As my time in South Africa is coming to an end, I thought that I would share all of the new vocabulary that I picked up here so that you will be able to understand me when I talk!
Plaster- band-aid
Takkies- sneakers
Now now- soon
Just now- in a while, if ever
Robot- stop light
Jersey- sweater or sweatshirt
Braai- barbecue
Howzit- whats up
Bru- dude
Hectic- crazy
Chips- French fries
Crisps- Chips
Biscuits- Cookies
Flat- apartment
Bakkie- truck
Costume- swim suit
It's late for you- its not going to happen
Tut (short for tutorial)- study group
Lift- elevator
Boot- trunk
Loose- drunk
Wat is jou naam- what is your name (Afrikaans)
Lekker- good or delicious (also Afrikaans)
Suid Africa- South Africa (Afrikaans)
Molo- Hello (Xhosa)
Ndeipi- What's up (Shona)
Series- t.v. show
Lift- elevator
Monday, June 6, 2011
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Guguletu
On Mother's Day, I had the opportunity to take a tour of a township called Guguletu. The word Guguletu is Xhosa for 'our pride'. However, when this township was established in the 1960's under apartheid, its residents had little to be proud of. Residential areas in Cape Town were declared to be for whites-only, and residents were forcibly moved into townships based on their racial categorization. While Oceanview, the township that I did a homestay in was designated coloured-only, Guguletu was originally designated for blacks.
The townships were one of many ways of demeaning blacks during the Apartheid era. By forcing black farmers off of productive land to make way for white-owned farms, the government was able to both put land in the hands of whites while forcing blacks to move to urban areas to earn money, satisfying a demand for labour in factories and the service sector. Since blacks were not given formal citizenship, they had to carry documentation that proved that they were qualified to live in township housing. To get a house in a township, a person would have to show that they had a job in Cape Town. But in order to get a job in Cape Town, a person would have to show that they lived in the area and would be able to get to work.
When we visited Guguletu, the roads were lined with two room houses. These houses were built by the apartheid government. Although each house only had two rooms, no running water, and no electricity, several families were usually forced to live in one house due to the difficulties of qualifying for housing. When all of the houses were occupied, the apartheid government refused to build more houses. Instead, everybody who was forced to move to Cape Town to look for work would either have to move in with relatives, or build an informal shack to live in.
Our tour guide lived in Guguletu and had lived in both a house and shack in the township before he had been able to build his own home. He introduced himself as Donald, but then went on to say that Donald wasn't his real name. His baas (which is the Afrikaans word for boss, but blacks were forced to call any white man baas) couldn't pronounce his name and told him that from now on, he would be called Donald. He told us that he was proud that under the new government, young men joining the workforce would never have to suffer the humiliation of being forced to go by a different name just because a white person couldn't pronounce their real name.
Part of the tour was visiting a shack and getting the chance to look inside. To get to the shacks, we had to leave the road and walk on a sandy path to a field behind the formal houses. The shacks were built on a hill, and during the rainy season our tour guide told us that it could be almost impossible to get to the shacks through the mud. The shack that we visited was about 3/4 the size of my bedroom at home and was divided into three rooms-- a kitchen area, a livingroom/bedroom, and an entry way. It was built out of pieces of scrap wood and corrugated metal and had a couch, bed, dresser, and television. The woman living in the shack shared it with her husband and her young daughter. She told us that in the summer it got unbearably hot, and in the winter the wind and rain made it cold and damp.
Since the individual shacks don't have running water, the government built pumps every 150 meters. If you want to do the dishes, bathe, or wash your clothes, you have to fill a bucket up with water and carry it back to your house. Forget showers, real baths, or hot water. There is one toilet that is shared between five or six families. The residents of this area were lucky though-- unlike in many townships, this toilet had walls around it.
Another part of the tour was visiting the memorial for the Guguletu Seven. This was a group of seven black young men and women who were sharing a taxi on the way to a job interview. The taxi driver suspected that they were members of the ANC, which was banned during the liberation struggle, and called the police. The police set up a roadblock, pulled everybody out of the car, and executed them.
