>>>township pt.2 of 2

..so it's tuesday and it's the day that im heading out to khayelitsha township for the art workshop with the kids. the plan was to meet my friends juma and willard (the community leaders) in an area called woodstock, not too far from my hostel. we were all planning to catch a train together to khayelitsha to go straight to the community centre. after, when the workshop would end..juma and willard would drop me off at my hostel via van taxi. but plans changed..

juma asked me before if it would be possible to spend the nite in khayelitsha. the workshop started at around 6pm and by the time it would end it be 8ish and for willard and juma to drop me off in town and for them to go back would be too late and time consuming. it was one thing to spend a few hours in khayelitsha but to spend the nite in the township kind of caught me off guard.

juma and willard understood and reassured me that they'd be able to make arrangements with the woman who ran the community centre. they said it be more than ok to stay at her place overnight and to just make any donation. this woman's name is vicki and she was interested in the idea of having foreigners stay over at her home so that people could get a feel of township life. they said the area was more than safe...and her home was just minutes away from the community centre.

what got me was when juma said, "you've only experienced the real south africa if you spend a nite in the township." i had some reservations about it at first but i really trusted my friends so i agreed. i figure, i survived this country so far from the late nite shebeen runs in joburg, jumping out of a plane, already visiting a few townships..what's one nite in one?

i pack my overnite bag and im on the train to khayelitsha. normally, when tourists go to the townships it's usually by bus or car arranged by some tour company and not so much by train. the train is usually for the locals. so when juma got our train tickets, he was telling me afterwards that the ticket agent had to ask him twice if i was really going to khayelitsha...i nervously laughed it off. what else was i to do? i was already en route...

we get off the train, and khayelitsha is buzzing with venders selling everything under the sun from plumped-out chickens to braai meats to nailcutters. in a township everything is so picturesque, i asked juma if it was okay to snap some photos and he told me it was ok to take as many as i wanted. the kind of thing i would never do if i was on my own.

so we get to the community centre, already there are kids waiting. we set up our materials and i introduce myself to the kids one-by-one. i felt like such a geek because i told them my name, shook their hand and tried to repeat their name. the thing is these kids are xhosa speaking. and xhosa is the dialect that has the clicks in it, therefore a lot of their names are pronounced with a click. i could not for the life of me say their names properly no matter how hard i tried. so i stopped repeating their name and just said 'hello! later on, i asked juma if he could write down their names for me :s

there was an equal amount of girls and boys that come voluntarily and its not part of any school curriculum. these workshops set up by juma and willard are a great way for kids to learn and also pre-occupy their time by doing something productive. juma tells me a lot of township kids go to the shebeens and get into drugs among other things, so these kids that come to the workshops really come to stray away from all of that. so, i know off-the-bat these kids are level-headed since they come out on their own so they could learn.

i explain to them the assignment group-by-group and they get into creative mode. as they're working more kids drop in, so we help them get started. i was a little intimidated at first because some of the boys had this hard-looking image and even had some gold grills..hehe. but overall these kids were all cool kids. they were very respectful and seemed to enjoy this collage project. observing them was interesting to me because they were all speaking in xhosa..so all of them were clicking away. it's such a fascinating language to listen to.

..anyhow, these kids were being super innovative. one kid wanted to be a soccer star when he gets older so he drew a soccer field with paint but with the end of a crayon because there were no paint brushes. he did an awesome job. i was like, 'crap, i really need to get this kid a paintbrush!'

some made mosaics with the wooden clothes pins that juma supplied..it was "WOW!" a lot of them drew huts as their homes with huge water supply tanks beside them, as well as livestock for those who lived in rural areas.

the part that got to me was when one of the kids was explaining his drawing of UCT (Univ. of Cape Town) of how that's where he sees himself in the future. i loved it and told him that im sure it was going to happen...it was great to see everyone was into this and some more kids kept on coming in. even some babies would randomly stroll into the room on their own. i was like "juma, where are these babies coming from?" i found out some of these babies belonged to some of the kids in the workshop or were a little sibling. these babies were very snotty-nosed hehe, but they were still really cute.

at the end of the workshop, we got each group to present their piece. i was impressed and learned quite a bit. these kids are awesome and it was definitely the highlight of my trip! i know for a long time i'll be thinking about them and i really hope each of them succeeds in whatever it is they want to pursue...i have a feeling they will!









we close up shop and it's nightime..willard and juma take me around the township at nite by foot..they tell me it's safe but when you're passing by shacks when it's dark, you can't help but feel a 'lil scared shitless. i appear calm knowing im in good company..

