The Night

It has gotten better today. I went out on a little adventure with a few of my friends from Rutgers. We went over the mall across town at around 4pm. Taking a combi (comb-BEE), which is basically a 12 passenger van that acts like a bus, from our local shopping center to a transfer station, techno music thudded in our ears. At the transfer station, there were lots of people and lots of combis. We finally found the right one to get us to the mall and paid our fare. Once at the mall, we walked around for a bit, noticing how peaceful it was to browse without flashing lights, bright colors, and large fonts glaring at you from every direction. I even got to see those "cute" couples who walk around the mall hand-in-hand who were probably in their freshman year of high school. Ah yes, the familiarity of home.

South Africa has a lot of those moments. Moments that are distinctly South African but have obvious Americanizations. This occurs when you go to the grocery store, walk down a particular path in the middle of school, or when you attend a nice restaurant. It is really quite interesting.

Then - it was night.

Oh yes.

Night.

We took the combi back to the transfer station. And...as we were driving...it was a different city. Trash covered the streets. People were lined up outside soup kitchens that I didn't remember seeing before. There were barrels of fire on every block. Mattresses were lined up on the pavement. The sun had just set and there was just an extraordinary difference in a matter of minutes. The three Rutgers kids I was with were obviously American if you looked hard but they are African-American. They can blend for a few golden moments. Me, on the other hand, am quite white. And tall. Suffice to say, I was pretty on edge. We formed a small ball and walked confidently with a purpose. Did we know where we had to catch the next combi? Hmmmm...

Well, we found a nice looking lady who pointed us in the direction of our desired combi. We got in, paid our 4 rand (about 75 cents) and left. It was about a half hour after sunset but wow, what a change.

So...the lesson of the day is to plan for an early departure. Find good directions and walk confidently. I'm not going to chance the city night for a while.