People have been getting more and more frustrated at the lack of change since the end of apartheid. Even though the government has been trying to create more jobs and provide affordable housing near those jobs, progress had been slow at best. In my classes I had been learning about the ANC and why government progress had been so slow, and it seemed understandable given the legacy of apartheid. But visiting the township and seeing for myself the conditions that people had to live in, I realized how inexcusable it is that people are still being forced to live like this.
The townships were one of many ways of demeaning blacks during the Apartheid era. By forcing black farmers off of productive land to make way for white-owned farms, the government was able to both put land in the hands of whites while forcing blacks to move to urban areas to earn money, satisfying a demand for labour in factories and the service sector. Since blacks were not given formal citizenship, they had to carry documentation that proved that they were qualified to live in township housing. To get a house in a township, a person would have to show that they had a job in Cape Town. But in order to get a job in Cape Town, a person would have to show that they lived in the area and would be able to get to work.
When we visited Guguletu, the roads were lined with two room houses. These houses were built by the apartheid government. Although each house only had two rooms, no running water, and no electricity, several families were usually forced to live in one house due to the difficulties of qualifying for housing. When all of the houses were occupied, the apartheid government refused to build more houses. Instead, everybody who was forced to move to Cape Town to look for work would either have to move in with relatives, or build an informal shack to live in.
Our tour guide lived in Guguletu and had lived in both a house and shack in the township before he had been able to build his own home. He introduced himself as Donald, but then went on to say that Donald wasn't his real name. His baas (which is the Afrikaans word for boss, but blacks were forced to call any white man baas) couldn't pronounce his name and told him that from now on, he would be called Donald. He told us that he was proud that under the new government, young men joining the workforce would never have to suffer the humiliation of being forced to go by a different name just because a white person couldn't pronounce their real name.
Part of the tour was visiting a shack and getting the chance to look inside. To get to the shacks, we had to leave the road and walk on a sandy path to a field behind the formal houses. The shacks were built on a hill, and during the rainy season our tour guide told us that it could be almost impossible to get to the shacks through the mud. The shack that we visited was about 3/4 the size of my bedroom at home and was divided into three rooms-- a kitchen area, a livingroom/bedroom, and an entry way. It was built out of pieces of scrap wood and corrugated metal and had a couch, bed, dresser, and television. The woman living in the shack shared it with her husband and her young daughter. She told us that in the summer it got unbearably hot, and in the winter the wind and rain made it cold and damp.
Since the individual shacks don't have running water, the government built pumps every 150 meters. If you want to do the dishes, bathe, or wash your clothes, you have to fill a bucket up with water and carry it back to your house. Forget showers, real baths, or hot water. There is one toilet that is shared between five or six families. The residents of this area were lucky though-- unlike in many townships, this toilet had walls around it.
Another part of the tour was visiting the memorial for the Guguletu Seven. This was a group of seven black young men and women who were sharing a taxi on the way to a job interview. The taxi driver suspected that they were members of the ANC, which was banned during the liberation struggle, and called the police. The police set up a roadblock, pulled everybody out of the car, and executed them.
People have been getting more and more frustrated at the lack of change since the end of apartheid. Even though the government has been trying to create more jobs and provide affordable housing near those jobs, progress had been slow at best. In my classes I had been learning about the ANC and why government progress had been so slow, and it seemed understandable given the legacy of apartheid. But visiting the township and seeing for myself the conditions that people had to live in, I realized how inexcusable it is that people are still being forced to live like this.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Two Oceans
Over Easter weekend, I ran the Two Oceans Half Marathon. It is advertised as the most beautiful race on Earth, and I 100% agree! The race started at 6:00am in Newlands and went along the Main Rd in Claremont. After about 5 miles, the sun started coming up and we were running in a residential area with a beautiful view of the mountains. That is, it was beautiful until I realized that I would be running up the nearest one! As soon as we were out of Claremont, the road was winding up the mountain and was lined with these huge, beautiful evergreens. I had contemplated running with my camera, and this was one section of the race that I wish that I had. The incline was pretty steep and lasted about 2 miles, but it was nowhere near as terrible as I thought it would be. Plus, the rest of the race was downhill so I was really able to pick up the pace (although my joints regretted it later)!
The energy in the race was amazing. There were African drummers along the route as well as a few DJs and cheerleading squads. There was also tons of support from the crowds and the 14,000 other runners who were doing the half marathon. International runners have different bib colours, and a lot of other international runners introduced themselves during the run. I met a few people from Brazil as well as Namibia and Zimbabwe.
