Boobs!

We had the most amazing cultural experience yesterday.  The 16 of us all had the opportunity to attend The Zulu Reed Dance in KwaZulu Natal! In this ceremony, thousands of young (virgin) girls parade in groups before the King of KwaZulu Natal so he can choose his new wife.  These girls undergo a virginity testing process beforehand to confirm that they are, in fact, virgins.

As barbaric as this sounds, the women love it.  All of the girls absolutely love the attention and feel gorgeous in their intricate beaded outfits and noisemakers attached at their ankles.  Most of them are topless as they dance and chant and sing marching up the hill carrying the large reeds that they place in one big pile before they pass the king. 

I did manage to catch a few photos of the king, who for some reason really bothered me.  I’m not sure why.

But anyway, back to the culture.  It was so much fun! The girls were so fun and lively and absolutely LOVED us and had come to share this day with them.  As we were walking up the hill alongside the girls participating in the ceremony, many other girls were walking down and got so excited by us and couldn’t help but run up and hug us and beg us to take pictures with them! It was so cute I loved it.  During the ceremony I took SO many pictures and took amazing pictures I wish I could share with y’all but the internet does not allow any uploading or downloading so I will have to share those later. 

After the ceremony though, we got to walk ahead to where all the girls ended up after the walk.  And they were even more excited than anyone else!  They huddled in groups and posed for us to take pictures and grabbed us to be in the pictures too.  They played with my hair and touched my clothes and when I showed them the pictures we took they would say, “Oh I look beautiful!” It was awesome.  The girls all ranged from about 13 years old to early twenties but most of them seemed like babies to me. They were so cute and bubbly and just wanted to talk to us and share their lives.  They told us that they had woken up at about 4 am that morning to bathe in the river and prepare for their day. 

It was such an eye opening experience to see how these girls lived and to be around so many bare breasted girls so comfortable in their skin.  None of the girls seemed to be concerned with body image at all and they all strutted around with such confidence.  Not only did they love themselves, but everyone seemed to have such warm compassion for those around them and all the girls were so welcoming to us.

I tried uploading one picture but it didn't work so hopefully there will be so many to come! We’re officially leaving our apartments in Durban to stay with our homestay families in Cato Manor.  But not before taking off our clothes and illegally running into the ocean in the middle of the night.   

Sala Kahle for now! :)