This is a documentation of me as a modern young black Xhosa woman, covering my head with a head scarf (known as iqhiya in Xhosa), wearing a long skirt and not looking at elders in the eye for 10 days. This is usually done by South African black women (Xhosa, Zulu, Sesotho, Tswana, and many other South African cultural groups) when they get married, but they do this for the rest of their married life. It is known as ukuhlonipha in Xhosa (which means giving respect).
Saturday, 19 March 2011
Day 6 - Imini yesithandathu
Today I knew I would cheat. It's a Saturday and it is EXTREMELY hot. Usually Saturday's are my days to relax and cool down after a hectic week. I can't exactly put my feet up comfortably wearing a long heavy skirt. So I wore track suit pants all day. I feel terrible but I had to. Luckly I stayed at res all day. Strangely the people I live with noticed and started asking me where my head wrap and skirt is. Why am I not wearing them. That made me happy in that I now know that people are behind what I'm doing and they understand the importance of what I am doing. That made me smile.
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