they take me to a friend's shack, as i enter..their friend is surprised to see me. clearly because...and it's late at nite. he kind of looked at me like i was crazy for being there. anyway, i smile and introduce myself. it was fascinating being there because you literally see a sheet of corrugated metal that's the roof supported by chunky panels of plywood. it's one thing to see one on the outside but to be in one was an experience. his place had no plumbing so his washroom was an outhouse a few metres outside. i was in awe and wanted to thoroughly scan his home but didn't want to make it obvious. it was my first time in a shack. what made it even more fascinating was that this guy had a suped up large-screened TV..i was amazed! so, juma, willard and myself all took a seat to watch this old school jodie foster movie. i can't remember the title..

we hang out for a bit and say good-bye. we get to vicki's place and her home in the township is anything but a shack, it's a modest brick house. one of the nicest homes in khayelitsha. when you're inside you dont feel like you're in an impoverished township. vicki had a big screened TV too, where i got to watch my favourite SA soap called, generations. she prepared dinner of pap and beef and had a cozy room for me to sleep in. she apologized for there not being a TV in my room hehe. that was the last thing on my mind! vicki and her family were very accomodating and genuinely kind..in the morning she even drove willard, juma and i back into town. she's a really sweet lady who likes a lot of gospel music and likes to drive on the shoulder of the highway to beat traffic. love it!

..so, that sums up my nite in the township, it was an interesting and safe experience. nothing beats working with the kids though!

i could've stayed in a shack but it wasn't the case..to me, i would've slept wherever i had to and accepted it. so i guess according to juma since i did spend the nite, i've experienced the real south africa.

>>>township pt.1 of 2

when i first arrived in cape town, one of the first things i was greeted by were the townships bordering the highway. i learned that there are many in this city and you can't help but be fixated by the landscape of these run-down shacks made with a mesh of corrugated iron and wood all kind of haphazardly thrown together..

during apartheid these areas were reserved for blacks and the coloureds (this term is still commonly used here referring to mixed peoples- and it's so weird to hear because it sounds so politically incorrect). sadly post-apartheid, these impoverished townships are still very much inhabited by the same people. it's still very segregated too, where the blacks live in one area and the coloureds in another. currently, there's still racial tensions that exist and it's all crazy to me.

there's also a lot of racial descrimination against other africans in these townships too, where in 2008, many africans from: zimbabwe, somalia, ethiopia etc..were driven out through violent force. the main reason being is that they're seen as a threat in taking away jobs from the locals. when this happened the gov't did not intervene and a lot of people found that effed up. rumour has it, it's expected to happen again later this year after the world cup, where a mass xenophobic attack may take place..i hope and pray that is doesn't...

i had the chance to visit a few townships called: khayelitsha, guguletu, and langa with my two friends juma and willard. they are from zimbabwe who work and live in the township of khayelitsha (the biggest one in cape town). they were also victims of these xenophobic attacks that took place. they've been through a lot of hard times and they decided to come back when things got better. i respect them for that. these guys are skilled artisans and community leaders who set up workshops for kids. they teach and share their leadership skills with them as a way of keeping them off the streets. all they want to do is make a positive impact...and they have!

i was inspired by them and juma asked me if i wanted to set up a workshop for kids from 13-18 yrs old in khayelitsha, since i told him my background was art. he said that it would be a great idea to do something creative since the kids haven't done that in a while. i was very apprehensive because i've never done anything like that before, let alone dealing with a group of teens..in fact, teenagers scare me! i thought about it for a while then said..."sure, i'll do it!" juma was pumped about it and said, "come in tuesday..the kids are yours and you got 2 hrs with them!" at this point, im freaking because i just learned it was sunday and 2 hrs with teens not knowing what to do is a fricken long time!! i wasn't sure if i was going to regret this because it seemed daunting..but it felt like it was too late. i already committed.

