#umqombothi | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ketso · 2 years ago

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Episode 12

We are here at Wandi's dad's house. Today, Senzi is going to pay lobola for Wandi. Can we just talk about that romantic proposal for a minute?! I mean guys, is there a more perfect proposal? And the whole world got to see it! It was trending all week. I'm so happy for Wandi. She deserves all of this happiness.

It's 5am. I'm here with my kids and Wandi's brother is busy hitting on me... not even the older one, the baby. The younger one. The one young enough to play with my kids. Ai bo!

I'm helping Wandi's mom prepare food. Bassie has just showed up and she has baked scones and biscuits plus gemere. She's here with her baby daddy. She tells us that her baby is with her mom. They are here for support. Wandi is just screaming and hugging us, thanking us, all that vibe. She's being herself.

Khanya's and Khosini's mother arrives. Things get tense immediately! Wandi's mom doesn't know how to be.

"Hey mah. Kunjani?" Wandi greets Khanya's mom.

"Hey baby. I'm good. Wena unjani?"

"I'm good. I'm so happy you are here."

"I wouldn't miss this for the world. My only baby girl is getting married? Weh!"

We all laugh and greet her. Khanya greets his mother then takes her bag to the bedroom.

"Sawubona, Maphuthi", Khanya's mom.

"Thandeka. Kunjani?"

Should we leave? Or?

"Ngiyaphila. I came for Wandi. I hope it's okay."

"Of course. She's happy you are here."

Wandi's mom and Khanya's mom smile.

"So where can I help?" Khanya's mom asks.

"We need someone to make umqombothi." Wandi's mom says.

"Sure", Khanya's mom says then heads to get that started.

AWKWARD!

"Hawu! Amakhosikazi wami madoda. This is how it should have always been yaz", Wandi's dad says. Bassie and I find ourselves chuckling. This man and his dreams when it comes to women...

"Do you know how amazing our lives would have had we just been family and we lived like this all our lives? Imagine the love... the peace... the -

"Nkosinathi, please!" Khanya's mom says. Wandi's mom just rolls her eyes and walks out of the kitchen.

"Or am I wrong, Wandi? Khanya?" The dad.

"You are just weird. Now stop it. You are embarrassing us", Wandi says. Khanya doesn't care and Khosini seems quite upset.

At around 7am, we hear people at the gate yelling the Buthelezi clan names. Wandi is told to go sit in some bedroom. Bassie and I go sit with her. My kids are here with us.

"And then wena? Baby daddy?" Wandi asks Bassie. I also want to know.

Bassie takes a deep breath then says, "I was going to Uber here. But mama gave me two buckets of gemere and three buckets of baked goods. She gave them to me saying that Keith has a big car and will be able to carry these."

We actually laugh.

"I don't know, hey. Our families truly believe that the two of us are for each other. They always give us the 'since we were kids, they always knew' type of story. But truthfully, I don't know where Keith and I are as far as trusting each other and seeing each other in that light." Bassie says.

"Do you love him?" I ask her as my son yanks my earrings and I attend to him.

"I've always loved Keith. I'll always love Keith. Deep down, I'm very happy that he is my son's father. But things are complicated now. I mean, I spent the night at his house-

"WHAAAAAAAT?!" Wandi and I are blown away and she's telling this story as if it's nothing.

"No! We didn't do the deed." Bassie.

Wandi and I don't believe her.

"They were doing a welcome ceremony for my son, giving him a Tsonga name and their surname. So, he had to sleep over in their house. I had to sleep there with him because my boob is his food supply. The baby and I slept on Keith's bed. Keith slept on the floor." She says.

"Why didn't you just sleep on the bed together?" I ask.

Wandi laughs.

Bassie shakes her head.

"You really don't want to give him a chance?" Wandi.

"He filed for a divorce. And when I told him that I have to move back to Soweto now and get my life back together and get working again, he told me that he wants to get a simplex for us and three of us should live together. He even said I don't have to work. I should stay at home and look after our son."

Woah!

Both Wandi and I are blown away.

"Bassie, at some point, you need to decide what you want. If Keith is what you want, it's okay. We will not judge you. But for someone who wants nothing to do with Keith, this situation is just spiralling out of control. So, make a decision on what you want to do and stick to it. Keith only has rights to be your son's father. Nothing else." Wandi says.

I see Bassie nodding her head.

Ja neh.

"And wena, madam? How are you doing?" Bassie asks me.

"I'm actually okay, hey. Wandi and Senzi are seriously looking after us. I don't know how I'll ever thank them enough", I say.

Wandi smiles at me.

"I'm putting my life back together, but I have been entertaining the idea of going back home. It’s just... my mom and sister... eish." They know why I left in the first place.

"And I have a daughter, you know?" I continue.

"So why go back?" Wandi.

"I want to get my youngest sister and hopefully make sure that she lands okay. I fear that if she stays with my mom and my older sister, she will not come out okay. She will be like them. So, if I can get a small place that can accommodate myself, her and my two rascals, I'll be okay. I want her to have a chance. I just ran away from home because I didn't want that life. But I ended up with an abusive man, two beautiful blessings and no plan. So now, I need to do better and hopefully give her better. You know?" Me.

They both look at me.

"I'll be okay. You'll see. I'm going to be great." I assure them.

"Can't you bring your sister up here?" Bassie asks me.

I shake my head and say, "the schools that side are better. These two can adjust (I point at my kids). My sister's whole life is that side. I don't need her showing me flames as she adjusts. I've never raised a teenager before. Plus, I honestly fear that their father could come back. I still set hourly alarms on my phone just so I can wake up and check the house to make sure he didn't get in and is about to kill me in my sleep. He will be back. Things are not great in Zim and South Africa is just the merry-go-round he will not stay away from. When he's back, he will look for us. And he could kill me. What will happen to my babies? At least in Tholoana Kingdom, it's not that easy to get in. No one is in the kingdom undocumented. He will be killed before he's even five meters away from the border. I'll be safe there - without even being in a safe house. You know?" I say.

Now they look like they want to cry.

"Guys, don't do that. Don't cry. Now you have an excuse to take holiday trips to Tholoana Kingdom. You can come visit anytime." I say.

Wandi looks at me then says, "Well, I need to make sure that you are okay. Senzi and his family know people who can get you a proper job at the Royal house. Please give me permission to ask them to make some calls?" Wandi.

Now I'm tearing up.

"If you cry like this, you will make us feel really horrible about allowing you to go", Wandi says.

"It's just... I feel like I'm leaving my true sisters. One minute, we are just rooms away from each other. The next minute, Wandi is getting married, Bassie is having a baby and moving in with her baby-daddy, and now I'm about to go and be a full-time mom. Our paths are literally splitting at a three way stop and we are all walking in three different directions." I say.

"Those rooms will always be our home. We must have all our Christmas lunches there", Bassie says and we all laugh.

"We will always be sisters. We will always be there for each other", Bassie says.

"Lord knows I'm going to need you. I'm about to have a mother-in-law from hell. Our WhatsApp group is about to be busier than usual, ladies", Wandi.

We laugh and agree that we will be here for all of it.

"And moving in with Keith... ke santsane ke tlo di bona!" Bassie.

We laugh.

"Once a year... any time of the year... come to the kingdom, guys. One day I'll be rich and I'll have a massive house where each person will have their own room when you come over", I say.

"We are all already rich now. What we have in our friendship can never be bought", Wandi says.

We find ourselves hugging the hell out of each other.

"So I'm not sure when you are leaving, babe. But you have to be back for the wedding. The two of you are my maids of honour." Wandi says.

Bassie and I scream! Then we get up and start dancing about in the room.

...

