Steve and I decided we wanted to help Zinele, the woman who works at both of our places, fix up her place a little bit. She lives in Khayelitsha and just put two new rooms onto her house, so we agreed to come out and paint the rooms for her. We enlisted Jobie and Ina to help out, and headed to Khayelitsha on Saturday morning. It took a while to find the place, but we did and we managed to get some paint and primer at a wild hardware store that seemed to sell just about everything in a pretty random order. Our initial concern over whether to get flat paint or glossy, and what exact shade, was thrown out the window - we said cream, they handed us a giant bucket and some tint. Quite different than the Home Depot experience... When we got back Ina was working on Pumi's hair, waiting for us.
The two rooms were bare cement walls so we started the first day with masonry primer. This is Steve, Jobie and Thandile, Zinele's son, setting up the paint.
The walls were wet and the primer was thin, so as soon as it was on, we had to wait a long time for it to dry. Thandile loved working with us,
and we even got Ina to actually paint a little bit.
And Jobie was representing the UK quite well with some meticulous work and colorful expressions:
The rooms were stuffy so the fumes made constant breaks a really good idea. Steve started dropping a little science as the fumes collected. It was a worthwhile treatise on paint...
We finished pretty quickly and headed outside, hoping brain damage hadn't set in yet. That was when the fun started. Zinele was happy with the first coat...
Everybody around came by and said hello as we waited on the front steps and Pumi, Zinele's friend, cooked a braai to thank us for helping out.
Pumi immediately enlisted the kids to help out - the boys chopped wood and gathered meat and got everything ready. We weren't allowed to help. According to Zinele, this was a boy's job.
Toddlers were everywhere, coming in and out. This little girl had some particularly advanced dance moves, to be honest, and an incredibly infectious laugh when held upside down by Ina:
Some of the boys were fascinated by us, but had slightly shorter attention spans and they were pretty shy. But they were being taken care of - not by one person, but by the whole street. It was nice to have them around, scooching in and out of the house, offering chips, playing tag, wanting to play with us.
I think this kid had the best hair - although I wouldn't tell Paula Abdul up there.
Ina made friends with Sibakhle, Zinele's daughter (the one getting the hug here) and got taken around the neighborhood to meet everyone.
This guy walked away a bit dazed...but giggling.
Zinele was so happy, she kept screaming how happy she was with us being there. It was new, having people come to the township and really do something different within the community rather than just drive through. Zinele and Steve here - she loves to talk about him, explaining that he "may be white on the outside, but inside he's Xhosa!" (I generally like to shy away from exclamation points, but with Zinele, there's no other way to speak)
Zinele was so proud of her family, and especially her daughter Sibakhle and her son. Her are mother and daughter - they look a lot alike:
Jobie deep in conversation out on the street with Zinele's cousin.
A couple of township dogs managed to get close enough to guilt some of the kids out of their chips.
As we were all waiting and hanging out, everything was incredibly relaxed - the best feeling I've had since the plane landed two and a half weeks ago. There was an enormous sense of community and we started to feel like a part of it - everyone was so welcoming. Zinele and Steve and Ina are here hanging out on the front stoop.
Zinele's brother, Kaya, who came by to make sure we were safe, ate with us, and left when he realized everything was more than okay, and Zinele's cousin (laying down) during lunch.
Pumi was a good cook, and oversaw everything. In the end, as we were eating, Zinele couldn't stop shouting: "Pumi - my fat friend - she's a good cook eh!?" After which she would cackle in laughter and even Pumi couldn't help but laugh along. Here's Pumi, enjoying some herself, while I say goodbye to Zinele for the day.
It was so relaxing, and even though everyone looked at us like we were aliens at first, they were incredibly welcoming and warm when they got used to us being there. The kids were the greatest - lots of fun, funny as hell, and curious and shy at the same time.Matty Arrives
That night we picked up Matty at the airport and enlisted him to do the next day's work. Zinele gave him her usual greeting.
We finished the rooms in no time. Steve took some photos - check the color, nice?
We then walked around the neighborhood - saw Pumi's house and heard Zinele's plans for developing the area.
Zinele said goodbye and we headed to an nyama, which is like an outdoor bbq stand with excellent meat. Here's the happy homeowner:
We met some more kids at the nyama, of course, and loved this guy's hat.
In a strange next step - we headed to wine country and culture shock. Extreme poverty to a nice glass of wine in a french restaurant, had me reeling a bit. Amazing mountain behind us though - really beautiful as the sun went down over the foothills of WhiteMatt.
Tonight we pick up Andy and tomorrow it's of to the Cape of Good Hope.
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