlike working for me), and its good work experience for her. On the plus side, it’s allowed me to catch up a bit on my interview transcription (my social scientist friends, you all know it’s important even if it’s the least exciting aspect of the research process).

Research-wise, the whole local understanding of rights business that I mentioned in a previous post continues to feature prominently. Several young men have explained to me in interviews that there are a lot of problems now because girls are promiscuous, and this is due to the fact that they have rights now. Their reasoning is: in the past girls weren't

promiscuous, because they’d be beaten if they were. Now you can’t beat them anymore because they have rights (not so day that violent relationships are a thing of the past here. Far from it. Indeed, the real low-light of this month was running into a bloody physical fight between one of my favourite local mamas and her boyfriend while out on a beach-walk with a friend), so they’re more promiscuous…

The whole subtle politics of clothing and dress –especially for women- is also interesting, in a somewhat more frivolous way. I think I’ve mentioned that married women aren’t allowed to wear pants or shorter skirts, and aren’t allowed to show their hair. The older married women were these old-fashioned traditional doeks with the two peaks (see one picture of older women from our recent community health day, and one of younger women), while a lot of the younger

married women wear these black lycra wraps over braids. Meanwhile, a lot of the younger unmarried girls are quite stylish in hairdo and dress, and like to show off their shapes in tight jeans and leggings. And a lot of them list being able to wear what they want as a prime reason why they don’t want to get married…

Finally, I’m 6 houses away from having done in-depth profiling visits of every household in the village. I haven’t even begun to properly analyze all the data I’ve got, but here’s two observations which will have some serious implications for life in this community a few years down the road: girls stay in school longer than boys (and no, it’s not because they’re taken out of school early to do hard, manly

labour. Believe me. It’s the girls who do the vast majority of the work among the under 15 set). Even with sets of boy-girl twins from the same family, girls are dropping out later than boys (still, most have dropped out by age 14 or so). The other thing I’ve noticed is that most of the young families in the village don’t have gardens, and aren’t, therefore, growing produce the way the older generation is. This means greater dependence on food which is purchased for cash and brought to the community. This in turn, may mean a less healthy diet…

It’s also been a very fun month on the social front. There have been some really lovely guests staying at the backpacker lodge, and I’ve had a wonderful time playing hostess, having nice little dinner parties at my place and sundowners on my veranda, and showing off my favourite little haunts in the village. Also, last weekend several of us went up to Lubanzi backpackers (a 4 hour walk or 1.5 hour drive north of here) for a birthday party, which was a nice treat. It was a really nice crowd of people, we ate very well, I saw a baby whale with its mama whale (!), and had a good long chat with my muchly-missed sister while sitting in one of these chairs (pictured). They also had TWO litters of kittens

(pictured). I almost died of a cuteness overdose, and really, really, really wanted to bring one home until I learned that my favourite had already been claimed. And finally, here’s a pic of the usual crowd on my verandah, playing with my crayons. Very cute at 5pm, less cute at 5 am. And a picture of me with one of my favourite local mamas. More to follow!