We just had lunch after the negotiations. Wandi and Senzi didn't even get to see each other. We all slept over at Wandi's dad's house. But today, my kids and I are packing. We are getting ready to go to Park Station. We will be getting on a bus to Tholoana Kingdom. Senzi got me that job at the Royal house and I start in a week's time. So, I'm leaving today because I'm going to fetch my sister from my mom's house. Then I have to take my sister and my daughter to their interviews at the schools they are going to. My sister is in grade eight and she's starting mid-year at a new school. Thanks to my job being at the Royal house as well as they Royal house staff discount on school fees, the door opened for me. She's going to a model-c government school… from a school in the homelands. It will be quite an adjustment, but I trust her to make it work. I was able to get my daughter in too. My son will be at the creche down the road from the royal house. With the package that they are giving me, I bought a three-bedroom house in the township. I'm actually happy about it. It's not amazing, but it will be cool for us. It's a new development so it’s a brand-new house. I'm happy with that. It's twenty minutes away from my daughter's and sister's schools. My sister and daughter will take a taxi together. My sister will drop my daughter at school then walk to her school. Their schools are a walking distance from each other. I'll take a taxi with my son every day. I'm going to be okay. I really am.

"Mommy, I think we have everything", my daughter tells me.

"Okay baby. Are you ready to go?" Me.

She nods her head in excitement. She's very happy about this move. I think she also feels that we will be much safer this way.

I put my son on my back and wrap him with a towel. It's a bit rainy so both my kids have raincoats on. I cover my son with a light blanket on my back. I carry the two travel bags I have for the three of us. My daughter carries her backpack and her brother's baby bag. This girl is my trooper. I love her!

As we get to the gate, I see Wandi, Bassie, Keith and Senzi. My daughter sprints to Wandi and Bassie and hugs them.

I hug them too - not their men though.

"We are taking you to Park Station! You were not just going to leave us, you know." Bassie says.

I really didn't want to cry.

We all head out together in someone's H1. I'm not sure who it belongs to. The ride is filled with laughter and chats. Then, they literally have a housewarming for us in the car. Guys...

Mosetsana gets a voucher to decorate her bedroom as she wishes. Tshenolo gets a voucher for his bedroom too. Then I get R10 000 voucher from my friends collectively, and a R25 000 voucher from the church. These are the nicest people I've ever met. Joburg people are not so bad after all.

We get to Park Station. Our bus leaves in twenty minutes. We say our final goodbyes.

"I love you guys so much", I tell them.

"We love you, babe." They say.

"Look after each other. I'm safe now." I say.

"Look after yourself. We are coming for a weekend as soon as you are settled in", Wandi says.

I nod my head.

The guys have our bags packed in the bus now.

"Look after my sisters. Both of you", I tell Keith and Senzi.

"You have our word", Keith.

"Scout's honour", Senzi.

We hug one last time then my kids and I board our bus. We sit closer to the back. Mosetsana takes the window seat. Tshenolo sits in the middle and I sit on the aisle seat. Mosetsana keeps her bag on her lap. I keep the baby bag on me. It has all my stuff and all these vouchers in it. We cover ourselves with a blanket because it's quite cold and rainy.

We wave at our friends as our bus takes off.

As soon as we've been welcomed on board and prayed, a movie starts playing on the screens in the bus. Mosetsana asks me to watch something on the iPad that Wandi bought for her rather. Fortunately, she downloaded it before we left. I nod my head. She puts on headsets and watches her shows. My son is on my lap in no time, so I put the baby bag where he was sitting. He has his pacifier in his mouth and a tablet in hand too. Wandi bought this tablet for him too. I just watch this useless movie that they've put in.

I dozed off at some point. At our first stop, I bought my kids steers. They passed out too after eating. Now as I'm waking up, it's 4am. We've been on the road for thirteen hours. We will be arriving in the next two hours. But we will be at the border gate in the next ten minute. So, I prepare my documents and my children's documents. I see a lot of people waking up and doing the same thing.

Indeed in ten minutes, our bus comes to a stop.

I hold my daughter's hand. She has her backpack with her. I have the baby bag on one arm and my son in another arm. There are different border gates into Tholoana Kingdom. There's one very close to Johannesburg - about two hours actually. But it's incredibly far from where we are headed. So we use the very far one - the one closer to Lesotho. I'm very close to my mom's house there. After picking up my sister, we will be in a taxi for nine hours to where we stay. I'd tell her to meet us at the new house, but my mom wants to see me and my kids. We will probably sleep there for a day or two then leave.

Our passports are now getting stamped. Our documents are being checked as well. As this happens, our luggage is being searched outside. As soon as we are done, we head back outside.

So many people are being arrested! Including our driver! Bathung! Jwale how are we...? Ache!

I just put my son on my back and wrap him with a towel, covering him a bit with a light blanket. The rain is pouring here. Mosetsana takes the baby bag from me. I grab our two travel bags. I give her an umbrella - the one you wear as a hat. So she just puts it on her head, over her raincoat hoodie. I put the second hat-umbrella on my head and it covers my son and I. I pull the two travel bags with both my hands. Mosetsana walks right next to me.

We are both in rain boots.

We cross the border. We are now safe and on homeland. Why do I feel so safe... so happy... so liberated?

"Mommy, I'm happy to be home", my daughter tells me.

"We are going to be okay, you'll see", I say.

"Why was our driver arrested?" She asks me.

We look at each other and laugh.

"Daddy won't find us, right?" She says.

"You saw what they do to people who come here and don't have their things in order, right?" Me.

"What if daddy gets his papers then comes?" She asks me.

"I'm going to the government and submitting his name as someone who threatens our lives. They won't let him in when he's listed as someone who poses danger to someone's life - especially when that someone is a citizen of this kingdom." I say.

"I like this place. I don't think we should ever leave", she says.

"Even for a holiday?" Me.

She smiles at me.

"Mama!" My son.

"Yes papa?"

"Move the blanket!" He says.

Mosetsana lowers the blanket off his face.

A taxi stops next to us. We stop and look at the driver.

"Where to, ausi?" The driver asks me.

"Maja Perre", I say.

"A re ye!" Him.

My kids and I climb the taxi. We sit on the first seat behind the driver's seat. He's sitting with someone on the passenger seat.

I pay him my taxi fare.

"Nah, this one is on the house", he says.

"Really?" Me.

"I can see you are one of the prodigals that have come back home. This is my way of saying welcome back", he says..

"Rea leboha, abuti", I say.

"Ke nna Thabang. This is my brother, Tumelo", he says.

"Nice to meet you. Ke nna Morafe. These are my kids." I say.

"I see. Are you moving to Maja Perre permanently?" He asks me.

"My mom stays in Maja Perre. I'm going there to pick up my teenage sister. She will be living with us. We will be staying in Tau." I say.

"I see. I'm from Dithabeng. But I also stay in Tau. We mostly work that side with our taxis." He says.

"Oh okay." Me.

"When do you leave this Maja Perre for Tau?" He asks me.

"In two days' time." I say.

"I can come and fetch you guys then take you there. I'm sure it will be a more comfortable nine-hour drive", he says.

"Mommy, is this guy trying to be your boyfriend?" Mosetsana.

The brother, Tumelo, cracks up. I'm a bit shocked nyana. Thabang is smiling at me from his rear-view mirror.

"Would it be a bad thing if I were?" Thabang asks Mosetsana.

"Kinda. I mean we just got to the kingdom. Can you give my mommy a chance to at least see who else is out there and could be a good dad to us?" Mosetsana is a bit...

We are all laughing now.

"Can I just be a friend then?" Thabang.

"Hmmm... we can live with that. Be here to take us home, please. And don't even think about making us pay", she says.

"Mosetsana!" Me.

"You have my word, my lady." Thabang says.

Mosetsana pulls a thumbs up and smiles.

This child!

...

We finally arrive at Morafe's home. There's a mama here watering a vegetable garden. She has hectic items of clothing and a doek flying off her head. There's a lady cleaning windowsills. She's dressed in a very short dress - so short that I can see that she's not wearing underwear. Then some teenager sprints out the house and seems very happy to see Morafe and her kids. She even helps with her bags and the son. I'm sure this kid can walk. I don't know why he's carried everywhere.

