Soweto Home Stay

So I'm back for another marvelous post! 

I'm picking up where I left off in Johannesburg, where we were getting dropped off in Soweto for our weekend home stays! Nathalie and I were dropped off in Soweto, short for South West Township. We met Elsie Mazazana, our home stay mother. She met us with open arms and a warm heart. She also had her grandson with her. He is a cute little two year old!

We entered her home and met Nkunkla her sixteen year old. She was very nice. Later Ndooro, Elsie's eldest daughter, 25, came home from work. We spent the night talking to them about many things including music, pop culture, school and people and places in the U.S. and Johannesburg. For dinner we had hot dogs with butter in our buns! It was yummy!

The next day, Saturday, we started relatively late. For breakfast, we had fat cake which is like an African donut. They are very yummy! We put bologna inside and then atchar. Atchar is a spicy spread made of vegetables. Then the five of us piled into the car and went to visit Elsie's mother and brothers, a few blocks away. Elsie's mom was quite nice. Elsie's sister Sybil also came to visit and we met up with Morgan and Lauren, two other girls in the CGE program, at the house.

After visiting the family we went to Nelson Mandela's house in Soweto. It was very informative and enlightened me a lot on Winnie Mandela's life while Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on Robin's Island. The house was originally made for miners. It consisted of a bedroom, sitting room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom and pantry. The South African police used to shoot at the house and petrol bomb it to kill Winnie and her children. Eventually she had a wall built between the kitchen and dining room in order to protect her children who slept in the kitchen while she slept in the pantry with a rifle. Eventually Winnie was arrested and later released. Then when Nelson was released the house was restored to it's historic way before Winnie had changed parts of it. Nelson Mandela lived there but only for a little while due to his popularity and high profile. He moved to a more private place.

After that we ran some errands for dinner. Then while Elsie made dinner Nkunkla, Ndooro, Nathalie and I watched 2012. Then we had dinner which was stump and boerwars rolls. Stump is sort of like mashed corn and the boerwars are sausage. It was VERY yummy!

After that we watched a movie based on a true story about a man in South Africa from Mozambique who fought against apartheid, called To Catch a Fire. It was a very intense movie. After that Elsie got to talking to us about a wide range of issues in South Africa. She spoke about what it was like to grow up during the fall of the apartheid. She was in her early teens during the nd of apartheid. Elsie said it was considered cool to fight against apartheid. She said had she been older and known more about apartheid she would have gone into exile and trained to fight against the apartheid like many others did in the Spear of Nations, the militant leg of the ANC. She also spoke about the terrible conditions that many immigrants in South Africa live in. She spoke of the racism that is still a part of South African society. Elsie said that racism is quite evident at work and many who use Afrikaans are viewed as snubbing others by refusing to speak in English. It's also important to understand how Afrikaans is viewed as the language of the oppressors in South Africa. Elsie also talked to us about her family, it's structure and much more. She talked to us about the complex nature of  marriage and engagement. Her son is engaged and working to pay the lobola, which is a bride price. It is also very complicated if a child is born out of wedlock. It was exciting to talk to Elsie about such serious issues!! I feel I learned a lot about South Africa, and in a more personal and tangible way than through all of the speakers we had heard before that. 

The next morning, Sunday, we prepared for church. Sadly, both Nathalie and I both got sick and had to leave church early. We returned to the house and were sick all day. It was pretty bad. around 4:30 p.m. we emerged from our room and hung out with the family. After some time the five of us left for a shebeen in Diepkloof. This shebeen is owned by Elsie's husband. A shebeen is like a tavern and a bar. It was very fun. We danced to the music and played pool. We enjoyed ourselves a lot! 

Then we went home and went to sleep. The next morning we said goodbye to Nkunkla and Ndooro before they left for school. Then we said goodbye to Elsie! It was so sad to leave her. She took great care of us and I love them all!!

The next item on the blog agenda is Pretoria, where we went to right after our home stays! Keep your eyes open for more!