i heart soweto

woke up early, but snoozed since we had showered the night before. got a call at 8am from soweto backpackers that our ride would pick us up around 9. today was our bike tour of soweto, the most famous of the black townships. it's full of history and culture, and i could think of no better way to tour it than by bike. sure, we could have joined a bus group or driven ourselves. but a bus doesn't allow you to interact with the community in the same way, and let's face it. despite being the richest township in south africa, soweto is still incredibly poor, most people live in poverty, there's crime and rampant disease. and i wanted to hear the people's story from them directly, not a canned narrative.

we had several choices of tour lengths through soweto bicycle tours. i wanted to get in as much history as i could on my trip to mandela land, so opted for the full day. jeff didn't seem to care either way, but i think in the end he was ultimately pleased with our choice.

so around 8:45 we decided to go and wait outside our hostel, since it was very easy to miss. and we waited. and waited. and waited. finally around 9:20, i called the backpackers to see what was up. the girl i spoke with laughed at my concern for timeliness - or lack thereof - and assured me the driver would be there soon. i accepted her answer of "soon", but soon realized cultural difference #5: time doesn't matter. around 9:45, one of the hostel owners approached us and said we had a call - the driver was outside in a blue van. well - there was no blue van. back and forth they went. the conversation went something like:

driver: "i am outside in a blue van"

hostel owner lady: "there is no blue van"

driver: "yes, i am here!"

lady: "you are not here, i see no blue van"

driver: "how can you not see my blue van, it is outside"

lady: "i am outside, and i see no blue van. you are not outside"

it was actually very funny. eventually they figured out that the driver was at 447 jan smuts, not 477. same mistake we had made other day. so in a few mins, our driver did appear, outside, in a blue van. with that, we were on our way from jo'burg to soweto, and with every mile you could see a definite difference. got a little uncomfortable and wondered if we bit off more than we could chew with this one. no going back now. arrived at the super cute backpackers, checked in and met our tour guide, philip, who was much younger than i anticipated. i was initially disappointed b/c assumed a lesser quality tour would transpire, but philip well surpassed any expectations i had. from choosing a bike onwards, i just tried to be fully open to the experience.

i think jeff and i were both a bit timid at first. it was just us and philip (apparently most people do the shorter tours). but we warmed up quickly and grew to appreciate our private tour. i came to be glad philip was our age; here is a kid in our same generation who grew up worlds - literally and figuratively - apart from us. while an older guide could have given us a more historical perspective (which, i'll admit, i usually prefer), we were able to connect with philip on a more personal level.

we saw tons! never realized how large soweto was. and we stopped frequently, which my thighs quite appreciated. saw east orlando stadium and the cooling towers (i'm certain were featured in andrew zimmern's bizarre foods). learned when soweto got electricity (to enforce curfew). visited a shebeen (once illegal drinking establishments for blacks), where we had home brewed beer (made from wheat, cornmeal and yeast) and a sweet drink (made again from maize meal and bananas).

walked around a hostel, which was the most interesting portion of our tour. they were originally built to house male migrant workers and were made up of 2 units (holding 8 men each) with a shared kitchen in between. most are now 'upgraded': individual units made of 1 bedroom and 1 kitchen. parents will sleep in the bedroom and kids on the kitchen floor. there is limited electricity and no water. they must walk a ways with 25L jugs to fill at the community tap. there are shared toilets - each is locked and only a few families have the key, helping sanitation. did see plenty of chicken carcasses hanging from doorways - which apparently protects your house from evil spirits..

and some humor: usually, small children frighten me. but i've said it before and i'll say it again - little black baby boys are the cutest kids on the planet. period. one kept holding onto my finger and wouldn't let go. i almost (*almost*) could have taken him home.

it was still astounding to see the amount of garbage everywhere; it made me sad to think people live like this. i was pleased to see the government was building permanent housing - complete with running water and private toilets. but i wondered if rent would go up. people now pay R45 - less than $7 - a month, as well as R125 ($18) per kid per month to send them to school. it may seem like a lot in comparison to rent, but considering it guarantees education as well as 3 meals a day, the cost is worthwhile. but they can't afford much more. i also wondered what would happen to the community atmosphere once everything moves indoors. time will tell.

next up was the meadowlands, more of a permanent, middle class part of soweto that's largely supported by the ANC (african national congress). stopped at an outdoor kitchen and had a local delicacy: cow cheek, and a more solid form of maize meal. this while staring at the cattle carcasses strewn about the ground.. ha. though it was tasty. learned about the mine dumps (HUGE mounds of dirt, soil and rock piled up from mining for gold). the locals call them 'blind windows' b/c it keeps soweto out of jo'burg's site. you wonder how intentional that was..

saw a public school that guaranteed an education through high school, regardless of ability to pay. the kids wear uniforms so it's not apparent what their socioeconomic status is. learned most kids from townships don't go to university b/c they can't afford it and don't have same opportunities as kids from the cities. which is also why they cannot better themselves and remain in blue collar jobs - or, more frequently, unemployed. philip is a living testament that there is hope for soweto's future generations.

next up was the albertina sisulu center - a school for disabled kids. learned about albertina and winnie mandela's role in apartheid resistance. saw the only women's hostel in soweto, and the klipspruit river, which used to be used for baptisms and other such rituals. it's now against the law b/c the current is too strong, though there are still no protective fences to keep people out.

from there, we moved to the wealthier part of town, which looked like it could be anywhere in the western world. what a difference from just down the road. learned about lilian masediba matabane ngoyi, who was put on house arrest after a women's rights march. visited the hector pieterson memorial and museum, which tells the story of the 1976 student uprising. the students marched peacefully to demonstrate against afrikaans being made the official language in schools - and 100s were killed and wounded when police fired into the crowd. in his death, hector came to symbolize the movement and attract international attention when a journalist took a photo of him being carried in the arms of another. so sad, but so necessary for the world to finally acknowledge.

of course, museums always end in gift shops - and this was no different. except the gift shop was a street lined with hawkers selling "handmade goods for pretty white lady". didn't feel up to bargaining but knew jeff wouldn't have many opportunities to shop, so browsed for a bit. found a wooden salad spoon/fork set with elephants carved at the top. probably not handmade by the vendor, but it still helps support the local economy, which needs all the help it can get. made our way across the street to a restaurant for our included meal. we had "bunny burgers" - i don't think there was actually rabbit in it, but it was tasty nonetheless. washed it down with coke with real sugar. philip couldn't believe we don't use real sugar in america.. oh high fructose corn syrup, thanks for not corrupting everything.

our last stop was vilakazi street, home to 2 nobel peace prize holders - nelson mandela (one of my heroes) and archbishop desmond tutu. mandela's home was made into a museum, which due to time constraints we didn't get to go into. bummer. philip says he has seen desmond tutu 3 times in his 1.5 years of being a tour guide. pretty cool. got bombarded by a group of little boys who ran after us blowing their vuvuzelas. world cup fever is everywhere! at this point it was getting dark, and we were pretty far behind schedule, so it was a direct and quick dash back to the backpackers. yes, thighs and blisters, i hear you loud and clear! fell asleep in the van back to our hostel in jo'burg. quickly checked internet (no message from G.. sad), and showered before planning our route for tomorrow. kruger national park, here we come!