The old lady and the girl with a short dress wave at me. The girl in the short dress looks older than Morafe.

"Come in for tea and fat cakes. I'm sure you haven't eaten yet", the old lady says to Tumelo and me.

I look at Tumelo.

"I'm starving, bra!" He says.

I switch off the taxi's engine and we climb out the car. I even fart while stretching my legs. It's been a long ass drive.

"Ke nna mme waMorafe", she says to Tumelo and I while shaking our hands.

"Ke nna ausi waMorafe omuholo, Mmaletuka." The short dress girl says.

We nod our heads and introduce ourselves too.

We are welcomed into the house.

There are actually a lot of kids here. And for the first time, I see Morafe's son walking around.

We are seated at a very nice table in a room that looks like a dining room.

"Heh bathung, you guys came inside?" Morafe says. She's already changed. She's wearing a dress. It's short but it's decent. Her daughter is right next to her with some girl.

"Your mom said we should come in for tea and fat cakes. I hope it's okay", I say.

"That’s very nice of her. Let me prepare you guys breakfast then", she says.

"Thank you", Tumelo.

He's really hungry.

As she prepares breakfast, Mosetsana is next to me staring at me. I'm a bit scared of this child.

"Now you are in my granny's house, huh?" She says.

"Your granny invited me for breakfast", I say.

"I see. Well, this is our mamane. She will be living with us in Tau. Her name is Mmamello. Mamane, this is Thabang. He's trying to be my mommy's boyfriend. We will be seeing a lot of him." Ay ay ay this child.

"Heh eh wena! You can't speak to adults like that. And he's abuti'Thabang to you", Mmamello says.

"Thank you, Meme. This one and her big mouth", Morafe says as she serves Tumelo and I with fat cakes, polony, mangola and tea.

"We are so grateful. Thank you", Tumelo.

Her mom and Mmaletuka walk in.

Morafe is giving the kids bowls of fat cakes and extras to go sit down on the couches and eat. Then she follows them with a tray of tea, serving each one carefully.

What a beauty!

Morafe is walking Tumelo and I to the car now. Breakfast was nice. Her mother and sister were chatting to me the whole time. She seemed very nervous to even look at me. But I couldn't stop looking at her. Now I know I won't be able to stop thinking about her. I can't believe she doesn't remember me.

We finally get to the car. Tumelo gets in. I lean against my door and look at her.

"So, am I getting your number?" I ask her.

She blushes.

"How else will I know when to fetch you to take you back to Tau?" I add, smiling at her.

"Thabang, you really seem great. But things are very complicated for me right now. Tomorrow, I'm going to government offices to submit a name that should never set foot in this kingdom. I've just come out of a nine-year abusive relationship with the father of my kids. We came here running away from him because if he finds me, he will kill me. I have a lot on my plate right now and I don't think I'll be able to give you what you want from me. I just need some time to reset and settle... make sure my kids are okay... you know?" She says.

I hear her. I'm in no position to be initiating a relationship right now neither. But I don't want to not be able to connect with her.

I nod my head and say, "So what time should I be here tomorrow to take you to the government offices?"

"Thabang, are you not listening to me?" She says.

"I am. And I've heard you. Trust me, I'm in no position to be dating right now neither. This is me just saying I want to be friends. Yes, I want more and when we are both ready, we will have more together. But for now, let me be here as your friend until we are both ready for me to be more than that." I say.

"What if you are not the person that I want when I'm ready for more?" She says. Good question.

"I'll back off." I say.

I probably won't. I've wanted this girl since high school and she doesn't even remember me.

She smiles at me.

I hand her my phone.

She punches in her tens and gives me my phone back.

"Re tla buwa", I say.

"Sure." She says.

She heads back into the house then I hop in the car and drive off.

My brother and I were supposed to head back to Tau today. But now, we are going to our parents' house in Dithabeng. It's an hour away from Maja Perre. I'll go back to Tau when I drive back with Morafe and her kids.

"Eh monna, what are you doing?" Tumelo asks me.

I already know where he's going with this, so I don't answer him.

"You do realise that you already have two wives, right?" He says.

"Yes, I'm aware." Me.

"And six kids", he says.

"Tumelo, I know." Me.

"So you want a third wife now? And you want to inherit two kids that are not even of your semen or blood?"

Now I look at him because I'm going to kill him at this point.

"She doesn't even recognize me", I say as I focus on the road again. This actually hurts me.

"It's been nine years, monna. And to be fair, when she left the kingdom, you were a lekau nyana. She comes back, you are 34 years old, have two wives and six kids. It's done a number on the age of your face." He says.

"I can't wait for your wedding. I actually want to see what you do with two wives", I say. He's getting married next weekend to his second wife.

"Letona is killing us with this multiple wives shit, man". He says.

Letona is our dad. He is the chief of Dithabeng. He has eight wives in total. My siblings and I are a total of thirty-five; some born from mistresses we have never met and will probably never meet. I'm just close to Tumelo and Pebetsi. The three of us have the same mother. Our mother is the seventh wife. My dad is huge on us taking on multiple wives and having shit loads of kids like him. My first wife was an arranged marriage when I turned twenty-five. My second wife is someone I impregnated while fucking around. They both live very comfortably. My first wife has four kids and my second wife has two kids. My first wife lives in Koena. My second wife lives in Tlou. I have a bachelor pad in Tau where I go to when I don't feel like seeing either of them.

We arrive in Dithabeng and head to my mom's house. Each wife has a big ass house on this land. We have land for days.

Tumelo and I walk into my mother's house and we find her watching some soapie on TV with Pebetsi. Pebetsi is married, but she's always here.

"Dumelang", I greet them.

"Hey. I thought you guys were in the city already", my mom.

"We are supposed to be. But lover boy over here met his third wife today", Tumelo.

My mom and Pebetsi are both shocked. They even turn off the TV and focus on us.

"Now we will only be driving back to Tau in two days' time when the third wife heads back." Tumelo.

This guy is gay. O rata di taba!

"Bathung Thabang!" My mom.

"Honestly, it's just an old friend." I say.

"By old friend, he means Morafe Letuka from Maja Perre", Tumelo.

"Hai!" Pebetsi.

"Ke mang Morafe?" My mom.

"The girl Thabang has been wanting since high school. But she left the kingdom." Pebetsi.

"And she has two kids now", Tumelo.

"But she's still looking good." Me.

My mom shakes her head at me.

"She's moved back now and she has a place in Tau", Tumelo.

He's gay!

"Mathata fela mo! We are about to see a movie!" Pebetsi.

My mom is still shaking her head at me.

I just go to my room. I'm tired now.

