Finding My Way

My, how time flies! I can't believe my 3-month stay in South Africa has reached the home stretch. With less than 3 weeks left in the Motherland, it feels like the World Cup was about a year ago, and every now and then I find myself forgetting that I'm not actually from Jozi. But who knows, maybe I am! Actually, this month my cousin, Myra, is going to visit our oldest living relative, Lucy Chandler. Aunt Lucy turned 108 this July 4th, on the same day that my new nephew, Gabriel Louis Williams, was born—talk about the old and the new. We are hoping to get a swab of Aunt Lucy's cheek cells, which may help us determine what part of Africa we are actually from.

In the meantime, I've been finding my way as an Black American in Africa—yes, Unity, we could argue about this all day, but I tend to agree with Smokey Robinson's spoken word piece. While I'm not qualified to start writing any how-to-survive guides, I still thought it would be fun to share some of my insights about how I've settled in and found my groove here. Here goes:

Getting Around Town
My first bit of advice about asking for directions on the streets of Jozi is... DON'T. Most likely, you will be told that "you must just go sttttrraaaight past the robot and you will get there just now." Whether or not you reach your destination depends entirely on which direction the person happens to be facing when you ask them. The other problem is this uniquely South African expression, "just now." But we'll tackle that, as well as the local definition of "robot," in later paragraphs.

Public Transportation? Mass Transit? Fahgetaboutit. There's a beautiful new light rail called the Guatrain (pronounced How Train). It's clean, quiet and fast, but it costs about $12 USD one-way, and for now, it only runs between the Sandton shopping district and the airport (just in time for the World Cup!). The region is also developing a solid Bus Rapid Transit system, which is great in the areas where it's up and running. Unfortunately, the "Rea Vaya" stop in front of the UJ Auckland Park Campus where I'm staying is still under construction.

The bigger issue is dealing with the minibus taxi "cartels," which became entrenched during the Apartheid era, when only whites were allowed to ride the public buses and trains. Eventually, the informal system grew so large that it completely displaced all other public transportation. The drivers (and their "bosses") are none-too-eager to be displaced by any new mass-transit system. This is understandable since the taxi's, which cram up to 20 folks into one van, can rightly be considered mass-transit. I won't lie—I have yet to ride one of these deathcabs. First of all, my health insurance plan is extremely bare bones. Second, you have to know the special hand signals to flag them down in the right direction. It's no consolation that they always honk and pull over for me when I don't need a ride.



The Shop

As a black man, I don't play when it comes to my haircut. Yes, many of you laugh as you remember my afro, but I took that quite seriously too. I've been going to Center Stage West Salon on Lake Shore since the store next door was selling red black and green Cross Colours overalls. And if it's not Center Stage, then I cut cut my own hair, so it's no surprise that I travel with my own clippers. Unfortunately, the difference in electricity currents here shorted out my clippers—the same thing happened in New Zealand—so I was stuck like Chuck. Everyone says the first words you should learn in any language are "please" and "thank you." I would add "skin-tight fade" to that list. After a couple of tries, I got my cut correct in Downtown Jozi for only 20 Rand. This was a very happy medium between the shop at the mall that charged 50 for the chiskop (baldhead), and they guys sitting at the bus stop with their clippers plugged into a portable battery (I didn't ask how much that treatment would cost).

A Few Good Words
I've mentioned some of the drama that not having the right words can cause. I'm a linguist at heart, but I am no match for South Africa, a country with 11 or 12 official languages, depending on who you ask. My strategy has been to pick a few choice expressions that seem to transcend all language barriers. Here are some of my findings:

- "Now Now" vs "Just Now" - One of the most important things to understand is the difference between "now now" and "just now." Apparently, "now now" means really soon, and "just now" means kinda soon. Ironically, neither expression means "now," and either one can also mean never.

- "Eish / Aysh" - My new favorite expression. According to a slang guide that Sonja provided, it is a "common term that denotes a wide range of emotions from joy and surprise to confusion and anger... when in doubt, use it." I've found it to be most effective when said while shaking one hand off as if you just touched a hot stove.

- "Is it!?" (pronounced uzzit) = "fah real?"

- "Robot" = traffic light (yes, a traffic light—don't ask me why).

- "Lekker" (pronounced lacquer) = nice

- "Organize" - Jelly hipped me to this excellent expression. It means pretty much the same thing, but here it's much more versatile. For example, when one guy approached Jelly on the street begging for change, he said, "hey, can you spare a few Rand? I'm tryin' to organize a pie." Brilliant. It wasn't long before we were talking about "organizing" everything from some chicken to a spare world cup ticket.

