Not just another Pleasant Valley Sunday…

We tried another new church this weekend, Siteki Church of the Nazarene. It was different from our other Swazi church experiences; this was an event. As is the Swazi way, we were warmly greeted when we arrived. The service was already in full swing by 11:00 am (we didn’t know that is started earlier). We sat in the back together only to realize that the men and women were sitting separately…oops.

Unfortunately, the service was in Siswati, so we couldn’t quite follow it all. However, from the clip art of elderly people on the bulletin and the group of old people at the front I supposed it was “Honor Old People Day” while Brad supposed it was “Bring Your Old Person to Church Day.” Well, it was something like that.

The service proceeded in the manner of a variety show. An old lady sang “Where He Leads Me, I Will Follow,” a blind choir sang two songs to soundtracks (they all swayed to the rhythm while the main soloist danced and dramatically kicked up her legs drawing cheers and applause from the congregation), and some more people sang solos and duets. A group of four women, three older women with coordinated peach dress suits and fancy, white hats and then their token young soprano dressed in black, sang a quartet. They sang heartily (I think one or two of them may have legitimately been basses) in English, giving new meaning to “singing all the verses.” I think there were four false endings to the song that drew scattered applause before the women launched into each next verse. They finally ended and began flipping through their lyrics book. Brad whispered that this was intermission and verses 17-36 were coming up. Thankfully, they did not go on with verses 17-36, but they did sing another song with even more complicated harmonies that made us all uncomfortable in our seats.

What was interesting was that “anything went” in the service. People were walking in and out of the building, talking to each other, walking around and taking pictures. One person even came up and randomly took Brad’s and my picture while we were sitting in our seats. Most entertaining was seeing one of the pastors taking pictures on his cell phone of each act that performed. Since cell phones don’t typically have a zoom, he had to stand on stage close to the pulpit and hold out his phone in the performers’ faces for the best shot. We even had a lady come and ask us where we were from and whether we had something to “render” to the service. When you’re a visitor in Swaziland, you better have something prepared for church! Thankfully, our only recognition was the pastor referring to us in the sermon and saying that all races are united in Christ.

Following the musical selections they proceeded to have musical prizes. A bag was passed around the group of old people while the pianist played music, whomever held the bag when the music stopped chose a prize from the bag. Then some elderly people were selected to come out, dance, and strut their stuff on the stage. Brad coined this particular event Gogo Dance Off (Gogo means Grandma). Two women had canes swinging, another shook her hips, and one woman appeared to making gang symbols. This dancing caused riotous cheers, applause, shouts, and laughter. It was a regular catwalk! However, in the end one of the small old men won the most votes for his smooth strutting; he won R100 and some other people won cell phones.

You may be wondering if there was any sort of message during this church service variety show. Yes, there was a sermon that was emphatically delivered. Unfortunately, it, too, was in Siswati so we only caught a few words here and there. This proved to be the most unique church experience we have had so far. However, despite the eccentricities of the service, one thing was clear that the Swazi people have an energy and fervor for God, people, and music. It was refreshing to see the joy, love, and respect that the people showed for us and for each other.

Five years….has it been that long?

Ben and I celebrated our fifth year wedding anniversary on September 24^th of this year. To us, five years sounds like a long time, especially when many people our age are not even married. However, at the same time it seems like the time has flown and we are still newlyweds. Anyway… since we have had plans over the last two weekends, Ben and I were able to commemorate our anniversary this past Saturday.

We took the car and traveled to Manzini (the largest Swaziland city about 45 minutes to an hour from Siteki). There we enjoyed browsing and bartering at the Swazi hand craft market where colorful paintings and material adorned the walls, and carved animals, wooden bowls, beaded jewelry, and much more were laid out for view. Oranges, apples, bananas, tomatoes, greens, potatoes, onions, and all sorts of freshly harvested foods were on display. Even specialties such as tailoring, barbering, and freshly ground herbs were available. If you can picture a stereotypical African market, you are not too far from reality.

After that, we enjoyed visiting the Swaziland Candle and Craft Centre where intricate animals and unique colors and shapes were remarkably shaped into wax candles. While the market is much more stereotypically African, this center catered to the tour groups and was quite the tourist destination. Three or four busses full of travelers stopped while we were there. When everything became really busy we decided that we wanted to get out of there fast!

Ben and I then went to the Summerfield Botanical Gardens where we walked around and ate at a picturesque restaurant amidst the beautiful lush tropical greenery. We enjoyed an elegant meal (However, with the currency exchange my Duck Frittatela dish was only $7 and Ben’s Butterflied Chicken was $11.) and shared a dessert. It was a lovely opportunity for us to be together and reminisce about our past and share our dreams for the future. Overall, our weekend was a great mix of relaxation, romance, and fun!

-Grace