RECEPTION
by Mazvita Ndawana
All of the participants had been excited for this reception even prior to our arrival in Deutschland. Given all the exciting activities of the program, our excitement dedicated itself to other things. After our first week, Barbara reminded us about it and told us that we would be performing on the day.
My first reaction was "Oh my goodness what are we going to do?!" Fortunately, as a group we had got to know each other and were able to function as a team comprising of teammates that know each other.
We rehearsed a few times, changed several things a lot of times, clashed with with each other a few times, but we managed to organise a performance we all could be proud of. On the afternoon of the reception, we rehearsed one more time and now we just hoped our guests and host families would enjoy it.
On the evening, we rushed to Uni/Neue Aula with Suna and hung our coats. Some finished getting ready, make-up and jewellery, while others acquainted themselves with the venue. It was an intimate venue with sandwiches, juice and wine waiting for us. We started taking pictures and before we knew it the guests started to arrive in small batches.
The host families and our lecturers were among the first to arrive - seeing both groups was very special for everyone. It was so amazing to be with our lecturers outside of the classroom and interact with them on matters outside the classroom agenda. Just as most of us suspected, they were warm, considerate and witty people. I even danced with Dr. Favogano!
While the three esteemed guests of the evening said their speeches and spoke to us, our excitement to show off what we had in store for them grew. We stood patiently, listening to the words they had for us, our host families, lecturers, student assistants and Barbara.
Our performance begun after the Consulate's speech and we sang our hearts out the national anthems of South Africa and Botswana - better and louder than we thought we would. What took most of the group aback was the solo performances and we hadn't seen them prior to the evening.
Annita's and Clementine's voices gave us goosebumps as they graced us with two beautiful songs, both Christian. Annita's poem succeeding the duet left us all absolutely shaken , perhaps except Kabelo, as we didn't expect such an attention commanding performance from our small and soft spoken Annita. Karabo read a book excerpt that reminded us of what is back home and gave the guests in the room an idea of what is our reality.
After our performance, we took a bow and began to mingle with the guests and munch on those sandwiches we'd been eyeing since the evening began. With songs from home playing in the background, we often broke into dance to show the guests how we dance to the different songs back home. Quite a few of the times some guests would join in.
The wine was good and the apple juice too. The night drew to a close but at this point the participants had just begun to enjoy themselves. Barbara had a little difficulty convincing us to leave the room as our fun had just begun. At long last, we gave in and begun the walk to ADaF now with excitement for our trip to Daimler the next morning.
Thank you