Advertisement
Published: September 6th 2006
Edit Blog Post
me and KK
so he may look like his head is about to fall off, but i promise he was fine. So apparently my infamous reputation beat me here...and my host mother was nowhere to be found the day we were all supposed to go to our homestays. So me and my homestay buddy Erica got split between two other houses. I ended up in Dobsonville, one of the sections of Soweto where about 12 of the 18 of us were. I lived with Winnie, a spunky 60 some year old woman and her 10 year old granddaughter Zuki. Thank god her name was Zuki, because I had no chance at being able to say any of the other names of people I met. Zuki's mom and 2 month old brother KK (they laughed out loud and then gave up when we tried to say his real name) also lived in a back seperate part of our house.
This house was nothing like what I, or probably most people, have ever pictured Soweto to be. One girl put it well when she said that that the living room and dining room look like a beach house people would rent, because of how clean and nicely furnished it was...white leather couches, entertainment center. I think Winnie was an exception to the socioeconomic
status of most people though. We ended up having four students in our house... another girl, Katie, also had a family who weren't able to host her in the end. So Katie and I shared one room and Tyler and Seth, two guys from Valpraiso shared another...which was hilarious from the mere fact that 2 of the 4 walls of their room was all mirrors and their door didn't shut.
Within first five minutes I was there, Zuki took me to see the baby. I had no idea there was a baby, and immediately a infant was thrust in my arms along with a diaper and a change of clothes. So I took that hint well and got to work...and the power went instantly out making it all the more difficult, especially since I can't remember the last time I changed a diaper, especially of such a tiny baby. Katie and I both learned how to carry him on our backs, which is the most brilliant thing ever and I fully intend to spread to the US when I have babies. You can do so much with your hands free. Although when I have my extremely chubby child, it
might strain my back a little.
Having 4 of us definitely had its good and bad points. I don't think we got to know Winnie as well, but it was a lot of fun being together. We got endless laughs over the fact that she would just randomly pick one of our names and yell it with her demand. Most went something like this
"KATHERINE, my juice, bring me some juice."
"TYLER, it is cold, turn on the heater."
"SETH, go show your pictures to Zuki's father."
It sounds like she was unbelivably demanding, but it was pretty cool that she just treated us like members of the family, not guests. We set the table and cleaned and gave our best shot at cooking. She also had a hilarious cell phone ring and Winnie moments are being endlessly reinacted.
Saturday we went to the South Africa vs Congo soccer game...it was quite an experience even just getting there-it was a whole day process...but all of the people from our neighborhood in Soweto who came with us sang and chanted nonstop once we got near- our Combi was louder than the stadium I'm pretty sure. The game ended in
Winnie's house
where we stayed in soweto a 0-0 draw, but it was pretty awesome nontheless to get to be in the stadium where the world cup will be!
Sunday we went to church with Winnie, which I was really excited to experience. It was in Zulu and Xhosa, with bits and pieces with no real pattern in English. I didn't understand much, but as soon as we got there it was the greeting, and literally every person in the church came and hugged us...they were so welcoming. There was lots of singing and dancing- the woman sitting next to me kept calling me out for not dancing exactly like she did. For some reason Winnie insisted the boys had to sit somewhere else, but we had entrusted them to hold our church money. So it was slightly awkward when collection time came, and every person in the church walked to the front to give money and Katie and I just stood where we were while Tyler gave three donations. Oh well, there has to be something to make it awkward. It was a good 2 1/2 hours, partly because I think that's how long it lasts, and partly because it took 2 hours before the
minister showed up and we had to wait on him for communion.
That's pretty much the extent of my homestay in Soweto... we headed back to our convent in Jo'burg monday morning, for a couple more days. Monday night we went back to the same Soweto club that we infamously invaded the previous monday at 7:00. We decided we had to make it a tradition, and it didn't disapoint. The only other exciting thing before we left was a play we went to last night in Johannesburg. It was at the Market Theater, which is a famous theater for its integrated casts and audiences, even though it broke all the laws of the times. It opened just 5 days after the student riots began, so it was right in the peak of the conflicts. All kinds of performers and plays come through there and we saw a play about the life of the translators during the Truth and Reconcilation Commission. It was excellent- and a really good way to tie everything that we've seen together, and just fun to go out to the theater!
So once again, pictures will come. We are now in Windhoek and getting settled
in in our house- which I love and will tell you all about later. I think we're getting our wireless configured later this week so once I get my laptop up and running I will be unstopable.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.112s; Tpl: 0.019s; cc: 15; qc: 71; dbt: 0.0611s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb