East London Museum

Since it was too rainy today to have a full work day, we drove 45 minutes south to East London. (Where we flew to from Johannesburg) We visited the East London Museum, which was a fun experience. Our tour guide was a funny little lady, who was extremely smart. The highlights of our tour were the Xhosa exhibit, the Coelaceth Latimeria, and the oldest human trace fossil footprints. The Coelaceth Latimeria is a prehistoric fish that was alive with the dinosaurs. It was accidentally discovered off the coast of east London in the 1930s, and is one of their claims to fame. We also saw a dodo bird, with a supposed real dodo egg.

During the Xhosa exhibit, we got a more in depth/formal lesson of the culture. Milton (our VA32 leader) told us about the tradition for the boys to become men. When a boy turns 18, he goes with any other boys that are of age, during their summer break from school, to a remote hut. They get circumcised by an older male from the village, then stay in the hut without food or water for 7 days. When the week is over, they slaughter a goat to eat, and stay in the hut for another 3 weeks until they are healed. When they are healed, they walk all the way back to their homes in completely new clothing as a man. If they do not complete this, they will be called something between a boy and a man. Milton went through all of this with his cousin after his 18th birthday. (He said it sucked, but he obviously got through it) So it is possible for a person to go 7 days without food/water. He unfortunately has known people who have died during the initiation. Our respect for him sky rocketed after hearing that story. 

Overall, it was a very nice history lesson on a cloudy day!