Last weekend all of the CIEE kids spent in Ocean View, a colored community. I’ve said this before but just a reminder – there’s a difference between colored people and black people. Sometimes it can get confusing to distinguish between the two, but typically colored people are lighter skinned. Also, South Africans can usually tell through their accents. We took a 45 minute bus ride from Rondebosch (UCT Campus) to get there. I think that some people would classify Ocean View as a township in that it is a living area with low-income housing. However, there are some people in South Africa that say colored people only live in communities whereas black people live in townships. I’m not really sure how to distinguish – but this is just the information that I have heard around.
We arrived at Ocean View high school, where we all went inside for a dinner and collected name cards. A table number was written on our name cards, so when I went to my table my family was able to pick me out. There I met Julie, the mother, and Adrienne her 16 year old daughter. Things were a bit awkward at first, but then we started to talk about our lives, UCT and the states. I also learned that Julie has another daughter who is 20 named Jade. Julie also talked about partying which I thought was kind of interesting/ exciting, but she definitely seemed interested in going to some bars with me. A little bit later, another girl Ashleigh who also lives in my house came to our table and we figured out we would be staying in the house together. It was relieving and comforting for me to know that the other person I would be staying with was someone I already knew. We sat in the assembly room in the high school for a while listening to people from Ocean View talk and put on some performances (like singing and dancing). I also learned that my homestay mom’s aunt was housing two boys, Phil and Eric, who also live in my house. Soon enough the evening at the high school was over and we headed back to my family’s home.
Their home was overall pretty nice. I don’t think I had any expectations of it; I was just interested to see what it would be like. It is a pink house that has a kitchen, living room, bathroom and two bedrooms. The bedroom that I would be staying in had bunk beds and another twin bed; also, it was filled with a bunch of stuffed animals. The house had three tvs – one in the living room and one in each bedroom. I also noticed in the corner of the girl’s room there was an old computer; it was in the corner though so I am not sure if they used it anymore. I am pretty sure I also saw that they had a laptop. So it seemed to me that this family was pretty well off compared to some others living in the community.
Anyway, that night we (Ashleigh, Eric, Phil and I) arrived back at their home. All of us sat around in the living room drinking beer and whiskey and water. I honestly did not even know whiskey and water was a drink. I honestly struggled to drink that. That night we all ended up hanging out and sang karaoke. Julie really loved karaoke, and we all actually got pretty into singing – I had a better time doing it than expected. It was also pretty funny considering I have the worst voice ever. Also hearing Phil trying to sing Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis was just hilarious. I have a video of it…Too funny.
Phil, Scott, a family friend (I forget her name) and Eric outside of our house
Eric, Phil (doing Karaoke), Bradley (their brother) and their host mom
Ashleigh and I singing.. haha
The next morning Ashleigh and I woke up and ate some cereal for breakfast. We then sat around with Jade and Adrienne and watched some South African soap operas. They reminded me of Spanish soaps, so it was ultimately pretty entertaining. Ashleigh and I talked with Jade for a while about her life. She graduated high school and attended a business college of some sort. She now works at a business in downtown Cape Town, but is looking elsewhere for work. We also talked about race and religion with her. It was interesting to here that Jade says she would probably not date someone of another race, as that is her preference (so she would only date a colored boy). Additionally, she also said that she could not date someone who practices a religion other than Anglican, because that is her mother’s rule. Soon enough Julie came home from work and we left to go the Imhoff Farm across the street. There were a bunch of shops selling foods (like cheese and jams), clothing and crafts. There were also some cool animals hanging out, like camels! I ended up buying some horseradish dip that had feta and bacon in it, it was very tasty. After we were done with the farm we went back to the house for a bit, then went to go visit Jades grandparents on her dads side. We learned that her father passed away I think around seven years ago. I didn’t ask why though. Anyway, we walked about five minutes to visit her other side of the family. It made me so jealous that she lives so close to all of her aunts, uncles and cousins… Being around so much family really made me miss my family. This was probably the first time I have felt sort of homesick since I have been here. After hanging out there for a bit, we went back to our house.