..so im brainstorming like a mad woman as to what to do as an activity with these teens. i had a limited amount of time but i was lucky that juma was so helpful and encouraging in getting me started. i was really keen on doing a collage activity since i was trying to remember what i liked doing in school when i was that age. juma was cool about it and offered to bring some art supplies he already had to the community centre so we could make this happen!

he supplied the paper, sponges, paints, pencils, and even had wooden clothes pins. i had gone shopping to get some multi-coloured construction paper, scissors and gluesticks. i was getting pretty pumped about it myself because i knew it was going to be pretty fun...

i didn't really know what kind of collage we were going to do but i basically wanted to learn more about these kids..like where they grew up, where they see themselves now and where they want to go in the future. it sounded kind of like a bland and vague idea..but i thought it would be cool anyway for these kids just to have an outlet to be as creatively free as they wanted. their lives are just so completely different that i wanted to learn from them and find out what they're all about through art.

juma gave me the go-ahead with this idea and told me there would be about 20 kids and that it would be a good idea to put them in 5 groups with one huge sheet of paper so that they could all collaborate together and work as a team. that sounded like a good idea.

so the master plan was: 5 groups of teenagers each with one big sheet of paper, working as a team by creating a visual representation of themselves of where they grew up and where they see themselves in the future. the materials were limited but enough to work with. i was really looking forward in seeing what kind of work they would produce..i had a feeling it was going to be an awesome day.......

escape town hostel...

..it's been a couple of weeks since ive been here in cape town and it's the most chill and laid back spot that i've been to. this city kind of reminds me of van city since it's off the coast with the mountain range with a chill vibe and joburg is very much like toronto being the hustle 'n bustle city it is..

i've been in and out of my hostel on long street which is the 'go to' street for fun times. i've encountered interesting characters here and my room has had the highest turnover rate of travelers. i've met a swedish sailor who's name is joaquim who is exceptionally skilled in making knots, so in his spare time he makes bracelets with his spools of string using the ladder from my bed to make them. he sailed 55 days from the canary islands to get to cape town...what a journey!

there's this older russian dude here who's a deaf mute who's been traveling the world on his motorcycle. he's a hero. and one of the youngest travelers i've met is a 20 yr old dutch boy named dick who's been continent trotting by himself from tanzania (all about zanzibar apparently) malawi, zambia, botswana and namibia to south africa. (i've been meeting quite a few peeps who have been taking this route by bus...and i've heard it's been a pretty positive experience). dick is so young and parties all nite and sleeps during the day and recharges to party once again on long street. i cant keep up with that kind of energy. im such a burnout ;/ i was wondering how he was able to do all this and he told me his ex-girlfriend's dad is paying for his transportation..from africa and now asia. i guess his ex's dad really wanted him to leave the country hehe!

there was a group of rowdy older slovenian men next door who would drink all nite long to the point one of them KO'd on the cold hard floor outside in the hall because he was way too wasted to get in his room to climb up to the top bunk...LOL. they had this unbearable odour at nite i was actually glad when they checked out.

i had these two japanese dudes in my room where one would talk in his sleep which was pretty funny since it took me a sec to figure out if he was really talking to his friend...but no it was def sleep talking! if only i understood what he was saying!

i have to say all my vices have kicked in full force..they sell loose cigs here and packs are so cheap ($3)..everyone smokes in the bars and drinks are mad cheap and really good. i have temporarily let myself go but will be whipped back in healthy shape upon my return. cape town is a gluttenous paradise..i blame my hostel.

bday in cape town...

..it has been a longtime dream to jump out of a plane and i told myself no matter where i'll be i'm gonna make it happen...so i did. i left joburg and good people behind so that i could do it. joburg has been raining like a mother..and they do offer skydiving but i didnt want to chance missing out because of a rainy day. cape town was ideal because it's off the coast and the sun has been consistently shining since ive been checking up on their weather.

i arrived here in this beautiful city a day before my bday. it's only a 2hr flight from joburg and plane tix are mad cheap (less than $100 cdn). i made arrangements to get picked up by the hostel people at the airport bc i really didnt want any hassles in figuring out logistics when i got there. i just wanted to show up and have no worries.

im staying on this street called long st. @ long st. backpackers. it's like queen street but with hostels and really flamboyant looking bars and indie boutiques. so much visual stimulus it's wicked..will post up pix!....anyway i arrive and im alive...so i sleeeeep.

the next morning, i get picked up by this older man whose name is arnold. his south african accent was so thick..for the most part i would just nod and smile even when i dint understand what he was saying. he was the one who drove me to the drop zone. he was really sweet and even parked his car on the shoulder of the freeway to scour for an extra pair of shades when he knew i didnt have any. it was mad sunny. he had this paternal sense about him. he drove me to the countryside and we got lost a few times but i didnt care the scenic view was truly a sight for sore eyes...

