Youth Conference Weekend

Sawubona from Pietermaritzburg after a event filled weekend that still is going on. As many of you probably do not know, tuesday is a public holiday which Youth Day is observed. Isn't youth day everyday in the states? At least thats what my parents would say when asked when kids day was because I was jealous of Mother's and Father's Day. Well Youth Day is a pretty big deal down here. There are many things going on here and I have been involved in many of them. Saturday was the busiest-Conference all day! I have to admit that I was quite unmotivated and tired by days end. The day was filled numerous little activities like a motivational speech, which was even efficacious to me-after all I am still a youth. He was a powerful speaker who spoke continuously for almost 2 hours! There was also much singing and dancing in celebration of their special day. We also had a skit performed on the importance of abstinence and safe sex from which we broke into groups and discussed the skit and how we would fair in said situation. The best part of the day was this little dude who was interested in playing with me and immediately become super attached to me. It was quite a spectacular experience because he would not leave my side and just wanted to be close to me. He would wrap himself around my leg or stand in front of me like a little boy would his father. It was by far the best part of the day. After the conference, which ran to about 6pm, and getting Monjie off my leg we went out for the night.
The night life is quite different from that of NYC. Almost everything is diferent, e.g. the bars close at 11PM!! Also, smoking is permitted inside, which I totally wasn't expecting. It didn't really bother me too much though. After a few minutes, you get used to it. You "under agers" will love that they don't check ID's because they assume that if your parents are allowing you out that you are of age(18 By the way). I was thrown a curve ball when I was told I must remove my cap and of course my hair was really in any shape to be exposed from under my cap-when in Rome I guess. Last but certainly not least, the Rand has tremendous value in SA. It is not like the peso where although you are doing great on the exchange rate only to find that everything in the shops is hundreds of pesos. A drink that usually costs $8 USD costs about R10 which is a little more than $1. Good thing that everything closes at 11 because I had to be up early to honor my invitation to Cecil's Church.
Church was a lot longer than back home-3 hours. I guess that 50 minute service at St. Charles is like an eye blink here. The Church atmosphere was like your typical baptist church with lots of singing and dancing and even the cliché "Praise the lord." Not once did I feel uncomfortable as the parishioners made me feel very welcome. I was most touched when Cecil's mom (Jacqueline-Coincidence? ) introduced us to an old friend as "these are my 2 sons." After Service we went back to Cecil's flat where his mom cooked up lunch, which is the biggest of the meals. Once again, very sympathetic to the fact that you are in a strange country by yourself, and they try to make you feel as comfortable as possible. Today (Monday) was a quiet day until the evening when we had the third leg of the youth conference. The Talent portion of the conference was held from roughly 1800-2200 African time (ask me about it but I will give you a hint-I fit in very well with African Time). It seemed like every teen who got up on stage had a voice that could take them to the top 10 on Americas Got Talent. Very gifted kids. I also seem to notice that practically everyone in the Black community can dance and sing enough to get themselves out of trouble. I definitely do not fit in here as most of you probably already now. I, Myself was even involved in the talent show with my fantastic acting abilities. This time my abilities were tried as a Pastor lol. Tomorrow will wrap up the conference with a trip to Swapo to set up a soup kitchen for a few hours. Swapo is considered an informal community, which is a "politically correct" way of saying the slums. It should make for an interesting day. I feel I must tell you guys something special about South African People.
They are some of he most social and friendly people I have ever met. That doesn't say a lot coming from a person who lives in NYC but they really are. I will give you one example of the probably twenty encounters I have had so far. Today, I walked across the street to the petrol station/store to grab a bottle of water and I was stopped by an older gent who asked me If I was from the States, (how he knew, I have no Idea) from which I obviously said yes and then I preceded to talk to Dennis for 2 hours about everything from the weather to his son traveling to North Dakota. Like I said earlier this is becoming a regular occurrence. They genuinely want to hear about what you are doing and New York and the city. They don't mind spending a few minutes getting to know you and I feel like that is a characteristic that New Yorkers are lacking. Lastly I have to describe some smells of Africa.
For one, my cottage has this country, woody smell of the Adirondacks that I really enjoy. It just has a very soothing smell, maybe it is just me. And outside also has a similar smell of the mountains because of all the crop burning that is going on this time of year. So You always smell this camp fire aroma which I love haha. On a sour note involving fire, a historic 120 year old government building was destroyed yesterday due to mechanical problems within the fire brigade e.g. 8 out of 11 engines were not running along with malfunctions with the ones that were working. As Otto put it, "well ya know 'This IS Africa'." "Dad, Where was your expertise when we needed you 8000 miles away. You would've saved that building!"
Well before I begin to ramble I will wrap this up. Until next time, Stay Well. I can assure you that I am. Ngeyavalilisa -Chris

P.S. The weather has been spectacular since I arrived. Crisp Mornings and gorgeous Afternoons! Unfortunately I can not say the same for you guys back home!!