- "Hectic" - Like, "organize," this is not a term that is uniquely South African. But you can't live in Johannesburg for too long without realizing how important this word is. In a word, Joburg is "hectic."

- "Sharp" - A few months ago in this blog I wrote about how each culture and language has a magic, multi-purpose word—in Fiji it was "bula." The magic word for South Africans is clearly "sharp" (pronounced shop or shaaaahp). By my count, it has at least 5 meanings, including hello, goodbye, thank you, your welcome, and O.K. Occasionally, if people really want to get their point across, they'll double it up, as in "sharp-sharp."

Hosts
Without a doubt, the key to finding my way has been to have an amazing set of hosts. Ernestine has been my ultimate plug in Jozi. She's brought me into the Office for Community Engagement / Strategic Partnerships Unit at UJ, where the lovely team of ladies (Monki, Juliet, Bella, Natie, Lucretia, Lucia) have put me to work. On the first day I met Ernestine, she took me to the Wits F.C. Juniors training grounds, where here husband, Grant, coaches the U14 team. From that point, Grant and the Wits F.C. Juniors family have become my futbol home away from home—thank you!

On top of that, Ernestine also connected me with Adrian Carter, who has opened up his home to me for the past two months. Adrian also introduced me to Niamh Faherty and the team at the UJ Sports Bureau, who were nice enough to take me to Moçambique last month—massive thank you!


My very first hosts in Johannesburg were Sonja and Moiketsi, whom I met through my stateside cousin, Joe Hurd. Sonja and Mo handed me off to UJ, but they never forget about me. Last weekend they took me along with them for a long weekend getaway in the province of Mpumulanga. After a beautiful and relaxing weekend, I get to add Nana and Craig to my list of greats hosts. They let me pretend to be part of the extended family as we celebrated their 5th anniversary and Nana's birthday in style. Moiketsi and I pulled up to the cottage at Walkersons Estate on Friday evening, and for the second time in my life, I was treated to Craig's deluxe braai with delicious chimichuri. Bright and early the next morning, a small group of ambitious folks (that didn't include me) braved the bone-chilling cold for a fly-fishing expedition. When I say "bone-chilling," I do mean that literally—in fact, we came across some "Willie Warmers" at one store when taking a stroll through Dullstroom later that afternoon.


On a more savory note, I finally found a good South African beer while in town—not suprisingly, at a microbrewery. Also not surprisingly, it was a porter, just like my personal favorite from back home, Black Butte Porter (Deschutes Brewery).




After a short helicopter ride (another first for me!), and a few hours in town, we geared up for the main event. The food was delicious, though not as good as Craig's braai the night before, or Gail's french lamb recipe that would follow on Sunday. The company was excellent, and if I had known Craig and Kelly for any more than one month I would not have been able to hold it together during the beautiful toasts from their friends and family.










This coming weekend, my list of great hosts will only grow longer, as I travel to the North West Province. The people of Royal Bafokeng Nation have been supporting me from afar throughout me trip, but this will be my first opportunity to spend some quality time in their neck of the woods. I'm looking forward to it! Until then...

Pura Vida

Christmas in July

After a mind-blowing experience in Moçambique, I was due for a relatively low-key week back in Johannesburg. So, that's what I had (except for last Saturday, but I digress).

Most of my week was focused on preparing for the final project of our Mandela Day Initiative in the Office for Community Engagement at University of Johannesburg. In the spirit of Mandela Day (July 18th) our team designed five different projects to be carried out at the end of the month. The projects were designed around the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, focusing on 1) Poverty & Hunger, 2) Literacy & Primary Education, 3) Gender Equality, 4) Health, and 5) Environmental Sustainability. I was responsible for designing and pulling off the Environmental Sustainability Project, and I am proud to report that our City Clean Up Day was a success!



The next day I was exposed to an interesting global phenomenon for the first time in my life... Christmas in July! I was a little skeptical at first. Honestly, I love me some Jesus, but Christmas is probably my 13th favorite Holiday (after Thanksgiving, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, my birthday, your birthday, your Mama's birthday etc.). But, after a whole bunch of coaching and volunteering, I was ready for some good ol' fraternizing, so I accepted the invitation and got myself in the spirit. Actually, the event was lekker, and a lot more affordable than real Christmas. We stopped at the sto' on the way to buy our contribution to the gift exchange: a flask of Zorba vodka, a can of Red Bull, a mini-bottle of champagne, and a pack of South Africa's version of bubble tape—all for less than 30 Rand!
The function was complete with Christmas decorations, frosted windows, gluvine, costumes, and a fully functional ice sculpture. Here's how it worked: you pour a shot of Jäger (or some other poison) in the top the snowman's head, and it comes out the bottom extra cold and ready for consumption. It's your job (not mine) to be well positioned and ready to receive!


