1 year in pictures

I wanted to officially end this blog with a 'year in pictures' type of thing but as I started making it I realised that the greatest thing that I could show from this year in South Africa was the person that I have become. So here it is in a somewhat chronological order, my face over the last year. See if you can notice any growth.

I have started a new blog for the continuation of my adventures which see me currently in Spain

If I Were A Spaniard

The End of The End

This morning I arrived in Madrid, officially closing my year of adventures in South Africa. I had the opportunity to say goodbye to all the wonderful Joburgian friends I had made on Sunday night and on Monday evening I flew out from O.R Tambo airport.

I wanted so badly to not express my emotions on this matter using any cliché terms but it really was bitter-sweet leaving SA. On one side I was so happy and excited to move on to the next adventure, I was overjoyed at the knowledge that a reunion with my family and friends in Australia was approaching and I was impatiently waiting for the moment where I would get to see my uncle, aunty and cousins in Spain again. On the other side I was saying goodbye to so many wonderful, amazing and inspiring people and that took so much out of me I can't even put it in words.

But here we are at the end of what has been an insanely, emotionally intense year, where I have learned more about myself than I had collectively in all the years before. I arrived in South Africa as Martha and I have left South Africa as Martha 2.0, the better version of myself.

I want to end this series of blog posts by thanking everyone who played a part in this experience and a great thanks to anyone who bothered to read these extracts of my mind.

The next adventure has taken me to Madrid, Spain where I will be staying with my uncle and family until the 26th of May and in that time I will be spending 1 week in Haifa visiting my big sister Melody and the Baha'i Holy Land. By the end of May I'll be back on Aussie soil, trying to regain my Australian accent which has been severely retarded by so much time away and South Africaness, before hopefully starting my masters at the end of July.

I am planning on continuing blogging so I'll put a link up when I make the next one.

Cheerio then.. and there are still some pictures to come :)

South African Survival Kit

Here are some points that may help anyone who wants to visit South Africa.

Disclaimer: All of these points are based on my personal experiences and may not be a factual or accurate representation of South Africa but consider that I’ve been here almost a year so I’m pretty sure for the most part I know what I’m talking about.

Culture
 There are several different racial groups in South Africa: Black which covers anyone who is a Black South African, this includes Zulu, Xhosa, Vender, ... White which can be broken down into 2 groups one being Boer White who were the Dutch colonists and the other be all other white like the English colonists. Coloured which as a word means anyone who has a mix of Black and White origins but as a culture means a specific group of people who share the same type of lifestyle and who talk with the same accent. Indian is Indian and seems to also include people from Pakistan and the last main group is Asian.
 There are 11 official languages in South Africa, they are: isiXhosa(the one with the clicks and tock sounds) which is predominantly the language of the Eastern Cape, isiZulu which is the most widely spoken language, English(with some minor variations) which is the language used in Universities and in business, Afrikaans(a retarded version of Dutch) which was forced upon the people during Apartheid, isiNdebele, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga and Sign Language
 If you look like me most coloured people will think you can speak Afrikaans.
 In South Africa it’s not racist to call someone black or white that’s actually what they are called here
 Parents in South Africa also tell their children to finish their food as there are starving children in Africa
 If you come from any country of the world outside of Africa to South Africa you are considered a visitor but if you come from an African country you are considered a foreigner
 In South Africa when people say they need to bath they actually mean bath, for some reason showering hasn’t really taken off

Language Tips (forgive me if I miss spell anything)
 Hello in isiXhosa is Molo and for a group Molweni
 How are you? – Injani
 I’m fine thanks – ndi pilile ingosi
 When addressing an older woman say mama and a younger woman say sisi, an older man say tata and a younger man ubuti
 If someone says “I’m gonna learn you” what they mean is I’m going to teach you
 If someone says “I can borrow you” what they mean is I can lend you
 If someone calls you macie it means girl In Afrikaans, hello macie
 To say how are you in Afrikaans is ‘Hoe gaan dit?’ and to say I’m good thanks you say ‘gaan goed danke’