so i will fast forward to the drop zone...i meet all the people, sign waiver form..get hooked up in a harness..meet my tandem jumper. it was funny, i was a little paro about wearing my contacts bc i wasnt sure if i was allowed to wear them, so arnold asked for me. when he was told the first time it was okay, he kept on making sure by asking different people who were there. i appreciated his concern. he's a paternal kind of guy like i was saying.

so there's a tiny plane that literally fits 5 people. this plane looked plane-crash prone because it was soo fickin small where we were sitting on the floor with legs stretched out. i dealt with it and was just trying to take in the whole experience. the view was phenomenal where you can see white sand dunes and table mountain, the blue sky and the atlantic ocean..it was so picturesque.

i was in awe and also praying that i would live to see my 31st bday! i kept on asking my tandem buddy jason if he actually hooked us together with our harnesses. i think i asked him like 3 times. just wanted to make sure! he gave me instructions of what to do when we would jump out, but honestly everything went through one ear and out the other, so all i did was nod..hehe.

the ultimate scariest part was when they slid the door open and my tandem jumper got us to sit on the edge. imagine being 9000 ft. high in the sky and your feet are dangling over the edge of a plane. at that point my heart was in my throat and i felt kind of paralyzed! too bad. so we jump out and we free fall forward it's wild! i think it was 10 seconds going down but im sure it was probably more at 200km/hr and i think there was a time that we were on our backs and i hated that...it's like a roller coaster. and then the chute is deployed and all is calm. im told to take off my goggles and chill!

you're suspended in the air floating down gently taking in the breathtaking view...ahh life is good. the only unenjoyable thing is that my ears kept on popping and it was getting irritated however, i'd still do it again anyway..the adrenaline really tires you out so i was glad when i got back to my hostel. i never felt so exhausted and it was so nice to have an afternoon siesta!

when i woke up, i went to the bar at my hostel and had a hunters dry (alcoholic cider) they're 10 rand (less than $2 cdn)..having an alcoholic bev after all that adventure is really icing on the cake! i got picked up by my friend's friend michel who's a local there and took me to clifton beach. he was meeting his friends there so that everyone could catch the sunset. this beach was beautiful. i've never been to the beach before on my bday and the weather was perfect. beaming sun, blue sky, white sand, and positive vibed people. they had a picnic set up where peeps were playing backgammon, eating veggies and junk food. awesome.

then we all got into a circle and did this seance kind of thing. i was thinking "uh-oh..they're not a cult are they?"...they were not. thankfully. but it was just a ritual thing that they do where everyone talks about what they want to achieve for the month of february that wasn't achieved last month. we would write in the sand and the let the waves wash it away. i forgot what we had to write in the sand just because i was still buzzing from the skydive. i was in a state of kind of being high to being a 'lil tipsy from the hunters dry, in awe of being on the beach in cape town. i had to ask if i was really there because it was kind of surreal. and thank goodness they really werent a cult because i dont think i would've been able to take in anymore craziness!

whatever these people's rituals are that i was partaking in was cool. i made the most of it and went along. they were good people and i wanted to be open to their cathartic ritual so why not show respect and follow suit. they were all trying to better themselves by doing it in a communal kind of way on the beach. if anything, more power to them... and to their seances.

we stayed at the beach until dark and ended up watching this movie at michel's place called samsara..really good. i was so tired and thought i would pass out but i was really engaged in the storyline so i stayed UP. in a nutshell, this man is in meditation for 3 years in india and afterwards goes off the deepend...and there's this amazing kama sutra scene with his mistress...and that's all im gonna say!

speaking of indiscretions, i get back to my hostel and needless to say, i pass out! i had a packed day and all i wanna do is sleeeeeep. im sharing a dorm room with a swedish guy and 3 british dudes. they're young adolescents so i already have an idea of what they're about. i did notice before i passed out that one dude was missing. i dont care. i sleep.

next thing i know at around 2:30am, the door slams open with this raucous where the missing dude makes a grand entrance with this flashy looking woman (she was wearing a crazy sequined top and hot jean shorts- a definite vice magazine DONT) who's yelling at him..'HOOOOOW RUDE..im thinking 'what the fcuk is going on!' im forced to listen in on what's happening. this flashy little woman kept saying..'you owe me 300 rand (which is like $45 cdn )!!' we were all like 'WHAAAAAAAAAT...me and the other dudes were confused and irate from being rudely awakened.

next thing we realize is that this dumbass dude from england brought in a prostitute into our dorm room!! the funny thing was this dude didnt have enough money and only had 20 rand (like not even $3). the prostitute's livid. they both leave the room and we're all livid. since i was on the top bunk, i asked one of the guys to lock the door and not let them in! we all went on a potty-mouthed tirade.

