In the course of our daily lives, we are not necessarily explicitly aware of the actions of strangers around us. Not only do we not necessarily observe specifics about a person’s mannerisms or clothing, we do not observe the actions of strangers for an extended period of time. For an exercise in participant-observation, one of the central components of fieldwork in anthropological study, I approached someone that I did not know and observed their actions over the course of a couple hours. My process for finding someone that I did not know was not totally random, as I picked a specific location in Joza that I am familiar with. I approached a woman that I did not know at Ethembeni Senior Service Centre. For this exercise, I will refer to her as Thandeka. Thandeka is a member at Ethembeni, which is a day centre for elderly people in the Joza township in Grahamstown. The biggest challenge in this exercise was the language barrier. My first language is English and I have only a limited proficiency in isiXhosa, while Thandeka’s first language is isiXhosa and she has only a limited proficiency in English. Though in some ways this was a barrier to conversation and interaction, it also forced me to be keenly aware of Thandeka’s mannerisms, movements, and interactions with other people at the centre.
Thandeka is a 70 year-old Xhosa woman who has lived in Grahamstown her entire life. She is the youngest member of the centre, which serves as a day home for approximately 30 people Monday through Friday each week. Though this is a very specific environment in which I observed Thandeka, it is a major part of her daily routine as she spends five hours a day for five days a week at the centre. Thandeka also does not have full use of her right hand and walks with a limp as a result of a physical disability.
On the day that I observed Thandeka, she was wearing a baggy beige jersey and long brown skirt. She also had a brown fabric head covering and plain black sneakers. I first began observing Thandeka while she was playing a card game with several other members from the centre. She held the cards in her disabled right hand out of the view of any sneaky adjacent card-players, and when it was her turn played the cards with her left hand. There is a consistent low level of chatter in isiXhosa amongst the card-players throughout the games. During the first game, which lasted about ten minutes, Thandeka mostly kept to herself, but took part in friendly banter during the second game. Though I was not able to pick up exactly what was being said, I gathered that the conversation was lighthearted and friendly. After the first two games I was invited to play along with everybody else. The game was reasonably simple to follow, quickly-paced, and relied more on the luck of the draw than on experience and skill. The card game, whose name I was not able to get, is played every morning during the week as part of Thandeka’s and other members’ daily routine and social interaction.
The card playing ended just before the start of the lunchtime prayer that precedes the midday meal at the centre. Thandeka took her place sitting at a bench along the wall on the right side of the centre with all of the other female members. The men sat around two tables on the other side of the room, still near to the women as the only function room at the centre is not very big. The prayer lasted for ten minutes and included song, chant, and spoken prayer in isiXhosa by one of the members in between songs. During lunch, Thandeka sat at a table with two other women near the kitchen at the back of the function room. At this point, after a couple hours of observation, I had to leave the centre, but was able to gather a few more details about Thandeka’s daily routine at the centre. Very often after lunch, Thandeka will do beadwork and sewing with a couple of other female members of the centre. Despite her physical disability, she is able to put together beautiful quilt work, stuffed teddy bears, and beaded jewelry. Thandeka also said she often spends time sitting and chatting with other members outside in front of the centre on more pleasant days. A mini-bus taxi takes Thandeka and other members to their homes in the township a little while after two in the afternoon each day when the centre closes. Thandeka was very welcoming and friendly towards me, and despite our language barrier, I was able to participate in and observe a number of her daily activities.
Thandeka is a 70 year-old Xhosa woman who has lived in Grahamstown her entire life. She is the youngest member of the centre, which serves as a day home for approximately 30 people Monday through Friday each week. Though this is a very specific environment in which I observed Thandeka, it is a major part of her daily routine as she spends five hours a day for five days a week at the centre. Thandeka also does not have full use of her right hand and walks with a limp as a result of a physical disability.
On the day that I observed Thandeka, she was wearing a baggy beige jersey and long brown skirt. She also had a brown fabric head covering and plain black sneakers. I first began observing Thandeka while she was playing a card game with several other members from the centre. She held the cards in her disabled right hand out of the view of any sneaky adjacent card-players, and when it was her turn played the cards with her left hand. There is a consistent low level of chatter in isiXhosa amongst the card-players throughout the games. During the first game, which lasted about ten minutes, Thandeka mostly kept to herself, but took part in friendly banter during the second game. Though I was not able to pick up exactly what was being said, I gathered that the conversation was lighthearted and friendly. After the first two games I was invited to play along with everybody else. The game was reasonably simple to follow, quickly-paced, and relied more on the luck of the draw than on experience and skill. The card game, whose name I was not able to get, is played every morning during the week as part of Thandeka’s and other members’ daily routine and social interaction.
The card playing ended just before the start of the lunchtime prayer that precedes the midday meal at the centre. Thandeka took her place sitting at a bench along the wall on the right side of the centre with all of the other female members. The men sat around two tables on the other side of the room, still near to the women as the only function room at the centre is not very big. The prayer lasted for ten minutes and included song, chant, and spoken prayer in isiXhosa by one of the members in between songs. During lunch, Thandeka sat at a table with two other women near the kitchen at the back of the function room. At this point, after a couple hours of observation, I had to leave the centre, but was able to gather a few more details about Thandeka’s daily routine at the centre. Very often after lunch, Thandeka will do beadwork and sewing with a couple of other female members of the centre. Despite her physical disability, she is able to put together beautiful quilt work, stuffed teddy bears, and beaded jewelry. Thandeka also said she often spends time sitting and chatting with other members outside in front of the centre on more pleasant days. A mini-bus taxi takes Thandeka and other members to their homes in the township a little while after two in the afternoon each day when the centre closes. Thandeka was very welcoming and friendly towards me, and despite our language barrier, I was able to participate in and observe a number of her daily activities.