Food
 If you eat at a restaurant you are expected to pay 10% tip but no one will force you to do so.
 The stereotype is true, black people love chicken
 If you want to have a bbq in South Africa you call it a braai
 If you want take out Steers has the best chips, the Spur here tastes just as bad as the Spur in Australia, McDonalds is exactly the same, the KFC chips and gravy are awful, Wimpy is nothing to rave about, Nandos is the same as in Australia and unfortunately there is no Hungry Jacks
 If you are a vegetarian then good luck however Steers has a great tasting veggie burger
 My favourite places to go for food are Cubana, Dulcies and Kuwai
 If someone in South Africa offers you tea first ask what kind of tea it is, if they reply with Five Roses then drink away however if they offer you Rooibos tea politely decline because it tastes horrible

Transport
 Cars drive on the left side of the road
 A traffic light is called a robot
 South Africa is not pedestrian friendly at all, do not walk out in front of a car and expect it to stop even at a pedestrian crossing
 When reversing out of a parking spot you may notice someone directing your car, these are car guards and usually people just give them a couple of coins for their efforts
 The best mode of transport here is to have your own car, the second best is to have a friend who has a car, the third best is to live right next to all the things you need each day and walk, fourth best is to have a friend of a friend with a car, fifth best is to get taxi, sixth best is to get a bus
 Travelling long distance there are several options, hiring a car and driving yourself, getting a bus, flying, getting taxi or hitchhiking
o Hiring a car can be expensive especially with petrol prices at close to r10 a litre
o A bus is one of the worst options but sometimes the only way especially when you have a tight budget. The best bus is Intercape Sleepliner because it is the most roomy and you can push your chair back really far but on average you will spend 16hours in a bus if you travel distances like PE to JHB and twice I’ve been in a bus that broke down
o Flying I think is the best, if you book at the right time you can get really good deals. For domestic flights these are the available airlines: South African Airways which gives you a meal on the flight and from my experience is usually the cheapest, Kulula which actually means take your top off but also means freedom in another sense, 1time which has a habit of being delayed and you have to pay extra for food, Mango who I have never used and British Airways which also gives you a meal.
o Getting taxi is a good option only in specific circumstances and you would probably only consider when your destination is a few hours away. Taxis don’t leave until they are full so this can sometimes mean waiting hours in a taxi before you leave. There are also no guarantees for safety when catching taxi but at least you get dropped off at the door of your destination.
o Hitchhiking is a very common mode of transport, you will often see people sitting on the side of highways with signs for where they need to go and the best part is that it’s free.
 If you are walking through a taxi terminal don’t step in any puddles... enough said?
 If you do catch taxi be wary of sitting in the front seat, if there is no taxi guy to collect money all the money will be passed up to you and you will have to sort it out and give everyone their change
 The best seats in the taxi are window seats on the driver’s side but not in the back row. Usually taxis try to cram in as many people as possible into the taxi and this may mean losing all your bum space. The most comfortable people in these situations are next to the window on the driver’s side. This also means you don’t have to get out of the taxi if someone else needs to get off

Townships
 Townships are the governments solution to the housing problem, people build shacks and eventually the council will build them a house
 When walking in the townships you are expected to greet all the people you pass by, if you do not greet people they will think that you are rude and over educated.
 It’s probably not a good idea to wear your best shoes in the townships, for the most part all the roads are dirt roads and one way people know you’ve been in a township is when your shoes are covered in mud
 If you are a ‘non-African’ it’s probably not the best idea to venture into townships alone, although in my experience I have never had any problems there are people that will take advantage of a situation
 Again I have never had an issue walking around the townships with my Blackberry out or with my camera but it’s probably better to be discreet about your personal belongings