After the race, my knees started to cramp up and I ended up limping around town for the rest of the day. I was absolutely amazed when I saw the ultra marathon runners, who had run 56k, or about 33.6 miles, strolling around town without looking tired at all! This was also the first year in about 30 years that a South African won the ultra marathon, so there was a lot of patriotism from the South Africans that day.
Before the race, we got supporter signes made at the expo..this one says 'Nobody made you do this Amanda' and the other one says 'Run like someone is chasing you'.
Elite runner finishing the ultra marathon.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Bo-Kaap and Downtown
On Saturday we had a house trip that ended up being a tour of downtown Cape Town and Bo-Kaap. We started out at the Castle, which was originally built between 1666 and 1679 by the Dutch East India Company and is the oldest building in South Africa. The Cape was a strategic point because ships needed a place to stop for food and water on the way to India to trade for spices and other goods. The Dutch built the castle to defend it from the threat of a British attack.
The flags represent the different eras of South Africa's history: Dutch rule under the Prince of Orange, British rule, Dutch rule again, British rule again, Apartheid rule, and the current democratic South Africa.
We also walked past the Cape Town City Hall, where Nelson Mandela made his first speech after he was released from Robben Island.
Although most people think of slaves as having been captured from the west coast of Africa and being brought to the Americas, slavery was also an important part of Cape society during the colonial period. The Dutch were ordered not to enslave the local population in the interest of preventing conflicts, so many slaves were imported from India, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia. Today, their descendants are broadly know as Cape Malays. Along the way, we stopped in at the slave lodge, which is now a museum.
By the time we made it to Bo-Kaap, it was super hot outside! Bo-Kaap is a neighborhood that was originally built to house soldiers but instead was used to house the descendants of former slaves who lived in the Cape Town area. During the apartheid era, everybody who was not classified as a Cape Malay was forced to move out of the area, but now it is known for its beautiful houses!
The flags represent the different eras of South Africa's history: Dutch rule under the Prince of Orange, British rule, Dutch rule again, British rule again, Apartheid rule, and the current democratic South Africa.We also walked past the Cape Town City Hall, where Nelson Mandela made his first speech after he was released from Robben Island.
Although most people think of slaves as having been captured from the west coast of Africa and being brought to the Americas, slavery was also an important part of Cape society during the colonial period. The Dutch were ordered not to enslave the local population in the interest of preventing conflicts, so many slaves were imported from India, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia. Today, their descendants are broadly know as Cape Malays. Along the way, we stopped in at the slave lodge, which is now a museum.
By the time we made it to Bo-Kaap, it was super hot outside! Bo-Kaap is a neighborhood that was originally built to house soldiers but instead was used to house the descendants of former slaves who lived in the Cape Town area. During the apartheid era, everybody who was not classified as a Cape Malay was forced to move out of the area, but now it is known for its beautiful houses!
Pictures of my homestay in Ocean View
Fall Break in Cape Town.
Last week we had time off from classes for fall break, otherwise known as vac. I had a nice time staying in Cape Town and catching up on homework, although I didn't get to visit any museums, which had been one of my priorities. However, I did get the chance to go for unlimited ribs and prawn with some of my Zimbabwean friends at a restaurant called Aqua, which was fun but also complicated since we forgot to print out our vouchers before we came and had to find a place with free wireless so we could pull them up on the computer screen for the manager. But the food was good, we ate up the rest of the restaurants ribs, and the waiter was nice and let us take doggy bags even though we weren't supposed to. Apparently, there was also a South African movie star at the restaurant. Afterward, we stopped by a salsa club to watch the more accomplished dancers. Ngoni tried to teach me the basic steps, but I definitely couldn't compare to the awesome dancers who were there.
On Wednesday, Quinton, the CIEE program coordinator, surprised us by taking the people who were left in Cape Town on a safari. We went to a game reserve called Fairy Glen. Since it is a game reserve it is much smaller than a national park. The more common animals like Springbok and Zebras are bred on the reserve while the protected species like rhino and lions have to be bought and are usually rescued animals or animals that caused problems in the national park and would have otherwise been put down.