When I'm not coaching, working at UJ, or drinking from a snowman's belly, I manage to make time for my one true habit: the books (and the Kindle, Lita!). Here's an updated list of what I've been enjoying (some more than others) since I left the Bay at the end of May.

BOOKS I'VE READ SO FAR:

- Uncle Tom’s Cabin - by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852)

- Three Cups of Tea - by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin (2006)

- Wuthering Heights - by Emily Brontë (1847)

- How Can Man Die Better: The Life of Robert Sobukwe - by Benjamin Pogrund (2006)

- Beauty and the Beast - by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont (1756)

- The Prince (De Principatibus) - by Niccolo Machiavelli (1832)

- The Last King of Scotland - by Giles Foden (1998)

- The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin - by Benjamin Franklin (1791)

- The Constant Gardener - by John le Carré (2005)

- Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers and Copycats are Hijacking the Global Economy - by Moisés Naím (2005)

- The Poisonwood Bible - by Barbara Kingsolver (1998)

- Man and His Symbols - by Carl Jung with Henderson, von Franz, Jaffé and Jacobi (1964)

- So Long A Letter - by Mariama Bâ (1981)

- Civil Disobedience (Resistance to Civil Government) - by Henry David Thoreau (1849)

Pura Vida...

Um Por Todos, Todos Por Um

Despite all the stereotypes about Africa, my first seven weeks here could hardly be described as “roughing it.” I spent every night in a big city—Cape Town or Johannesburg—and the wildest animal I’d come across was Heidi (Adrian’s Rottweiler). It's been all warm showers and wireless Internet… until last week. Right after I posted my last blog entry, I jumped in and out of the shower, packed my bag and headed over to the UJ Sports Bureau to embark on my latest adventure: a one-week trip to Manica, Moçambique.
Manica is a small town of about 40,000, located in central Manica Province of Moçambique, near the border with Zimbabwe. Last week I was lucky to join a group from University of Johannesburg on the lovely 18-hour drive north to be hosted by the Grupo Desportivo de Manica (GDM). Our group included 16 fourth-year architecture students, 3 architecture lecturers, three soccer coaches, two administrators from UJ Sport, a nurse, and two of the coolest drivers ever.

Grupo Desportivo de Manica was founded as a small football club in 1980. After a strong start, the club struggled through the years of civil war in Moçambique. In recent years the organization has rebuilt itself to become an integral part of the Manica community. In 2006, with the help of South Africa native Schalk van Heerden, “the club partnered with the University of Johannesburg to start ‘operation reclaim the dream': a dream of a holistic club that use sport, specifically football to facilitate social change. The rest, as they say is history.” Schalk was our official host in Manica throughout the week.

While Moçambique borders South Africa directly to the east, our group made the drive north to Manica through Zimbabwe. Apparently, the poor state of the roads through Moçambique would have added a half-day to the trip. Unfortunately, this meant dealing with Zimbabwe. My momma told me if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. I will say that our experience in Zimbabwe amounted to one very long, very desolate highway—for which we had to buy vehicle insurance twice!?—15 police road blocks (each way), and only one bribe... yay!

Regardless, the trek through Zim was well worth it. Moçambique is beautiful—the land, the people, the air, and the vibe! We pulled into to town after 8pm on Monday and unpacked the trailer before heading out to dinner. Before we arrived, the members of the GDM men’s team had packed up their stuff and moved out of their rooms at the clubhouse to make room for our group. In addition to housing for the players, the club now has a computer lab, kindergarten, nursery and recreation room.



On our first full day in Manica we got a tour of the town and an introduction to our two main projects. The architecture students and staff would be advising and working at the site of the future GDM sports complex. The plan is centered around the construction of three soccer fields—one for matches, one for training, and a smaller field for the little ones. The site plan also includes a housing village for the players with families, a building for visiting teams, and facilities for other sports. I was surprised by the scale of the project, but was particularly impressed with GDM’s holistic, sustainable approach. For example, the site plan includes the planting of over 100 fruit trees, including citrus, mangos, avocadoes, and lychee. In an effort to prevent deforestation, Moçambique law dictates that each planted tree adds to the land value. Also, the fruit from the trees will be sold to generate significant annual income for the club.