Tourist Stuff
 My favourite game parks were Addo Elephant Sanctuary near Port Elizabeth and Pilansburg Game Park in Rustenburg. I did not like Kruger, it was too big and you could go hours without seeing any animals and I did not like the Lion Park in Johannesburg. If you want to see a bunch of lions trapped in cages then it’s the perfect place. I don’t think they are treating the animals very well there and it felt so unnatural.
 The only animals you’ll see wandering the streets are cows, goats and donkeys. If you want to see elephants and lions go to a game park
 If you are travelling from South Africa to other African countries don’t be surprised if people, give you warnings about travelling in Africa especially people working in health care, many South Africans seem to think they are living on an island of some sort that is not part of the rest of the continent
 If you don’t get a joke that someone has made just watch Trevor Noah
 The must see South African cities are Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth.
o Johannesburg is less of a things to see city, it is great for restaurants, cafes and galleries and museums. In Johannesburg you will want to see Monte Casino, the Apartheid Museum and Gold Reef City. There are loads of places for shopping and hanging out like Melrose Arch, Sandton City, Greenside, Rosebank and so many more. You probably don’t need to dedicate too much time to this city
o Cape Town is by far my favourite city of South Africa. It is beautiful and has such an amazing atmosphere and vibe. It also has a huge restaurant and cafe culture but there is much more to do. It is surrounded by mountains that you can climb and hike, there are amazing galleries and museums, it’s great for shopping and there are lots of markets and festivals. The only downside with Cape Town is that it has beautiful beaches with a look but don’t touch policy. The water is ice cold and your limbs will actually fall off if you go in the water.
o Port Elizabeth is a good city for relaxing. It has beautiful beaches which you are able to swim in and just 40minutes out of PE is Jefferys Bay which is one of the best locations for surfing. You don’t need to dedicate too much time to PE as it is very small.
 If you are into road trips then you have to do the Garden Route. This is the drive from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town and there are so many amazing stops on the way
 The mobile phone network carriers here are Cell C, Vodacom, Mtn and Heita and if you want to buy a sim-card you must have your passport on you and a proof of address from either the hotel you are staying at or whatever accommodation you have

FAQ


What is BEE?

BEE is Black Economic Empowerment which was created to give black people a step up to compensate for the massive injustices of the past. From what I understand this means that if a black person and a white person are going for a job the black person will get it.

How do you identify a taxi?

A taxi is always a van, the way you know the difference between a regular van and a taxi is by how many white people are in it. If there is a white person driving it’s just someone’s car. Also taxis usually have someone with their head out the window yelling out the destination of the taxi. You will notice that a taxi takes no consideration to road rules or other cars.
There are also different types of taxis; those driven by coloured drivers and those driven by black drivers. Coloured taxis can be identified by how much they have been pimped out, usually with lots of stickers on the windows and paint jobs. They also have insane sound systems which are blasting Nikki Minaj, Drake and South African House Music.

Black taxis can be identified by the gospel music they are usually pumping however minus the sub woofa and 5 speakers in the back. Usually these taxis are also playing Celine Dion or Mariah Carey.
Different cities also have different signs for catching taxis, Johannesburg is the most complicated with so many different hand signals to stop certain taxis. PE and Cape Town have very easy taxi systems which I figured out within a few days. Also South Africans are very friendly and will help you out when you need it

Is there a dental problem in South Africa?

You may notice a large number of people who have no front teeth. This is not as a result of some kind of dental issue in South Africa. These people have removed their own teeth. Yes, strange, I know. In the coloured culture it became fashionable to remove your front teeth. I heard that it started out as a gang thing and then it just spread. Now you will see both guys and girls with no front teeth and it can start at any age. They call it a passion gap.

Will I get mugged?

There is a high rate of crime in South Africa but it really depends on the individual. I have had very little experiences with crime. One time in Pretoria I was driving with my windows down and at a red light a guy leant into my car and told me to give him my ring or he would kill me. I was so surprised that he wanted my ring and not my GPS that I just stared at him and when I looked into his hand and saw that he had no weapon I just went to put my window up when he walked off saying he was only joking. Another time at a club I felt a hand go into my side bag, a guy was trying to steal my wallet but I managed to catch him doing it so nothing was taken.
Really it depends on what kind of environment you are in and I guess to some extent the luck of the draw. Mostly be cautious of your sling bags and handbags as these are easy targets, also car windows get smashed if valuables are left inside and always be aware of personal safety.

