Farm Life

Sorry about the break in posting, we've been really busy but are having an incredible time. This weekend was, for me, the coolest experience we've had yet. On Thursday we loaded up for a long weekend in Grahamstown and two nights on "the farm," as our itenerary put it. We were all a little weary of our weekend on "the farm" but all left with a newfound respect for farm life in South Africa.

We started the trip with a stop at a local farm stall/market type building with local produce and an awesome bakery. We pretty much all had this type of grilled bread that they're well known for and it was delicious. After that we headed to Grahamstown where we had a sort of history lecture from a local historian. He basically told us the complete history of SA in under two hours and made it very interesting... Trey has video of him saying a Xhosa nursery rhyme that is supposed to teach children all of the click sounds within the language. We'll try and get some of those posted, but internet is definitely not as fast or easy to come by as in the States.

After that we ate lunch then went to ILAM (International Library of African Music) and we're introduced to a lot of traditional african instruments such as the finger piano, xylophone, djembe, and some others I can't remember the name for. I actually got the chance to play on a very oild and large xylophone type instrument with the local musician with Hope and it was really cool. A lot of the instruments could only play one or two notes so music making seemed to be a very communal thing in the traditional communities. And for those who are interested, a lot of the tuning was pentatonic which was surprising to me.

After our museum tour we went back for a relaxing evening in our nice hotel then dinner at a local pub. I got some tea at a local coffee shop called "The Mad Hatter" and the walls were all painted with scenes from "Alice in Wonderland."

The next morning we had breakfast and headed to "the farms." The ride there was long and bumpy but once we arrived I think we all were very happy to be there. It would take days to talk about everything we did but I'll try and cover the high points. First off we met Winnie and Manus who own a large and diverse farm with sheep, goats, dairy cows, angora sheep, and just about every farm animal you can think of: chickens, ducks, geese, rock rabbits, kudu (huge horse like animal with horns), turkey, dogs, cats, monkeys, and a lot more I'm sure. Farm life is, from what I could tell, a nice way to make a living in South Africa. Both couples seemed to live a very comfortable life and we were treated like kings. Everyday we had a full three meals a day along with afternoon tea/coffee. One night we had a traditional chicken stew that they cooked over hot coals in a brick oven, and one night we had grilled steak and potatoes. During the day we got to experience life on the farm. The two couples employ around 12 workers each who live on the farm. Manus and Francois (the other man) let us milk cows, showed us how to sheer sheep for the wool, took us on a late-night game drive, and toured us around their huge plots of land. For me, the coolest part was Francois' game room. Let me just say, this man is a serious hunter. In this relatively small wooden cabin structure he has just about every animal mounted to the wall you can think of (barring the traditional american game like elk, white-tail, and moose) such as a giraffe (yes, I'm serious), zebra, springbok, warthog, wildabeast, fellow deer, antelope, kudu, and a lot more I can't think of. We have pictures though and they definitely speak a thousand words.

The are surrounding the farms was breathtaking. Pictures won't do it justice but the views from just about any place on the farm were incredible. We also got to see snow up the mountain, believe it or not.

Another part of our trip the past couple days has been South African sports. We finally understand and, personally, enjoy watching rugby. The FIFA Confederation Cup also ended last night with Brazil beating the U.S. but its been a lot of fun to watch.

Everyone is doing well and missing home at least a little bit. We went to the market yesterday and everybody seems to be purchasing some wonderful gifts for the folks back home, so get excited.

Alright, it's been a long post and we have another lecture in about an hour.

Until later...
-Alex