Jo'burg

(by Chrissie...)

After such an amazing week in Cape Town, we must admit we were a little nervous about our next adventure in Johannesburg. We didn't have anyone meeting us, and were going to be on our own for the first time. We had all heard rumors about the dangerous big city, and tourists being easy targets for crooks and scammers. But... We had no need to worry! We had arranged to stay at Mama Lolo's Guesthouse in Soweto (SouthWestTownship), and her son, SonnyBoy, was to pick us up at the airport. No sooner had we arrived at the Guesthouse, than Mama Lolo put us back in the car and whisked us away to a wedding! (If you know our beloved Mom Wilson, you will have an inkling of Mama Lolo's personality. She loves you, and you don't tell her no.) We were treated like VIPs at the wedding, and Chris and Ernie both made toasts to the bride and groom. We ate some traditional African food, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We just kept looking at each other and giggling.

The next day, Sunday, we arranged for transportation to Uniting Presbyterian Church, in the nearby township of Alexandra. The pastor, Dr. Maake Masango, is friends with our own Pastor Harvey in Seattle, and Aisha had visited his church before. Aisha had contacted Dr. Masango in advance, but we hadn't heard from him definitively, so we didn't even know if they knew we were coming. Again, why do we worry?!? We were welcomed with open arms, and it turned out they had rearranged the service in our honor. They celebrated Confirmation, with 10 teenagers affirming their faiths, and baptized a teenager and a baby. Dr. Masango conducts the service in three languages simultaneously (english, sotho, and xhosa). We sang so many songs, all accompanied by a choir, and a hand drum. The program was typed out, so it was fun to try to sing along in other languages. Then we were hauled up front, we all gave greetings from home and introduced ourselves, and we were given African names. What an honor! Here they are:

Ernie: Maake (warrior; the pastor's own name!)

Katrina: Lesedi (light)

Aisha: Mpho (gift)

Chris: Katlego (success)

Chrissie: Thando (love)

Andy: Thabo (happy; the name of the current president of SA)

Matt: Kgosi (king!)

For the balance of the week, SonnyBoy took us on an insider's tour of Soweto, and we spent half a day at the Apartheid Museum. Andrew's summary of Apartheid: It's a cross between American slavery, and the Holocaust. I think he's got the picture! To round out our adventures, we also visited Gold Reef City casino, and gambled away about 40 Rand ($6). The boys spent about the same in the video arcade. We also enjoyed ourselves at the casino buffet, ironically called Boston Bbq.

And finally, we had saved our last day in Jo'burg for shopping and recuperating from the above. We had made a call to Anthony Morgan, who is the great-nephew of Mom Wilson back home, earlier in the week. She had given us his number, and "told" us to call him. Like we said, you don't tell Mom no. To make a long story short (shorter?), Anthony is the producer of the South Africa Lion King show. He got us tickets to Wednesday's matinee, and then took us backstage to meet the cast. The show is licensed through Disney, so the set and costumes are the same as the Broadway show. But the cast is all South African, and the script is tweaked to give it a SA flavor. We LOVED it. Anthony put the boys on the aisle, and they were treated to a giant elephant entering the show at the beginning, and Matt was scared out of his pants when a hyena rubbed up against him a while later. Thank you, Anthony! And thank you, Mom W.! After the show, we went to dinner with Anthony. It was great to get the perspective of an African American who has lived in SA on and off for 10 years. He's marrying a local girl in a few weeks, so it looks like he's staying for good!

Thursday morning, we said goodbye to the Cathcarts. We all rode together to the airport at 6am, and we left for Tanzania, while they waited most of the day for their 6pm flight home. Yikes! It was such a blessing to spend these last two weeks with them. They brought us a little feeling of home (and cards from the kids' friends!). South Africa is such an amazing country, full of so many contrasts, that it was great to debrief with them at the end of the day, and have them to share the experience with. Hopefully they feel the same way, after two weeks of very close togetherness! We look forward to traveling other places with them in the future.