Hi,

Sorry I haven't posted anything all week. I have had a busy long weekend. The only disappointing thing was that I didn't get to celebrate Easter (it felt strange to not go to a Good Friday service).
On Saturday I went with all the APU students to the Victoria Street market in Durban. I bought some cool souvenirs to take home and a leopard print t-shirt for myself! At the stall where I bought the t-shirt, the man asked where I was from and I said Australia and when I left he said 'Give my regards to Skippy'. Afterwards we spent a few hours at the beach, though it was a bit cold to swim.

This weekend Hloni got married and I felt privileged to attend his reception yesterday (the ceremony was on Saturday). It was an early start and Rudi (the manager at AE) picked me up. The wedding was in Harrismith which was nearly a 3 hour drive! It was halfway to Johnnesburg and a nice drive through the Drakensberg mountains. When we got there, they were still setting up and he had to wait for Hloni and the others to make an entrance. While we were waiting, Rudi took a photo of me with his phone and then said 'Hamish does a cheesy smile really well. If there was a competition for who could do the cheesiest smile, you would win'. It was funny.

There was a small marquis which was very nicely decorated - there wasn't much seating but we got to sit inside the marquis close to the bridal party table - I think they thought I was one of the official photographers as I was taking lots of photos. There were supposedly about 400 people there (but about half of them were just part of the community who had come to watch).

The bridal party and the family entered by doing a procession down the street, swaying to music. The program consisted of a lot of speeches, which were all in Zulu (I did not understand most of it, though a lady at our table translated a bit). Also they did not serve lunch till 3pm so I was very hungry. It was also pretty relaxed and casual and I expected more partying and dancing,  and I felt overdressed wearing a shirt and suit pants. Apart from those things however, it was a nice day and was good to experience a wedding of a different culture.

Two cute boys wearing matching jackets

Hloni looking smart in his white tunic

Hloni with the groomsmen (Sello on the left)

Procession down the street

Inside the marquis

Cutting the cake

Me with Rudi and his wife Michelle