Today, we were given the day off in preparation for our long production weekend in Kashoba. With no classes scheduled for the day, our group decided to take a trip to the craft center of Swaziland, Manzini. After breakfast, we gathered our things, and bargained our way onto a combi headed towards Manzini.

Whenever we had previously asked local Swazis about the craft markets in Manzini, it was always described to us as just one big craft market. We imagined that the combi would drop us off in the middle of a craft mecca, with storefronts as far as the eye could see. Well, that was not an entirely accurate representation of what we saw when we arrived.

Manzini is the last stop for many combis in Swaziland, and so we were dropped off at the main bus rink. All we saw around us were combis and people. There was not a single craft stand in sight. We started asking everyone we saw where we could find crafts. Everyone we asked gave a slightly different answer, but we were able to figure out that the market we were looking for was around 4 km away from where we were dropped off (about a 40 minute walk). We decided that the walk would be worth it, and we started on our way, despite having the knowledge that most of the women who make the crafts leave the market for Johannesburg early in the morning. About 10 minutes into our walk, we noticed a small market selling fruits, soaps, and traditional brooms. As we wandered around, we saw stairs leading up to another section of the market. By some stroke of luck, that section was actually a large craft market itself, with around 15 different stores.

We spent a little over two hours there, sorting through all of the different goods and haggling prices down. We all bought souvenirs for friends and family at home, though some bought more than others. (By the end of the day, Jared had bought enough crafts to open his own store.) We all had so much fun there, and we became friends with some of the storeowners. Adriana had the best time, as she found out that one of the storeowners shared her Setswati name of Sibongile.

We went to the nearby Pick-n-Pay for lunch, and then tried to navigate the combi system again to return to Sibane. There were so many combis, so we just let the people around us guide us to where we needed to be. It might not have been the best plan in retrospect, but it worked! We went back to Sibane, and watched the USA-Germany World Cup game over dinner (go USA!!!). It was a long day, but it was definitely a great one.