Excusing Me, But I Think Your Goat is Calling You

Derek was recently riding in a kombi on the way home from doing some work in Pietermaritzburg and was minding his own business for the first half hour when a blood curdling scream was let loose. He was sure it was either a child getting extremely sick or some religious person being consumed by the spirit. The driver pulled over and came around the side to deal with the problem and went back to driving. This happened a few more times, but Derek was not able to see the source of the noise, which seemed weird until, at the end of the trip, he realized it was a full grown goat tied up and forced under a seat that had been expressing its extreme displeasure at being forced onto its side under a chair! That same week, as I was walking across the dirt road in front of our home, a drunk gogo started yelling at me. It took me a moment to process what she was saying, which was that I gave my husband “muti” (a potion) in order to trick him into doing housework including cooking and laundry. I slowly walked towards the irate woman with my hands out and open like I would with a scared child or an angry puppy and was able to explain in my broken Zulu that where we come from, when both the husband and wife work, they share the work in the house. She seemed skeptical at first, but I think I finally got her to understand the Derek and I like to work together on the household tasks and I am in fact not tricking him! Ah! Cultural exchange and learning moments can happen when you least expect it!