I say Sawbona, you say Yebo. I say Kunjani, you say Ngohna (sp?) These are some of the greetings that I picked up in South Africa. After being approached in the street so many times with these greetings, I felt bad whenever I replied with a good old American hello?! It always confused people who thought, at first glance, that I was South African. So, my co-workers have been teaching me basic Zulu. In addition, I have a Zulu name…Ntombenthle (I can say it for you when I get back to the U.S.) but the name means “pretty lady,” and the shortened version is Ntombi….I like it.
For those of you who are not familiar with South Africa, the country is broken up into nine provinces. Johannesburg is the capital/major city of the Gauteng (pronounced Hauteng) province, while another famous city in South Africa, Cape Town, is the capital of the Western Cape Province. As you can tell, I am still having fun in Johannesburg. I am doing the best that I can on my internship, gaining information about my surroundings, and engaging the community any way that I can.
I finished my major project with the commercial service on Monday. I had to organize a half-day seminar with two representatives from the U.S. Export- Import Bank doing a tour of Africa. I also had to coordinate their one-on-one meetings with several South African banks and businesses. This project went well as I was able to garner 25 paying clients for the seminar, exceeding my bosses’ expectations. Now, I am starting to branch out, and focus on writing a Market Research proposal on the franchising industry in South Africa.
Two anecdotes that I would like to tell you about before I close this letter. On my way to the Bruma African flea market, I passed through downtown Johannesburg. I live in Sandton, Johannesburg, which are suburbs that are I believe to the north of Johannesburg proper, so it was really shocking for me to see such a stark difference between the glam of Sandton and the poverty in downtown Joburg. It was a rude wake-up call, which reminded me that I live in a bubble….the Sandton bubble, and that the economic disparity and inequalities between the rich and the poor in South Africa are very real. It is so easy to be separated from the reality of the South African paradox. Rich and full of opportunity in some cases, and also a country still battling to control poverty…Doesn’t that sound familiar?
The second is more light-hearted. Last weekend, I had the opportunity to talk to South African graduate students on their way to the States for their Masters degrees. I talked to them about academic life in the United States, the social life on a campus, and about race relations in the U.S. I luckily had the State Department intern, Courtney Stokes, with me to help explain complex racial and social issues in two hours for South African students. There were three students going to NYU, so I was able to tell them about metrocards, the non-existent NYU “campus” and my beloved Brooklyn. I am so excited for them to go.
All in all, I am still very happy to be here. My weekends are filling up with a trip planned to Cape Town, Mozambique, the apartheid museum, and the Cradle of Humankind…. I have included some pics of SA. I hope you enjoy.
PS – Here is a list of my most recent activities:
• Going to Pretoria to visit the U.S. Embassy and US Agency for International Development…making connections!
• Going to Mangwanani (it means Good Morning in Shona) Day Spa, I had a fabulous time getting the foot, hand, back, neck, shoulders, head, legs, arms massage, and a full body scrub + breakfast, lunch, and snack!
• Going to a Fashion Show for Arise! African Fashion Week
• Going to a club in Joburg and learning about/dancing to Kwaito music. The only thing I can truly equate it to is House music in the States.
• Going to Chinatown, Joburg, South Africa
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