Thursday, July 1, 2010

Final Days in South Africa - history making of all sorts in Jozi

As we set forth to Johannesburg, I secretly wished that somehow, magically, we could extend our time in South Africa. Alas, that didn't happen. But we had a marvelous time during our stay in the city. Let us tell you right away that at no point did we ever feel unsafe in Johannesburg. We were smart travelers. We stayed away from the few neighborhoods reputed to be unsafe, and enjoyed to the fullest extent the rest of city and surrounding areas. Our first day in Johannesburg was quite hectic as it was game day. We drove in from Nelspruit, checked in with our host family, and promptly left for the game. We managed to get lost and head in the opposite direction of the stadium, thanks to Ricardo (our hostess, Karen's GPS system). Thankfully, we arrived at the park & ride with sufficient time and were in our seats 15 minutes before game time. I won't enlighten you too much with our collective feelings regarding the outcome of the Italy vs. Slovakia game, except that we hope that the refs are sleeping with fishes.

Italy vs. Slovakia at Ellis Park Stadium in Joburg

Right after Italy's first goal, the Slovakian goalie decided to
sit with the ball in the corner of the net, setting off a minor
fist fight as the Italian goal scorer attempted to recover the
ball.

In our final days in South Africa, we explored all that Johannesburg had to offer. A lot of history has been made here in Johannesburg, the most recent- losses of Italy and France in the first round, thus making it the first time in history where both finalists from the previous World Cup were unable to progress further in the tournament. A more significant history, occurred at the Cradle of Human Kind, a rural area outside of Johannesburg, which has produced an incredible number of fossils critical to the evolutionary history of mankind. At the Cradle, we visited the Sterkfontein Caves, a massive, 20-million-year-old cave that is the excavation site of the world's largest collection of hominid fossils. The small openings of this underground crave proved quite dangerous to small ancestors of modern humans, as they frequently fell into the cave unknowingly and died there. A combination of limestone, mud, and other mineral deposits formed the perfect preserving material for these fossils for millions of years. The two most noted fossils are that of Mrs. Ples and Little Foot. Both are of the species Australopithecus africanus, a distant cousin and precursor to the modern human which date between 2 and 3 million years old. Little Foot, a near-complete skeleton, was discovered most recently in the late 90s and other fossils are still being discovered to this day, making the cave one of the longest standing archaeological digs ever.

Sterkfontein Caves

Statue of the professor who discover "Mrs. Ples" - legend
has it if you rub the professor's nose, you'll get luck, and if
you rub the fossil's head, then you'll get wisdom.

As we returned to Johannesburg in the afternoon, we ended our history lesson for the day on a more somber note by visiting the Apartheid Museum. At the entrance, Joe and I were randomly assigned a color; Joe was "white" and I was a "non-white". Jokingly we tried to change our fates by re-selecting cards, only to end up with the same outcome, three chances later. The Apartheid Museum is an excellent place to learn in-depth about the history, progression, and the violent struggle against apartheid in South Africa and its impact on world human history. We highly recommend a visit to this extensive exhibit.

An exhibit at the Apartheid Museum
featuring generations of certain families
that played a critical role in the history
of apartheid

The following day we completed our history lesson by visiting the township of Soweto (short for Southwestern Township). Traditionally reputed for housing the largest number of impoverished, discriminated against, and disenfranchised black South Africans, Soweto was the battleground for South Africa's anti-apartheid movements in the late 1970's. Home to the first uprisings in 1976, where black South African schoolchildren and youth protested against the integration of Afrikaan as the primary medium of education, Soweto fell victim to the devastating massacre of innocent children and youth that lasted over six months. More than 500 children were murdered during this period. Today, Soweto is world-renowned as the home of anti-apartheid activists, political leaders, and Nobel Laureates, Nelson Mandela and Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu. One cannot visit South Africa, specifically the Johannesburg area, without learning the incredible history that was made here, which even today continues to play a crucial role in the development of global race relations.

A mixture of poor and middle class homes in Soweto

Residents washing clothes in the poorer settlements of Soweto

Children from the poor settlements came to sing for our tour
group

Sunday mass at the Regina Mundi church in Soweto - a
historical place where the first services for the dead children
of the 1976 uprisings took place

All in all, we were saddened to leave South Africa, but vowed to each other that certainly we would return. We are thrilled to have embarked on this remarkable, enlightening, and beautiful journey together. The people and places of South Africa are inspiring and incredible. Yet, we have still so much left to experience and see, and even more rock to climb! We will forever remember the spirit of sharing the World Cup with people from across the globe, making new friends at Rocklands, and those special moments - cheering our hearts out for Italy, feeling the comforting warmth of a huge campfire and playing cards with Thomas, stumbling onto a herd of giraffes in front of our Kia, and ending our journey with the quintessential Saturday afternoon braii (bbq) with our host family in Johannesburg. There are entirely too many special moments to write of, but we will do our best to share them with you in person and hold them dearly in our hearts.

A true South African braii with our host family in Johannesburg


Watching the US vs. Ghana game with our new English mates
at Nelson Mandela Square in Joburg