Below are the 3 most recent journal entries recorded in seasicksquid's LiveJournal:

Tuesday, April 18th, 2006
2:47 am	( Read more... ) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
2:30 am	So I just got back from Johannesburg. It was a really interesting, fun, and eye opening trip, without a doubt. Bethany, Jess and I flew from Cape Town and were promised by Bethany that her friend Luvuyo, who she had only known for a week in Stellenbosch, would pick us up and take us to Pretoria, the capital city of South Africa, just north of Jo'burg. Well, we waited for an hour, and finally he shows up. Luvuyo grew up in a township near Knysna, on the Garden Route. We eventually eeked part of his life story out of him...raised by his sisters, grew up in what he himself described as a shack, but went to school, university, all of that, and got a job with the government. He is incredibly intelligent, if not quiet and reserved and not used to American girls constantly asking questions. But we had a good many political conversations, and you all should know me and politics by now...yeah, I thrive on those kind of discussions. He kept taking us to these really nice places, filled with white people, until he finally took us to a shebeen. We were in the Northern Province, where all the platinum is mined, but the place still is the picture of poverty. A shebeen is basically a bar in a township. They started as illegal bars, kind of like speakeasies, during Apartheid when it was illegal for blacks to have alcohol, unless it was made by the government. They called it Bantu Beer, and from what I've heard, it was disgusting. But this shebeen now serves name brand beers (here in SA it's all about Castle, Amstel, Windhoek, and the ever present Carlisle Black Label) for 5 rand. Less than a dollar. For name brand beer that normally is 10-12 rand in other bars, like in Stellenbosch. The first one we went to was full at 3 pm with drunk men, who were pretty much shocked to see 3 white girls come in with a black guy and have a couple beers. There were a lot of really nice people who watched out for us there, because the drunks would come up to us and ask inappropriate questions. I heard a lot of "I love you. No really, I love you. Can you give me a job? Or maybe marry me? You are beautiful. I love you." The English was much more broken than that...but you get the picture. The most shocking thing was that this place was about 10 minutes from Sun City, the Las Vegas of South Africa. It was horribly cheesy and a waste of money. Pretty, but horrible. I felt like such a shitty person being there, just an hour after seeing abject rural poverty and the alcoholic results of that poverty, and then to see white people pouring money into slot machines. We didn't spend much time there at all... Then on the other hand, we went to a bar called Taliban (heh) in a township near Pretoria, and honestly, it was one of the nicest bars I've ever been to, even if we were the only white people there. We actually had a really good time there, too. Luvuyo's friend Letsulu came with us, and we had a really fun time. Dancing, drinking, playing pool, talking, etc. Unfortunately Luvuyo got drunk and lost his keys and we had to stay Saturday night at Letsulu's flat, but it was nice in the morning on Easter Sunday when we all woke up and sat and read the newspapers, listening to great music, and had great discussions and made breakfast. It felt like home on Easter. I really enjoyed that. Then in kind of the middle of the road of mainly black bars, we went to a club called Europa in Sunnyside in Pretoria. Lots of people came up to us and were very friendly. We danced and had a great time...but also got a lot of stares because we were the only white people. But who cares, eh? It shouldn't matter. We also went to Soweto. Soweto is where a lot of stuff went down during Apartheid and the struggle for freedom. It's where Desmond Tutu and Neslon Mandela lived and grew up. It's the largest township in all of South Africa, and quite an amazing place. There were a lot of riots and peaceful demonstrations there from the 1960s-1990s, and a lot of people died in those times there. It's the site of abject urban poverty and crime, but also a living, working, and steadily growing economy with a middle class. It was amazing for me to be there, knowing that this is where Mandela actually grew up, where so many people were killed in the struggle for basic respect and dignity... We went to a bar there, and again, despite being deep in Soweto, was a very nice, very classy bar. People were very hospitable to us, if not shocked, yet again, to see three white girls with a black guy. The Apartheid Museum was amazing as well...it gave a really good picture of the Apartheid struggle. Several times, being the overly sentimental person I am about social struggle, I teared up quite a bit. We drove through Hillbrow, which is the neighborhood you think of when you think of Johannesburg. Tall apartment blocks, people crowding the streets, markets everywhere. It's not recommended to even drive through during the day, but of course we did. Today, before we left for the airport, Luvuyo taught us how to make umqushu (that Q is a click. I dare you to pronounce it correctly. hehe), a traditional South African township meal...it was amazing. I'll make it for y'all when I get back, I promise. Tell me, is the song "Love Generation" by Bob Sinclair big in the States at all right now? Cause it's huge here. Anyway, bottom line. Johannesburg is indeed a dangerous city, but it is full of amazing places and amazing people. I fell in love with it. It's not a place to be scared of at all. If you ever go, make sure you have a black friend to take you around, cause you'll get into places you wouldn't normally be able to go. It's really an amazing city. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 25th, 2006
