Fundisa

Weekend Edition

It has been a couple of days since I wrote here, mainly because my friend and trusted guide was available so I spent most every waking moment moving around the city with him. I will try to reconstruct all that I can from what I’ve been doing over the past few days and the observations I’ve made and the questions I’ve had, but I can guarantee that I’ll leave a lot out and that some of it will come back to me in later days.

Right now I’m listening to The Fifth Floor, a South African hip-hop group that Tyler recommended. The form of the music is incredibly similar to the hip-hop in the US but it seems to me (so far) that the lyrics are different, as is the accent. Maybe more rhythm in there too. I’ll keep it on and see where it goes.

On The Left Side

The day after I wrote my last note I got in the car and braved the Cape Town roads. They drive a bit crazily here, especially the combis, which are mini-bus taxis that whip in and out of their stops with little to no regard for what else is going on the the street. Basically these people get paid the more people they can get into their cab and to their destinations as quickly as possible. It’s pretty common to see ten people crammed into what is basically a minivan, or sometimes a pick-up truck (called a bakkie here) with a cab on top and people in the back. I haven’t actually ridden in one yet - they used to be a big problem in terms of crime because they inspired some turf wars among different taxi “companies.” It seems like that’s over now, for the most part.

I drove Tyler to an interview on the other side of the mountain in a very rich part of the city -

if I wasn’t driving on the left side of the road in the shadow of Table Mountain, I would have sworn I was in California. Until you look closely at the walls surrounding you and notice that they’re covered with razor wire, warnings of armed guards, spikes, or, in the more stylish way, green metal barbs disguised as ivy.

It reminded me of Nadine Gordimer’s story “Once Upon a Time.” (If you haven't read it yet, please do - great story, great take on apartheid and post-apartheid lives) It’s very different than the neighborhood I’m in, and light years away from the townships that exist north of the city. I haven’t been there yet.

After dropping Tyler off I drove along the waterfront to Beach Ave and took that somewhat scenic route to downtown. Got lost about eight times. Try a three lane rotary on the wrong side of the road 36 hours after you get off a plane sometime. It’s fun. I made it and walked to Cape Town Tourism to get some ideas of what to do in my first few days here. I already knew I was headed to District Six afterwards, so I stopped and had my first Ostrich burger. DAMN GOOD.

Here it is in all of its flightless pride. AJ, I hope you notice the "salad" sauce on there. That's right, besides the fact that it's Ostrich, a decidedly African touch, this is basically a UK/USA concoction. Chips with tomato sauce included.

We Won't Move

After the giant bird sandwich, I walked over to District Six. The museum there is excellent, and it exists as both a condemnation of the apartheid policy of forced removals and a monument to the vibrant, multicultural city that Cape Town once was. Today, District Six is an empty lot with a few buildings scattered around on the edges of where it once was. It sticks out in a funny way - the only buildings that survive are a church and a mosque, and it's almost literally in the middle of this cosmopolitan city, in close proximity to downtown, Table Mountain and the waterfront. Originally the district was made up of coloured, blacks, indians, and whites. It's really amazing to see these pictures - it's a South Africa that's so different from today, one that was actually integrated. District Six was in direct opposition to the government's apartheid policy which claimed, among other things, that races should be separated in order to prevent conflict. So in accordance with policy, in 1966 District Six was designated as a whites-only area and the forced removals began.

Throughout the 70s and 80s residents were forced to relocate to townships far outside the city, where they live today. As they left their homes were bulldozed. The coloured townships are somewhat closer, and more middle class, and the black townships are farther out - as far 30 km outside the city where Khayelitsha is - and significantly poorer. Today these townships have electricity, but that didn't happen until the 90s. Sewage is on the bucket system. More on them later, I'm going to take a couple tours soon and hopefully stay in one.

The forced relocation took so much money that the government didn't have enough to then redevelop the place, plus they were fighting to keep apartheid intact at that point and District Six residents did not go down quietly. So the land lays bare still. Here are some pics of what District Six looked like back in the day:

Here are some shots I took of what it looks like today:

You can still see the original cobblestone (from who knows when) and the blacktop

These boulders stand as sort of monuments

Some failed redevelopment projects and a mural in the background. If you look close, that guy on the left is peeing.

Signs of Resistance

Believe it or not, Cape Town has some of the most beautiful graffiti and mural artwork I have ever seen. I'll take more pics as soon as I can. But one of my favorites is this mural overlooking District Six:

On a more historical note, this is a mural that has lasted, improbably, since the 1980s - when it was a highly dangerous act to say these words. The men who painted it outside Groote Shuur Hospital (first successful heart transplant in the world) risked prison and maybe more for this:

Madiba Turns 90

On Friday, Nelson Mandela turned 90. It was a big deal here. I hope it was a big deal everywhere.

The Weekend in Less Words

This post is getting long, so in good spirits I will get to this weekend. On Friday I picked up Steve and we spent an awesome weekend decompressing - me from my flight and all the traveling lately, him from his research. We drove east to the Indian Ocean (first time for me) and spent the day eating calamari on the beach, then wandered back to the city through the mountains. I saw baboons on the freeway. BABOONS ON THE FREEWAY. Okay, maybe this actually is Africa.

We went to a braai last night for Steve's roommate Jenny's goodbye party. A braai is a time and alcohol-honored tradition here. You think you know how to barbecue? Think again - these parties have a way of getting big. Of course I've only been to one. But it got bigger than expected, and some of the guys there told me that in the townships they get huge - the neighbors are all there, everyone is drinking their milk stout and eating their springbok and steak. Man, these people love meat. God, as I start to think about food I start to think about all of the great food here - the bobotie for instance, at this place down the street was a-fucking-mazing. It's got meatloaf beaten to a pulp. There are just some really interesting flavors here - a result of the incredible mixing of everything else I suppose. More on food later.

Some more photos that are just interesting:

The view from the Rhodes monument. It looks over UCT (immediate foreground), the student neighborhood of Observatory (where I'm staying - mixed populous), the coloured townships and, finally, near that coal plant way out there? the black townships. As Steve explained: the layout of apartheid.