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meujwaraworld · 3 years ago

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I had imbinqa for supper today, because I am making umqombothi. @chibukusa has still not offered me the chief brewer position yet. Perhaps I should start bottling my sorghum beer and give them a run for their money. I guarantee that mine tastes better than theirs. Anyway I got bamboozled into making umqombothi because I told my brother about a dream I once had about the staff. Also because I wouldn't agree to Belgravia as part of our monthly grocery list. Our ancestors don't even know it. 🤷🏾 Anyway, as I was cooking imbinqa I was reminded of a church trip we took to Inkamana Abbey/ High school in Dundee for ACTS. They gave us buckets of umqombothi for a social evening and you know how students are, free beer is free beer. When they were good and drunk, smelling like mkhulu Sbhembedu, they invaded our dormitories causing so much chaos. I was such a Catholic back then. I was equally a gqobhoka to be quite honest. The distinguishing line is still very blurry if you ask me or if you quietly observe my mom. She epitomizes the colonized and modernized pseudo European that the settlers sought to create of us. Born 11th child of a cop and former teacher-turned-chatechist, she had no other choice but to grow up and be what we now call a 'clever black', thanks to JZ for coining the term. I keep challenging my clever black tendencies (and I got tons) and embracing my blackness and Africanness fearlessly and fiercely. Learning to make traditional foods and drinks is part of embracing my culture and preserving our heritage. I want to post a video, in fact I have been meaning to share my mqombothi recipe with you but I am too lazy to edit. Iqiniso elimsulwa. Good morning guys, enjoy the weekend! #umqombothi #zulubeer #recipe #sorghum #sorghumbeer #deliciously_sa #delicious #foodbloggers #tastyfoods #foodgasm #instaeatssouthafrica #southafricanfoodies #food24_sa #icook #homechef #cookathome #foodies #foodiesofinstagram #foodgram #foodiesofsa @kingkorn_za says #thekingisstayinghome https://www.instagram.com/p/CSiQb9iit35/?utm_medium=tumblr

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fakazavibes · 4 years ago

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southafricansongs · 2 years ago

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Umlandi

South African music keeps being part of the global music conversation and the artists are doing their best at exporting it across all frontiers. South African popular music might be having the best years it has had in recent history. Carrying on from the momentum gained during the pandemic and its lockdown/travel restrictions, 2022 has been one of the years artists get to eat the fruits of their hard labour.

Contemporary artists are touring, performing at the biggest global stages amongst the best the world has to offer. From the Grammys and Coachella to Ibiza and Afronation, everyone is outside and is putting out their best music while at it. South African music is part of the global African music conversation and the artists are doing their best to export the music.

South Africa is known for its music that has played a huge role towards the country's society. The music of South Africa is very diverse with a wide variety of genres such as Marabi, Kwaito, House music, Isicathamiya, Gqom and Amapiano etc.

With countless hits, such as Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika, Pata Pata, Umqombothi (song), Vulindlela and legendary singers such as Miriam Makeba, Brenda Fassie, Hugh Masekela, Yvonne Chaka Chaka and Lucky Dube, South African music has played a huge impact in Africa(especially in Southern Africa, to a point where countries such as Namibia and Botswana have their own versions of South African music genres such as Kwaito etc.

Afrikaans music was primarily influenced by Dutch folk styles, along with French and German influences, in the early twentieth century. Zydeco-type string bands led by a concertina were popular, as were elements of American country music, especially Jim Reeves. The most prolific composers of "tiekie draai" Afrikaans music were lyricist Anton De Waal who wrote many hit songs with songwriters, pianist Charles Segal ("Hey Babariebab Se Ding Is Vim", "Kalkoenjie", "Sy Kom Van Kommetjie" and many others) and accordionist, Nico Carstens. Bushveld music based on the Zulu were reinterpreted by such singers as Marais and Miranda. Melodramatic and sentimental songs called trane trekkers (tearjerkers) were especially common. In 1973, a country music song won the coveted SARI Award (South African Music Industry) for the Song of the Year – "My Children, My Wife" was written by renowned South African composer Charles Segal and lyricist Arthur Roos. In 1979 the South African Music scene changed from the Tranetrekkers to more lively sounds and the introduction of new names in the market with the likes of Anton Goosen, David Kramer (singer), Koos du Plessis, Fanie de Jager, Flaming Victory and Laurika Rauch. Afrikaans music is currently one of the most popular and best selling industries on the South African music scene.

After World War I, Afrikaner nationalism spread and such musicians as Jewish pianist and composer Charles Segal and accordionist Nico Carstens were popular.

CONTRACT US

Phone: +2349120010105

Website: https://umlandi.com/

Social Link: https://twitter.com/naijasong

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mrsdeanwinchester19 · 3 years ago

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The Dinner-Sequel to The Interview

Pairing: Steve x reader

Word Count: 3k

Summary: Sequel to The Interview. Steve takes his wife to meet his team after her interview

Warnings: None

“Steve, do you think this dress is ok?” I ask, coming out of our walk-in closet wearing my lace, off the shoulder red dress. Steve is taking me to dinner with the team tonight, so I want to make a good first impression. Most people would think I’ve met the team before, but Steve kept our relationship a secret in the beginning and then the team broke up because of the Accords and we got married when we were on the run, so we really couldn’t invite any of the team members.

We had our wedding in Norway, one of the few countries that hadn’t signed the Accords. They claimed they didn’t sign because if a non-government owned unit made from people from different countries called the Alsos Unit hadn’t helped them in World War II, the Germans would have succeeded in creating an Atomic bomb in their country. In Norway, there was one team member, Thor, who was visiting Earth; he vouched for us.

After our wedding, we went to Wakanda on our honeymoon and visited Bucky. We had been having dinner with Bucky, T’Challa, and Shuri when we told him we got married. He was upset that he couldn’t be there, but he understood when he found out the wedding happened when he was asleep. When he said Steve could make it up to him by naming his first son James; Steve started choking on his Umqombothi drink. I know Steve wants kids, but he wasn’t willing to have them while being on the run. Now that we’re not hiding, we’re actively trying for a baby. I wonder if tonight he’ll break the news that he has a wife AND is trying to get said wife pregnant.

As I walk out of the closet, I bend down to adjust the ankle strap on my right heel. I stand back up, smooth my dress, and look up at Steve. He’s staring at me with a dopey smile on his face, love evident in his eyes. “The dress itself is fine, you make it look perfect.”

“Ugh, Steve, quit it with the cheesy lines,” I protest while blushing. Men used to say these things to their wives and girlfriends back in their time, it’s why Steve and Bucky can be prince charming when they want to be. Bucky more often than Steve now that he’s more like his old self, or so Steve says.

“I’m just being honest,” he defends, shrugging his shoulders. He comes over to me and wraps his arms around my waist. “You nervous?”

“What do you think?” I ask rhetorically. I haven’t been this nervous since I first met Steve. In 2014, during a career conference once for journalists, the resort we were at was seized by terrorists. One of my coworkers and I were the only ones from The New York Sun attending, despite the fact that it was in New York. I suppose they only wanted to go if the convention was out of town so they could get out of work and go on vacation. We were held in the resort’s Grand Hall for hours until the Avengers were able to save us. There was a pretty big fight between Steve, Thor, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and the terrorists but luckily no one died. I had been hurt in the kerfuffle, a broken finger, but after Steve wrapped my finger in a brace, he allowed me to interview him. During the on-camera interview with him, Thor was teasing him in the background, doing silly faces and the “blah blah blah” hand motion.

Steve had asked for my name and number to “keep in touch and see if my finger heals correctly”. When I gave it to him, he wrote it down in an old-fashioned address book. I hadn’t expected him to call me ever, but he did, asking for a date. At first, he was weary of me being a journalist, in case things ended badly and I wrote a bad article about him. However, a year later, he was thankful I was a journalist because I had access to all archived articles about the Winter Soldier. After that happened, I knew he trusted me wholeheartedly and I felt the same. When the Accords started happening, I had access to the signing, to interview government people about it, and relayed that information to Steve about who he could trust. That was how I found out about Norway not signing.

“They’ll love you,” he says. “Bucky loves you, Tony will probably love you because he’ll think the interview prank you pulled on me was hilarious. Nat and Wanda will be happy another girl is around. Thor likes you, even Loki took a liking to you; he would love the interview prank. Clint will like you, Bruce will like you; no one has a reason to dislike you.

I turn around and take a good look at him. Royal blue dress shirt and black pants. His hair is up and I want nothing more than to run my fingers through it. He keeps me pressed to his body closely and I rub my hands along his chest. “If we didn’t have to go to dinner with your friends, I would be all over you right now.”

“Sorry, last night’s sex is just gonna have to hold you.” I give a little laugh. “I’m just messing with you, I’ll be all over you tonight,” he growls, pulling my face up to his and kissing me deeply. His kisses always leave me breathless, whether they’re passionate like this or small, chaste kisses when he’s leaving for work in the morning. This however, is a whole new level and it’s making my heart go crazy.

