Life continues

I went to a Shona church service the other day, and it was wonderful. It lasted over 3 hours and the music was fantastic. People were crammed everywhere, and came and went as needed. The service alternated between singing (and dancing), prayer, and speaking. There seemed to be two official sermons, one of which they translated into English. At one point there was an open discussion about the roles of men and women in the church, which was surprising to me. Gender roles in Shona society are very defined, so I was surprised that this was even discussed. I have no idea what the conclusion was, but it was cool to at least see that conversation happening.

The best part of the service by far was the worship—it was so full of joy. Absolutely everyone was dancing and clapping. Some younger guys even were on the ‘stage’ with more choreographed moves. At one point more wooden benches were taken up front carried overhead through the crowd. Boy howdy was it great.

I’ve been working pretty constantly now in the permaculture section of ECV, which is rather a mess right now. There has been a shortage of labor, so one guy (Ghani) has been trying to take care of about a hectare of land. But the same guy also has other responsibilities... I’ve been working with Ghani a lot doing all kinds of things: preparing beds, watering, weeding, planting, propping up tomatoes, etc. I made up several batches of Cornell Spray (homemade pesticide: vegetable oil, dishwashing liquid, baking soda, and water) to battle the aphids and red mites. There’s too much to do and not enough time. But Shona people don’t know how to be stressed, so that’s nice.

Ghani’s English is decently okay, so I’ve also been learning some Shona. It’s really difficult, though, and it all blurs together. I can repeat words and phrases back to him a million times, but then 15min later it’s all gone. My excuse is that I have no ‘alphabet’ of sounds to catalog in my brain what is happening. BUT, small successes include “Mununzi ani = what’s your name,” “banga= knife/machete,” “mamacassa= How are you?” “Zavakanaka= well/really good,” and “To onan-na= See you/We’ll see eachother.” I’m sort of making up the spelling because I’m learning by ear (which makes it harder for me as I’m a big visual processor). Tone is also really important-- the same word said in a different tone can mean very different things. I think also it depends on the context. Like “Mangwana ni” means ‘good morning,’ but “mangwana” means ‘tomorrow.’

I learned an interesting tip about propping up tomatoes. We just use sticks and branches as stakes, but tie them up with a specific layer of bark from the masasa tree. You take down a branch, whack it over and over against the trunk, and then peel apart the layers. It’s a lot harder than it sounds. Ghani said, “Maybe you’re bad because you not do it before.” Anyways, despite my lacking ability, I did get my hands stained orange-ish brown from the effort. Then you have to either very quickly use them before they dry, or keep them in water. Apparently Shona people use this same method when building their homes.

Another ongoing project is thinning the banana trees. They grow very easily here, but don’t always produce good fruit if they are too thick. I found out the hard way, though, that it’s best to work on this in the morning. I was 2/3-3/4 the way through a row one day when I was stung by something? Through discussion I’ve figured that it was a wasp of some kind. Ghani told me it’s best to fell bananas in the morning when the wasps “can’t fly.” I don’t know if this means they are less likely to fly (inactive) or if they are literally not capable of flight. Either way, I haven’t been stung like that since I was young. I could feel it shooting from my elbow to my collar bone. Don’t worry Mom I’m perfectly okay now. (ps- after typing this, but before posting, I was stung again! I was in the same area that really needs to be cut, but this time at around 8am. Apparently I was too late. We need to strategize at this point...)

Speaking of wildlife, I’ve been keeping a list of sightings & trying to identify things with a book the Frys have. If you are really curious you’ll have to look them up.
-Masked Weaver with nests hung oddly and amazingly from trees
-Pin-tailed Whydah (looong tail, very teeny bird)
-Two monitor lizards (One was closer to me, sprinting, and longer than I am tall)
-Purple-crested Lourie (Sounds like “Kok-kok-kok-kok” escalating in volume. There are two that live at least some of the time in a big fig tree in the yard. I’ve only seen one in flight very briefly, but it had AMAZING crimson parts on its wings.)
-Possibly a Blue Waxbill
-Cape Dwarf Chameleon
-Lots of insects including: Pyromorphid Grasshopper (Technicolor), Blister Beetle (which Does in fact give you a rash that itches like no other), and many different praying mantises.
-Egret, Guinea Fowl
-Golden Leaf-Folding Frog (teeny)
-Baby Cobra (We did NOT get close enough to know what kind)
- And some other kind of small frog that ranges from yellow to brown and has maroon on its feet/around the edges. Apparently if cows eat them they get really sick.
-Schlegel's Blind Snake
-Maybe a small Purple-Glossed Snake

That’s it for now. Sending much love, Em