Sometimes I see girls hitting themselves in the head, why are they doing this?

If you haven’t heard of a weave before be ready to be exposed. A weave is a wig that is sown wonto a woman’s head with a giant needle and wool. First they braid the hair really tightly into rows and then sow the weave into each row. These rows are called tracks and you can see them when it is windy and girl’s weaves go flying up. Because of how tight it is and the fact that you can’t really wash your hair girl’s heads start to itch and also hurt but scratching will result in moving the weave or loosening it from the head so girl’s have resorted to hitting or patting their heads to alleviate the pain. So no, it is not self harm.
Another type of hair extensions is twists where smalls locks of hair are twisted into existing hair to make it longer.


So I hope that gives you all a little bit of insight into South Africa so you can better prepare yourselves when you come to visit.

Saying Goodbye

Today the Baha’i community of Port Elizabeth had a farewell lunch for me and it is at events like these that reality starts to hit you. I am leaving South Africa. There is a chance that I may not see many of these people again or at least not for a very long time and it actually hurts.

Today a remarkable thing happened, I was giving a small goodbye speech and I almost cried, I know big bad Martha shedding tears? Well no tears were shed but my voice did that wavering high pitched thing and I had to stop for a second but tears or not is besides the point, the point is that I’m leaving and I’m saying goodbye. I’m saying goodbye to people who have been my only family for the last 11 months, who have been my only friends, who have been my whole life. I have a wonderful family and friends at home who have made sure I know that I am missed in Australia and the Port Elizabeth community have been filling the space where they would normally be. It’s not easy to say goodbye to them.

There has been a question which people have been asking me again and again throughout my time here and which I have been giving pretty much the same answer to; Are you enjoying your time in South Africa? Every time I answer with the same thing but with a different intention. Sometimes my answer is because it is truly how I feel and other times my answer is because I don’t want to go on about my time in SA or because I don’t want to tell a South African how much I dislike their country. The answer is always that while I am still in the middle of my time here it’s hard to know what I feel but when I leave and when I’m outside looking back I’ll be able to see and be able to reflect on my experience here.

I have an answer for that question now. I know how I feel about South Africa and it’s not a feeling of hate or resentment or disappointment, although I still see all of these emotions within myself, but now when I think of my time here I think of joy, of growth and learning and I remember all the great people that came into my life.

I was always worried coming into this journey about how difficult it would be when I would have to leave. I know the pain of saying goodbye especially once you’ve fallen in love. I feel in love in 2008 with a place that has impacted my life so much I would not be even half the person that I am if it wasn’t for that place. I fell in love with Vanuatu, I fell in love with its people, with its purity, with its simplicity and with its love. The light in my soul which for so long had been flickering was set to glow in Vanuatu and it will forever be a part of me. I was in Vanuatu for just under a month doing service at the Rawhani Baha’i school. In that time I made friendships that will last for eternity, I found a piece of myself that I thought was gone and when it came time to leave it tore me apart. I was an absolute wreck and it took months to not feel the pain of separation. I knew that if I could hurt that much after only a month how much more could I hurt after a year? This thought has been plaguing me since before I even arrived in South Africa and I think it is as a result of that fear that I have not allowed myself to love as freely and as openly as I did in Vanuatu. I honestly didn’t think I could handle the part where I would have to say goodbye.

Now I am saying goodbye and I am seeing that just like in Vanuatu, although I fought it, South Africa too has taken a piece of me.

My heart and soul are in pieces scattered in the different places that made me whole. In Vanuatu where I found my light, in Sydney where I house my soul, in Haifa where I go for refuge and now in South Africa the place that taught me to grow. I wonder how much more I can tear apart my heart, how many more places will claim a piece?

I feel as though I am not done with South Africa, I feel as though there is more that I have to do here but it is not for now but for another stage of my life. My soul tells me that this is not the end of my African journey. Still soon I will have to say goodbye for the last time, I will have to tear off that piece of my heart as I leave this place. I will try to hold back my throbbing pain as I hold the ones I’m leaving behind and pretend I’m not breaking apart as I turn around and walk away.

