Kids playing at a neighborhood water pipe in Soweto
More kids at a shanty in Soweto, they want to be pilots when they grow up
Inside Nelson Mandela's living room (in the house he lived at before he went to prison.)
My favorite picture of two little boys running around the shanty in Soweto. They loved the camera! (Check next post for a video)
The South African flag inside the apartheid museum
Palm reading at Moyo restaurant. She said I need to be more adventurous and take risks.
We got our faces painted too!
Trying on fun clothes and hats at the African Market in Jo'Burg
That's me in there, getting swarmed by a crowd of school kids outside the apartheid museum. I tell ya, kids love to have their pictures taken!
Entering Soweto ("SOuth WEst TOwnship")Thursday we arrive to Johannesburg. We didn't have high expectations because everyone we met in Capetown warned us that it wasn't a nice place to visit and that it was really dangerous., but we weren't going to let their comments get the best of us.
We arrived at The Grace Hotel located in Rosebank, Jo'Burg. It was a beautiful, sophisticated hotel with artwork of all kinds hanging on every wall. After we unpacked, we shopped at Rosebank mall (which was right next to the hotel) and watched an African indy movie 'Conversations on a Sunday Afternoon.' The film takes place in Johannesburg around the story of a man who searches for a Somalian refugee he met one day at the park. The tells him of her escape from Somalia to South Africa. In his search to find her again, he meets exiles that have fled into South Africa, talking to them about their experiences of xenophobia, racism and economic hardship. It was a touching movie although extremely slow in pace. For movie info, click here. That night we ate at Moyo, a modern African restaurant. It was a festive place -- waiters dressed in traditional African wear, live bands playing African tunes. We had our palms read and faces painted during dinner! I had a really good seared tuna and hot chocolate.
Friday I ran around Jo'Burg, it was really beautiful because the streets are surrounded with purple flower trees (they looked like cherry blossom trees.) My shoes have sure made their way, SF, India and now Africa! After breakfast we went to the Apartheid museum. It was a great lesson in SA history, it made me appreciate the people I've met and the country a lot more having endured apartheid and the effects of racism. To get a deeper understanding for these events, we decided to visit the township Soweto. Soweto is "SOuth WEst TOwnship," where blacks were moved during the apartheid era to work and live. It was the most important township because it was the place where black youths and students rebelled against the Govt during the famous Soweto Riots. There is a lot of history in this township and it was very moving, please take time to read more about it and click here. In Soweto we saw the house where Nelson Mandela lived before he went to prison, and visited the Soweto museum which detailed the events of the riots.
The landscape of SA - of the people and its culture - is truly shaped by the effects of apartheid and segregation. Every single person we met in Jo'Burg knew so much about their history. I felt a strong sense of pride from all of them, it was really admirable and inspiring.
When we arrived back at the hotel, we saw F.W. de Klerk in our hotel lobby! He was president of SA when Nelson Mandela was in prison. He and Mandela shared the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to end apartheid. I wanted to get a picture of him but he had left before I could grab my camera. Instead, Anna and I took a picture of where he was sitting, haha. That night it stormed so we ate at a closeby seafood restaurant. It was probably my favorite meal of the trip because I had sushi! The next morning we headed back to India. It was an educational, adventurous and extremely fun trip, you all MUST go someday! A great time would be for the World Cup in 2010 -- the country is already preparing for it with new stadiums, hotels, shopping malls :)
Picture Link:
Click Me