I've wanted to visit Soweto ever since I ran into the Soweto Gospel Chior at the Jo'burg airport a while ago. They were pretty young women in brightly colored matching shirts. Sitting in a row at the airport, they made the most of layover by singing quitely or talking amongst themselves. I only knew of the most publicized facts about Soweto (the school demonstration in '76, Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu both lived in Soweto, etc) but I wanted to learn more.
This brightly painted nursery was the most cheerful sight in a row of houses which were mostly grey or white. But each house had a cleanly swept yard and friendly women chatting over a low fence to their neighbors.
None of the houses in the row of houses we visited had electricity. Yet just across the street was a power plant (although it has not been working for the past few years).
We drove past Bishop Desmond Tutu's house...
...just down the street from President Mandela's former family home in Orlando West, Soweto.
Then we visited Regina Mundi (Queen of the World) catholic church. When political meetings were banned during apartheid, students gathered at the church to meet one another. There were still many reminders of the frigtening era. The altar had been damaged when a police chief, in a gesture of intimidation, hit the altar with the butt of his gun.
Some of the original windows had been preserved to show the gun shot scars.
In '98, the first lady of Poland donated new stained glass windows. The madonna in the stained glass looks different from inside...
...vs from the outside.
One of the most memorable places of the day was the Hector Peterson Memorial. Hector Peterson was a young student who was killed by police gunfire during the Soweto school uprising against Bantu education in '76. We stood for hours in the memorial, reflecting back on all that has come before and thinking about all that we hope to see pass in the future.
I wanted to walk out to the lush backyard of my friend's place to play ultimate frisbee. Seeing my hesitation in walking out to a yard full of monkeys, my friend assured me that once I step out, they'll scatter. When I opened the screen door, however, one monkey stared while his friend came up to me to investigate what's up. I sat back down on the couch and then the monkey came right up to the screen door and continued staring at me. Hmm...
If you are one of two people that read this blog (hi, mom and dad), then you know my fascination with funny signs. This is from a "mall" near the turn-off to Tonata. Take No Time General Dealer. What could it possibly mean?
Not sure why this was funny at the moment. Hard to find these signs back home for sure though...
I almost missed the fine print: "Please marry me and I will always cook for you." Unsure is this a personals ad or an add for a restaurant.
Market place near the bus station where vender sell oranges and bags of zim dollars.
Never made it to the inn but supposedly this place is filled with mining memorabilia.
Now this sign is up to your interpretation. We found it in the driveway of our friend's house. The way we initially read the sign was: be careful, there are some slow children walking about? 
On the program, the best man's name was printed as "Jane." I tried to find out how it is pronounced in Twana but never found out.
