One of our orientation events was to travel to an African Craft Market called Rosebank Market. This is a HUGE market with crafts, art, food, spices, and so much more! In some ways it resembled a large flee market, but in other ways it was like nothing I have seen before! Aside from driving on the opposite side of the road and car, this trip to Rosebank was incredibly cultural and truly enjoyable!
Walking in to the first “stall,” Chelsea and I immediately started smiling and saying “this is cool!” Everywhere you turned there were African masks, sculptures, beaded jewelry, and so much more. A man approached us immediately, “You my first customers. I give you a good deal!” Time to barter! Chelsea’s first purchase was a African mask keychain – only half the price the man asked for! We were feeling pretty confident in our bargaining skills!
A few stalls down I picked up a wooden mask with reds, greens, and browns decorating the solemn face. A sweet woman walked up to me, “You my first customer. I give you good deal.” (apparently it didn’t matter what time it was – we were everyone’s first customer!) The woman told me she had made these masks (which later struck me funny seeing as the same masks were in about 15 other stalls all over the market, but anyway…). She explained that these were Zulu masks. One was the female mask and the other the male. In this tribe, there is a tradition that occurs before a couple marries. According to this woman, the woman is taken into the mountains and hidden. Her future husband is then released to go find her. He can marry his partner when he finds her. Now, I don’t know if this is a load of crap fed to me by a woman hoping I’d spend R90 (90 rands = about $15) on her masks, or if it truly is tradition in the Zulu tribe. When internet doesn’t cost a bundle and I have time outside of setting up my classroom, I’ll google it! J Either way, I bought the masks. I had to. For those of you who were at my going away party, my father shared a Zulu farewell song with us, and it seemed only fitting my first African art be a pair of Zulu masks.
After meeting up with Meghan and Evelyn, I spent some more money on three beautiful canvas paintings. They have yet to be stretched on wood because I was too cheap to spend an extra 300 Rand. The artist was at this particular booth, and explained the meaning behind each of his paintings. I bought one that is a couple walking together which is about their partnership (I figure it might give me luck in that department!), one of the others was the silhouette of a woman carrying a water basket on her head– something I have always been fascinated by, and the last was three people dancing, which to me represents energy and happiness. All three are extremely colorful, and I hope will look great on my new walls.
Our day did not stop after we left Rosebank. All 20 of us “new hires” boarded the buses headed toward the township of Soweto (on the way we got to see Soccer City – where the World Cup was played – can’t wait to go to a game!). Soweto is a township in South Africa which has become quite a tourist spot. It is most famous for being the former home of Nelson Mandella, but is also home to many well known South Africans alive and deceased. We only were able to drive through the township because there was no time to get out of the buses, but there is another trip planned where we will be able to get out and tour the area (with a guide). As we drove along the streets, the bus was quiet. We were all looking out the windows completely engaged in the view. Aside from a small of amount of larger brick shacks, most of the homes were run down metal shacks. Most of the roads were dirt and filled with children running from house to house. There were clothes lines strung between homes completely occupying the entire “lawn.” In one backyard (and I use this term loosely because there was no grass), a little boy was kicking a soccer ball at the wall, and beneath his feet was a mound of broken rocks and some garbage. As we passed a small patch of grass behind a fence, we saw a group of young boys playing soccer. In one corner of what must have been the back of a family’s home, a little boy was playing amidst garbage strewn on the ground.
All that I have describe probably makes you cringe, be glad you don’t live like this, or worry for my safety; however, the reason I am writing this is because the feeling we all seemed to share while riding by was one of safety and comfort. It is hard to put into words what feeling emanated from within the metal fences that enclosed Soweto. The word that continued to pop into my mind was community. Everyone seemed happy. The kids were smiling, the neighbors were sitting together in their miniscule backyards, families were walking TOGETHER down the dirt roads. Although I will not travel here alone or at night, there was not a bit of worry in my mind as we drove through. In fact, I found myself smiling at how good life seemed to be for these people despite the outward appearance of their living quarters. Our guide (a woman from AISJ named Donnaselay (sp?)) shared with us that one of the reasons Soweto is so popular with tourists is because of all the famous people who have achieved great things and remained living in the township despite their success. “It’s their home.”
We ended our great day with a catered dinner at our Director’s house. Talk about a contrast to what we saw in Soweto. One of the shacks in Soweto would probably be the size of Andy’s dining room! His house, paid for by the school (well deserved I have to say) is ENORMOUS!! I’m already looking forward to the next staff party! I enjoyed this night because it was a great chance to mingle and get to know (better) the other new hires. I am really looking forward to my time with these people. Not only do many of them come from incredibly diverse backgrounds, but they are all fantastic people (upon first impression). I think I made a great decision coming here! Despite the loneliness at night when I can’t come home and tell anyone about my day, missing my other half, family, and friends – this experience is going to be one of the best challenges I have ever chosen to tackle!
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