The view from our house at sunset..
When we arrived back at home, all of the women (and Phil) were in the kitchen preparing for dinner. Phil, Ashleigh and I helped cut up vegetables and get things ready for the evening. My family was hosting a party and braai for us that evening. Soon enough it was time to start cooking, the meat was first thrown into a three-legged pot and it cooked on the coals for a while. Next vegetables were added in, and it seemed as if the pot was completely full. But after the vegetables would cook for about a half hour, more room was made to fit more and more inside. One of the family friend’s was cooking the meal, his name was Abraham and he loved to cook. We talked a lot about cooking because I am interested in getting a pot for my house. He also talked to me about his family and how when he was very young, I think he said four years old, his family was forced to leave Simonstown and move into Ocean View as a part of Apartheid. One interesting difference from Ocean View and Langa (the black township I visited with Leap) was that people within Ocean View move from house to house, whereas people in Langa typically stay in one house or move out. The food ended up being AMAZING! We had rice with vegetables and beef. I honestly cannot describe how much food the family gave us this entire weekend, but I was so full after. Also, a few hours after dinner Abraham cooked some Snoek for us, which is a kind of fish that is very popular among the people in Ocean View. It was also very delicious. This whole evening was really great. I enjoyed hanging out and talking with all of my family’s friends. I also really liked helping cook and talking with Abraham, it definitely made me think about my dad and it made me miss him a lot. I also learned that people there never say thank you when someone gives them an alcoholic drink. From what I understood, they don’t say thank you because drinking is a sin, so it really makes no sense to thank someone who is helping you do something bad… Very interesting. Anyway, we weren’t able to go to any bars because there was no car that could take us, but I was very happy just staying at home and talking with people. I also had a very nice chat with Julie, I told her I was planning on staying in Cape Town until later in June, and she actually offered to let me stay in her house. After knowing this woman for only 24 hours, I was surprised how open and welcoming she had been. It was so kind of her. The one reason I don’t think I will stay there is because it is honestly so far away from everything else, I just feel like I would be kind of stuck there unless I had a car. By 1am I was very tired from the drinking and all of the food that I ended up going to sleep, although some people were still hanging out.
Prepping the veggies
Abraham cooking..
The first addition of the vegetables - carrots and cabbage
Still more vegetables added in...
The final product!!
The next morning we got up, ate breakfast, then walked to the main road. That day there was a bike race (supposedly the largest in the world) which began and ended in Cape Town, but they also road right through Ocean View. There were a lot of people camping out on the side of the road grilling food and cheering on the bikers as they passed. I also heard that Matt Damon did this last year? Pretty jealous. Anyway we ended up just hanging out around there for some time and watching bikers pass. It was pretty funny because some bikers were wearing costumes like the Borat unitard thing and cow outfits. Also there were some people on tandem bikes and some on unicycles. After watching the race for a while we ended up going back to the house where Julie had been preparing lunch for the five of us (my host mom, two sisters, Ashleigh and I). She made beef, chicken, bean salad, coleslaw and potato salad – SO much food and it was so amazing! Julie also gave us tubberwear so we could take some of the leftovers home :) We then ended up going back to watch the race for a little bit and just hung out. Soon enough the day was over and my family walked us back to the high school, where the busses were waiting to take us back to Rondebosch. Ashleigh, Phil, Eric and I have all been invited to go back to Ocean View for Jade’s 21st birthday party on April 9th. I think we are all definitely planning on going. It was so kind of this family to take us in and treat us as their own. It was overall an amazing experience and so interesting to see first hand what life outside of the Rondebosch bubble that I live in is really like. I cannot wait to go back and visit my family again.
The bike race
The cows in the race.. how random yet hilarous!?
This is everyone plus their good friend on the left, I forget his name... I am so awful with names it's embarrassing. Then left to right: Adrienne, Ashleigh, Jade, me and Julie!
