Kimberley and Emo Adams

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19 July (written 5 months later)

Today we departed Hurlingham Manor early with Elna to get a ride to Park Station. She had a appointment at Wits University (or Univ of Joburg), so she was kind enough to give us a lift for our morning bus ride to Kimberley. We were going on our fifth week in South Africa and had spent much of our time in Gauteng with Elna. But it was on this ride to the train station we learned the most about her. She had grown up in Mafikeng, a border town with Botswana, where her father worked for the train company. She told us one of her earliest memories about Mafikeng was her out on the traintracks watching black migrant laborers heading to the Rand. One of the passengers had spit out a massive piece of chewing gum. Elna picked it up and chewed it, whereapon her mother found out what she had done when she arrived home and proceeded to wash her mouth out with soap. Elna seemed to make it seem that it wasn’t necessarily picking gum off the ground and eating it, but the fact that an African had been chewing it that was the part that needed cleansing.

It has always been of interest to listen to white South Africans, especially Afrikaners for their memories of the second half of the 20th century. They’re made out to be such vile and racist people, yet they were very similar to white Americans of the same era. Continue reading →

Sunday in Newtown

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Enjoyed a lazy Sunday morning and then made our way to Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown.

The square is one of several fan parks around Joburg with large jumbo trons for public viewing, but when we arrived there were very few people walking around. We thought that it would pick up once the games started for the day but it remind quiet with only a few more people trickling in for the match. A unique art feature of the park was a giant red man made of Coca Cola boxes that toward overhead.

Next to Mary Fitzgerald square was the Museum of Africa that I had read about in Lonely Plant and was interested in check out, especially because it was FREE. The entire square was fenced off for the fan park making entrance to the museum a little more challenging. We didn’t feel comfortable walking around along the street because the area around the square is not the safest neighborhood in Joburg, so we decided to go through security for the park and cut across. The security guards could have cared less if I was caring anything illegal; one squeeze of my closed bag and I was cleared to go through. At the other side we realized that there was no exit. I was ready to just hop the fence given that it was only a little taller than waste high, but some security guards who were also looking to get out took the fence apart for us. Continue reading →

The Afrikaner Experience

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June 19

This morning we packed to leave Gemini and debated causing a scene over our remaining balance of what we had payed for our accommodation, but conveniently the man we would need to speak to was gone for the morning. Very unsatisfied about our stay up to that point, we decided to get on the road to Witbank, where the Test Match between Italy and the Springboks would take place. Skipping the cold breakfast that was served at Gemini (perhaps due to the frequent power fluctuations?) we headed to Rosebank mall where we had eaten our post game meal from the previous night. We found our restaurant, Nino’s, to be bustling with leople, so we decided to pop in and give their breakfast menu a go after last nights dinner had turned out quiet well. It turned out to be the best breakfast we have had since our return to South Africa. Mugg and Bean no long is top as they’ve suffered a bit of a let off since we were here in 2007. Great eggs, and carne in their omelets. WIll definitely try to go again if we find another.

We set off east towards Witbank and arrive just before 2 in the afternoon. We want to track down a top for Alisa, as she had hesitated on getting a Springboks kit when we first arrived, and now the match is upon her and the surprisingly warm temperatures, means that wearing my fleece is not yet an option. For some reason all the shops in Witbank close are 2pm, and the Mall was dark and deserted at 1350. Decided to head towards the stadium, and found a mess of cars spread out all over much as we have for our World Cup matches, but with more disarray. Continue reading →

US – Slovenia Recap

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June 18

Woke up to no power, no hot water and a very cold, non-insulated room. Not happy. It wouldn’t bother me if we were paying typical ZA pricing but World Cup pricing is beyond a rip off and should at least guarantee some hot water in WINTER. When your room in a village in Ghana is nicer then the place you are paying high nightly rates for, that is a problem. The morning was only made worse by our cold eggs and beans for breakfast.

We had an hour or so to kill before the park and rides opened for the game, so we quickly packed up and headed off to the Rosebank Mall to walk around and warm up our chilled bodies. I took advantage of our sun drenched parking spot to paint a flag and USA on my face.
Continue reading →