Steve picks up the basket on the kitchen counter and we walk out the door. When we get to the car, he opens the door for me, ever the gentleman, before climbing in himself. As he drives there, I fiddle with the hem of my dress. I’m so worried I’ll talk too much or too little, or I’ll offend someone or embarrass Steve. What if I mention something about him that they don’t know? Like that he bawled like a baby at Where the Red Fern Grows and Homeward Bound. Tony would probably love that but I don’t want to make Steve feel bad, I was crying too.

My biggest worry is what they’ll think of me after the interview. Will they think it was funny or will they look at me as unprofessional for not telling them I had a conflict of interest with the Avengers? I think Tony will like me, and maybe Nat, but I have no idea about the others. I don’t think Bucky would come around as much as he does if he really didn’t like spending time with both Steve and me. Besides, sometimes when Steve is on a mission and he isn’t, he comes and keeps me company with old movies and our little two person book club we started. His first choice of book was The Hobbit, which he told me he had read it when it first came out in 1937. He was happy but not surprised to find out there were movies based on them.

When we drive up to the compound, Steve has a difficult time getting me through security. They recognized my face and apparently Tony told them not to let me back. “Don’t alert Tony about her,” Steve said as he explained the situation to the guard. He looked skeptical but agreed.

Steve led me upstairs, but not to the dining room where the team was waiting. He led me to his room. “Well, well, well, Mr. Rogers, I thought we had to meet your friends in a little bit. Though I know you could probably get it done in ten minutes.”

“Ha ha ha, very funny,” he sarcastically replies. “I just needed to grab…this,” he says, pulling his wallet out of his nightstand. “Forgot it here yesterday.”

I simply hum in response to his explanation because I’m too busy looking around his room. I’ve only seen it over FaceTime and in pictures. It’s very different from our room at home. Our house, which we had just moved to from our apartment in preparation for a family, has a farmhouse theme. Our master bedroom has a cream colored walls and one shiplap wall which our bed’s decorative headboard sits against, while our king sized bed is covered in a thick white comforter. There’s a gray bench at the end of our bed and a blue and white rug. There are nightstands on each side of the bed where we keep our small before bed items and our white, shared dresser is on the other side of the room, next to the door for our walk-in closet. We have an attached bath with a clawfoot tub and a shower stall. Our room lets in lots of natural light, which Steve loves because he likes to let the morning sun warm his back on his days off.

This room has a completely different feel to it. It’s much darker than our room at home. The walls are gray and his comforter is dark blue. He has a black dresser across from his bed with a TV mounted to the wall above it. A plain bathroom with just a few essentials like shaving cream, a toothbrush, toothpaste, etc sit on the counter. While our walls at home aren’t covered in pictures, we have more than the two he has here. One is a picture of him and Bucky laughing and the other is of his parents before his father went to war; the war he never came back from. Both pictures he has copies of hanging up at home. There’s a somewhat large window on the wall, but it’s covered with a blackout curtain.

I did most of the decorating at home, while this decorating was all him. “Steve?” He looks at me. “Do you not like our room at home?”

He furrows his eyebrows. “No. I love our place. Why would you think that? Also, that’s very random to be bringing up now.”

“Well it’s just…this room is so different from ours at home. I just didn’t know if you liked the darker colors better. I want you to be comfortable in our room at home. We can change it if you want it to look more like this one.”

He gives a little laugh and turns to face me. “I didn’t decorate this room, Tony’s person did and he gave me this room because it’s the “most masculine”. I prefer our room because it’s bright and spacious. The fact that you decorated it is special to me because it’s like a present you gave to me. Plus, I don’t have the best eye for interior design since everything I grew up with was either floral or had doilies. But to be honest, this one feels a bit like a dungeon. I just don’t bother to change it because I just sleep at home. And I didn’t change it before I met you because even then I just used it to sleep, if I slept at all,” he looks into the distance, remembering all the nights he spent up in the gym, trying to beat the memories out of his mind. He changes the subject, “Ok, so when we go down there I’m gonna have you wait around the corner and then you can come out when I tell you.”

He leads me downstairs and has me wait in a hallway. He walks around the corner and I hear Tony say, “Alright Capsicle, what’s the surprise you have for us?”

“Everybody just sit down and I’ll get to it in a minute,” he replies. The sound of chairs scraping the floor is heard and Tony grumbles something about how he had been planning to have lasagna with Pepper tonight. After a few seconds of silence, Steve comes back around the corner, grabs my hand, and leads me out. I nearly trip over my heels when we start moving and the pit in my stomach only grows.

At the sight of me, Tony and Natasha stand up startled. “What is she doing here?” Tony angrily asks.

“I thought you banned her,” Natasha adds on.

They all begin chattering, asking Steve why I’m here until Bucky calmly says, “Hey Y/N.”

Sam looks at Bucky confused, “You know her?” Bucky nods his head and Sam looks at Steve, confused and a little hurt. “Steve?”

“Everybody,” Steve starts, setting his hand on my lower back. “This is Y/N, my wife.”

“WIFE?!” they all shout at different times. Steve and I get bombarded with about a million questions at once. When did we meet, why weren’t they invited to the wedding, when the wedding was, why I interviewed Steve the way I did, etc.

A loud thud on the balcony draws everyone’s attention. Thor is standing there in his armor and cape, holding his hammer. “Sorry I’m late for team dinner,” he begins but stops when he sees me. “Lady Y/N, I haven’t seen you since the wedding. How has being married to the Captain been?”

“Oh you know, being married to a man-child is a struggle, but he’s hot enough for me to keep him around,” I joke.

“Thor, you know her too?” Tony asks.

“Yes I do. Loki does too but I decided not to bring him tonight. I think it would have been a bad idea.”

“Alright, Tony, sit down and I’ll explain everything,” Steve says. Tony hesitantly sits down and everyone else follows. Steve explained everything from why we met to why we couldn’t invite them to the wedding.

As he’s finishing telling the story and answering questions from the team, Tony’s bots bring in the pasta and Steve gets up and grabs something from the basket we brought. He opens a bottle of wine and begins filling glasses. When he gets to mine, I put my hand over my cup. “Not tonight,” I say.

“But it’s your favorite,” he says.

“I can’t,” I say, not wanting to get in to it.

“C’mon, I won’t let you drink too much,” he says jovially.

“No, Steve…I can’t,” I say forcefully, looking up to make eye contact, hoping he understands without giving anything away.

He understands, but unfortunately his mouth works faster than his brain. He looks down at my stomach and an excited smile spreads on his face. “Are you…?”

I look around the table, seeing the Avengers all looking at us expectedly. I look back at Steve and sheepishly nod. He gasps and nearly drops the bottle, but luckily he realizes that when I reach out to catch it.

“A babe,” Thor says happily. “Mazel tov.”

“They’re not Jewish,” Bucky says to Thor. “Can’t wait to meet little James or Jamie.” I give Bucky a look to let him know it’s not happening. “Ok, Bucky works too.”

Tony puts his head in his hands looking like he’s about to pass out. “Oh my god, we find out Steve is married to a woman I banned from the compound, and now that he’s going to be a father.”

I look at Steve to see him with tears in his eyes. Thankfully, Natasha saves us. “I’d like to propose a toast,” she says, standing up and holding her glass out. “To Steve and Y/N, I hope you have a long, happy marriage and a healthy baby girl that you name Natasha.”

“That was the other thing we had planned to tell you tonight. We’ve been trying for a baby. I guess we were successful.” Steve finishes pouring the drinks while everybody suggests baby names. After a while, the conversation drifts to other things. I enjoy listening to them, though they’re constantly quipping (mostly Tony).

Bucky, who’s sitting next to me, whispers to Steve, who’s on my other side, “Are we going to church this Sunday?” The three of us go to church most Sundays. Steve and Bucky both grew up going to church, and it gives them some hope in a dark world.

Tony, who wasn’t involved in the conversation, cuts in. “Barnes, you could live at church and you still won’t go upstairs when you die.”

Bucky’s metal hand clenches so hard around his fork I’d be surprised if it isn’t bent. He looks at Tony and gives him a very fake, overly sweet smile. “Tony, I love how mean you are to me because it makes me feel less guilty about what I did to your parents.”

Tony stands up, slamming his hands on the table and Bucky mirrors him. It looks like they’re about to attack but Steve intervenes. “Tony, Bucky! Tony, that was uncalled for and Bucky, that was unnecessary. We know how you actually feel about your past and we’ve watched you try to change.” Both men slowly sit back down. “We have a guest.” Bucky relaxes first, then Tony does.

“Y/N,” Tony addresses me. “I need to apologize for my rudeness towards Bucky on my first night officially meeting you. I was hoping not to fight with him tonight.”

“You call that a fight? You should hear these two,” I say, gesturing to Steve and Bucky on either side of me. “These guys can bicker with each other like an old married couple for hours about the smallest things. Last week they had a 45 minute argument on how many times you can reuse a towel before it needs to be washed.”

“Wash it right away,” Steve mutters.

“Steve, we used to use towels so many times before we washed them in the 40s,” Bucky argues.

“Yeah but that was because if we needed to wash things, Mom had to heat up water and then hang-dry it on the balcony. It’s easy to wash things now days.”

“Anyways,” Tony says, stopping their argument. “I guess the interview you gave Cap makes sense now…somewhat.”

“Well I was pissed at him that day, so I think he deserved it.”

Tony smiles at Steve. “You need to bring her around more often.”

Taglist: @imanuglywombat @infernal-fire @dottirose @carpediemm-18

#Steve Rogers #steve x reader #captain america #captain america x reader #Avengers #the interview #the dinner #tony stark #natasha romanoff #bucky barnes #sam wilson #thor

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risingshine · 11 months ago

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"Tell you what, you get me some Umqombothi and I'll cook you a dish of your choosing, deal? Food for food!"

"I do appreciate it, but Umqombothi is a type of beer, most made from maize, corn and sorghum. Its not high in alcohol, but very rich in vitamin B. Its a comfort drink of mine, and most people are interested in trying it atleast once when they hear about it."

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theoriginalmarke · 3 years ago

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MORE MOSTLY MUNDANE MONDAY MORNING MUSINGS

How many ducks would it take to take down an adult rhinoceros?

Maybe we should go with geese, I don’t think ducks would stand a chance. So our updated hypothetical Monday morning musing is going to be this: How many geese would it take to take down an adult rhinoceros?

Discuss amongst yourselves. Prepare a presentation using PowerPoint. Upgrade your laptop to Windows 11 to improve your ability to create a PowerPoint with friends and relatives. Discover that Windows 11 is buggy because your laptop doesn’t have enough processing power, try to revert to the previous rendition, and get frustrated when the computer freezes up during the process.

Decide to just buy a new computer, and then spend a week trying to decide between Windows, Apple, Chromebook. Look into just getting a tablet. Maybe a Galaxy Tab S7 that’s compatible with your cell phone. Realize that your neighbor has a new Samsung refrigerator that basically has a tablet installed on the door.

Get skeeved out by the whole proliferation of technology in our lives and decide to destroy all of your cell phones, tablets, smart watches, tvs, Alexas, Googles, and iWhatevers.

Move to a remote island off of the African coast to enjoy a simpler life. One day while sipping your umqombothi watch as an angry flock of 4286 geese attack a charging adult rhinoceros, thus saving a nearby village.

You want to take a video of this event and upload it to YouTube, but then you remember that you’ve destroyed all of your electronic devices. Nobody will ever believe you when you tell them what just happened without evidence either. Ponder your life choices as you continue sipping your umqombothi.

Consider googling the word “umqombothi,” but once again remember your lack of googlable devices. Wonder if googlable is even a real word. Write a blog post about the whole experience, but you have to do it with pen and paper and just post it on the door with a thumbtack for the villagers to read since you can’t post it online.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve had too much umqombothi to drink.

I love you, Kitten. Online or offline, you’re the bestest. MWAH!

Y’all have a great day.

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newscheckz · 5 years ago

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“Princess of Africa” Yvonne Chaka Chaka bags honorary degree

New Post has been published on https://newscheckz.com/princess-of-africa-yvonne-chaka-chaka-bags-honorary-degree-3/

“Princess of Africa” Yvonne Chaka Chaka bags honorary degree

African music icon, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, has been awarded an honorary degree by a top South African public university: Rhodes University. Incidentally, the award is not for her illustrious music career that has impacted the world but for her humanitarian work.

The Degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD) (honoris causa) in recognition of your sustained, extensive and wide-ranging humanitarian work. This work includes your role as a Champion of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB & Malaria,” the university said.

The 55 year-old born in Soweto, beyond her music and humanitarian work is also known to be an entrepreneur and a teacher. She sang three of her songs during the ceremony where she was honored along with a top judge, Justice Dikgang Moseneke. Dubbed the “Princess of Africa” (a name she received after a 1990 tour), Chaka Chaka has been at the forefront of South African popular music for 27 years and has been popular in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Gabon, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast. She used her fame and influence to rebel against the oppressive Apartheid government. Yvonne collaborated with legends of the music industry to release a song called Peace on our land. Her music was so inspirational that Nelson Mandela wrote a letter to her from Robben Island where he was detained. Through the letter sneaked to her by Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the statesman thanked her for “singing songs that keep us alive in prison”. (Mojapelo)

Among her big tracks are “I’m Burning Up”, “Thank You Mr Dj”, “I Cry For Freedom”, “Motherland” and the ever-popular “Umqombothi” (“African Beer”). The song “Umqombothi” was featured in the opening scene of the 2004 movie Hotel Rwanda. She has also a number of charitable organisations that she is involved with. Yvonne is a member of the Giving and Sharing Project which aims to establish a youth/schools philanthropy programme.

It encourages young people in South Africa to raise funds for local needs and they can also volunteer to do charity work in their communities. Yvonne is also involved in other organisations such as raising funds for the Orlando Children’s Home in Soweto. She also runs her own charity organisation called Princess of Africa Foundation; this foundation has provided humanitarian aid across societies. For her constant help throughout South Africa and spreading awareness about Malaria, Yvonne was awarded with the International Global Good Star and Power Award at 2017 BET Awards. She has shared the stage with persons such as Bono, Angelique Kidjo, Annie Lennox, Youssou N’Dour, South Africans greats like Johnny Clegg, Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela, to name a few. She has performed for Queen Elizabeth II, US President Bill Clinton, South African President Thabo Mbeki and a host of other world leaders.

#Yvonnechakachaka #awards #Musician

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astronomyforastrologers · 4 years ago

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184314 Mbaba Mwana Waresa & 541132 Leleākūhonua

184314 Mbaba Mwana Waresa & 541132 Leleākūhonua (Two Newly Named Sources of Inspiration! ~ 13 Jun 2020, Philip Sedgwick)

Finally a SkyScraping with something other than COVID-19 discussion and the world gone amok. That’s right, the Minor Planet Center posted two new names for potentially inspiring Kuiper Belt Objects: Mbaba Mwana Waresa and Leleakuhonua. Despite the Sun and Venus in Gemini, it’s going to take a few articulations before those names roll off the tongue.

Mbaba Mwana Waresa supercedes the nomenclature of the minor solar system object 184314, A.K.A. 2005 EO302. The daughter of the sky god Umvelinqangi, she is a fertility goddess for the Zulus in South Africa. She lives in the clouds in a hut made of rainbows. She oversees rain and when she played her bongos it became thunder. She holds powers over water and earth, and within that, she stands as the ruler of agriculture and one of the most revered gods for the Zulus.

