Day 103: Ciko

The bed was so warm and soft that it was hard to get up as I would have liked to lie there the whole morning, but it was such a nice day and I was eager to get going but life has other plans sometimes. The first thing I did was get my bike cleaned which I did with the help of Esethu who was one of the younger brothers, a real smart boy whose mindful attitude I really appreciated. I was happy to finally have a somewhat cleaner bike without the worry of all those little stones causing me all that undue anger.

Once it was cleaned, the two older brothers asked if they could ride my bike. Sure I said but told them to please be careful and not to use the front break as I didn’t want them falling forward or something. So I let them take it for a ride. Within 5 minutes Esethu comes back pushing my bike. The handle bars had turned 90 degress and my front break had broken off its clip section and was dangling from its cable. WTF!!! My bike!!! I was super pissed but I couldn’t just belt out my grievances to these kids with their dad around but I did let them know how disappointed I was. They had not listened to me about the front break plus that the one brother was also riding on the bike rack at the back. WTF!!! I couldn’t help but think these brothers were stupid for what had just happened. A little later when I had cooled down I realized I couldn’t just blame them all out like I had. They were just kids who honestly didn’t know better and were totally stoked to be riding a bike. Plus I could have been more specific about things. So no more blame. The thing to handle now was how to fix my break system. The break still worked but it wasn’t fixed to the handle bar. Welding it wouldn’t work as it wasn’t steel. The only way was to tie it down using wire and cable ties. This took a while and I only got it sorted at the end of the day which meant I would be staying for the day. I was glad it got sorted plus I enjoyed a couple new things that day so it wasn’t a complete bust.

Thats how you sort things out. Boom. And that lasted me all the way home.

So after it was decided that I was staying for the day, I ended up showing my camping stuff to the kids and also set up my tent from them to all cram into. They really enjoyed it. Afterwards they gave me some umgomboti which is African beer as they called it and which they had brewed in another outside room. I had never tasted this before so I had a whole cup. Was a bit sweet for my taste as they added sugar to it but I finished it all rather slowly.

Umgomboti

Drowning my broken brake sorrows. Haha. Maybe I should have just become a full blown alcoholic? Nah.

Tent jam.

Tent jam 2

I was also privy to witness the some of the end of the traditional circumcision ritual that happens in this area. It is called Umkwetha Aphiwe inga as Esethu told me. It was the end of the ritual as the circumcision had already happened a few weeks ago and now the 2 men were returning to society. They were led to an area outside where they were given a talk by the elders. This was all done with them wrapped in blankets different to the ones they were at the beginning of the ritual and they were sitting on mats the whole time. After this they were led into the other room next to mine to take it easy for the rest of the day.

I was then taken by the young brothers to go into the bush to look for the cows. Wasn’t bad other than the fact that it got quite hot and I was wearing the wrong clothes, plus the gumboots I was wearing were just a tad small so my toes got squashed a little. This made me want to go back sooner that I would have like so I could be comfortable. They told me about the ‘skeletons’ which are ghosts in the area. Being one who enjoys all things horror related I told them I want to meet these skeletons later tonight and that I wanted to fight them. They said I’d get killed. Ha, I said. Ill fight them all. I would use the skeletons on them later.

Seeing as there were so many people around, there was plenty food being cooked and I was well fed throughout the day. I even ate chicken again for the first time in years and it tasted pretty much the same as I remembered it. I didn’t want to be rude and refuse the chicken as I had politely declined the wors I was given ealier but was then given chicken so I just ate it.

Lets go look for cows.

All thats needed are gum boots. Plus shorts instead of those tracksuit pants which would become kak hot.

The remains of the hut where the circumsion ritual took place.

And where the hell are all these skeletons?

Thats right kiddies. Run, cause Im gonna set the skeletons on you for breaking my bike. HAHAHAHA

Send me your best caption for this one.

This food was so good.

Thank you ladies for cooking up a storm and keeping my belly filled.

I also had the pleasure of meeting an elderly man by the name of Isaac Ntamo. He had that wonderful air of humility and peacefulness that can only come from old age and knowing exactly what it is that is important in one’s life. Two things he mentioned were, ‘Everybody is somebody’, and ‘Let’s go together until the end of our lives.’ Very simple but profound I felt when I heard those words especially coming from him.

I was also very grateful with the helpfulness and kindness of the one sister Pelogazi who always brought me food when it was time to eat and she also took my shoes and gave them a good wash as they were completely covered in mud from the day before. Thank you so much once again.

The rest of the day was spent just resting and entertaining the kids here and there before we ended the night watching Zombieland on their laptop in the room that I was staying in. During the night I was also joking that the kids must watch out for the skeletons as I could summon them to do my bidding. They laughed every time I said this. It was a lekker end to the day along with the fact that I had earlier just sorted my break problem out.

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