Arriving in Johannesburg was like arriving in any other modern international airport. I exchanged American dollars for South African rand and we were off to Pretoria where Rose has made her home for the past year. We visited IDASA, an African Democracy where Rose works and met a variety of international people working on non-profits for different countries in Africa. Everyone was very friendly and in the evening we attended a cricket match. Sunnyside, Pretoria is not a place I would choose to live as everything must be locked, you lock yourself in and others out and to me it feels confining and strange. Pretoria is a very large city and the seat of the adminstative branch of government.
On Friday we traveled to Sebokeng, a township 100 km away. It is not at all common for white women to ride the taxis but Rose is able to speak Sesotho so we were okay. A man riding the taxi told us how he believed it is good to mix it up. The townships are many small houses grouped together. Most of the homes are constructed of cement and surrounded by iron fences or brick or cement walls. On the way to Sebokeng were many shanty towns where people lived that were shacks made of tin. Rose says they have grown in size over the past five years. Some people have little stands in front of their homes selling produce, oranges, potatoes, cabbages and squash. People also offer sevices like washing cars for a fee. We walked through the township and a man we met, Sylvester, offered to show us around. He pointed out the school, the library, the health clinic and the shops. The bottle shop (liquor store) was popular hang out.
