Hillbrow homie

Homes! So...first weekend down and out! Friday evening after dinner with some colleagues I headed to my new apartment (see above). The place is really nice and light and I've started to make it feel like my own. After unpacking my bags I sat down to watch Prince Caspian (C.S Lewis film). Saturday morning I headed down the shops that are in the artificial 'village' I'm living in. It's really nice to be able to walk around, as elsewhere this is not possible. After a quick breakfast I went to the huge mall near the office where I met some colleagues for lunch. Then in the afternoon I drenched myself in sport. Firstly with the French Open (goodbye Djokovic), then the first Lions match, then the Super 14 final (which the SA team won, which meant parties ALL night in Jo'Burg), and then finally back to the French Open where my man RF took it to the last 16.

In between sporting fixtures I made it out for a coffee and also hit the gym for a bit of a swim, and I met a guy called Kim, and sang a rhyme to him (no I didn't, that's a lie). I just did the swimming part, it was nice, and warm...unlike the pool in my apartment which is CHUFFING cold.

Today I got up early and drove to the office to meet colleagues. A local colleague took me and my Belgian colleague to Soweto, a poor township built for the blacks in the 60s, where riots that broke out in 1976 were fundamental to the change in race laws in this country. The apartheid museum was very moving, the above two photos from original signage used in Jo'burg give an idea of how brutal things once were here.

After the museum I asked our local colleague if it would be safe for us to drive back through an area called Hillbrow. If you haven't seen the Louis Theroux documentary on Johannesburg then I highly recommend it. He focusses much of the TV show on an area of Jo'burg called Hillbrow, which is the centre for crime, corruption, drugs and danger. As we drove in, doors locked with U2 playing softly on the car stereo to calm our (my) nerves, you could see almost every crook, crim and crackwhore looking bemused at the new Ford Focus with the little white boys face behind the wheel. It was certainly an experience and is just how Theroux presents it, smashed windows everywhere and lots of poverty. A very sad place indeed. If Jesus were here today then I reckon Hillbrow would be on his list of places to visit. I am glad to have seen it early on in my time here.

So now I'm back at the apartment watching Nadal have a slightly rough ride against Soderling. It's 1 set all and Nadal won his on a tie break. This evening I'm going to pop out for a stroll before some boiled eggs and soldiers for my sups. 

Keep keeping it real. Represent. x