I like the way you move

Twins (d)Urban
Originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Do you know this song? It is used to advertise Vodacom over here - a good song and a great advert - we are not sure who sings it - maybe Body Rockers (?). (We also like the Gimme Gimme Gimme Madonna song, but not the "I am so lonely" song, which has followed us around since Lebanon!)

Well, we have been seeing some moves here.

Last night a floor show at Shakaland (sounds horrible but was in fact not-bad-at-all) and today at the Coming of Age Bring-Me-A-Present party/celebration on a grassy hillside in the sunshine.

Lots of young girls/maidens bare-breasted, old women, fierce men with sticks and shields, young guys running scared of the big girls, ceremonies, dancing, calling, singing, drumming, mock fighting.... all because a girl became 21. The main activity of this ceremony was a half-circle of maidens singing, with four bringing a spear and setting this spear at the foot of a man in the audience, who then is supposed to pin money on the girl's headdress.... the ceremony lasted a long time and much money was collected. At the end the paths were ful of young lads with their sticks and spears looking forward to some stick fighting, sharing some local beer and meeting a maiden! It was at this time that we unfortunately had to leave....

Further, looked at Zulu town life and village life in the company of Victor. He had interestinmg political views, being a Zulu, not being so keen on the ANC... but these are stories for another day.

But just briefly, we remarked on how many funeral service providers there were in the small-ish city of Eshowe... and we were told there were in fact 23, with a concentration just outside the hospital. Apparently, business is so cut-throat that nurses are bribed to send bodies to one funeral company rather than another. Not as bad as another town where it is claimed that people were being murdered on the streets at night and having their bodies removed to one funeral company or another... until the locals got fed up and stoned all the offices in town, such that they have now all been closed down, with the local council now taking over.

OK, now we are in St Lucia, on our way up to Hluhluwe, where at Isinkwe Backpackers we should find a pool, some comfortable beds and a New Year's barbecue. It is swelteringly hot here now, amazing how quickly things can change. Hope it is not TOO cold where you are and have a great New Year's celebration.

(Fred and my e-mails are not working properly for some reason these last few days.. something to do with cookies, apparently).