I was surprised at myself for actually being intimidated by some of the animals. We first saw two rhino, who seemed pretty tame until our guide told us that there used to be a hippo on the reserve until it got in a fight with the rhino. Apparently, when the hippo opened its mouth to bite the rhino, the rhino gored it in the roof of its mouth and actually lifted it off of the ground!
Rhinos are endangered because their horns can be sold for a lot of money in Asia where people think that ground horns can cure cancer. Horns are usually about 7 kgs and are worth $36,000 per kg.
We were also able to see some giraffes. According to our guide, giraffes are unable to lay down for long periods of time or to sleep because they need to keep high blood pressure to get blood from their hearts to their brains.
I found the buffalo to be the most intimidating because one of the buffalo we saw had mauled our guide on the reserve about a year ago. It was also aggressive when we drove by, and ended up trying to charge the vehicle!
The elephant was my favorite animal. Elephants eat and destroy about 3 tonnes of vegetation a day, so they constantly have to be planting more trees on the reserve. This elephant had lived in Kruger National Park, but was going to be put down because it had a habit of damaging fences and buildings in the parks. Since the animals on the game reserve are somewhat protected and don't really need to defend themselves, the reserve was able to take in the elephant and cut off its tusks so that it wouldn't be able to damage the property. This one was busy uprooting a tree when we drove by...
Lastly, we saw the lions. They were a sad story because they were rescued from captivity and could not be released into the wild because they never learned how to hunt.
P.S. All of the pictures are courtesy of Farai because I forgot my camera. Thanks!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Ocean View
This past weekend, I experienced some real South African hospitality during my home stay in Ocean View. Ocean View is a township that is a 10-15 minute drive from Fishhoek and Simons Town--two beautiful beach neighborhoods. In the 1960's-1970's the coloured residents of Fishoek and Simons Town were forced to relocate to Ocean View when these areas were classified as white-only. Today the community is almost all coloured (that is what mixed race people or Cape Malays are called in South Africa) and most people speak both English and Afrikaans.
Although many people will tell you that Ocean View is dangerous, I really enjoyed my time in the community. My host parents and their two children went all-out to make sure that we were able to experience the area. My host dad, Neville, is a commercial fisherman, which I thought was fascinating. He fishes using nets and fishing lines, but also free dives to catch prawn and lobster. He told me that he can hold his breath for about four and a half minutes! He alternates between fishing and running a tyre repair shop from his home during the week.
Luzanne, my host mother, and Neville took us to a fish market on the coast and on a tour of the peninsula. It was BEAUTIFUL, but unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera. We also visited a farm where we saw camels (they are huge!!!) and watched the Cape Argus bike tour, a 110 km race that is one of the biggest in the world.
Luzanne was an amazing chef. She and Neville treated us to an awesome seafood dinner with snoek, calamari, prawn, and other fresh seafood that Neville caught himself. Luzanne also taught me how to cook lamb and gave me a special baked vegetable recipe.
My time in Ocean View was an amazing experience, and it was hard to say goodbye. I learned so much about the culture and history of Ocean View, which gave me so much appreciation for Cape Town as a whole. I can't wait to continue my explorations!
Although many people will tell you that Ocean View is dangerous, I really enjoyed my time in the community. My host parents and their two children went all-out to make sure that we were able to experience the area. My host dad, Neville, is a commercial fisherman, which I thought was fascinating. He fishes using nets and fishing lines, but also free dives to catch prawn and lobster. He told me that he can hold his breath for about four and a half minutes! He alternates between fishing and running a tyre repair shop from his home during the week.
Luzanne, my host mother, and Neville took us to a fish market on the coast and on a tour of the peninsula. It was BEAUTIFUL, but unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera. We also visited a farm where we saw camels (they are huge!!!) and watched the Cape Argus bike tour, a 110 km race that is one of the biggest in the world.
Luzanne was an amazing chef. She and Neville treated us to an awesome seafood dinner with snoek, calamari, prawn, and other fresh seafood that Neville caught himself. Luzanne also taught me how to cook lamb and gave me a special baked vegetable recipe.
My time in Ocean View was an amazing experience, and it was hard to say goodbye. I learned so much about the culture and history of Ocean View, which gave me so much appreciation for Cape Town as a whole. I can't wait to continue my explorations!
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