As well, she possesses the ability to shapeshift. Another name for her is Nomkhubulwane, which literally translates to “she who chooses the state of an animal.”

Her shape shifting skills came in handy. According to lore, she could not find a suitable mate in the heavens so in the days before Tinder and such, she scoured South Africa for a good partner. She fell in love with a herdsman, Thandiwe. She decided to test his loyalty. She shifted herself into a hag and watched as she sent a lovely bride his way. Thandiwe did not fall for the deception and the overjoyed Mbaba Mwana Waresa and he were married.

The other gods, who looked down on humans, expressed their discontentment with this marriage. She needed a pacification of sorts. Her remedy: She invented beer. Conflict resolved. In honor of her, traditional beer, umqombothi, is made from sorghum and brewed only by women.

A raucous kegger will not honor Mbaba Mwana Waresa. There is a protocol for consuming beer:

First, the female brew master skims the head off the pour and renders it on the ground to honor the ancestors and spirits. The hostess drinks to indicate that the beer is safe to drink. The host drinks to verify the brew is of sufficient quality for his guests. The guests are served. All drink from the same clay pot or gourd (obviously pre-coronavirus) and everyone must sit or squat while drinking. Men are to remove hats, in respect for Mbaba Mwana Waresa and her gifts to the world.

As of zero hour GMT on 14 June, Mbaba Mwana Waresa transits 8 Scorpio 29 within her 305.27 year orbit. Her north node is 0 Aries 30; her perihelion (both positions heliocentric) stands at 29 Sagittarius 46. Her zodiac defined orbital elements align with the cardinal cross for all intents and purposes. What does this mean?

Pull from her a sense of urgency that comes from what is known. Know the seasons, know the time. When it is time to do what you must do and you know it, get on with it, without hesitation. Since she now transits Scorpio, how about getting on with those creative and passionate endeavors that feed the depths of the soul? You know the kind of stuff you have to do no matter what... the kind of stuff that one might cry in their beer if they failed to pursue. We can’t have that! Beat the bongos, ride the rainbows, and get on with it.

From rainbows in South Africa we socially distance astral travel to one of the most rainbow abundant lands in the northern hemisphere: Hawaii nei.

The astronomers watching the most-distant regions of the Kuiper Belt named object 541132 (2015 TG387) as Leleakuhonua. This compelling object came to light as part of the search for Planet 9, the Mars-sized object presumed to be in the orbital realm of Sedna... which will be a full-fledged planet in our solar system when discovered. Previously called “the Goblin” because it was first discovered in October of 2015, Leleakuhonua literally means “where heaven meets the earth,” an appropriate tagline for astrology. One online source speculates the exact location where this meeting of worlds occurs is located immediately beside the Four Seasons Resort on Oahu. You think the green fees were high before! Wait until they hear about this!

Leleakuhonua falls into the astronomical categories of an extreme trans-Neptunian object and sednoid A sednoid is defined as a trans-Neptunian object with a perihelion distance greater than 50 AU and a semi-major axis greater than 150 AU. As an aside, raising the semi-major axis of an object to the 1.5 power will determine the orbital period of that object. In this case the orbital period is 35,762.62 years. That’s no typo. This is an object that orbits our Sun and takes a leisurely damn near 36K years to do so.

The body crosses the ecliptic at 0 Aquarius 47, which offers up the north node. It has an extremely eccentric orbit. As of 0 hours GMT 14 June it transits 10 Aries 13. Given it maintains a perihelion of 28 Taurus 33, the object is closing in on the closest contact to the sun where it travels the fastest. While we might be inclined to assume that an object taking so long to move about the Sun emulates a fixed star and remains in virtually one place in a lifetime, that’s not so. If one were born in 1950, the object moved through 5 degrees of Pisces. In 1958, it passed through about 9 degrees of Pisces... and now at 10 Aries! As such, this is a compelling object to watch.

Presently, chart data for Leleakuhonua remains difficult to find. While Mbaba Mwana Waresa can be added into charts on astro.com, the data for Leleakuhonua is not yet available. The zodiacal positions provided above were converted from raw astronomical data. Ultimately the data will become available and I will generate ephemerides and keywords. So, in that... more to come.

We’re dang near at the 50% point of 2020. It’s been a year right? Believe it or not, despite restrictions, quarantines and such, there is still something to be made of this year. How about a midyear chart check up? You know, the transits to your chart will indicate when you can be getting your goods out there... despite all the evident obstacles. If you wait until Jupiter clears Pluto (12 November) or when he clears Saturn (21 December) or even if you’re postponing for Jupiter and Saturn to go direct in September, you’ll likely have missed some awesome personal momentum. Let’s get that chart checked up. Or order a report to expand astrological horizons or ask a couple questions... you gotta do something while sipping Mbaba Mwana Waresa’s sorghum brew or kombucha scanning the skies for inspiration from Leleakuhonua.

#2005 EO302 #184314 #2015 TG387 #541132 #leleakuhonua #philip sedgwick #mbabamwanawaresa

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stories4africa · 5 years ago

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Is there really more than this?

I know there is more out there. I cannot fully imagine how it looks, tastes or sounds like but I know it is out there. I am tempted to follow this burning urge in me to go and find it but there are a lot of backlashes that I am experiencing. Among them is EXPERIENCE. It is not the green-eyed monster that some people imagined under their bed when they were younger, I must just clarify that I am not among those people, nonetheless, EXPERIENCE is a very scary monster.

It is the one that whispers all these fears that I am trying with everything in me to block. It is the reason for the invisible glass ceiling over my head that I intersect whenever I am climbing the ladder of dreams and future plans.

I know that there is more to me than academics. Mam Khoza (my senior pastor) once asked me a question that left me thinking. She asked but did not expect an answer at that time, but she ignited a thought process that is still continuing in me. “Apart from your academics what are you going to do with your life?”

Perhaps the quotation marks are out of place because those were not her exact words, but they are the words that are on replay in my mind. For as long as I can remember, academics have always taken the highest priority in my life. I needed to be the best. Why? I was not always sure but I always knew that I needed to be the best. My whole life turned to a battlefield, with everything I did always ending up being competitive. You were either with me or competition that I needed to eliminate.

In retrospect, was it the best way I could have went about with my childhood? I am not sure. Anyway, we were discussing the need for more and the monster of experience and not my childhood. Still on the topic though…

Back at school, I guess I was competitive because I truly believed that more had to be out there. I am certain that my surrounding was one factor contributing to that. Daily, I travelled into Queenstown for school from Gqebenya (a village in Lady Frere, Eastern Cape in South Africa), where very little was there to inspire me.

That’s of course not taking into account nature. I must admit that I have always had a thing for the mountains and the sky. When the streets around you are dusty, dry and knocked off like those in my neighbourhood, it helps to find beauty elsewhere. The brewing of summer thunderstorms was always the best cloud-display one could get in the hood. I always secured a front-row seat, from the tiled stoep at the front of the house or by placing an abandoned Castle Lager beer case in the backyard.

Summertime is a little something like this in Gqebenya. The picture is taken from my backyard with Ma’Luja’s house being the white one on the right.

At least then, I would have very few eyes on me, not that people would go out of their way to watch what I was doing. After all, finding people just sitting outside was nothing new. More often than I would have wanted I would see people gathered at Ma’Luja’s house for a round of beers and umqombothi (homemade Xhosa beer). Their gatherings rarely ended peacefully, in contrast, statements drenched with vulgarism would put an end to the loud babbling that filled the whole street. Noise pollution like no other…okay maybe I am being a bit dramatic with the latter statement, but you get the point right?

From pre-school, I remember being introduced to a different world. One that was colourful and full of developments. One where, as a four-year-old, I did not have to fear that one day I was going to drown in the pit latrine and die from suffocation. No, when I was at school, I could flush my waste away and never see or smell it again when I went back to the toilet.