in hindsight it's hilarious but i absolutely hate being woken up in the middle of the nite especially in such a rude manner so i was being a full throttled bitch!..so after some time dumbass dude comes in without flashy woman and we were like..'what the EFF were you thinking!! he tells us he had no idea that she was a hooker. i was so dumbfounded by his response and didnt want to engage in conversation with him that i went straight to sleep. im thinking 'you're a crazy mofo. and i hope her pimp comes after you with a vengeance!

i find out the next day his friend had to spot him 300 rand to make her go away. now really...that's what friends are for! so one new thing i learn in cape town is that the going rate for blow jobs in this city is $45 cdn. what a b-day.

leaving joburg...

joburg or they also say jozi here rocked me! as i venture off to another town..i will never be the same. i know that sounds so melodramatic but it's the truth.

i feel extremely grateful that i was in the good company of locals who spent time with me and showed me the 'gateway to africa,' as joburg is known to be. i appreciate their friendship more than they'll ever know. i am relieved to say that i have not been exposed to any gangster shiet because that is the mainstream perception of this city. it is true that statistically the crime rate is high but any big metropolitan city with a lot of poverty is going to have its share of problems. as long as you steer clear from it as much as you can, you will have a wild time.....as i have! i can say that this city is a great place and i would definitely go back.

one of the latest highlights for me here was going to a shebeen. a shebeen is a place where you can purchase alcohol in the townships (the slums) when all the legit liquor stores in the city are closed. i went to one on my first nite in diepsloot township but didn't know what it was called at the time. i was in the car that time so did not actually go in one. it was a scary experience then so i thought i'd consciously experience it once again and actually step foot in one. yes..not the brightest idea but felt ok about it because i was with my friend lwazi, who is a local. otherwise, it's downright dumbass to stroll in alone as a foreigner late at nite.

we needed to bring some 6 packs of beer to a friend's place for a gathering and it's just plain rude to come empty-handed, so it was our only viable option. for a moment, i was thinking of staying in the car again while lwazi went in to do the beer run, but said it be safer to go with. i was thinking of wearing a big hat and to go incognito but again my idea was shot down because it would draw attention. but then im thinking im going to stick out like a sore thumb anyway so it was a double-edged sword. so i figure, whatever i'll go in a sore thumb and make this the fastest lightning transaction ever at a shebeen. hehe.

the township we were in is called tembisa. apparently it's not as bad as diepsloot. i had heard from my friend who was at a shebeen in diepsloot recently that someone was on the ground bc that person got stabbed there. with that in mind, even though we were in a different one.. i felt paranoid. random acts of violence can happen anywhere.

so, i walk in and was in a line of peeps waiting to get their goods. naturally, im being gawked at for obvious reasons but i ignore it all. a couple budded in front of me and normally i'd get a 'lil ticked off but in this scenario i was more than happy to oblige. heeh.

the man that served me and lwazi had one eye. i couldn't even speak or even look him in his only eye..so lwazi ordered for us. we got our beer and all was good and i wanted to bolt..but had to be calm and cool at the same time. how do you do that? i must have looked handicapped.

after we got in the car..lwazi told me that i looked really stiff with my arms crossed, head down and lips pursed while we were in line. he said it was funny and i don't blame him. i guess when there's a possibility that my life could be on the line all in the name of beer..my body language inadvertently reacts that way! it really was paranoia..otherwise we wouldnt have gone. im happy we left tembisa township unscathed. the shebeen trip was really an eye-opener (pun intended).

getting around. .

..if there's one thing that lacks in joburg it's the transit factor. it is so difficult to get around because the buses stop running early and there's not many of them.

there are plenty of van taxis or combies that you can catch and taking these are an adventure in itself. for one, they dont have physical signs on them so what people do here is they communicate with the drivers through sign language. if youre going to fourways (where i'm staying) you give them them the '4 sign, or if you're going to diepsloot (township) you make this wave gesture with your hand (they tell me it's bc diepsloot is a bumpy township), if you're going to orange farm you make this cupping gesture with your hand like you're holding an orange (luv it!), cosmo city you make a 'C sign, if you're going to downtown you point up with your index. it's all through sign language so if you're a foreigner it's confusing as hell to learn what these all mean.

