Prior to the end of apartheid, the two major taxi cab companies in Cape Town held a great deal of power within the townships. But, sometimes they got themselves into a bit of trouble by driving into the other taxi cabs “turf.” There were literally taxi cab wars in which one company would drive over to another companies fleet of taxi’s and begin shooting them down. It got so intense that the taxi drivers used to drive around with body guards to help protect them. If people in the community were upset with someone else, they would talk to the head of the company to get the issue “taken care of.”
Need some issue resolved? Call 1-800-Taxi-War!
Monday, May 18 – We had our official campus tour of CTU today. At the very beginning, we watched a promotional video that the school uses to recruit 11th and 12th graders deciding if they want to attend CTU for their undergraduate degrees. The acting and cinematography were absolutely hilarious, but my favorite part was when the narrator was explaining the thrill of going to the campus gym. Then, covering the entire screen was a picture of a guy’s 8-pack abs while he’s lifting weights. The narrator’s comment – “Hey girls… check out those muscles!” Oh dear.
However, although I have yet to see whether the 8-pack abs are in fact adorned by every CTU student, I am not in the slightest bit shy to test it out to see if it is true. haha... They surely have quite a lot of hot South African men walking around this campus. The English and Afrikaans boys are absolutely gorgeous.
Tuesday, May 19
Totally forgot yesterday was my parents 30th wedding anniversary. Luckily I gave them the gifts before I left! Hope you guys enjoyed it all!
After our lecture this morning, we had lunch at the Noon Gun restaurant after watching the cannons fire the 12 noon shot that goes off everyday.
Today was the most emotional day so far. We visited the District 6 Museum, which is dedicated to the forced movement of a black community located near the city bowl to the outskirts of the city when the area was declared "whites only" under apartheid in 1966.
After the museum, we went to another Township, where we went on a walking tour through the community and met with some people who are living with their entire families in one room - approximately the size of half a dorm room. Some of the houses have 8 rooms and can hold 32 people. But the people we met, especially the children running around on the streets, seemed especially happy. It was close to dinner time so we saw a mother feeding her two young children on her bed, another woman cooking stew dinner for her family, and others selling meats right on the streets--pigheads too. It really was quite an experience and very eye-opening. It gives me another check on the reality of the world and the extreme inequities our world faces both economically and racially.
The irony is that in the driveways of some of the houses were nearly brand-new Buicks and even a BMW here or there. While many blacks in the townships continue to face extreme poverty, there have been a few who have struggled to the top to become lawyers and doctors. But rather than leaving the townships and moving to a "better" community, the families stay in the townships-- the cost of living is cheaper so they can then afford to send their children to private schools in the City Bowl. But most importantly, they can maintain their sense of culture and community --- the children running carelessly on the streets, the meat being cooked on the streets, the loud music and dancing at night -- That's what they live for, by caring for and looking after each other for all of the years during apartheid... a cultural connectivity that has lasted until this day.
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