What a great day!! I had class today from 9 – 10 am, but it
only lasted a half hour. I’m taking it mainstream courses are pretty chilled
here. Once the professor has presented the information they have for that day,
the class is over. I don’t hate it.
After class, I went out to lunch with a group of my friends.
The group consisted of one Dutch, two Germans, an Austrian, and an American.
How international can we get?! My friend tried to give me directions to get
there, but me being me, I got all turned around and ended up three blocks over.
Thank God I found good friends here, because they waited a half hour after one
pm for me to find them. Teheh. Maybe I should still bring a map with me
everywhere I go…
I came to find out the restaurant was on Dorp Street, where
I had class yesterday, so I should have been able to find it fine if I knew the
street name. Oh well. For lunch, the rest of the crew had a plate of assorted
meats including springbok and warthog (ew). I had a delicious pizza with
spinach, feta, mushrooms, and avo. I finally got some money by paying in credit
card. The group reimbursed me in cash.
After lunch, we made it over to the mall where the boys
looked at wetsuits and I looked at dresses and bounced around the cute stores. They had a fun time mocking me since every other sentence that came out of my mouth began with "I love..." "this store, that dress, these earings, those people, this country, this mall..." you get the picture.
I didn’t have plans
for the night yet, so I was totally excited when I learned from my friends
Evelyn and Christian that they were attending a poetry reading at Kayamandi in
the evening. We weren’t sure what to expect, but we were under the impression
that the children of the township would be presenting their work.
We were shuttled over to Kayamandi in university vans where we arrived at Amazink Live, a restaurant where live performances were held. There were no children allowed inside, as alcohol was served, and the poetry was read by both novices and renown poets alike.
Outside, a group of three girls from the township were running up and down the steps, getting shooed out of the venue a couple times. They explained to me that they thought one of their fathers was inside, so they wanted to look for him. And they wanted to know what’s going on. And they had to use the bathroom. And they wanted sodas. Typical little girls. I took my camera out to take a couple pictures of the sky and the mountains (I can’t get enough!!) and immediately they swarmed me. “Take a picture of me! Take a picture of me!”
They all spoke English as well as isiXhosa. I explained to
them that I only knew how to say “Hello” “What is your name” and “run, run!”
from a popular folk song. They knew the song too, and they giggled when I sang
“balaka, balaka!” I asked them if they could teach me another song, and the
three began a chorus. My knees provided an alternative to bongo drums as they
sang. I didn’t understand a word of it, but I caught the whole thing on video. I couldn't figure out how to get it here, so it'll be on the post above.
After that, I ushered them all into the building so they
could use the restroom without getting kicked out again. They all scrambled to
wash their hands after, and I was impressed by their hygiene. At home
babysitting, little girls only remember to wash their hands half the time! You
have to note, too, that these girls live in a township where very few people
have running water in their homes and where toilets are a walk down the road
away. After I brought them back outside, they all asked me for Coca Colas. Not
wanting to give kids soda, I asked if they wanted bottles of water. “No! We get
enough water! We want Coke!” “Please…?” I said. “Please! Coke! Coke!” I went
back inside and spent R36 on three cans of soda and presented it to them. They
thanked me and said they had to go home. It was time for the show to begin
anyway!
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| Everybody loves Coca Cola! |
The poetry reading was a truly moving experience. People spoke in eloquent
words about touchy subjects like racism, personal identity, and life. The whole
house was full of clapping after every performance.
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| The tables were all painted with scenes inspired by Kayamandi, which means "a nice place to live" |
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