Shaped by Xhosa: Two Endogenous teachings\beliefs that molded my worldview.

Everyone has teachings or beliefs that he\she grew up with that have shaped one's view of the world and how they respond to the world and also the behavior they constitute to the world. I will draw from my two teachings/beliefs that I believe are endogenous to my Xhosa culture and have shaped my view of the world.

STRONG BELIEF AND RESPECT FOR MY ANCESTORS AND NATURE.

growing up in the Xhosa rural areas, it is a primary thing to believe in your Ancestors and nature. It is believed that your Ancestors are always with you everywhere you go, they protect and open doors for you and they can be seen through nature. so nature in some way communicate with us which we associate it with our Ancestors. this molded my view of the world by that i now have a belief that whenever nature does unusual things I come to have thought that there might be a reason. ALL IN ALL, I ASSUME OR FIND REASON FOR EVERYTHING NATURE SHOWS US. this also molded my view of the world by that I now know that I am protected everywhere I go and will succeed in all i do because my Ancestors have my back.

RESPONSIBILITY AND "RESPECT" AGAIN.

These are the teachings i grow with that have molded my view of the world. RESPECT is something that is emphasized more in  Xhosa culture. As a person who has gone through the RITE OF PASSAGE according to my culture, few things I was taught were responsibility and respect, especially as a man. these have shaped my view of the world and influenced my behavior in a way that I stand for what I know is right and if I'm wrong, I am very much keen to apologize and take responsibility in good and bad situations respectfully so. My view of the world now is that if we could all take responsibility in bad situations not only in good, we could move in the right direction. Upon doing that respect each other, and we could have a very peaceful world.

As I close my blog I believe that our different ethnic groups with their teachings and beliefs have all the power to shape how we view the world and that is why in most cases our views of the world differ, because we come from these different ethnic groups and were raised under different teachings, beliefs, and norms.

The daily networks
I believe we all have many, uncountable different networks we move through every day in our lives and this is because we are human. I will reflect on the networks that I come through every day.

Let me start with my core, kinship network which is my family. this network is a basic or primary network to me and serves various functions. it provides a framework of social support, including emotional support and assistance during times of need. As this is a primary network, I am in a way obligated to this network, because we are related therefore we come a long way. this is a long-term network.

My friendship network. this is my social structure formed on shared interests and hobbies. there are many things we share here few of them are pieces of advice and perspectives because sometimes someone's perspective is needed. also, recommendations to help each other navigate life's challenges and ideas. also practical support like helping each other with tasks, could be helping me for example moving things like furniture.

Reflecting on the networks I move through every day, I wouldn't leave the part of a network where I have to come to class and meet  Ms Kile Nkani. On this network, Ms Nkani as a lecturer is providing me with knowledge about SANL. what I exchange through this is that as I am coming to class to to collect knowledge from her, she is also coming to class to give it to me in return of the salary she is getting for sharing knowledge with us. this network involves reciprocity. it is a short network, because it is Non-kinship, so I would wake up and decide that I don't want the knowledge. I am not obligated in a very long run.

I have this belief that everyone we meet and talk to forms part of our networks. for example, when i go to the shops and get to greet a cashier serving me I think a network is formed there. the exchange is that I am coming with money and he/she is giving me food. there is a mutual benefit after all. and reciprocity. It is also a very short network because after I went out there is a possibility I might never see him/her again.

A DAY IN MY LIFE
Life as a University student. I'm not a very difficult person in terms of waking up in the morning, I wake up as early as 5H00 and I don't neccessarily need an alarm...As I wake up in the morning in my bed I do a little stratch just to get my body ready and to bring back my mind to reality. I take a deep breath and open the windows of my room and walk to the bathroom to prepare for bathing, I get to feel the fresh, pure air blowing inside. signaling to me that it a brand new day, therefore we try again as fresh as it is blowing towards me. I get to the bathroom and bath.

After bathing, I get in my room and put an invigoration hydration body lotion and dress up. I now prepare for my self a very delicious, warm breakfast made with love to kickstart the day...After eating I pray for the day I'm about to have and for wisdom in preparation to go to campus for my classes for the day. I walk out and heard to campus, on my way I meet my two course mates and we walk together. Along the way we are chatting, laughing and just having a good positive mood. we get to campus and heard straight to the Lecture room where we find a lot of students also here for the SANL 112... In front of us is a beautiful, bubbly and loveable lecture MS KILE NKANI who takes us through what we gonna reflect on for the day.

After the class I heard to library to prepare for the next class I'm going to attend. After that class I now heard back to my RES at around 4H00, walking towards the gate and going out with a 5mins walk to my RES. I get to my res and prepare to go to a soccer training at 18H00 as I am a soccer player. I go out and start making my way to training, as I get there I meet my teammates we greet each other and have those silly, amusing talks which just makes one to forget a little about anything stressing him. We now start having a session full of energy and team spirit. after the session I now go back to my RES, have a hot bath, prepare dinner, eat and get straight to my books. At around 23H00 I stop and go to bed and have a nice short sleep because a student never sleeps for enough hours.

My RITE OF SEPARATION: would be when I was walking out of the campus and going to RES to prepare to go to soccer training. because I was now DETACHING from my fixed status.

LIMINAL PHASE: would be when I was herding to the training. Because I was now transforming from my previous status.

COMMUNITAS: would be when i meet my teammates, having those silly and amusing talks. even when I meet my course mates. also the students who where in the SANL 112 class.

RITE OF INCORPORATION: would be when I was hearding back to RES done with training. Because i was now going back to my fixed social status which being a student.