Despidida - bush style

Despidida is a Spanish word and it means
a going away party / present.
That's what happened the other night, in fact,
it was a surprise despidida.

As mentioned in some of the recent blog posts,
we were trying to get the djwara project finished
but it just didn't work out.

There was a flurry of situations in the village that
took David's (cultural group leader) time. But he
did make a great effort and in the next blog post
I will show you a picture of a one-third finished
traditional hut.

The other night David called and told me to go to
the djwara and bring my camera. I figured that
maybe there was some progress on the traditional
hut because that was the last thing we needed to
do and which I wanted to see. I thought that maybe
it would be my last chance to see one in person.
When I got to the djwara I could see that something
was up and found out that in fact it was a despidida
for me.

I really don't like despididas and really prefer to walk
out quietly with my thoughts. But this time I had no
choice and I am glad that I didn't
As you can see in the picture, the kids danced in
the night the traditional way with the two fires.
It was truly a night to remember. The kids danced
especially motivated and energetic and in fact, it
was the best that I've seen them.
The drums were beating, the kids were singing and
dancing and the place under the dancing tree was
aglow with the light of the two fires.

This time, I have no words that I can use to describe
exactly what it was like.

I am so grateful to have been able to experience a
pretty close to the 'Old Way' traditional night of the San
(Khwe) people.

I usually don't get this way but it was a bit emotional.
The project of the San cultural group has been one
of my favorites. No matter how the kids in the group
end up, either good or bad, all we can truly say is that
... we tried. Leaving that project behind will just make
me wonder if we've done anything good.

But, as all things must end, and this one ended in a
way that I can probably describe as magical. To be
able to see something resembling what the Khwe
had practiced for thousands of years, how can it
get better?

It was a farewell party but to me it really was ...
a present that I will never forget.