The project is certainly ambitious, and most of it is waiting for the necessary funding. But so far, they’ve made great progress: clearing and leveling the area for the first field, and constructing the necessary well, pumps, tank and storage tower to get running water to the worksite. They’ve also successfully relocated two families that were squatting on the land by building them identical housing nearby.

The UJ architecture team was there to provide technical assistance, as well as the physical labor required to construct one of the buildings. But I don’t know the first thing about architecture, so you know I was there for something else. While the students and lecturers were busy building the fields of the future, I would be back in town at the existing municipal field, getting my coach on. So, in the meantime, I sat back and enjoyed the first of many campfire braais while the architecture team started planning their attack.

On Wednesday morning I headed over field to join the players and coaches of the GDM Men’s First Team. We figured that a good way for me to get acclimated to the team would be to actually train with the players, so that’s what I did. It was strenuous, to say the least, and after chasing a bunch of 22-year olds for two hours I was ready for a nap.


The next morning I was at the field bright and early to run a training session—in the pouring rain—with Coach Mpho. A Soweto native, Mpho now works at UJ, coaching the Soweto Campus team and the Women’s team. We took a tag-team approach with me conducting the warm-up and cool-down, and Mpho leading a session on ball-possession. I also served as his interpreter.
After the morning session, Coach Doc Mabila took us to lunch at a great restaurant in the local open market. Doc and I met over dinner on my first night in Manica, and now he is officially “The Homie.” After his playing career in South Africa Doc decided to focus on coaching and outreach. He now works with the Institute for Democracy in Africa as a coordinator of the Project for a safe South Africa. Previously, Doc spent a year in Manica helping to develop the club, but he had not been back to visit in a few years. Even though he was with our group, he was also a de facto host for me, especially when it came to finding great food. You really can’t appreciate the power and the glory of the African Diaspora until you’re back in the Motherland, staring at a bowl of greens that could have come out of your Auntie’s pot. It was true Soul Food, except there was pap instead of grits, and no tableware in sight (that’s what the pap is for). It was great to work, play, and eat with Doc, and I’m looking forward to when our paths cross again.


That afternoon I ran a session for the GDM Juniors team, who range in age from 15 to 18. After that I got to work with about 30 youngsters (aged 5 – 14)—my specialty! When it came time to take a group photo, I did what I always do with the little ones. I said, “OK, we’re gonna take three pictures: one smiling, one real serious, and one doing whatever you want.” Just to clarify, I cannot be held responsible for what they chose to do.

That evening we all geared up for a night of five-a-side indoor soccer. The format: four teams rotating; each game lasts for ten minutes, golden goal! If no team has scored after ten minutes, them BOTH teams are off. Unfortunately, after our first three games, my team had played a grand total of about three minutes—and it wasn't because we were scoring. Between the Lebanese guys, Schalk's team, and the Moçambican squad with the matching jerseys, the competition was stiff. Eventually we adjusted and managed a ten-minute tie, and even a win later on. Most importantly, it was hella fun guaranteed.
On Friday Coach Mpho and I switched roles—he led the warm-up and cool-down, while I conducted a session focused on  “finalização” or finishing, In the afternoon I worked with the Juniors and the youngsters again, then joined Coach Doc Mabila to lead a session for the women’s team.
On my last day in town I headed over to the work site to join the architecture team for a little manual labor. There really is nothing quite like building something with your hands. To me, it’s a lot like gardening or cooking—there’s definitely some spiritual earth goddess worship connection going on there. The last time I mixed a pile of concrete or mortared bricks was in 1997, when I helped build a community center in San Luis, Costa Rica. In fact, a lot about this trip took me back to the summer I spent with Global Routes—the people, the land, the construction work, the language immersion, playing soccer in the mud, the cold showers. On the last day I finally perfected my strategy for coping with this last challenge: run in place, imagine you’re in a swimming pool, sing, and keep it short. You almost don’t notice how miserable it is.


But seriously, my time in Manica was a blessing. The say you don't really know something until you can teach it. In that sense, this experience was a blessing two times over for me: coaching soccer—IN PORTUGUESE! It was a great personal and professional development opportunity for me. On top of that, I got introduced to one of my new favorite places on the planet. There is no question about it, I will return!

Pura Vida,

Happy Birthday Mr. Mandela

So, what is my life in South Africa like when there’s no World Cup to watch? Actually, I have no idea! Thankfully, the Women's U20 World Cup just started, so I've been able to get my fix. Last night I watched Mexico dispatch England—El Tri's goalkeeper is only 15 years old! But seriously, most of my time has been split between working at the University of Johannesburg and coaching with the Wits F.C. Juniors teams. Since I’ve written about Wits in my earlier posts, I’ll share a bit about my work with UJ.