2:21 pm	Hello! I've just arrived in South Africa, and have only now been able to begin writing posts here. I don't have much time right now, but I wanted to drop something in here, namely an excerpt of an email. Once I get my laptop hooked up, I will be making better entries and be online at more normal hours for you guys, I promise. Been smoking a lot of hubbly, as we call hookahs over here. Some bars have them that are only R30 for a full packed hookah, so only like 5$. The guys next door are thinking about all chipping in with one, and Tillie over at Hillbillies has one too from last semester. I'm thinking about buying one here and shipping or taking it home with me, wrapping it in clothes in my suitcase or something...they're so cheap, like R250, about 45$ or so. The wine is amazing...we had this fabulous dinner the other night with wine...I had some sort of fresh ocean fish, and me, not much caring for fish, loved (all 5 bites I ate of it) it. I'm going to do a wine tour one of these days... It's not all "great" here (as far as the culture and racial issues go), even though I am having a great time. Starting to see some of the realities of South Africa, even in the wealthy wine country area that I live in. It reminds me a lot of the racial tensions in New Orleans, to be honest. I can relate very well to it. Last night I was walking with some friends to Hillbillies, a house in Stellenbosch where a bunch of international students live, and on the way we saw a black man hit another black man in his throat. And there is a guy, Shadrock, who has been following AIFS students. Mostly the old ones from last semester, but he has been approaching some of the new girls inappropriately as well...unfortunately including myself. I got cornered in my room last night during the brai in the courtyard (ZA version of a BBQ, but a lot more common, main social forum). He was questioning me about relationships and sex and my tongue ring, and asking if I would ever date a black man, and then he kept talking inappropriately and made it difficult for me to get out of my room. Luckily a German guy saw it through the flat door and came and helped me. He also tried to get some other AIFS girls to go out with him to his car. Luckily the guys here are going to keep a very close eye on him and keep him away from brais and whatnot, so no need to worry. It's strange being in a situation where I've lost that kind of individual independence, and have to be watched and taken care of because I am a female. I am so much more vulnerable. I think it's really going to challenge me and force me to understand the realities of being a woman in the world. As much as American women have come to believe that usually they can take care of themselves...here, we can't. Here, you don't dare walk alone unless you absolutely have to, and preferably with a guy. It hasn't even gotten as bad as it usually has either, because most students aren't back yet, and that's when a lot of the crime really gets bad. It's also difficult to realize the realities of black vs white. It is mostly an income level issue, but it's really a lot more intricate than that. For instance, the grape pickers in the vineyards...never white. A white man would never, ever do that. The school is only 30% black, despite the country being mainly black. It's improving, but it's strange, because it seems like they're only just behind the US in their integration after Apartheid. They're shocked to hear things like there are only a handful of black people at UE, or that it's really quite rare to have mixed groups, for the most part. Many think that after our version of Apartheid, in our "liberal democratic" society, things have gotten much better and more equal. Sure, housing isn't quite as bad in the US for lower income black people, and we have a well established system of welfare, but nevertheless...the cultural changes have been so slow, whereas in South Africa it seems very quickly, it being only 12 years since the first democratic election. Integration and education seem to be the keys, which they've been doing very well at, and the people here seem to WANT to learn so much. I'm going to be volunteering in the local township, a few miles outside of town, called Kayamandi. It holds about 25 000 people, whereas the entire of Stellenbosch itself is only about 22 000 when all the students are here. It's quite small too. I'll get to do English tutoring and arts and crafts and sports and the like. I might become a ISOS Committee member and do more as well. I could write so much more but I don't have much time left before I need to get somewhere. So stick that in your pipe and smoke it. (4 Comments |Comment on this)