Soweto Homestay

On Friday evening we headed out for our Soweto homestay where we stay with a local family in the South West Township. We went in pairs for this first homestay of three. Ben was my partner. We were both a little nervous but looking forward to it none the less. We arrived in the Kombi and met Duntou, Ichi and Pumi. Duntou was the host mom, Mike her brother, and Pumi her 12 year old son. They were very welcoming. Duntou talked out ear off for the first 15 minutes about AIDS so that definitely eased my worries about running out of things to talk about. We had a very good dinner the first night. It took a little getting used to the style of eating here. A lot of it is just with one’s hands or a spoon. Forks and knives are not necessarily used. The first night Ichi took Ben and I out to get some movies to watch: A Bourne Identity and something else. The rest of the weekend we were incredibly well fed with an assortment of different things. We watched a lot of TV and movies which were interesting. The movies pertained to South Africa and we liked them. Out host mom took us out to a bar not to drink but just to see what one was like in Soweto. It was very nice but a little awkward for Ben and myself being the only white guys there. The night was fine except for a really drunk guy who kept coming by our table, shaking our hand, telling us not to be afraid and he was very glad white people were here. On the last night a friend of our host mom, Charlie, took us out to a braai (barbecue). It was crazy. It was essentially a huge party outside of the night club. There were cars everywhere and people were drinking a lot. They just toss the bottle on the ground where cars run them over causing a perpetual popping sound throughout the night. The meat was delicious and the music and company was good. Ben and I were quite tired and ready to get to bed. We had a good time though.