Convocation

Yesterday was the University of Saskatchewan's Spring Convocation. Needless to say, but I was unable to attend. In some ways this did not bother me, but in others I wish I could have been there. Instead, my yesterday was basically like any other weekday. Work from 8-4 and then go home and relax.

In the evening, two guys from AIESEC International came in from Rotterdam, Netherlands. They are here for AIESEC South Africa's Strategic meeting. They got in at about 10pm and they wanted to go over the 4 day agenda. We worked on that until about 1 am. By that time we were all so exhausted that we could not even focus, so we all went to bed.

Convocation has come and gone. The price you pay for experience!

Apartheid Museum

Yesterday I took a trip to the South African apartheid Museum. When you drive up to the museum you can immediately tell that it is going to be an experience. The building has been made to look like a prison from the outside. On the roof, there are huge pillars with the words: Democracy, Freedom, Rights, Diversity written on them. When you go to buy your tickets, they also issue you a pass. If you are white, they issue you a non-white pass and if you are black or coloured they issue you a white pass. You enter the museum through a metal revolving gate. One side is for "whites" and one side is for "non-whites". At every stop there are benches and other facilities labeled "Europeans Only" or "Non-Whites Only".

The inside is much like the outside - very confined and prison-like with "whites" taking one tour and "non-whites" taking another. The tour begins with the history of Africa and slowly progresses through colonization and the gold rush. In the beginning, the corridors are very confined with a lot of razor wire and steal bars. As the tour moves into the late 80's and the liberation from apartheid, everything starts to open up and be less restricting. In the last room, there are newspaper articles that have been collected since democracy was established in 1994. The last article is always from the current day's paper. In Yesterday's paper, I was very surprised to see how much attention was still given to the 11 year-old issue. As you leave, there is a panel titled Freedom and you exit into a beautiful garden with many restriction-free areas.

Before I went I heard a lot about this place from others who have went. They said it was very emotional and moving. That completely describes my experience. The combination of the incredible detail and descriptive accounts made it unforgettable.

The Food I Miss

The foods I miss the most:
1. Dill Pickel Chips
2. Ketchup
3. French's Mustard
4. Begals of any kind
5. Wunderbars
6. Lipton Green Tea
7. Steak
8. Sun flower seeds


The new foods I have really like:
1. Appletizer - sparkling apple juice. Very good
2. Any type of fresh fruit - they are all grown here, so the have a lot of taste
3. Tendermints - Kind of like Mentos, but more addictive
4. Apple juice
5. Biltong - a lot like beef jerky, but dirt cheap!
6. Boerwors - South African Sausage made on the Barbeque(braai)
7. Paap and Morahogh - Paap is corn-meal powder that is boiled. When done it looks like mashed potatoes. On its own, it has very little taste, but with morahogh it is very good. Morahogh is basically spinach with onions. Very good.

Well, I have to go eat something that made me hungry ;)

The Mini-bus Taxi

Mini-bus taxis are a true South African experience....especially for foreigners like me! They are the most common mode of transportation for blacks in Joburg, especially since the public transportation system is terrible. There are literally thousands of these "creations" all over the city. They are not regualed by anytype of government, so they can be interesting to say the least.

The System
They typically operate out of large central hubs called "taxi ranks". To an outsider these ranks seem chaotic to say the least. They are composed of long lanes that run parallel to each other, each representing a different area of the city. The taxis for each area line up in these lanes. When the taxi at the front of the lane has enough passengers to leave it does - no set times here. Each Taxi holds 15 passengers plus the driver so the wait can be long at times. When a person gets off, the driver will honk at every single pedestrian he sees in order to tell them he has extra space. Each person files into the spot were they feel the safest and waits to leave. After they take off, each passenger (from back to front) is responsible for passing their 4 Rands to the person in front of them. If the driver does not recieve all the money by the time people start getting off, there is a good chance a fight will break out. Pretty simple ;)

On the routes there are hand signals people can use to wave down the taxis. If the driver is heading in the direction in which you signal, he will stop at all costs to pick you up. In my first taxi ride, the driver held up Friday rush hour traffic for 5 minutes to pick up one lady!

The Drivers
These men are crazy. They have no regard for any type of traffic laws and see roads as guildlines. They all work on a commission type system, so if they don't take enough passengers in one day they will have to explain it to the taxi owner. They all seem to have their own secret language when they meet another driver on the road.

The Minibus
A 1985 Toyota minivan is the most common minibus of choice for drivers, but what they add to it(or don't add to it) is only limited to their creativity. Many times when you get into these royal mobiles, you are treated to a view of the open road through a hole that has rusted throught the floor. These are complimented with wires poking through the seats and windows composed of duct tape. I have realized why these minor details are neglected - the driver's lover for music. The rough edges of many of these taxis are really brought to life by a huge bass-pounding stereo located under the back seat. When you get in there is typically some Xulu rap music echoing through the "vehicle".

A popular pass time around Joburg is telling outrageous taxi stories. Since I have been here, I have been treated to a few gems. One guy told me that on one taxi trip, the driver desperately wanted to fit an extra person in. He tried everything, but his seat was too far back and if he moved if forward the steering wheel was in the way. So, being an inventive genius, he decided to take off the steering wheel and steer with a wrench!! Another friend of mine said that one night he was driving and saw a taxi without any headlights. To compensate the driver was hanging out the window using a tourch to light his way!!

All I can say is: Wow. That's all for now. I hope you had as much fun reading this as I did writing it!!