A random piece of news

I was talking to Gcinisizwe on the phone today and he told me something that I have to say, I find very exciting!!

Every December Xhosa people from all over the country return to the villages for holiday celebrations. It is a very important time in their culture to see family and to pay respect to their ancestors. This is also a very important time to share information with family members who are ordinarily spread all over the country. Well they got to talking while Gcinisizwe was in Nqiningana and people were so shocked to hear that the rumors were true, that Gcinisizwe had actually been married, and to a white Canadian woman!

I knew that I was the first white person in the history of the Noyakaza family, that bit of news was shocking in itself, but Gcinisizwe told me today that I am the first white person in the history of the entire Diya clan! I have no idea if this is true or not, but if it is that is huge!

Many of you might not understand how this works so here we go. Picture the entire population of South Africa, it is divided amongst 4 groups of people, Africans, Coloureds, Indians and White people. The African population represents around 80% of the population. Of the African population there are different tribes, for example, Xhosa, Zulu, Tswana etc. The Xhosa tribe is the second largest tribe in South Africa. The Xhosa tribe is divided into clans, this is something we dont' have in Canada, but basically you could think of it as this, in 1752 my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather, Casper Zinck, left Germany and took a ride on a tall ship named the Anne and arrived in Nova Scotia. Everyone born after him is part of the Casper Zinck clan. It is the same thing only the Diya clan has been around for thousands of years, so by now it is huge. Within the Diya clan is the Noyakaza family, as in Gcinisizwe Noyakaza.

I knew I was the first white person in the history of the Noyakaza family which I must say was pretty crazy news, but if it is true that I am the first white person in the history of the Diya clan, well that is just too cool.

Wow, so a big thank you to everyone in South Africa who has welcomed me as part of the family, I feel so blessed to be one of you, and so honored to be an official member of the Diya clan. It is an honor that will make me smile for the rest of my life.