Almost Gone

I started packing. Packing is symbolic of the realisation that soon I will have to say goodbye... again. 2 weeks and this segment of my life journey ends. It’s an interesting and strange place to be in. I feel almost as if I’ve come full circle, the emotions and feelings and modes of thought that are playing in my mind now are a replica of what I experienced before leaving Sydney to come here. Funny how predictable we are.

I’m feeling that same sense of unreality, like it hasn’t sunk in yet that I’m going to get on a plane out of SA and not come back, at least not any time soon. I’m feeling that same sense of excitement about doing something new and starting another adventure, the same feeling of anticipation for the date when I finally leave and at the same time that sinking feeling of regret that I’m going to say goodbye to people I care about. I feel that same sense of time being endless and me not feeling that the end is actually near and at the same time knowing that I have only 14days left and that there isn’t enough time to do all the things I need to do. Still, even though I can sit and write about all these emotions, it still hasn’t really hit me yet that it’s over, these last 6 months have gone especially fast compared to the first months that went tediously slow. I’ve finally got a pattern going, a rhythm, a momentum and now I’m leaving.

It will be interesting to see what it will be like for me once I’ve left South Africa. Will my feelings towards this country be different once I’m outside of it? At the moment, considering that I’ve adopted a rather reflective state of mind in these last few weeks, I feel love for South Africa and gratitude for what’s it’s given me which is a stark contrast to some of the more hateful or angry sentiments that I have previously held. There is a certain comfort in leaving that softens you, makes you notice things that before had absolutely no value to you. The way that all the taxi guys yell out the name of their destinations exactly the same and in the exact same tone “Town, town, town, towen, towen, town” or the way that young kids come up and touch my hair because they think it’s so beautiful and of course all the insanely lame pick up lines I’ve had the pleasure of hearing like “Can I be your fairytale?”

I think knowing that you’re leaving makes you take on the form of a sponge, you just start absorbing everything, filling yourself up and hoping you can keep it all in but eventually, maybe in a few months or even a year or more, most of what you’ve soaked up will drip away or dry up and what you’re left with is not memories of the place or what it looked like or what it smelt like but the people and the impact they had on you and the friendship that continues on and the memories you created with them and the emotions you shared together. That’s what I know I’ll always keep from South Africa but I’ll still soak up as much as I can and hope it stays with me for a while.

1 Month To Go

The 18^th of April marks my last day in Port Elizabeth and my last day of service. In one month from today I will end what has been a whirlwind of events, a vortex of emotions, a dialectic of crisis and victory, an amazing time of growth, self understanding, wonderful new friendships and above all a time of service.

As this day was approaching I looked back on photos of myself from this time last year and reflected on what I was doing then and what I’m doing now. The funny thing is at both times I was travelling, I guess that side of me will never change. This time last year I had just come home from visiting Vanuatu, the first place I ever went for service in January 2008. I had made some of the most wonderful friendships of my life there and so I went back to visit the friends I had made and to be back in the place that my soul calls home.

Looking back on other photos there were times I could hardly recognise myself, not only because my hair colour has changed or because the clothes I was wearing are still in Sydney but because I remembered the way the world looked to me back then, I remembered what was the most important to me then, I remembered what kind of person I was. None of these things were bad but the growth that I have experienced recently is so great that I feel like that girl that said goodbye to her family in Sydney all those months ago is not going to be coming home.

Normally when I notice that I have developed as a person it’s based on a year by year scale but this time I can look back on myself a few months ago and see that I’ve changed. I looked at photos from Johannesburg when I first arrived here and I was having the same feelings about myself as I did with the photos from when I was still in Sydney. Amazing what service can do. It reminds me of this quote from Shoghi Effendi...

"The more we search for ourselves, the less likely we are to find ourselves; and the more we search for God, and to serve our fellow-men, the more profoundly will we become acquainted with ourselves, and the more inwardly assured. This is one of the great spiritual laws of life."

