I walked back past a large church with its sign in Afrikaans where a black South African man lay in the shade resting by the closed gate of the church. When I went passed him I said hello and asked if I was heading in the right direction for the park and he said yes. He then asked if I was smoking and I said no, I didn't smoke, realizing he was wanting to bum a cigarette I apologized and he said it was OK. "Are you going to the park to rest?" he asked me, and I replied, "Yes, kind of" since I was really just going to read and take notes. He said, "Well I might come later to rest with you if you don't mind" and I said "of course not" although in the hours I was there he never showed, his shaded area was probably comfortable enough.
After walking a block more I saw some white couples walking down the street walking in the same direction with young kids and a dog. Since where they were walking had a sidewalk I walked down the block to follow them since I was still unsure of my ability to follow even the simple directions given to me. I passed another black South African man, smiled and said hello, he seemed surprised and maybe that was because the family that had just passed him didn't say anything--maybe people don't greet strangers here when they pass them (wow look at the impact of the South on me now).
With the exception of that woman I passed the two men seemed to be coming from doing outdoor work, which led me to wonder if they were people's house staff? It felt that way but I can't be sure and do not want to jump to any conclusions. I wondered if many house staffers were from other African countries, living with they away from their families and alone staying in apartments connected to these rich white homes like Kojo (Cathy's house staff) or if they were from the Townships and traveled here to work. I know this is the norm here but it is really uncomfortable for me, I said this to the girl who I was sitting next to on the plane on the way here, to which she replied "Well it is nice for us because we don't have to cook or clean"-- I was taken a back, I mean, I know it is the same thing in the U.S. just not as mainstreamed into the middle class but it is just unsettling across the board to hear people talk like that and see them so accustomed to this class divide and the racial implications of it.
I finally got to the park and saw several black South African women sitting together at the edge of the park, speaking in a language other than Afrikaans which was a pleasure to hear (Afrikaans is very rough on the ears--German and Dutch sounding, that's what most white people speak in Pretoria, that and English which is kind of the bridging language amongst the groups here it seems). Towards the center of the park was a white man sitting on his own smoking, a large Afrikaans family was sitting not far from him together in a circle on lawn chairs and playing some kind of game. There was also a young white couple with their three young blond children, two girls and a boy, and small Yorky near the trees and bench where I choose to sit. The father to my surprise was playing soccer with his younger daughter (girls do not really play soccer here), encouraging her which made me think of playing soccer as a little girl with my dad. The mother stood with the dog watching her eldest daughter climb a tree which she called her fairy house (oh gender roles--hopefully she owned her own home as a fairy and was single and fabulous of in an egalitarian relationship with another fairy and maybe not even of the same gender-- I know I can only hope!).
I wish there were more dogs there, but there was one pointer looking redish-tan dog trotting about, visiting all of the parks inhabitants, driving the yorkey crazy which luck would have it was with the dad now, on its leash, on the blanket with the kids. The pointer dog seemed to belong to the Afrikaans family although they didn't seem to care that it was wondering about. A couple sat not far from where I was sitting, lovey dovey out of control--of course they have to be near me, it is my punishment for being single, that or I just never noticed it when I was in a relationship (maybe a little of both). Several other couples are scattered about, less young and consumed by one another, off in the shade of the other parts of the park relaxing. A coloured family (still weird to say although that is how people self identify here) walks onto the park bringing a bat and a Frisbee. Two young white children are riding bikes on the grass where the ground will break their fall better than the street (plus I didn't really see many sidewalks let alone bike lanes). A lazy Sunday, a family Sunday, after people watching a little more I settled into Defiant Desire, took notes have in the sun and the shade and got lost in the prospects of my current and future projects.
I took pictures of the neighborhood and put them on Facebook to give you all a better idea of what I was talking about with the houses and the neighborhood. I will try to pick out ones that are indicative of what I have talked about to post under here as well. I don't know if I mentioned but many of the plants here are like San Diego so it is a bit weird for me since that doesn't really let me feel transported to a different country and continent. Nevertheless, it felt good to be outside and to see other people even while I wasn't directly interacting with them, to hear the foreign and accented familiar languages present on the same plot, to see different families and people being in a place together even if they weren't together or even interacting. Wandering around the neighborhood, albeit a limited baby step into my trip made being here more real. I am just trying to soak it all in, even predominantly white, upper class, suburbia--everything is an experience right? I can't see myself living in Pretoria, but today I got to actually be outside, on my own, in South Africa and that felt good.
No comments:
Post a Comment