Since the beginning of July I have been working as a volunteer in the Office for Community in Engagement, which is part of the Strategic Partnerships Division at the University of Johannesburg. UJ has an interesting history—it is the product of the post-apartheid merger between three existing institutions: Rand Afrikaans University (RAU), Vista University, and Technikon Witwatersrand. UJ currently has four campus in the Johannesburg Area: Auckland Park Kingsway (APK), Auckland Park Bunting (APB), Doornfontein (DFC), and Soweto. Each campus has its own character and history, with a different group of students, staff and faculty, and a different academic focus. In total, UJ has about 48,000 full time students and 3000 permanent employees.

I live on the main campus on Kingsway Ave in the Auckland Park neighborhood. The Kingsway campus is the former home of RAU, and is now the campus with the most students-in-residence. My host here is Adrian Carter, the Deputy Director of Sport at UJ. Technically, I am his only roommate… BUT, he’s got two doggies and a girlfriend (not necessarily in that order). I spent the first few weeks separated from Heidi (Rottweiler) and Nemo (Jack Russell Terrier) by a good set of metal bars. Heidi in particular seemed to think I looked or smelled like a nice steak. Thankfully, she’s gotten over that, and now we are certified besties.

As for the girlfriend… let’s just say that Mr. Carter is a hopeless romantic. On Friday, he talked a few hundred students into forming a giant human "I LOVE YOU," spelled out in an open field on campus. The plan was to fly his girlfriend, Marike, over the field in a small plane—and this was to celebrate their 3 MONTH ANNIVERSARY!!! The students showed up, but unfortunately there was a mechanical malfunction and the plane never got off the ground. I said, "look on the the bright side: would you rather be stuck on the ground, or flying in a plane with a mechanical malfunction?" Ironically, it’s not the first time I’ve watched my roommate fall head over heels for a girl named Marike (or Marika, same pronunciation). In fact, Felix is getting married any day now—CONGRATULATIONS BIZZLE!



Adrian’s place is just a 10-minute walk to Campus Square, a good-sized shopping hub for students and local residents. Another 10 minutes walking will get you to Melville, where 7th Street is home to a nice selection of restaurants, bars, book stores and other shops. Plus, there's some nice street art along the way, courtesy of Pressure Control Projects.



The Office for Community Engagement is located on the Doornfontein Campus, near the Central Business District. I’ve joined a small team at OCE, which works side by side with the Alumni and Development Offices. My boss is Ernestine Meyer-Adams, who actually set me up with everything I'm doing here in Jozi (thank you for the intro, Emmet Carson!). On top of putting me to work at UJ, Ernestine's husband, Grant, is one of the coaches at Wits F.C. Juniors.

Our main project in OCE this month has been coordinating a University-wide initiative in the spirit of Mandela Day. “Mandela Day is an annual celebration of Nelson Mandela’s life and a global call to action for people to recognize their individual ability to make an imprint and change the world around them… The Mandela Day campaign message is simple: Nelson Mandela has given 67 years of his life fighting for the rights of humanity. All we are asking is that everyone gives 67 minutes of their time, whether it’s supporting your chosen charity or serving your local community.”

Our office has designed five community projects based around the Millennium Development Goals, and we have been pushing to get all students, faculty, and staff involved. Although Mandela Day is July 18, on Madiba’s 92nd birthday, our projects last from July 19 – 30, with the hope of building on today’s momentum. Apart from helping with the overall coordination of the initiative, my role has been to design and spearhead the Environmental Sustainability Project. So far, we’ve got almost 200 people signed up to participate in a City Clean Up Day on Friday, July 30.

We put a lot of work in this week going to the different UJ Campuses and meeting with members of each Student Representative Council. Their support has been, and will be, the make-or-break factor in the success of these projects. It was great finally see the Soweto campus, since I live on APK and work at DFC. Actually, it felt a lot like being at SF State—only this time I was passing out flyers for Mandela Day instead of for a Collectiv event.

After a few hours of work on the Soweto Campus we headed to a meeting with the local branch of the Red Cross. As part of the Strategic Partnerships Division, the Office for Community Engagement works to build bridges with organizations throughout the region, country and world. Which brings me to the end of this post! The reason why I’m posting on Sunday instead of Monday this week is because at midnight tonight I will be piling into a van for a whole new UJ adventure. I will be away from my computer for the entire week, but I promise, I’ll get you all caught up in my next post!

Pura Vida...