Cultural Day

Today is designated on the schedule as Cultural Day and whenever I ask anyone about it they say it is a surprise and smile. Celeste dresses me up with a football hat, South African flag and a vuvzela so I am a part of the celebration too. Precious and Angela win the prize for the best dressed in my book, along with Mr. Mariti. They are dressed according to Basotho culture, and have a beautiful colored blanket wrapped around them secured with a safety pin. They also have a headwrap and matching skirt underneath. But what catches my eye are the fancy high heeled shoes they wear with their outfits! We are to gather in the hall for the assembly at 12:30, but for now there is a full day of classes to go to. I visit with the 12 grade Calculus class who are in the computer lab working with a program that allows them to self check their classwork. I notice right away that they like working in pairs and do not have to be grouped together but do it naturally. At about 15 minutes to go in the period I show them the Introduction video that Brad made for me and it is a huge hit, especially when they see the amount of snow we get during our winter. They are all amazed at the size of Cleveland? and ask me if that is New York, and I tell them just wait. When they see the size of the city and the footage of the subway they can’t even believe it. They also love the footage of my sister’s graduation from high school, and tell me that they only celebrate graduations from university. As soon as the video ends they cheer and they say they all want to come to America. By now it is time to make our way to the hall, and before I can even get inside a group comes up to me and wants to take their picture with me. Once inside, I sit in the front row of chairs that are set up and see the various dances that they have prepared for me to watch. There is a boy’s dance with rubber boots that reminds me of the step team in the US, but I’m positive I am watching its origin here. The girls do a beautiful dance with a white grass tutu that has bells underneath, next comes a poetry performance, and then some more traditional dances. The students are so excited they are chanting and singing along. Finally, I am called on stage and the class president presents me with a Unicom shirt and tie that is signed by the whole staff. I am overcome with emotion that they have planned this all for me, someone they have known for such a short time. We then meet as a staff for lunch and I eat, and I’m not kidding, a meat mixture that looks and tastes delicious but I find out later is the stomach and small intestines of some kind of animal, not sure whether a goat or sheep or cow. Then they tell me that there is another part of the animal that only the men eat, and I stare at the head of the nondescript animal, and later, watch one of the math teachers eat the eye! I am so thankful that that is a men’s tradition and I am not expected to eat any part of the head or legs with the feet still attached. Back in my room, my roommate Thamae gives me the best present of my trip so far, a FIFA World Cup blanket that has all the colors of the South African flag.