Welcome to the Rainbow Nation

Perth - Johannesburg

I think I knew that I was going to like South Africa before the plane even left Perth Airport. Elias - the big, black, gay flight attendant on SAA Flight 281 - quite literally did a song and a dance around the plane before take-off. The captain cracked a few jokes about the rugby. And the accents of the passengers on board were beginning to grow on me.

The flight from Perth to Johannesburg was 11 hours and 50 minutes. I slept for most of it, which turned out to be good (as I would later need my energy to sprint from the international terminal to the domestic terminal at O.R. Tambo Airport, 20kg of luggage hanging off various parts of my body).

Johannesburg - Cape Town

From Johannesburg, I caught another South African Airways flight to Cape Town (see above paragraph for the nail-biting thriller that was "Is-Zarah-going-to-make-her-flight?"). I was seated next to a coloured* man called Christopher, who has lived in Cape Town his entire life. He told me about growing up in apartheid South Africa and the changes he has seen since 1994 (post-apartheid). He recounted a story of helping a white (Afrikaner) colleague move house in the 1980s. After helping this colleague shift furniture into his new home, he was offered a drink. But he had to stand in the back garden and drink from a tin cup. He said that he did not really question this, as he had grown up with apartheid and since a child had accepted that was how things were. He then told me that, when apartheid was abolished, his colleague came to him and apologised for this incident. He proudly told me that now he not only goes to his colleague's house to watch movies (where he sits on the same couch), but that he is allowed to use his ensuite bathroom! Strange that such a simple thing should mean such a great deal. But despite such a fractured past, Christopher told me that South Africa is constantly changing for the better, and that he knows it will continue to change in his lifetime.

* I am still getting used to the fact that the terms "coloured", "white" and "black" are used to label the various ethnic groups within South Africa. Please be aware that I write this blog within the context of the South African culture, so no offence is meant when using these terms.

Cape Town

I was met at the airport by Denver Flowers, a driver who works for Projects Abroad. Denver had yet another take on race relations in South Africa ("You have money, you get away with murder. Literally.") and the experiences of his own people ("As a coloured person, the whites think you are stupid.") But he also had a very dry sense of humour ("You may say you have boyfriend, but plenty of girls also get South African boyfriend.") and was clearly impressed by me ("A girl with only one bag of clothes for 3 months? This is a first.")

Upon arriving at my host mother's flat in Wynberg, I was greeted by her cousin, Iris. Latifa (my host mother) was out for the day, so Iris welcomed me to her home. "Ubuntu", she said, "we must care for each other." She chewed my ear off with (what I assumed was the abridged version of) her life story. This is a woman who has been a social worker, counsellor and had - during her time working with orphans - met Mother Theresa. If that wasn't enough to place me in awe of her, she also nipped off for 30 minutes to "make me a home-cooked meal", then re-appeared with soup, chicken briyani and juice.

I spent the remainder of the afternoon reading ("Disgrace", by J.M. Coetzee) until Latifa returned. Latifa, a practising Muslim, is a mother and grandmother who owns and operates her own tour company. She made me feel right at home, and when I accompanied her and Iris out to the shops I felt like I was back in Perth, with mum. I also met Natalie, a Swiss girl who I am sharing my room with. Natalie speaks French and is currently learning English, so we are slowly getting to know each other (me with my atrocious French, and Natalie with her limited English). We bonded over the fact that she also loves the movie "Mean Girls" (she had a copy of the French DVD - "Lolita Malgré Moi") and my stuffed toy kangaroo. However, she was slightly horrified when I told her that we enjoy eating kangaroo (apparently this is something Australians and South Africans have in common - we both eat our national animals).

And, since a few people have asked me about the weather, I will offer this comment: it was raining when I arrived, it continued to rain this afternoon and it will probably rain tomorrow. The weather has made Table Mountain look particularly ominous, as it is shrouded in mist and cloud. Still, I can't help but get a kick every time I look out the window and see it looming over the city. I really am in Cape Town.