No matter how dreamy that world was, when the clock hit 4 pm I was probably back on my way home and would be forced to quickly face that fear from all the liquids I was drinking on the hour-long journey from town to home. I never really understood why we couldn’t have flushing toilets like the rest of the world (or what seemed to be the rest of the world to my four-year-old mind), but it was such questions that made me want to push for more. Before attending Thistledown Pre-school, I never questioned the way of doing things back home, because my home was the only standard I knew.

As I got older and wiser, not much physically changed around me. People continued doing things as they had always done. The roads and water supply were still a joke. Those with jobs continued with them and a vast majority who were unemployed continued to make umqombothi or attend imicibi (ceremonies/rituals to appease their ancestors) at every opportunity they had. It was not a surprise to see young boys/men my age gathered in a circle and passing a 5-litre enamel container filled with umqombothi around. For a number of years, my father seemed to always find a reason to host these but would put up a fight if I asked him for money related to my growth, but hey that’s a story for another day. We did get a DSTV at some point which accelerated my imagination of the bigger world that lay beyond Gqebenya. It was there that I saw kids with their own rooms, cell phones, cars and swimming pools. They were living the ‘posh life’ that I could only dream of, and dreaming I did do. More often than some would like. If I somewhat found myself getting distracted or too comfortable at school, having to use the toilet at home would always be the reminder I needed.

It was no longer the fear of drowning that haunted me, but the indignity I felt when having to walk to the toilet while some of my neighbours were sitting outside. I could not shake the thought that everyone sees you when you are doing your business and how long it takes you to get it done. Oh, the horror of it all! In reality, I was probably the last thought on people’s minds.

Nonetheless, I would always return from the toilet with the thought that I will change my life with any opportunity I get. So maybe that’s why I wanted to be the best. I felt the need to stand out, so that if anyone was going to be selected to go somewhere, that it would be me without a doubt. Maybe that is why I saw it all as a battlefield because some of my classmates did not walk a day in my shoes. Sure they had their own problems with growing up in townships, but at least they had flushing toilets…many of them.

From the first prize-giving at St Theresa’s Primary School in 2006, until my last one in 2011, I strived for the number one position. With my determination to be the best always being kept in line by the bigger picture embedded within, that a world with more was awaiting.

High School at Maria Louw High was no different. At first, I felt out of place because of the bigger pupil numbers, the taller buildings and the bigger schoolyard but quickly found my feet when I saw Elanor, the head prefect in 2012. She mesmerized me with her black school blazer that displayed badges of achievements on either side. My friends and I joked about how heavy the blazer probably was. Without knowing what the badges were for, I immediately resolved within me that I was going to be like her if not better. Giving God the glory, I did exactly that throughout high school.

This was taken on the prize-giving ceremony in 2013 (my grade 9 year). My mother, Kholisa Kasolo, is the beautiful lady in the picture with me.

It was through my endless involvement in whatever I could do that I saw my potential outside of academics. Without neglecting my school work I also made a mark for myself in leadership and public speaking. Yet none of my achievements would have been possible without the unwavering support of the teachers that stood behind me. The highlight of my high school career was being accepted to study at the Australian National University. The dream to go to nations was always there and that acceptance letter reaffirmed that I was not just some crazy kid with pointless dreams. Although I could not go because of the lack of finances I rejoiced in my victory. In January 2017, I prepared myself to go to Stellenbosch University, with the understanding that it was not my final destination, more awaited me. I still had no clue what the more was.

The level of culture shock I had when I got there, was equivalent to being in a different country. From the architecture, landscape, language and people everything seemed a bit foreign. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good yet intimidating thing. I never openly admitted that to anyone, but rather put on a brave face and ran with the pace that everything was being dished out with. And the first task was getting through welcoming week. Maties O-week is a spectacular, fast-paced and eventful week that one either enjoys or dreads. For the most part, I enjoyed it, but in some quiet moments, I heard the voices inside my head speaking.

If you guessed that experience was one of those voices then you are absolutely correct. That deceptive, vile and loud monster not only recited my shortcomings but constantly painted a picture of the disparity of my background with where I was. It honestly does not take a lot for one to see that the wealth disparity in South Africa unfortunately still exists. “Reality check girl, you don’t belong here. Look at them and look at you. This is their world.”

I continually and consciously fought the wall of separation this villain was building. With much effort, I put out the flames of a “them” that experiencing was busy fueling. This was after all my first time being in a white and Afrikaans dominated environment (in terms of numbers). Sure I did Afrikaans at school but was never exposed to the culture. My school only had Black and Coloured pupils. For the most part, my fight back strategy seemed to work and meeting numerous like-minded people made the journey worth a while.

In no time I learnt to wear my best outfit, my smile, wherever I went in Stellies. Photo credit: C-TheSixth

At the end of the day, we are all just people. I adored the diversity that I encountered like never before. You might think it simple, but being at university allowed me to make Afrikaans, English, Chinese, Indian, Sotho, Tswana, Pedi and Zulu friends on a more frequent base than I was ever exposed to. It was here that I noticed and truly appreciated how unique we all are, but that the uniqueness is not appreciated by all. It was in Stellenbosch that I grasped a part of my identity, that hey I’m a young black, Xhosa female, but it was also here that I found part of my identity to be challenging. “What does it mean to be black in the context of where I am?” “Why am I sometimes treated differently from my white counterparts?” “Does coming from a previously underprivileged environment automatically mean I am incompetent as some people seem to think?” “Is my voice loud enough or does my skin determine the attention I will get?”

Amidst all these questions my resolve to be the best kept me going for the most part. Sure, I did not go to any private or model C school, I did not own a car or expensive clothes, but deep down I knew that those were all just superficial things. I was also not ignorant of the fact that they are not representative of everyone in Stellenbosch and so did not define me. So without fail, academically I continued to pursue the more and bigger picture in my head. I am humbled to say that I performed very well academically to the point of being a Golden Key Honours recipient and being on the Dean’s List for a number of my modules.

So far, I would hope that it is clear how academically orientated my life was, but that’s not all I am about. On the contrary from primary school, I learnt to explore my creative side through writing poetry or stories but rarely performed them publicly. I also enjoyed drama, but because people already had this idea that I was a “serious-smart” child, I mainly kept my creativity to myself, after all, I had an image to uphold. This continued to high school and consequently university. However, I was doing pretty okay and so it did not really matter, until 2019. My year started with a bang, an extraordinary experiencing touring Germany, but that also left a painful marker on my life, which I cannot get into details about at the moment.

This is an image I took in Munich Germany in January 2019. Photo cred: Nalin Singh

The journey of recovery from that incident took a toll on my mentality. For the first time I stopped trying to see everything as good even when it’s not, I forced myself to be honest with myself. As if I did not have enough going on already I encountered parts of my degree that I just did not enjoy and struggled with grasping although it seemed everyone around me was having a jolly time with them. For a change, my identity which was strongly based on being an A-student was tested and I found myself going back to Mam Khoza’s question. “Apart from academics what will you do with your life?” It was also in 2019 that I truly experienced academic racial discrimination in my degree, which was my tipping point, adding to all I was going through.

After this, the battle for my mind became more fierce. My therapist called it a fight to overcome internal oppression. More often than not I wondered whether this was it. “No, there must be more. Your life will not end like this. You are all that and more.” The fighter in me would respond. So I made a frightening yet exciting decision to embark on a journey of searching, which meant cutting a lot of ties. I bid farewell to everything contributing to my struggle.

So have you found it now? Is there really more out there? You might want to ask, but I, unfortunately, cannot give you answers now. The journey still continues and daily I am learning to allow myself to BE more than to DO. The greatest battle is in my mind but I am a victor. So I walk with my head held high.

I’ll keep you posted.

I am Nomvo Faith Kasolo, but you can also call me Vee. Thank you for reading my story…

#LWOS #WriteYourStory #DailyChoosingLife #Living4Christ

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