Sunday we had the amazing honor of having dinner at the State House with Bogi Zuma. For those of you who are not aware, Bogi Zuma is the President of South Africa's wife. She cordially invited us to join her at her home in Cape Town for dinner at 6:30 Sunday night. We were thrilled! However, it did not hit me how big of an ordeal this really was. Before we left on our trip a month ago, our group received shirts and a hat from Bongi's foundation. Her foundation is the Bongi Ngema-Zuma Foundation. The foundation aims to address issues regarding non-communicable diseases with a special focus on DIABETES. They do this through health education and community development. We wore the shirts in a race that we took part in two weeks ago, and our picture made it to the foundation's facebook page. Then, we were invited to dinner. We arrived to the gate and reality started to set in that we were going to see the first lady. We had to put our cameras away and get out our identification. We then made our way through the beautiful estate until we reached the State House. It was beautiful! We were greeted by her assistants, and she was standing in front of the grand piano at the end of the long, elegant hallway. She is such a beautiful woman. We tried to feel at home, but it took a while for all of us to relax a little bit. We were sitting in a luxurious home with the President's wife... it was very surreal. She is a very down to earth, tender-hearted woman. She was very welcoming and made us feel very comfortable. We talked for a little while in the parlor where a giant Christmas tree was beautifully decorated. Then, the assistants announced that dinner was ready. We sat down at the table that was elegantly decorated with the finest china and flowers. I looked in front of me and saw three forks, two spoons, two knives, three glasses, and a place setting. I looked around and everyone seemed a little lost at what to use first. I immediately began playing movies through my head to try and remember the proper way to eat with fine china.
Titanic reminded me that you start from the outside and work your way in. Then, we looked at the menu. Our appetizer could have been the meal! Then, we had sorbet- to cleanse of palette of course! Who knew? One the main course there were five different dishes listed and to our surprise we didn't just choose one, we could get them all. It was an experience! Dessert was wonderful too! Enough about the food though... Bongi talked to us about so many different things. We learned more about South Africa's history and culture. We were educated on the devastation of diabetes in not only South Africa, but in the world. She talked to us about her family, the struggles that come with being the President's wife, and so much more. I had such a wonderful time listening to her stories as she shared them with an open heart. She was wonderful! I will never forget this amazing night at the State House with the First Lady. We managed to get a couple of pictures to document the unbelievable night.
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| Waiting for our documentation to be approved. |
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| The menu. |
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| The table after dinner (once we felt comfortable enough to ask if we could take a picture). |
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| The group. |
Sunday we had the amazing honor of having dinner at the State House with Bogi Zuma. For those of you who are not aware, Bogi Zuma is the President of South Africa's wife. She cordially invited us to join her at her home in Cape Town for dinner at 6:30 Sunday night. We were thrilled! However, it did not hit me how big of an ordeal this really was. Before we left on our trip a month ago, our group received shirts and a hat from Bongi's foundation. Her foundation is the Bongi Ngema-Zuma Foundation. The foundation aims to address issues regarding non-communicable diseases with a special focus on DIABETES. They do this through health education and community development. We wore the shirts in a race that we took part in two weeks ago, and our picture made it to the foundation's facebook page. Then, we were invited to dinner. We arrived to the gate and reality started to set in that we were going to see the first lady. We had to put our cameras away and get out our identification. We then made our way through the beautiful estate until we reached the State House. It was beautiful! We were greeted by her assistants, and she was standing in front of the grand piano at the end of the long, elegant hallway. She is such a beautiful woman. We tried to feel at home, but it took a while for all of us to relax a little bit. We were sitting in a luxurious home with the President's wife... it was very surreal. She is a very down to earth, tender-hearted woman. She was very welcoming and made us feel very comfortable. We talked for a little while in the parlor where a giant Christmas tree was beautifully decorated. Then, the assistants announced that dinner was ready. We sat down at the table that was elegantly decorated with the finest china and flowers. I looked in front of me and saw three forks, two spoons, two knives, three glasses, and a place setting. I looked around and everyone seemed a little lost at what to use first. I immediately began playing movies through my head to try and remember the proper way to eat with fine china. Titanic reminded me that you start from the outside and work your way in. Then, we looked at the menu. Our appetizer could have been the meal! Then, we had sorbet- to cleanse of palette of course! Who knew? One the main course there were five different dishes listed and to our surprise we didn't just choose one, we could get them all. It was an experience! Dessert was wonderful too! Enough about the food though... Bongi talked to us about so many different things. We learned more about South Africa's history and culture. We were educated on the devastation of diabetes in not only South Africa, but in the world. She talked to us about her family, the struggles that come with being the President's wife, and so much more. I had such a wonderful time listening to her stories as she shared them with an open heart. She was wonderful! I will never forget this amazing night at the State House with the First Lady. We managed to get a couple of pictures to document the unbelievable night.
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