Heritage Day - September 24th

September 24 is Heritage Day in South Africa, where people are supposed to remember their heritage. There was no school, because it's a national holiday, so a few friends and I decided to do something fun and cultural.
I looked on the internet and found a lot of ideas on capetownmagazine.com. The plan was to catch the train to Capetown, get a camera for Brittney, go to a photography exhibit at Joao Ferreira Gallery, shop a bit, go see some poetry at the African Center, and then be back on the train to Stellenbosch by 5:30p. WE DID NOT STICK TO THIS PLAN! hahaha.

We went to catch the train, but apparently the train schedule is different on holidays, and it had already left. So, we had to call a cab to take us to Capetown. While we waited, we stayed in Stellenbosch and ate a some KFC. The cab that came to pick us up was a nice, clean van driven by an Afrikaner, young woman. She was really nice, and we really made her laugh with our ridiculous conversations. She took us to the Waterfront Mall, in order for Brittney to buy a camera. For us to go to Capetown and back to Stellenbosch was 480Rand... that's about $70. Split 3-ways, that's not a lot of money, but when you're broke, like I am, it is. The CRAZIEST part is, she told us to wait until she picked us up later to pay her!!! I have never been trusted like that in my life! We could have easily not called her to pick us up, took another way back home, and saved 240Rand. We decided to do the right thing though, since she trusted us so much, and because we are trying to be good!

By the time we found Brittney a new camera (a really nice, hot pink, touch-screen camera), it was around 2 oclock. We didn't have enough time to go to the photography exhibit, because the poetry thing started at three. So, we made our way outside to catch a local cab. Cabs in South Africa are confusing! There are cabs like the ones I am used to seeing, then there are rusty, old vans, and then there are nice vans, and then there are really nice, expensive looking regular cabs. We decided to take an old, rusty van, because it would be cheaper. We got into the van, and we told them where we wanted to go. There were people already on there, so they dropped them off. And, then they proceeded to tell us that if we want to go directly to the poetry thing, we have to pay like 60Rand or something OR we could just pay 1 rand and they could drop us off as close as they were willing to get. We were just like "UM.. NO!" So, we only paid the 1Rand.

Me, Cassie, and Brittney sitting in the back of the taxi.

These fools drove to some business, took a cigarette break, and waited for the women who were getting off work to catch a ride. Meanwhile, we sitting around looking, thinking that were were about to be late for the poetry tour. It was ridiculous. After they had just about filled the van to full capacity, they told us to get out. Cassie and Brittney were put in the front seat, and I had to sit closer to the door so that they could drop us off first. They had packed the van up so much that while Cassie and Brittney got to be cozy with each other, I had to litterally share my seat with one of the guys who drove the van. He kept moving and hitting me with his elbows, because he was trying to collect money from the women behind us. Also, he smelled like cigarettes and pee pee. I felt a little confused and abused. Hahaha.


They took us to Long Street, and we walked the rest of the way to the African Center. We arrived just in time. The event we went to was called the Badilisha African Poetry X-Change. What they did was take us around to different rooms and perform different poetry that related to Heritage Day. It was really cool and so interesting. I am really happy we went. The poets were all different and had interesting things to say.

Winslow performing his poetry.

At first, I was a little niave. Heritage Day sounded like a good idea to me, but then after listening to a few poets, I realized that it's like Black History Month, except they only get ONE DAY to remember their heritage. What are they supposed to be remembering all the other days? Apartheid? Apparently, all the other days of the year, they are being told to forget their past and are being forcecd to fit into Western ideals of beauty, education, religion, etc. That's kind of messed up.

The poetry was really deep, and it was so good. Even when some of the words were in Xhosa or Afrikaans, we could still find meaning in the way they spoke and their actions. There was even a musician at the end who sung a few songs and had us singing along too. Afterwards, we networked. We met some interesting people. One girl was actually from America and working at a school outside of Capetown. It was nice to hear her New York accent. One older woman had a dignified look about her that let me know she was rich. She said she had visited America many times and that her son was about to marry an American girl. We also met Winslow, who invited us along to another poetry session and party at a near-by club. We didn't think we could go, but once the older lady found out that we were from Stellenbosch, she offered us not only her favorite driver's number but also she offered to let us STAY IN HER GUEST HOUSE IF WE GOT STUCK IN CAPETOWN! That's twice, we were trusted by strangers..! crazy.
We decided that we might as well stay in Capetown a little longer and go to the poetry session, called Verses. We called the taxi-girl from earlier, and she agreed to pick us up later.
The only thing that was standing in the way of us and more poetry was OUR CLOTHES! I looked a little too casual to be going to a bar/party, and the other girls wanted to get dolled-up too. So we decided to catch another cab back to the mall and buy outfits for the night. This time, we passed on the raggedy van and got a nicer cab. I tried to keep it cheap. I bought a shirt-dress at Woolworths (it's kind of like Target) and some black tights and black flats from Edgar's (which is like Goodys). I still ended up completely broke by the end of the night.

After changing clothes in the mall bathroom and eating at Subway (We found a Subway! It tasted just like it does at home.), we caught another nice cab to the Zula Bar to expierence Verses. Verses is like an open-mic poetry night; anyone that wants to come up and do some poetry can. Winslow was the host! This poetry was just as good as the poetry at the African Center. Even a few rappers and singers came on stage and performed. They were all so talented. I didn't get any pictures or video, because my camera had died. At the end, there was a live band that performed. The music was really good, but by that time, I was so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open. Every song that they did sounded like "rock-a-bye-baby" in my head. While other people were jamming, I had my head in my lap. I WAS THAT TIRED!!
After the band was done, the party started. They played some pretty good rap music. A lot of it was old, but some of it was new. I danced a little bit, but the party really wasn't "poppin'." I think Cassie and Brittney were tired too. So, we said "Goodbye" to Winslow, called our cab from Stellenbosch, and left Capetown around midnight. We paid her her money (except I didn't have any more cash so Brittney had to spot me.. .I KNOW I STILL OWE YOU THAT MONEY GIRL. I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN!!!! )

Althought we didn't stick to our schedule, I had a great day in Capetown. It was so much fun, and even when it's raining, the city is still beautiful.