May 8th

Yankees in the “Combie”

I’ve only been in South Africa for a few days but I’ve been waiting for the point that I actually feel that I’m in a county other than my own. Up until this morning we’ve been with people and in places that resemble home. We popped over to Andre’s law office this morning to successfully (and unsuccessfully) check and send email. After that he took us for a drive through Mhluzi – don’t worry if you can’t pronounced it – I’m still working on it after two days. Interestingly enough this is a town where the lower, lower middle class meets the poor. There are a series of nice houses with gates – that have been converted from the old shacks (remember the metal shed you used to buy from Sears for back yard storage?). A lot of the people who have the house do because they were offered an opportunity to buy the land from the government and had the ability to purchase the land and build. On the land with these nice houses, are still some of the metal shacks – on the side or in the back. South Africans are very big believers that you take care of extended family at all costs. So – if you don’t have room for your mother-in-law in the main house – you build he a little house out back.

Yet – the concept of charity is foreign to them. For example, not many of the black or colored people belong to an organization like Rotary. They don’t believe in the concept of giving money or charity to those who aren’t your own. Now that’s a huge generalization but it’s pretty accurate for some of the areas. I can’t imagine how a YMCA would do in such an area…

We also drove down the street and saw the Township – this is where families are in waiting for housing and live in the shacks. It was amazing to drive buy and see these places in such state of disrepair. One of the houses had a broken down VW Beetle in the yard and was using it as a planter.

As we drove – of course – we were taking pictures out the window of the “Combie” as John (one of the host parents) and others call it (some of our South African host friends have been calling us northerners Yankees). The men watching us just gave stares, the women waved and smiles after we did so and one of the children on his way home from school asked us if he could hop in the tour bus. The children in South Africa (or at least in this area) don’t wear shoes to school - only in the coldest months. So as we were driving through some of the poorest areas – children are walking through fields littered with garbage with no shoes. Now – I know that might be the least of their worries (with food probably being the first) – but I just couldn’t help think about all the diseases they could pick up from doing that. In the wealthier areas - we saw all the kids in some areas playing soccer with no shoes.

After the tour of Mhluzi and the Township – we went to Something From Nothing. This is a business in the Township owned by a woman named Sara. I’ve actually seen her freature on one of the travel channels or Discovery Channels. Quite a few years ago Sara worked for a NGO (a private non-profit) and they fired everyone without a severance package (new government, new people to decide what organizations to support). She gathered others from the community and focused and the waste that was put out to trash. She started a small shop – making arts and crafts out of wastes – plastic bags into beautiful rugs, beer/soda bottles into wine glasses, metal in jewelry. It really is amazing to see what she has done. After years of hard work – and success she branched out her business to include catering (no Dad the food I ate today for lunch was not recycled). We did a bit of shopping in her shop – and the had a traditional South Africa meal – and we ate the traditionally way – with our hands. One of the “snacks” before the meal was chicken feet. I couldn’t get over the little claws staring me in the face so I stuck to the pap (like a stiff grits made of maize), meat and veggies. Desert was pap with sour milk – which happened to be pink. Which you mix and eat with your fingers – like eating rice pudding without a spoon. I’ll post a photo – you can tell from my expression whether I liked it or not.

Following our visit with Sara we went to Botshabelo – a cultural center. We saw some old huts, some women in traditional African dress making beads and walked around a bit. The land was beautiful and we got some fun things at the shop. The woman ringing us out was besides herself at the sales she was making – I thought she was going to fall over. And in the end – I only spend $300 rand – which is about $50.

We then came back to John and Wendy’s house (my first host Rotarians) and they had planned a dinner for all of us with other host families. One thing that is quite different is that meals here are much longer. Wine, beer, etc is enjoyed before dinner and everything is much more social. Not like how we run through meal to get to the next thing on our list.

Did I mention it’s cold here! Beautiful days but it almost feels like winter at night. And the houses here really aren’t set up for heat like we are….