This past weekend, the 21st-23rd, was one of the best, if not th ebest weekend I have had since I have been in Africa. And as rediculous as this may sound, it was the safest I have felt since I have been here. Arvy and I spent the weekend in Langa Township on Harlem Street. We stayed with a single woman, Nosipo, her cousin Tobs, and daughter Melissa (7). Their house was really very nice inside and not what one would expect. The first night Eric, or "Whitey", as everyone calls him, and I say everyone because it seemed like he knew 90% of the people there, brought us to a shabeen, or local bar. They call him whitey because he is a lighter skinned black man, and he told me that when people are calling "whitey", that they are not calling for me haha. Langa began in 1925 and was named after a man of similar status to Mandela, obviously not to the same magnitude, but he stood up for rights and equality in the 1800's. There are about 90,000 people living in the Langa Township, some in originally government funded housing that are cement, and many others living in shacks running right along the N2 Highway. Back to the first night. Whitey took us to the shabeen and introduced us to his friends and whoever was hanging out there that night. They bought us a few drinks and were very welcoming to the both of us, making me feel like I was part of their community and one of their friends. They were asking us questions about where we were from and so on. Tommy, an Olympic cricket player, was telling us to come to his field hockey game the next day, which we did, and everyone else was introducing themselves to us. It was great. Inside this shabeen, there were about 5 plastic porch tables, and a 42 inch flat screen TV. Many of the houses in Langa had the satellite dishes on their roofs because Whitey said that they used the excuse of wanting to watch the World Cup, but that they would be getting it on local television anyways. After hanging out in the shabeen for a while, we then went back to Nosipo's to watch TV for a little before going to bed. We each got our own bedroom, as there were 4 bedrooms in the house, all of good size.
Saturday we woke up and had some breakfast, and then Nosipo took us for a little walk around the streets and gave us a little history on it. We also bought half a sheep head or "smiley" for 17 Rand (less than 3 dollars), and we ate it when we got back to the house. After getting over the fact that I was eating a sheep lip, and cutting it directly off the skull, it was actually pretty delicious. I also ate the front half of the entire eyeball socket, and Nosipo ate the other half for her first time too! It tasted fine, but the texture was really nasty and chewy so I gagged a few times, but got it down eventually. While Nosipo was making lunch I asked if it was okay that I ask her a few questions about her past and how it was to grow up here, since she lived in Langa her entire life. She was educated through the Bantu Education System and had lived in this very house since her great grandmother owned it. She showed me where they expanded and where everything used to be when it was a two room house. She explained how this was one of 4 houses on the street to have an indoor bathroom, TODAY. She explained how the black people do not really like the Coloured people because they are "sellouts" and will side with either the black people or the white people, depending on what will provide better benefits to them. That was really interesting to hear first hand. She talked about how her safe zone was Langa, and how she did not want to live anywhere else; she had her friends and close knit neighborhood here, and felt comfortable in Langa. She also explained how she had to ask her cousin Tobs to come live with her, because people take notice of who lives where, what time they leave for and return from work, and if she lived alone, she would be targeted with robberies and such. It was really nice of her to answer many of my questions, even though some were personal.
After lunch we walked a few houses down to Whitey's house and he drove us to the hockey game. His son Juando and his little friend Tsike came with us, and we stopped at the shabeen to grab a few beers. When I went in with White, some of the people that I met the night before were saying hello to me again, and Whitey was making jokes that this woman and the girl working the bar wanted to go out with me, it was pretty funny. Whitey's friend Vuyo came with us to the game too. The hockey game was back in Rondebosch at Bishop's school, one of the nicest around and it is a predominately white private school. I talked to this guy John about a school called LEAP and it sounded amazing. langa was the best team in the league and destroyed the other team by about 8 goals or so. After the hockey game we went back to Langa and met Kristen who is also studying abroad, but living in Langa since March, and was staying across the street. She brought us around and showed us the Stadium, where there were 4 huge sports fields, and we met these little girls practicing for the World Cup dance, and wanted to show us around a little bit more. After walking around for a little more, we met Kristen's host sister, Sisandi, 25, and Hayley, another study abroad student living in Langa. We talked to them for over an hour about a bunch of different things, and gained a little more insight about what it was like to live in Langa. Unfortunately after that, Nosipo went to talk to some friends so Arvy and I kind of got stuck watching Melissa and her little friend, so we couldn't go back to the shabeen with Whitey, even though he was waiting for us.
Sunday, Arvy and I went to church, and it was amazing. Listening to the women sing in Xhosa was incredible and gave me the chills. At the end of the mass they announced for the both of us to stand up and everyone applauded for us, welcoming us into their community. After church we were given another and much longer tour of Langa. We walked all over, even to the shacks, which were incredible to actually be walking in and talking with the people. Ironically, the nicest houses in Langa with nice gardens and such, were located directly across the street from the shacks, which don't have running water in them, or even electricity. There ws also an incredible view of Table Mountain in the background. He told us about each housing section, when it was created and why, and told us about the daily lives of most of these people. After this we went back for lunch with Nosipo again and played with the kids for a little. Sisandi came over a short while after to see if we wanted to go for a walk with her, Hayley, Kristen, and her friend Dismasi, who was from Zimbabwe. He was really cool and also went to UCT. Unfortunately we had to leave Langa a few hours sooner than we thought, and had to head home. Then we said our goodbyes and headed back to the Mowbray bus station. The stay in Langa was nowhere near enough time, and I really wish I could have stayed there the entire semester. The people were so nice and welcoming, and they are just as important to get to know as the next person walking down the street. Our stay in Langa was way too short, and I already began to form a connection with it and the people living there. 7455.