another thing is that these van taxis idle in designated areas and wait until the taxi van fills up..so in actuality you can wait anywhere from 2 min to 45 min. i was thinking 'how to people get to work on time? my friends tell me they just leave early...you take your chances i guess! a funny thing too i've noticed is when you wanna get off, you just say to the driver you wanna get dropped off before the robots or after the robots. it's all about the robots here in joburg!! below is a pic of a van taxi. just ignore the bullet blasts on the side. i thought it was just really dirty at first, then saw it upclose. really it is safe in this city and this taxi van was an exception. i swear!


some notable places that i've checked that i've taken via van taxi are: sandton city; this area is a big business area that has money and has this poshy and decadent mall called sandton city mall that holds this grandiose statue of nelson mandela. im not sure who designed him but he is very unproportioned...just sayin! it's crazy because it's adjacent to alexandra which is a very impoverished township.


the apartheid museum took a couple of van taxis to get to and the location of this museum i hear is strategically situated beside this amusement park called golden reef city. in order to up the number of visitors at the museum, the city hopes to attract visitors coming in and out of the amusement park. i dont get that bc people should want to go see this museum anyway!

the apartheid museum is a must-see. it would be such a dirty shame to visit SA and not get schooled in some way on what this country had to endure during the apartheid era. it was truly an all encompassing FCUKED up time from what i've ingested. i've only scratched the surface with knowledge and talked to some people about it through this museum experience. this museum really opened my mind but really i'll never be able to properly fathom and fully comprehend what it meant to be oppressed, simply by being black or 'coloured, they still use that term here - which is strange to me! not unless i've gone through it myself during that time. i can only imagine. in fact i don't even want to. we're one. and equality, justice and respect is our basic human right.

mandela is THE man..among others who have brought this country to what it is today. another person i kept hearing about was this man named steve biko. he was an anti-apartheid warrior who was a revolutionary leader just like che guevara. he was instrumental, too, in bringing democracy to SA. he had a tragic ending unfortunately..but it was all in the name of the people's freedom. im inspired. these are some pics from the museum.

speaking of freedom, another place to see is constitutional hill. it once was the home of a prison that detained ghandi and mandela. visiting this prison and hearing the stories of what black prisoners went through during the struggle was so inhumane it shook me to the core. this tour will pull at your heartstrings...but the redeeming factor now is that the hill is now the site of the constitutional court, the highest in all of SA which deal with trials that involve the infringement of basic human rights and freedoms. there's these long windows in the courtroom so the public has access to view these cases. anyone can come and witness what's happening to ensure what happened in the past NEVER happens again. this open-concept courthouse is also beautiful because it was designed by artists, so this space is a whirlwind of creativity.



...after this insightful visit to constitutional hill, it was all about waiting for a van taxi once again. i had a charming experience with some elementary school kids. it was raining like a mother.. as it seems to be common here during this season. me and my friend simphiwe were stranded under this shelter waiting for the pouring rain to stop so we can go out and grab a taxi. so in the meantime - heavy rain, me, simphiwe and a bunch of 'lil kids in their uniforms underneath this small shelter. i had my hair in a ponytail, so these two little girls behind me kept touching it and when i would turn around they would cover their mouths and giggle. it was cute. i was hoping they would braid it!

then this little boy comes who is being scolded by his older sister saying, "she's too old for you!" i found out the boy is 8 and there was this 18 yr old girl there at the shelter who he was trying to mack. he responded by saying "love doesn't know age..i love her!" the 18 yr old grl's facial expression was priceless. im thinking i've already had a lot to take in today and watching this romance unfold before me in a bus shelter in the pouring rain was too much! this 8 yr old was beyond his years. he was relentless and i was impressed. 'the people of africa..im thinking hehe. this made waiting for a van taxi worthwhile. what a day..

lessons learned after 1 week....

....so when it rains in joburg it pours! i've never seen weather so schizophrenic before. when the sun is beating and shining one minute it will abruptly turn on you and rain like no tomorrow. you think it's going to last for the rest of the day but it'll go on for about 20 minutes straight and then the sun instantly comes out like nothing ever happened, as if to say, 'just kidding! this has happened quite a bit since i've been here. hello south african summer!

i'm in the company of a good group of guys who have been my lifeline here. i'm living with some of them for the rest of my stay here in joburg. they're all funny characters and they treat me well. one of them, nhlanhla had the best pick up line i've ever heard in my life. he tells me "...only in africa you will find the greatest love, it is here i can provide you with a family and 30 cows!" i giggled at first because how else do you react to that? and then i bursted out in laughter realizing afterwards he wasn't kidding. apparently nhlanhla's family owns a lot of acres of land and has livestock. i told him that if i did't want to live in canada so much it was something that i would possibly consider. i mean nhlanhla has a lot going for him, he's intelligent and i genuinely like him as a person, he knows how to have a good time and 30 cows would have me set for life!! then i told him how i can't cook very well-then that was it. all bets were off. there is no way he could marry someone who couldnt cook. he has an old world mentality but i still think he's mad cool!

