This Saturday was our first free day during our time here. We got to sleep in, which now sleeping in consists of waking up at 9:30. We didn't have much planned for the day except for a men's group that John G (John G is our friend from South Africa, John D is the Duke student) invited us to. We didn't really know much about this men's group except for that it was at 4 o'clock. When 4 o'clock came around Jamison, John G and I arrived at this men's group which was a primarily Indian men's group. This was very interesting because the Indian culture is one that we had not yet been exposed to here in South Africa, even though South Africa has the second highest percentage of Indians in the world outside of India.
During the service John G gave his testimony which was very inspirational. He told us about his wife Carmen and how she had throat cancer and the doctors said that all the drugs and treatment would make her unable to have kids. He told the story about one of her checkups where they do a whole body check and the doctor jumped up and said "there are two heartbeats" meaning that she was pregnant with twins. About 8 months into the pregnancy something happened and one of the twins broke their sac and started to drown and poison themselves on the fluids in the womb. the had to do and emergency surgery and one of the kids was born healthy and the other one they were told wasn't going to make it through the night. He said he never lost faith and now both of their sons are healthy 8 year olds.
After the service a couple of the younger members of the group probably in their early thirties invited us back to their place to watch the Manchester United/Barcelona game which is as big here as the Super Bowl. We went with John and some of them named Uben and Denver to the downtown area of the Indian community. During the Apartheid the were all displaced into their own community outside of the main city, but this community is nowhere near as poor as the townships we have visited, in fact some of the houses in the area are very nice. After buying a boatload of food in some of the local markets we went back to their house to Braai, which is in essence having a bbq. The food was so amazing, and they let us try it as each item came off the grill. First there was steak, followed by mutton chops (no not the sideburns), then there was spicy mutton sausage, and finally something called voors sausage. We had tried a lot of each of these items and then they took us inside to "chow." Apparently the amount we ate outside was just starters and now it was time to pig out. It was so amazing, the spices were unlike anything at home. You can tell by how much I am writing about the food, how good it really was. We then sat an watched the game and just laughed and joked with each other. They were so friendly and so hospitable that I really felt as if I were at home with some of my friends chilling watching a game. I hope that we keep in touch with them and have more get togethers.
Today, was a big day for the city of Pietermaritzburg; it was the Comrades Marathon. The Comrades was started after World War II as a way to pay tribute to those who died in the war. Each year since then the race has alternated between running from Durban to Pietermariztburg and vice versa, and this year it ended here in Pietermaritzburg. The run is 52 miles long, That's like running from Richmond to Fredericksburg, or from Durham to Greensboro. It was a huge celebration here with live music and vendors, and tons of people lining the streets cheering on the exhausted racers as the inched closer to the finish line. People from all over the world raced in the Marathon, and apparently it is one of the largest Marathons in the world. It was definitely a sight to see, and a great way to spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
Tomorrow and Tuesday we head back to Mpophomene, but we won't be working with Masimbubane anymore. Then on Wednesday we begin at a place called Walk in the Light where I have no idea what we will be doing or where it is. The adventure continues. God Bless.
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