Jozi Escapades: Part Two

This post follows very quickly on the heels of the last one because I was lazy last week and didn’t plan well enough to have a few days space between them. I am also off right now to the Eastern Cape (posts and hopefully a video to follow) and there will be no internet – so you get a double dose of Steph now, aren’t you lucky?

As with Part One, I am going to continue with the made-famous-by-buzzfeed list format.

1 (OH or 4 – depending on how you look at it, much like the Star Wars films – AND THE RELEASE IS SO SOON)) Friday Night Bike Fest

As I have previously mentioned, this side of my family is insanely sporty and tall. Where was I when God was handing out these things? Probably listening to the Wicked soundtrack and not paying attention. So when Mark suggests that I go on this night bike ride with him and Andrew, my first response is nope. Nope. Absolutely not. That sounds like something that will end with my legs falling off my body. However, Mark assured me that this was a community cycle – not a bike race – around Joburg and would be a really cool, unique way to see the city. After some persuasion, I conceded.

Friday night came, I put on my trainers/sneakers/takkies* and went to help Mark fill up water bottles, pump tires, all bike-y things one does when getting ready to use a bike. But these bikes did not have proper pedals. Then Mark is handing me Kate’s biking cleats, looking expectant, “You’ve used bike cleats before right?” Um. No. Do I look like someone who has? Didn’t think so. After a lot of wobbling while Mark held the bike, I managed to click the cleats into place and did a few laps round the garage. It was all good.

Andrew, Mark, and I cycled off to the starting point of the cycle ride (about 4km away). We arrived in plenty of time. It was such a strange sight. We met in Braamfontein (which is kind of like downtown Joburg) at 7:15pm on a Friday so the pubs and bars were filling up. The street was a mix of people dressed in going-out clothes and cocktail dresses, and then sweaty bikers in spandex. Obligatory photo of me and Andrew at the start:

The bike ride was indeed super chill. The hardest part was probably the hill we tackled getting to the cycle ride from our house. We biked all around Joburg, our path lit by a full moon, ticking off all the poor drivers who had to wait as we cycled across their path. There must’ve been 500-600 people cycling, it was amazing and had an awesome feeling of community about it. The ride ended at what I think everyone was referring to as “The Sheds” – a night market of food stalls. I had the most delicious wrap and then cycled home. A very special experience indeed.

Oh! It also turns out I really like biking with cleats and when you click in to the pedals. It’s super fun – and I didn’t fall over.

2/5) The Empire Strikes Back…just kidding. Weekends at Markets

This past weekend was spent visiting may markets (well two but still). On Saturday, I went to Neighbourgoods – a food market wit many food stalls – lunch was delicious. There were burgers, the wrap guy from the Sheds on the bike ride, samosas, curry, salad, fudge, smoothies, juice, candied apples (with a display that was also called unicorn poop…), gourmet sandwiches. The area was really cool – there was a lot of live music and a few stands selling clothes and jewelry as well.

On Sunday, James arrived!!! Hooray. I am not the lone Abbott-Grobicki in Joburg anymore. James left France on Saturday and we picked him up in a timely manner around lunchtime. He was pretty beat so Mark and I dropped him off at the house and went to Rosebank – a shopping centre that has a market on a Saturday. There were a few food stalls but it was a lot of wood work, beaded jewelry, and clothes. It was a really interesting market to walk around – unfortunately, my experience was somewhat tampered as the live music this time involved some white guy in a vest with a guitar doing Ed Sheeran covers. Not Idea.

3/6) The Apartheid Museum

What an experience. This Museum is relatively new and quite brilliantly done. When you first arrive, the back of your ticket designates you as “white” or “non-white”. There are then two entrances according to this classification. I went through the “non-white” door as my ticket instructed**. It is quite something to be arbitrarily handed a bit of paper that is going to affect your experience in some way. I suppose this is what they are going for. You then walk through a tunnel full of the signs that used to be put up. E.g. Women’s Toilets – Whites only. Taxi Stand – Whites only. Railway – Non-Whites Only. It’s quite terrifying.

The museum then jumps back in time and gives a small overview of South African history from the San to the Xhosa and Zulu and then to the Afrikaner great trek and the Boer War (or “Great South African War” – is the new PC term I think). The Museum then does what a museum should do and explains DF Malan’s ascent to power (the guy who instigated Apartheid) and takes you right through to the first election in 1994 where everyone could vote and Nelson Mandela was elected.

"To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others" - Nelson Mandela

The Museum was a very emotional experience. It’s hard learning more about this history. I took a class in College so I knew a bit about it, but I am always trying to deepen my understanding of what happened and this definitely contributed to that. There are so many books I want to read now!

I want to write more about this topic – but it may have to wait for a time when I can reflect back on it fully.

So there you have it – my week in joburg! It is 5am on a Tuesday and we are all about to jump on a plane to the Eastern Cape. Hopefully I will have adventures to relay when I get back. xx

*This is an accommodating, safe space for all dialects as I have also previously mentioned.

**I have thoughts about what this was like – but again, I do not feel like this is the time to express them in full – so if you have more questions – please ask!