Here's the view from our apartment!
I got to fly here while the rest of the crew drove. So 2 others and I spent the day at the Shoestring Lodge chatting with a girl named Chloe from Wales who was just in the North at the Research Center studying monkeys for the past month. She was really cool, and her name was Chloe.
We made it here for dinner and had sushi! Did not think I would be having that for 4 months. After dinner we went for some drinks on the strand. So lovely.
Not much happened the first day and half except we started our Zulu classes...Sowubona! That means hello! I can say more but nothing too exciting.
Today, HOWEVER, was a very exciting day. They decided to create a survival of the fittest kind of day and split us up into groups of two and give us destinations to get to on our own from our hotel this morning only using Durban's public transportation and then make it to the SIT office by 1 pm. I was matched up with a girl named Jenny and our destination was Chatsworth. In Chatsworth lies an Indian community that holds the Krishna Temple. So our whole group walked to the Workshop from our hotel which is in the city center where we would split up and find our correct buses or other means of transportation.
We were given a helpful suggestion of asking someone who liked like a "mama" which we have come to learn is not necessarily maternal in any way. It's closer to "ma'am" and signifies a woman older than you who has some type of authority and it is a thing of respect. We also learned today that "Sawubona, mama!" coming from a person with an obvious American accent just seems wrong; we got laughed at a lot. So we didn't do that.
So back at the bus station we saw several fellow students waiting at their respective bus stations while Jenny and I couldn't seem to find anyone that knew how the hell to get to Chatsworth. We then found out that there is actually no public bus that goes to Chatsworth and we were sent across the street where we found no type of transportation that the bus driver was talking about. So we found a "mama" and asked her how to get to Chatsworth. Her response was "Why in heavens are you going to Chatsworth?" which was not encouraging in the slightest but then told us to turn the corner and wait in the front of the bank for a minibus.
So as we made our way to said bank, we saw what seemed like MILLIONS of minibuses racing down the busy road almost crashing into each other on the street stopping in front of the bank, hoarding people into their vans, and speeding off. It was a horrifying sight. I then turned to Jenny and exclaimed that there was no way in hell I was going to get on one of those, but she wouldn't let me back out. The worst part about this horrific drivers is that the pedestrian laws here are completely different than in the US. Here, no matter what, everything is the pedestrian's fault. Cars don't stop for pedestrians, they will literally just run you over. So all of these vans come dangerously close to killing pedestrians and nobody thinks anything of it! It's awful!
So we found another "mama" waiting where all the minibuses were stopping and asked how to get to Chatsworth. She laughed cause we were so obviously American and explained that we needed to wait until a minibus stopped and called out "Chatsworth!" It seemed simple enough but it was weird to us that no other minibuses were calling out any names. So we waited next to her hoping she would just tell us which bus to get on.
The way these buses work is a 2 man job. One driver and one man in the back of the van opening the door and collecting money. The man in the back is constantly opening the door while the van is in motion and hanging off the side yelling at people trying to get customers. They load in as many people as they can fit, ignoring the number of seats the car actually offers.
I was still not fond of the idea of getting into one of these death traps but Jenny really wouldn't let me bail. I was especially discouraged when our trusted mama got in a minivan and LEFT US! She walked away saying "DO NOT get into any of the minibuses unless they shout out Chatsworth. Don't ask them or approach them, just wait" and then she got in the car and left! I wasn't offended, she obviously had places to be, but we didn't have our mama to tell us what to do! We immediately got slightly nervous and approached the next bus asking if they go to Chatsworth. The man told us that there are no buses that go to Chatsworth but he will take us to a road that is on the way where we can find another bus there. I was skeptical. Mama told us someone would yell Chatsworth, ALWAYS trust a mama. We backed up and he kept insisting that we get on and was basically yelling at us and acting like we were dumb for not listening, but I couldn't go against mama's rules. Within 2 minutes a minibus swerves around the corner to a stop and the man shouts Chatsworth!! I have never been so happy to hear a word in my life. We ran to the bus and hopped in. This van switched off between incredibly ghetto rap to some soulful women to Blurred Lines. It was odd.
On our way to Chatsworth we passed some incredible sights and picked up some incredible people along the way. The ride was about an hour and 30 minutes and the total cost was 13 rand....that is $1.30. Amazing! These minibuses are a strange idea. We ended up packing 21 people in the van that seats 12. It was absurd! If a "mama" ever got on the bus and there were no seats available, someone is expected to move, which I thought was lovely. The minibus guys were so determined for more customers they would literally drive backwards down hills if they thought they passed someone and the man in the back would get out and run to people to get them in the van. It was so crazy. It took us forever to get there.
We finally arrived in Chatsworth but not before dropping off several school kids at an elementary school surrounded by barbed wire and listening to Blurred Lines three times in a row. The Krishna Temple is awesome! I'm so mad I don't get to show anyone pictures because I didn't take any pictures! We were told that since we don't know the transportation very well and most of us are obvious tourists, we shouldn't bring anything that we would invite a mugger. Even though we probably would anyway, losing my shitty African cell phone and R100 would be nothing compared to my iPhone. So I chose against it.
We get there and timidly walk inside. Not exactly sure what would be considered disrespectful. We were pleased to realize that it was a pretty accepting crowd. We took off our shoes and were invited by smiling faces to come inside and look around.
People were bent over on the floor, praying, and kissing the ground. Others were dancing around and chanting with the men dressed in all white. Some were placing offerings on a beautiful display with dolls and flowers and various things mostly consisting of the colors blue, green, and white. It was so interesting. We stayed until what seemed to be the end of one chant and made our way outside. It looked to be as if they were cleaning up some sort of festival or something so we asked around and found out that there had been a 3 day festival there celebrating Krishna's birthday. We just missed it! But the woman told us to stay around because today was the celebration of Krishna's mother! The ceremony didn't start until 10 so we waited around in the garden and practiced our zulu clicks! It is so hard to incorporate them into our sentences. Doing the sound is one thing, doing it in the middle of a word is another.
Anywho, 10 o'clock rolls around so we go back into the temple where the ceremony was beginning. A man dressed in all white approached us with a huge grin and asked us all about what we were doing in South Africa and was so enthusiastic that it was our first time in the temple and was so happy that he was sharing this experience with us. It was so nice to be so accepted by all of these people. I know in many religions and cultures, outsiders are often judged and looked as disrespectful for not doing the right things, but it was the opposite. Everyone was so welcoming and heartwarming it was such a wonderful experience. Also it was slightly comforting to see the modern influences that were so unexpected. The leaders of the ceremony had pulled out their cellphones at some points, pictures were being taken, and the main chanter in the ceremony delayed the start of his musical number due to dissatisfaction with one of the microphones. After listening to "Hale Krishna. Hale Krishna. Krishna Krishna. Hale Hale. Hale Rama. Hale Rama. Rama Rama. Hale Hale" about 7 different times, we decided it was time to go if we wanted to make it back on time.
So another terrifying ride in a minibus took us back to center city where we stopped at Workshop which is a kind of mall with a lot of stands and other little outdoor kiosk things in the front. We ended up running into our friends Casey and Janelle and we spent a lot of time looking for bags and African waist beads which I'm definitely going to rock when I find the perfect ones.
We made it back in time for our Zulu lesson! And I will definitely be teaching you some nice Zulu words along the way!
But for now, Sala kahle!
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