A Small Breath of Africa: Doin' Swell

First week of being an "uncle" - I already feel the weight of the responsibility on my shoulders. Moreover, it's been decided that I would be the eccentric/weird, yet boring uncle, while Jeff (Andy's brother) would take over the responsibilities of the "cool" uncle. Whew! I didn't think I could manage being the cool uncle (first I have to be "cool")! Jokes aside, the exciting news of last week is still hitting me.

Nice weekend! After a few days of "Johannesburg rain" or so it is called by my roommates (intermittent rain and fog), it finally cleared and was a beautiful weekend (March 17-18). I learned my lesson, unwisely putting my laundry out to dry before the rain… they're extra rinsed! I spent Saturday morning at Wits attending a research conference, where PhD candidates were presenting their research. It was nice, and fortunately it wasn't all of Saturday. After the conference I ran to the park near my house, laid out and just soaked up the sun. The weather is changing and is beautiful. The past few days have been cool in the mornings/evenings, 75-80 degrees during the day, low humidity (not that Johannesburg has a lot), and sunny. In the late afternoon I went to Gerhard and Marlize's for Marlize's birthday dinner. It's always nice to go out to Benoni (their suburb), to catch up, and spend some "family time." There were about fourteen of us in total and we had a wonderful dinner. I spent the night, had breakfast with them, and then went grocery shopping before returning back home. It was my turn for my roommates and my weekly Sunday lunches. The past week I've searched all over Johannesburg for two items: dried porcini mushrooms and prosciutto. For some reason, two popular food items in Italy aren't prevalent in South Africa (insert: irony). In any event, I made prosciutto and porcini pasta (with olive oil, garlic, and peperoncino), broccoli (with olive oil, garlic, and peperoncino), cantaloupe, and root beer floats. I definitely think that the peperoncino taste was something new to my roommates - a very unique spice to Italy. After lunch I headed to Wits (for internet) and Skyped with Hope Lutheran in Toledo - my parents/grandparents church and the church that I grew up with/in. I talked to both the adult bible student and the high school youth group about my experiences in Johannesburg, challenges, observations, my family connection, and my faith. I appreciated the opportunity to reflect myself and hopefully I shed some (good) insight!

On Monday night I went with my roommates to the University of Johannesburg versus Stellenbosch University rugby match, played in the UJ stadium near my house. It was a great experience, because so many aspects of it were familiar, yet many were uniquely South African. The game had the typical fanfare of an American football game whether high school or college, with fireworks to welcome to team on the field, chants by the fans, and of course, over-the-top fans. Moreover, they crowned a UJ "queen" at halftime! Unlike American football, it seemed like people were there more for the experience than the game itself. I know, I know, broad statement. However, the speed and play of rugby is much different than American football, so it's similar to a soccer match in a sense. Apart from the game, it was more relaxed and a "party" atmosphere with grills permanently set up in the stadium for grilling, alcohol was widely served, and people even brought their hookahs (water pipes for flavored tobacco). Also, I learned that UJ has a pretty good team, with Wits being in the lower division.

Wednesday was "Human Rights Day," a national holiday, which was very timely. I appreciated the chance to have a low-key day before a busy weekend and a busy next week. This weekend, two of the Fulbright ETAs from Bloemfontein are coming in and we have a lot planned. On Saturday, we're going to go on a tour of Soweto (one of the most popular former townships), the Apartheid Museum, and possibly a Golden Lions Rugby game. Sunday, we're going to a church in Soweto for service in the morning and will spend the afternoon at a couple of markets. Next week is the last week before the fall break - which is filled with a lot of grading, meetings, and teaching. I am very much looking forward to the break; I'm going to Durban and Lesotho with a couple of the ETAs (from PE, Pretoria, and Johannesburg). Hopefully we'll be able to soak up the last bit of warm weather for the season! :(