                (Compilations, Lights of Guidance, p. 114)

I didn’t come to South Africa to find myself, when I left Sydney I thought the person I was was pretty great. I didn’t think I needed much self tuning or any major personality repairs but the more I was tested during this service, the more hardships I faced, the more things went wrong or people treated me badly, the more I realised that there were things about myself that I wasn’t happy with and it wasn’t even a process of change requiring tonnes of effort that made me develop from these weak points that I saw but a natural reaction of me realigning myself to counter the things that were going wrong around me. I can’t pinpoint a specific time or place that this change began or be able to note when the greatest change occurred, it just happened and one day I looked at myself and saw that I was different.

It really is true that you see the best and the worst of yourself when you are serving. I’ve seen things within myself that I am just shocked at, how easily I lost control of myself and fell into black pits of despair and I’ve also been so amazingly proud of myself for how I’ve managed to survive through everything and continue to go on with almost no support from anyone. I’ve seen myself reach my heaviest weight while in South Africa, tipping the scales for the first time in my life over 50kgs when this time last year I was in the best shape of my life. I won’t detail everything that I’ve noticed because it is personal reflection but I will say that for those who I will see again in Sydney you’re going to notice that this Martha is not the same as the one you said goodbye to. I am the upgraded version of myself, fully installed with new life handling powers and an ability to kinda cook (mum will be happy about that one).

So now maybe just an outline of what will happen after this month is over. From South Africa I am flying to Madrid, Spain to visit my uncle and his family who I haven’t seen in a couple years. I’ll be spending a month in Spain and potentially going to Haifa, Israel in that time also for a few days to visit my big sister Melody and spend time in the Shrines. The arrival home will be towards the end of May and I have already started my application to do my Masters in Building and Sustainable Design for second semester of this year at the University of Sydney. That gives me 2 solid months to work and pay off all the debt that I have accumulated over this year, which means I also need to find a job and I’m open for suggestions on what I should do.

Honestly, I know it’s cliché, but I cannot believe that it has almost been a year already and at the same time I can’t believe that it’s only been almost a year, it really feels like forever.

Truth be told I can’t wait to get to Spain and see something new, although I’m sure it’s going to be difficult to leave. As much as I’ve stated my dislike for South Africa I actually think I’ll miss it.

Hey White Gal

As previously mentioned I live in the township. For the most part this has been fairly normal, there hasn't been anything in terms of how I live that is different to living anywhere else but there have been some very noticeable elements about township living that have stuck out for me. As well as living in Motherwell I also spend at least 3 days a week in Kuyga township and what I am about to explain applies in both places.

Looking at me and most certainly while living in Australia I am not a white girl but in South Africa what colour you are branded as isn’t so much about the actual colour of your skin but more what class you fall into or group you belong to. Being ‘coloured’ is more of a culture than the fact that you are mixed race. For example your father could be an Anglo-Saxon Australian and your mother a Xhosa South African but that doesn’t automatically deem you as coloured, people in this circumstance usually refer to themselves as mixed  race. It’s hard to explain because every case is different but pretty much what I’m trying to say is that just because my skin isn’t white doesn’t mean I’m not classed as white, especially in the township.

So I’ve been living in Motherwell for over a month now and as I had originally stated there aren’t that many non-black people here, or any at all for that matter. So yes I do get a lot of attention, people stare when I walk down the street or look at me funny and this naturally I expected. I expected people to be curious as to what I’m doing here which is normal as it is completely uncommon for ‘white’ people to be in the township let alone live there. What has been happening in both Kuyga and Motherwell, however, has been completely foreign to what I expected, it has been strange to say the least.

It actually started in Kuyga, the attention I had been getting in Motherwell was very similar to what I’ve been getting in Kuyga since the first time I stepped foot in that area, boys calling out to me and kids getting excited when they see me “Hey, come see the white girl”. In Motherwell I have boys often calling out “white gal, white gal! Come here!”, “Hello white gal, what’s your name?” which I got a lot of in Kuyga also but then recently something changed about the attention I was getting. It became personalised.

