Today we took another bus tour. We went to the oldest winery in the southern hemisphere. We experienced a wine tasting. Wine is a large export of South Africa. Wine is as important to understanding South African history as Cotton is to understanding the history of Mississippi.
After the wine farm, we had potjiekos with our guides and their families. The word potjiekos means pot vegetables. It was prepared outside. The one we ate had seafood. It was awesome. We also had snokei fish, which is a custom here. After dinner, we all sat around and talked. It was awesome. It was interesting to me to listen as our guides as they talked about their personal and professional lives during and after apartheid. Most of our guides are connected to child welfare. Even though we came half a world away from Mississippi, it was interesting to see our commonalities in the social work profession. For example, one guide spoke about the long work hours. I identified. Another talked about his experiences moving to a “white” neighborhood. When he talked about his experience, it reminded when my family moved to a “white” neighborhood over 20 years ago. Even though his experiences were more recent, they were similar to mine. I really enjoyed this night.
They invited us into their home and their lives and treated us like family.
No comments:
Post a Comment