being around a bunch of jocks i've learned that cricket, rugby and soccer (they say soccer not football) are the holy trinity of sports here. cricket season is now, rugby season starts in february and world cup is in june and july. world cup season in south africa is gonna be ridonculous. they tell me as a tourist i shouldn't worry so much of bad things happening to me because the last thing this country needs is for 'tourist incidents taking place before world cup. they want to uphold a better and safe image as all eyes of the world will be on SA during the world cup. regardless im still stringently cautious.

in this country, there are 11 official languages. the most spoken here are english, zulu, xhosa, afrikaans (what the white south african's speak that have dutch influence) and the others i cannot spell or couldn't even name! one of the first things i noticed was when i was at the airport on arrival and waiting in the customs line, one of the security guards was calling out to a woman to move forward and he called her mama. i was like that's crazy that a security guard at the airport would use that kind of urban slang on an older woman. but then i was taught that blacks use words like: mama (mother), baba (father), sisi (sister) and bhuti (brother) as a sign of respect. they're very community-based and everyone in the community is your mother, father, sister and brother. it makes sense..

some terms i've picked up: when people here speak of jay-z it is not the rapper. they are referring to jacob zuma. he is the president of the country who is zulu and has 4 wives. in zulu culture, polygamy is acceptable (i dont personally agree but who cares what i think!)

traffic lights here are called robots. when i kept on hearing about broken down robots, i was like 'what fu-shnicken robots are you talking about..where are they??' then i was schooled that traffic lights = robots. aha!

how are you? they say how zit?

i hear a lot people say what what a lot. they'll use it at the end of a sentence when they're rambling and it means "etc...or blah-blah.." like "christine is learning a lot of south african slang and what what!" lol.

another one is eish that they say a lot. i think it means damn. like they'll say "eish, it's hot" or "eish im tired" or "eish, is that what it really means? eish!"

i've eaten chicken everyday i've been here and i believe it's a staple. there's this other food that is a staple that is very south african and it's called pap. it's this corn meal cooked with water. everyone who cooks in the house im staying in will usually prepare pap. it's good but you cannot eat it alone because it's so starchy.

the popular fastfood joints here are: mcdonalds (i dont bother), nando's (equivalent to swiss chalet..great chicken!) and steers (which is like a mcdonalds but they serve better meat, so i'm told!) and debonairs pizza (kind of like amato's)

grocery shopping: checkers and pick 'n pay, they're all over the place..

drinks: castle lite beer and hunters dry (that has cider in it). i swear by these two drinks for now. they are so good and smooth..but i've yet to try the others..

these are the main things i've picked up so far...im sure i'll have a longer list by the time i leave. i have to say im having a great time. im clearly a minority here but the people i've met have been gracious, welcoming and kind-hearted. so far, i can say that joburg is not the gangster city that i envisioned. some people and the media blow it's rough image out of proportion. i know that crime and killings do exist but it's like any other big city. i steer clear from the townships (not unless i'm with people who know it) and i got common sense. really, i know i'll be just fine.

welcome to south africa...

so after 19 grueling hours including a layover, im happy to say that i arrived in joburg in one piece! i flew with KLM (a dutch airline) and my seat wasn’t the most comfy, so needless to say my body was achy..i was the last to leave customs because i decided to freshen up in the ladies room and luckily for me 3 security dudes would not let me leave until they checked my luggage. they had this machismo attitude from the get-go and would talk in a militant manner without even looking at me. they made me feel a little uncomfortable because i was the only one there and it was late. one of the guys was fascinated by a bag of canadian souvenirs that i had so i offered him one, then the other guys..and next thing i know they’re letting me pack up and I find my way out the door. i don’t want to call it bribery, but more of a gesture of canadian hospitality if you will.. hehe.

my friend thisile was there outside waiting for me THANK GOODNESS! he was worried and wondering what the hell happened to me. i told him the story and he was apologetic on behalf of those dudes. thisile and his 2 friends picked me up in their car and i was feeling pretty wonky. it was the time difference, the warm weather, how they drive on the right side, in awe of being in africa, body aches, security rattling me, and then thisile telling me to watch out for the lions and giraffes that sometimes run amok on the highway. i actually believed him for a split second. he’s such a joker but i really needed to laugh!

