1st weekend in Durban

This weekend was a chill weekend with my host family!

Friday: Smu and I went on a tour around the neighborhood.

Saturday: It was Smu's 11th birthday so a few of my friends and I went to the mall with her and her friends. Getting to the mall was an interesting experience to say the least. We had to take a mini bus. Minibus taxis are the major way for people to get around since most of the families in Cato don't have cars. The minibus taxis blast house music and zip all over town. Drivers try to pack as many people as they can in the taxi. Once we got to the mall, the kids told us that they wanted to go to some place called "Makdunnels". It took them a few tries to explain, but we finally realized the kids were talking about McDonalds. So, I treated Smu to a happy meal for her birthday lunch. We also took them to the arcade to play some games. Smu won a bunch of bling (little rings with blinged out dollar signs) and some candy. Overall it was a pretty successful birthday celebration!

Sunday: Sunday morning we went to church. The church service was really long. Unlike the hour long service in the US, it was 3 hours long. Apparently it is normally an hour but the pastor from the city came to the church so we had that service plus the normal service. After church we ate some South African style Biryani. SO GOOD! The rest of Sunday was spent playing with the neighborhood kids. A bunch of the students and I learned some South African games. One of them is like "Little Sally Walker", a game we play at camp. The South African version requires a little more booty shaking than the American version.

We also watched African Big Brother. I've never watched it in the US, but here in South Africa there is a whole channel dedicated to it. The people on the show are filmed 24/7 like in the US version. But, it's a live feed, so the channel follows what everyone is doing at all times. Freaky.

News from Cato Manor

Yesterday we moved into our homestays! My family is wonderful! We live in a cute little house on a hill in Cato Manor. As I've said in previous posts, my mama's name is Ruby. But to update the last info I posted: she lives with her two grandchildren Buwa (he's 18 although my info sheet said he was 16) and Simunye. Lungelo is in law school and only stays at the house sometimes. Lungelo, Buwa, and Simunye's mother lives in Johannesburg and works as a nurse. She's coming this weekend to celebrate Simunye's birthday and I'm curious to see if she's one of the many nurses striking in South Africa.

So despite being super nervous, everything turned out ok! Dinner was KFC chicken, a little bit of veggie curry (which was SO good), steamed veggies and rice. After dinner Simunye helped me with my Zulu homework. At 8 we watched a TV show called Generations. It's one of the most popular shows in South Africa. EVERYONE watches it. It's a soap opera set in modern South Africa and I enjoy watching it as an anthro major. After analyzing so many African films and TV shows for classes at Bates, I get a lot of the complex issues within media such as Generations.

So far everything is going well. Today is the last day of orientation and then all the other classes begin tomorrow. Miss you all so much!!!

Love,

Leah

Welcome to Durban!

Sawubona!

That means hello in Zulu! We arrived in Durban on Sunday afternoon and have been currently living in a hostel on the coast of the Indian ocean. Although you can't go swimming because of the sharks, I got to dip my toes in the water and walk on the beach.

On Monday, I was partnered up with a girl in my group for a drop off excursion. Basically, we had to get on the bus and go to a location within Durban. Don't worry, we were in a really nice section of town and on the more touristy buses. My partner, Sally, and I went to the Durban Art Gallery housed within city hall. The exhibits were mostly local artwork. One of the coolest exhibits was a beaded chair made by impoverished women. They work for a fair trade company, making beaded objects to sell fairly in international markets. This chair was sent around South Africa. People from all walks of life were photographed in the chair and quoted as to what their dreams were for themselves, their families, and South Africa. Famous figures like Archbishop Desmond Tutu as well as HIV/AIDS patients were photographed and quoted. The other notable exhibit was of artwork portraying Indian identity in South Africa. Paintings, photos, and mixed-media projects displayed what it means to be Indian in South Africa. After the museum, Sally and I went to lunch and walked along the beach. For dinner, my friends and I went to an AMAZING seafood restaurant on the pier. I had an awesome South African prawn curry. Dad, I'll have to find you the recipe it was to die for.

Today, we finally went to the SIT house where all of our lessons take place. We had our first official 2 hour Zulu lesson this morning. So far I can handle the vast majority of vocab and pronunciations. The biggest challenge is pronouncing the clicks. There are 3 notable clicks we're learning now: c's, x's, and q's. I can handle the c's and the q's but the x click is really hard. Hopefully I'll be good at all three by the time I get home!

Tomorrow we move into our homestays. I'm living in Cato Manor, a former black township under Apartheid South Africa. My family consists of my mama, Ruby, 2 brothers (one is 21 and one is 17) and a little sister (she's 10). I'll meet them for the first time tomorrow! Getting super excited/nervous! I've heard from another girl on my program that her friend had the same family. Apparently they were amazing. Fingers crossed they're still awesome.

miss you all a ton. can't wait to show you all the pics (it's going to be a challenge to upload pics to facebook or the blog so you'll probably have to wait towards the end of the program)

Sala Kahle (Be Well),

Leah

Day 1: Soweto

Today we went to Soweto (the abbreviation of South West Township). There, we visited Mandela house museum as well as the Hector Pieterson museum. Both signifying important moments within the anti-Apartheid movement as well the rebuilding of South Africa post-Apartheid.

The Mandela museum was a small brick house on the corner of Vilakazi and Ngakne streets in Soweto. Walking through the house was a challenge: the house consisted of a kitchen and 2 bedrooms which barely fit our group of 24. The museum displayed photos of Mandela and his family as well as awards given to the influential Anti-Apartheid leader and former president.

Next we went to the Hector Pieterson museum down the road. This beautiful modern museum was constructed as a way to memorialize the lives lost in the student riot on June 16th 1976. Students were protesting the use of Afrikaans in schools when police began firing on the crowd. 13 year old Hector Pieterson was killed in the riot and became a martyr for the cause.

After Soweto we headed to mall in Johannesburg. For all of you who know I'm a shopaholic, you'd be surprised to find out I didn't buy anything. The rest of the day is for resting and getting adjusted to the time.

miss you all!

Finally here!

After a 14 or so hour flight, I've finally arrived in Johannesburg! Currently we're staying at a really nice hostel/bed&breakfast near the airport. Tomorrow we'll be visiting Soweto, Mandela house and a few monuments around the Johannesburg area. We'll also be going to the mall.

We depart for Durban on Sunday! I'll keep you posted!!!