Saturday and Sunday we attended 'the changing of the clothes' of Hille's widow Marrow. A Motswana widow wears black clothes for a year, and a mekgoa widow doesn't, so for Hille they choose half of the Batswana, half of the lekgoa custom: half a year of black.
Saturday, the day for all the important things in life, Marrow does the first part of the changing. Early in the morning she goes to her parents yard to burn the black clothes, shave her head, and kill a goat.
Meanwhile the youngsters prepare a traditional lunch in her own yard. Elderly guests like us just sit, chat, drink the strong, sweet tea and eat the special bread, papata, baked in the big black cooking pots, while waiting for Marrow to return.
The sharing of the belongings finishes the traditional mourning period. Sunday early in the morning, mmapakela (before the sun is hot), the children of the deceased divide his personal possessions, supervised by some elder family-members and neighbours.
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