So one day I was in Kuyga going to a devotional gathering that was being held by some of the Ruhi book 1 participants and as I was walking to their house some kids walked past me “hello”, “hi”, “hello Martha”. First reaction is this must be one of our Jy kids but I’m looking at this child’s face and I have never seen any of these boys before. Then it happens again, after devotional I’m walking back to the taxi stop and “Hello Martha” who are these people? Now it keeps happening, I’ll be walking in Kuyga either on my own or with Bayan and people are calling my name, most of the time I have never seen these people before. I have been visiting this area for 6-7 months now so it is more than likely that people have been talking and asking ‘who is this girl who always comes here?’ and then they here from this person that I do something at the school and my name is Martha and so it spreads. Township life is very closed especially in Kuyga which is so isolated from other suburbs. People know everyone that lives around them, they know each other’s business, they observe everything that is happening  and they talk, talk, talk. I just hope that in their whisperings about me they are passing on the right message.

What has been happening in Motherwell has been slightly different. I guess because I don’t see myself as any different to anyone else I don’t notice how much I stand out. It all started when I was in Korsten which is an area about 20min from Motherwell and I was getting a taxi to Lorraine which is another 10min from there. A girl got into the same taxi as me and said “Do you live in Motherwell?” I said yes, “I know you”. I was like ohh ok cool, I thought that was an exciting story so I made it my Facebook status. Then it kept happening, again and again and again.

I would get into taxi in Motherwell, someone would ask me “Where’s your friend?” meaning Bayan. I would be in taxi going back to Motherwell, people call out the name of my stop for me, they know where I get off. I got into taxi leaving Motherwell, “so you living in Motherwell? I always see you everyday”. I can’t walk to the local shops without having someone follow me home or take a taxi ride without someone asking me who I am living with or why, I have men young and old calling out to me or asking me my name. I can’t be discreet, I don’t blend, everything I do is being noticed by someone because to them I’m different. I became a little concerned about this especially because a lot of people were asking me if I was living with my boyfriend. I guess this is the most rational explanation for them as to why I live in the township, so I have to keep verifying to people that I am living with a wonderful family as I am doing service for the Baha’i Faith and I hope people spread that around.

I love the look of shock on people’s faces when I speak Xhosa, it makes me want to learn more, I love when people ask me where I live and then they get excited because they live near me and they say they’ll see me around. What I think is the most wonderful thing about me living and spending so much time in the townships is that it’s hopefully bridging a gap. There is a stigma about the township from ‘white people’ and there is a stigma within the townships about ‘white people’. I hope the impact that I am having is positive, that is shows that there are people in this world who don’t notice the colour of your skin first and the person you are second, there are people who defy stereotypes and who don’t see everyone else in terms of their stereotype either.

Again recently in Korsten Bayan and I were walking to get the taxi to Kuyga and a guy said “There are the Baha’i ladies”, we had never seen this guy before. I had a girl get off the Motherwell taxi at the same stop as me in town and she asked me to say hi to Bayan for her. There are honestly so many examples that I could list of random people knowing who I am in both Kuyga and Motherwell. The last little remark I’ll share with you was when a guy we were walking past said “Hello Jessica” to me. I think he was just trying to guess what my name was.

Sometimes I find it annoying especially when I’m in a taxi going to Motherwell and people ask me where I live and I say in Motherwell and then they tell me I’m lying, like really? What else would I go to Motherwell for? Sightseeing? But I guess it is quite different. Strange thing is as shocked as everyone else is I don’t find it strange or shocking at all that I live in the township because like I said before I don’t see myself as different to anyone else. I actually like being in the townships.

I had a remarkable moment in the taxi the other day as I was driving out of Kuyga, as we drove through and I looked out the window, taking in this place that has become one of the areas I am most comfortable in, I started to think that I would actually really miss Kuyga when I’m gone and then I put this question to myself.. What would I stay in South Africa for? I smiled as the taxi pulled out of Kuyga township, it’s my favourite place in P.E.