Exploring the hotel grounds/walls

Today was our first day in Swaziland, and while it started slowly it soon became an exciting day with puzzling and great encounters. I awoke to the beautiful sunrise over the mountains, explored the hotel grounds, and found a way to get to the river. The landscape here is drastically different from that in South Africa; rather than golden dry grass, it’s covered by  lush foliage and mesmerizing views of the mountains. I met some of the hotel staff on my way back to the room and found that they were incredibly friendly and welcoming, almost more so than in South Africa.

After breakfast we went over to the nearby village and shopping center. We had lunch, bought some things at a supermarket and then made our way over to the arts and craft market. The necklaces and clothing were absolutely beautiful, with their vibrant colors and complex patterns. But what I found even more interesting were the storeowners. They were all women as is to be expected, but once again I was surprised by the generosity and friendliness that they presented toward us. I supposed I’m more used to the aggressive craft markets in South America, where both merchant and buyer are engaged in a forceful exchange of words and offers to get the best deal possible. In those markets the buyer is practically begged and dragged into a store, and after politely looking at the merchandise will make a half hearted effort to say that while they love the products they must look at other options first. At this point the merchant will say a polite good bye, while muttering some type of curse under their breath. This is a blatant contrast to what happened today: not only were we genuinely and gently welcomed in to the stores, the sellers also talked to us and truly engaged. One woman in particular talked to me about the history of Swaziland. From her I learned that the current king has 15 wives (although other people say that he has 8 and some say 12… I guess no one can keep track), and that the king before him had more than 4 times that number. Her name, which means “celebration” in English, is in honor of the fact that her birthday lands on September 6^th, the day of independence from Britain in Swaziland. The king seems to be a very large part of the culture here, as his face can be seen on t-shirts, dresses, and crafts. I wonder if this is due to admiration from the public, and if so what kind of acts must he have done to gain this type of approval. I guess what I find most interesting about my interaction with her was that she was not purely interested in my money or my potential to buy from her, but rather that she could simply enjoy a conversation with a foreigner and so openly tell me about her life, and her country.

In this same market we met another merchant named Elizabeth. She invited us to a Swazi church tomorrow, and when we said we would go was beyond excited. It almost seemed as if she was going to cry from emotion at the thought of taking us to her church, and even told us that she loved us. We’re supposed to meet her at 10 A.M tomorrow, and I could not be more excited for this experience. I’ve always believed that religion is an integral part of every culture, and one that will influence all aspects of life. If I ever hope to understand the culture of Swaziland I need to see how religion plays a role in the life of its citizens.