Week six: a Xhosa wedding, beach frisbee and bed bugs

It's been another week of fun out here in the sticks...




First up was the long awaited wedding on Saturday. Eybe Meents, the doctor at Ngcwanguba and Mapuzi, was marrying a local woman called Alicia Simoyi at a ceremony at his house near Coffee Bay, which promised to be a once-of cultural experience. Eybe is German and Alicia is Xhosa so the mixture of German efficiency and Xhosa chaos was always going to be interesting!



The invitation literally said 'Date: 13th Feb, Location: Coffee Bay' so it was a bit of guess work and a case of looking out for tents and a big crowd when it came to finding the place and arriving on time. We rolled up just after 11am by which time there was probably around 150 people and the pleasant sight of a pack of dogs feasting on the skin of a cow that had been slaughtered to feed the masses. There were tonnes of cute kids running around and a big contingent from Zithulele to talk to which was a good job considering that the wedding only started at 2pm! As white people, we were assumed to be Eybe's relatives and close friends [even though most of us have met him once, twice or not at all!] so we sat at the guest tables right at the front of the tent, with crowds waiting outside. Over the course of about half an hour, they managed to get all the real relatives etc into the tent as well, and then the entire crowd pretty much came in too so the place was well and truly packed.

Part of the crowd

Another part of the crowd ;)

There were four ministers at the top table, who started off by leading us in a prayer in Xhosa, before starting some singing. The Xhosa people are incredible singers – they all automatically harmonise perfectly so a group of complete strangers can sound like a proper choir whatever they sing. I often hear the nurses singing morning prayers when I open the pharmacy at 7.30am and it’s impressive to listen to. Sadly, the MC of the wedding felt the need to accompany the lovely singing with a techno beat on a keyboard, a common theme which continued throughout the next three hours. Groom and parents entering accompanied by techno beat, bride entering accompanied by techno beat, exchanging of vows accompanied by techno beat...I think you get the picture. Anyway – after the prayers, Eybe came in to screams of delights from all the guests and then sometime later, Alicia came down the 'aisle' looking stunning in a traditional (for us) white wedding dress, something I was quite surprised about as the wedding was conducted in Xhosa. All the bridesmaids and pageboys were dancing and the guests went absolutely crazy, it was so funny to watch.



When everything settled down, they started the readings from the bible, which were spoken in both English and Xhosa and the minister/reverend increased the hilarity of the occasion by dropping in a large amount of innuendo: 'God said, “In marriage there must be nakedness...mmmmmm”' We heard the story of how God created Eve from Adam's rib and how that meant men and women should get married, then somehow the MC decided to put on some beats again and it all got a bit crazy for a while...my favourite moment was when he answered his phone while still on the microphone!

Eybe and Alicia

Finally [because after waiting 3 hours for the event to start, we were now 'pressed for time' apparently] we came to the marriage itself. The fathers of the bride and groom had to agree to the marriage, and then Eybe had to receive Alicia from her father. They said their vows and exchanged rings etc but since the vows were mainly in Xhosa I didn't catch much of them! However, the minister insisted in calling Eybe (pronounced Iba) 'Elbow' and 'Ibo'...stunning! Next up was a ritual cake cutting where they tied their arms together and had to cut cake up and eat it, then serve it to their families. This went on for quite some time! By this point it was absolutely baking hot in the tent and it was getting late so we had to leave so we missed the all night party that would have followed but it was a great day. I really enjoyed it and although a little crazy in parts it was a lovely ceremony!



On Sunday we had a lazy Zithulele day. I just read over my diary to see what I actually did and aside from eat, I did absolutely nothing until I got a text from Jess (a physio) asking if I wanted to go on a run so her, Kate and I went for about 5k which was nice. It's hard to get much running in because I can never motivate myself to get up at 6am and equally well can't be bothered if I finish work after 6pm. Hopefully I can get more in at the weekends and when the ARV down referrals calm down.



Monday was a fun day at work – we have almost completely run out of Lamivudine, an ARV that I reckon about 95% of our patients take. We have two ARV clinic days this week and a Ngcwanguba day next week to pack for so we are desperately trying to get more stock from nearby Madwaleni hospital, otherwise we may be just a little stuck, given the necessity of strict adherence when you are taking ARVs.



Monday night Frisbee was relocated to Lubanzi beach, good times, so we had a good game in the sand and then a swim/paddle in the sea. Tonnes of local kids came down to watch/play with our spare Frisbee, and ended up getting a lift back to their homes in the back of Tom's 4x4. Jess and I also rode in the back (as in the pickup bit that’s uncovered) and it's the best way to travel – standing up lets you see way more than just sitting in the cab, and it felt slightly more stable than sitting on the roof of Etienne's truck! After the beach I went to watch Grey's Anatomy which I haven't seen since Meredith almost drowned in the ferry crash, so I was a tad confused when we were in the middle of season 6. Having not seen any TV for 6 weeks it suited me just fine though!



Now what was missing from this day? Pharmacy, check. Beach, check...yes it's time for a braai! This time we were at Anita and Etienne's new house and we had a fun night drinking pink champagne and eating braai meat and these chocolate marshmallow things :D All in all, Monday was a good night.



However, Tuesday was not a good day – I woke up with ridiculously itchy feet and decided that there's no way I could be the only one getting bitten by mosquitoes this badly so examined the seams of my mattress to find tonnes of bed bugs, how completely SICK. My feet are a total mess of bites that itch like hell! I had had very little sleep due to 1. A tad too much champagne. 2. Bed bugs and 3. Rambo's 5.20am music at 30000 decibels so I felt awful and it got worse throughout the day. At one point I was shivering (see previous posts about 30'C plus heat) but was burning up on my skin...and you'll all know that I rarely ever feel ill. It must have been pretty bad as I wasn't even hungry! Who knows what was wrong with me, but I went to bed early in the hope of feeling better in the morning.



The following night’s sleep was not much better although the number of new bites was down due to the fact I doused my mattress in bug killer and left it out in the sun. I woke up with a bad headache and felt like passing out, but decided I should drag myself to work to take my mind off things. It seems a long day in ARVs [seeing patients by myself is now the norm there] has sorted me out! I feel much better now and despite the fact that my feet look like they have been eaten by a small animal, they should be back to normal soon. How epic does it get?



Tomorrow is ARV and the last computer class for this block, fun times all round :D No more Bulungula this weekend as were are going to East London instead. Hopefully I can post some more letters and this time I'll send them airmail!



Moral of the story: bed bugs are SICK, definitely don't let them bite!



OLANDELAIYO!



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