anyway, i arrived alive at thisile’s place where he lives with flatmates including some guys and some girls. it’s a spacious transient house where people come and go. the people i met are so friendly and all gave me a warm welcome. im staying in a gated area in a suburb called fourways where there are electric fences and its uber safe. it’s a very nice and peaceful place.

they warned me of places not to go alone and the two are: alexandra and diepsloot. these places are townships. townships are equivalent to the ghettos, shantytowns or favelas where a lot of shiet goes down. i take note and then next thing i know i'm invited to go for a beer run and told in the car that im going to diepsloot. i was kind of freaking because they were saying that they burned a guy there because the residents were xenophobes, but said it was ok for me because i was with them and the dude they killed was black from another country in africa.

they didn’t like him because he posed as a threat, as they see foreigners stealing jobs from them. regardless, that did not make the situation okay for me. my intuition told me to stay in the car; making sure all doors were locked, crouch down and hide my face with my hair. the reason why we went there was because the legit beer shops close at 8pm and the townships sell beer around the clock and it’s much cheaper. they wanted me to see what the township was like and listening to the blueprint 3 blasted in the car just made the sitch even more surreal.

later that nite, we went to thisile’s friend’s pad. his name is nhlanhla. his name is apparently very common, yet so hard to pronounce. there was a group of us where we drank beer, listened to music and danced a bit. nhlanhla's musical catalogue includes jay-z, the dream, kanye, lil wayne, drake, r kelly, chill house music, kwaito (south african house kinda style –which I like) & michael buble (which really threw me for a loop!!) we were just chillin’ and it was wicked because i felt like i was hanging out with an african version of my friends from home where we more or less do the same thing.

i was still getting my bearings since my system was still trying to adapt. i kept telling myself to get over it. i was happy to be there and tried the best i could to enjoy! i did, even though i was super tired. thisile and his friends saw that i was exhausted and took me back so i could sleep. they’re all mad cool and i feel grateful that they’re good people. i felt so good that i was able to have a good nite’s sleep where i was able to stretch out my legs and not feel like a pretzel. my first nite in joburg wasn’t so bad to say the least..and it’s only the beginning….

btw, here is a link to some pics i took already (i hope you can view): cricket

jo'burg bound.

i thought it would be a good idea to chronicle the events of this trip. i figure if i document the names of people, places and the things i learn, it would be beneficial and useful for me and others in the future in some way, shape or form.

i've always wanted to go to south africa. i'm not sure exactly why but something about it is so compelling and i'm drawn to go the other end of the world to see what's goin' on. so why not drop everything and take off for africa dave chapelle stylez!! my first stop is johanessburg. i hear it's pretty gangster like 'city of god meets 'boyz in the hood meets 'nightmare on elm st, so we'll see if this is true-if i live to tell you that is! *knock on woooood*. despite what i read and hear im still not deterred from going over, i'm a ridiculous risk-taker and no matter what- no regrets, that's how i live it up and sometimes risk taking is required.

i have no set itinerary, and i like it that way. i don't like to plan things and follow a timeline because it's restricting and unneccessary. i'd rather be a do-er and be free by living in the moment and just let life happen. in fact, i don't even want to know what day or time it is while i'm there, it'll be irrelevant only if i have to catch a bus or plane. i want to immerse myself in the culture: learn about their rich history, do things i've never dreamt of doing, eat strange food, meet new and interesting people & just go buck wild...in whatever order these things come.

my only wish is to jump out of a plane. i don't know about the logistics but i will make it happen at some point. i'll be sure to keep you posted and there will be pictures...oh yeeeeeeeah!

it'll be interesting to be completely disoriented in a strange land again. i've done little research and feel ill-prepared. but all i know is that it'l be great for me to be in a new mind-set. being out of your element is exciting and scary at the same time but i look forward to it.

my flight is 17 hrs with a 3 hr layover in amsterdam. i wish the layover was longer so i could make a cafe pit-stop in the redlight district ;] but it'll have to be for another time :[ i will meet a friend by the name of thisile at tambo international in johanessburg. im flying in solo in the late evening so let's hope he shows up because i gots no plan B!!.........*crosses fingers**

meh..i'll be good.


by the way, i saw the movie invictus and morgan freeman plays one wicked nelson mandela and i even liked his veneers!