swazi and south africa

Swaziland
After tough days in Jo’burg we headed through Swaziland, one of the 2 little countries “in” South Africa. Swaziland is run by a king, who has many wives. Every year (in late august) there is a reed dance where many virgin (young) women dance and parade in front of the king, before he picks his next wife. That’s about all most people know Swaziland for, but they are missing out on the wonderful parts…a very relaxed lifestyle, much less racial tension, beautiful hills/mountains, cool crisp, fresh air and wonderful, friendly, helpful people. Yes, Swazi has a ridiculously high HIV/AIDS rate and other similar problems, but it’s still an awesome place for some R&R and a change from the tense air in SA. We spent 2 days there just hiking, swimming in mineral pools and having BBQ’s. I met Chantel, a Canadian, at the hostel we were staying at and then met up again with her in Cape Town.

South Africa
On Wednesday, August 15 we arrived in Johannesburg, affectionately known as “the worst of SA (South Africa).” We went straight to our hostel and set up camp, before the extreme cold wind gust of winter (“near” Antarctica) hit us and we froze ourselves to sleep—no heat, just a blanket and mine had holes.
I had a very hard time in South Africa, similar to some of what I felt in Rwanda. Both places are countries that are just beginning to clean up after huge ethnic/racial divisions that only “ended” 14 years ago. I felt this a lot walking/driving around Jo’burg; you see white people driving their huge, fancy cars and non-white (black, colored) people walking and riding public transport. The division is so apparent; white people live in the suburbs in huge, extremely guarded/gated houses and everyone else lives in metal boxes/tin shacks with no running water or electricity. Every restaurant/business (that I observed) is owned by white people, and then black/colored people work there. For me, it was very hard to deal with this and see it. I was left feeling guilty for being white (although not South African) and didn’t feel comfortable. On a personal level, people from all “groups” were friendly, welcoming and helpful and I had interesting conversations with all different people, but as an outsider/observer I felt personally guilty for what white people (Dutch and English) have done. These feelings were only reinforced by visits to Constitution Hall and the prisons where black and colored people (think: Nelson Mandela) were imprisoned during apartheid. The conditions of the prisons and the information and stories in the museum are despicable. The “food” they were served, the treatment, the living conditions…I could go on for pages about what they were like. The next day we went to the apartheid museum, which also reinforced my disgust for white supremacy and racism.