Thursday, May 27, 2010

Hometowns

I've just been listening to Hometown Glory by Adele and relating to the lyrics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL49yZNE4yk

It's amazing how quickly someplace can become 'home'. Ive been in Pretoria almost two weeks only, and already I'm creating patterns of living. Worlds have also collided through people who know my people. The world becomes so small through travel. City living here is very much like city living in Calgary, with a few different twists and turns. I have a commute to downtown. I listen to the local radio station in the morning. The cofffee counter boy has memorized my order. I found my nearest supermarket and hairdresser.  I watch the news at night.

Why do we gravitate towards the familiar? When in our regular, normative settings, we don't critically think about our daily routines. Here, I'm facing many unknowns, and in order to try to mitigate fear and uncertainty, I'm doing things similar to what I always do. I guess we are creatures of habit.

This week's focus has mainly been work. I've put in a couple 10 hour days at the office. We are preparing for the official project launch happening next week Tuesday. I'm becoming quickly familiar with the ins and outs of government protocol and how to appropriately deal with officials, politicians and community stakeholders. Going through the 'right' channels is MEGA important, often more so than WHAT is being done. It's a bit of an eye opener as to why things seem to take a long time, procedure is emphasized over product.

I'm not used to these long days...the life of a student is more determined by paper due dates and not so much the daily office grind. Yet I am loving every minute and am jumping right into the work - I have no time to waste given the short period of time I am here. There is definitely a staffing gap as well and the role I'm carving out for myself is clearly needed. Interestingly, if you work past 530 pm in my building, the lights go out. The office goes completely black. I'm not entirely sure why this happens, but I agree with the maneuver, for environmental reasons as well as personal. Turning the lights out on workers is one way to ensure they go home and have a proper work life balance.

Today, around 11 am, there was a staff announcement over the loudspeakers inside. (It felt a bit like being in school, when the principal would make their announcements.) A man stated that there was a water shortage in the building and therefore we had to evacuate. We were to leave immediately and return to work the following morning. People were yelping and dancing in the hallways. Colleagues said to me that this doesn't happen often, but all I could do was laugh and smile and think to myself: TIA (This is Africa).

There are few comical sayings I've picked up that I would like to document. I love how the English language gets used in different ways depending on where you are in the world!

"I'll be with you just now." = "I'll be with you later." (Translation: Just now means later.)
"I"ll be with you now now" = "I'll be with you now." (Translation: Now now means NOW. ) :)
"Howzit?" = "How are you?"
"It's not a train smash." = "It's not the end of the world."

I'll continue to add to this list I'm sure.

Finally, today I drove for the first time in Pretoria. It was actually fine, although I kept hitting the windshield wipers instead of signalling. And, I tended to gravitate toward the curb instead of the middle line. I also once started driving on the wrong side, but only briefly, as headlights were directly flashing at me! It will take some getting used to. People and taxis are definitely hazards here as they are unpredictable and often in your way.  I drove us to the Canadian Pub Night at the High Commission. They have this event once a month and I found out about the event from another Canadian guy here. I had a nice time - met a few other people who just moved here too. Fun to compare stories!! The first question is always: "Where are you from?" I always struggle with this - I don't have a 'hometown'. It is the globe. Although, usually, I say Calgary. :)

Time for bed and am looking forward to the weekend as we are off to Kruger National Park this weekend for a 3 day safari. I can't wait!

Brianna xo

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Soweto


On Saturday I spent the entire day in Soweto and Johannesburg. Emma and I left leafy Pretoria and headed south on the NI motorway. The drive itself is quite short (about one hour) amidst the roadworks occurring at a frenzied pace due to the World Cup approaching in 20 days. They are expanding the highway to accommodate the flow of traffic between the two cities - Pretoria visitors rely on Jo'burg's airport as their point of entry.

Driving through and around Johannesburg was a nice surprise. The downtown core is very built up and looking at it, you might just think you were in Boston, Detroit, or some other North American city. It looked lush as well with lots of beautiful trees and gardens. I was struck by how nice the cars were driving by us (Land Rovers, Mercedes, BMW, etc.); there is definitely some money to be made in that town. It looked nothing like the 'Gangster's Paradise' image people had told me about. (To relate the city back to Canada....it's like the Toronto, Pretoria is the Ottawa and Cape Town is the Vancouver of South Africa.)

The mountains surrounding Johannesburg were mined and are very flat and rugged looking. The mining began there in the late 1800s and only now are they revisiting some of the deposits for more gold due to advances in technology. We arrived in Soweto (South Western Township) after driving through the city and could immediately see the difference in architecture. 

The township itself has been in existence since the 1930s. It became significant after the Apartheid movement forced blacks in Johannesburg out of the city and into the area now known as Soweto. It's currently it's own thriving suburb with both rich and poor areas...it's not all what you see and hear about on the news. The total population of Soweto is approximately 1/3 of the total population of Johannesburg. 

Our first stop was in a slum.  I was admittedly initially hesitant and awkward walking around people's homes/lives and I felt a bit like a voyeur. However, we were welcomed and shown around by a local who lives in the slum, and he put my mind at rest with his kind eyes. He said we were welcome and the community was curious about us as much as we were curious about them. Everyone we met said 'good morning'.
 
The slum had no running water (just communal taps), shared porta-toilets, no electricity and each resident had a tiny shack which housed families inside each. My car is about the same size as your average shack. The kids in the gravel street were staring up at us and wanting a picture (for a fee). They were very, very sweet and innocent. I couldn't help but wonder how these kids would survive and what their chances were at leaving Soweto or even the slums. They didn't look sickly though. Just dirty.

We carried on and saw where Winnie Mandela currently lives, the church were Desmond Tutu would give his public addresses and where police would eventually violently enter (there were bullet holes in the ceiling), Nelson Mandela's house (which is now a Museum), and the Hector Pieterson Museum which is located in the spot where that same young boy was killed in 1976 during the Soweto uprising. So much history in such a small little geographical area.

I was moved by how communal Soweto was. Everyone knew everyone else. They were all in it together and for each other...versus the gated off and separate rows of mansions in the 'whiter' areas. But it also struck me that despite Apartheid ending, the divisions are still very, very clear. Whites live here and blacks over there. The effects of Apartheid are going to take generations to overcome, where people truly mix and skin colour is not a dividing factor.
   
Then, in the evening, we went to a rugby match. No, this was not your ordinary rugby match. This was a semi-final, sudden death game between the Bulls (Pretoria) and the Crusaders (not sure but somewhere in New Zealand). The Bulls normally play at Loftus Stadium in Pretoria but they were not able to due World Cup preparations happening there. Therefore, this semi final was played in Soweto, at Orlando Stadium. And, since rugby is a 'white man's game', the historical significance of this event meant that 45 000 white people had to go to Soweto to watch their beloved team. I bet you that over half of that crowd never thought they would purposefully visit Soweto. It was quite the sight and an interesting social experiment if you will. It seemed to go just fine with this mix of boundaries. The organization of the event it self left much to be desired (TIA: This is Africa) but I am really glad I got to experience the event - for the sport and for the historical significance of the location. And, the Bulls won!!!

So, there you have the weekend update.
Brianna xo