I am in South Africa during the 2010 World Cup, and as such, I have to experience what a south african world cup should feel like, so for the opening ceremonies, we went to Mbali, one of the townships, for what is called a “Fan Park” They set up a Big Screen and a stage in a soccer field at the local college, and have live music and stuff when the game isn't being shown, everyone dresses up in the south african colours and wears flags and stuff and playing their vuvuzelas (the plastic horns that annoy you when you watch the soccer game).
The whole game was one big party, everyone was hanging out having fun, then Bafana Bafana (the name of the african team) scored a goal, and everyone went crazy! Everyone was jumping up and down screaming, blowing their vuvuzelas, and hugging for like 5 minutes.
It was a good game, and even though we didn`t win, we still tied, which is a moral victory when bafana is playing mexico.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Connie's Kitchen
My one of my favourite Zulu foods are fat cakes, which is a deep fried ball of dough that you eat with processed cheese and polony. The best place to get them in maritzburg is a small whole in the wall restaurant called Connie's Kitchen. It is a popular hang out place in maritzburg with pool and a tv to watch the soccer games, and is always noisy.
After hearing about this place for months, I wanted to check it out, so when a friend of mine was going there, I tagged along. I should say point out here that everyone at Connie's Kitchen is black, and a big white guy walking into the restaurant with a small black girl is awfully peculiar. We got there, and as we entered the restaurant everyone suddenly went silent. We walked up to the counter and ordered 2 combos, the girl behind the counter asked me if I was having one of them, when my friend said yes, the last table still making noise, suddenly went silent. We paid for our food then left, as we exited the door, the buzz of activity suddenly returned.
This experience taught me what it is like being the minority in a situation, which is something that I have never truly understood before (I'm male, white, north american, etc). It felt really weird and awkward, strange, but it was still kind of funny.
Oh, a week or two later a friend of mine told me that when he went in there a couple days after my visit, they told him about the white guy that had been there earlier. It's nice to know that I am known.
After hearing about this place for months, I wanted to check it out, so when a friend of mine was going there, I tagged along. I should say point out here that everyone at Connie's Kitchen is black, and a big white guy walking into the restaurant with a small black girl is awfully peculiar. We got there, and as we entered the restaurant everyone suddenly went silent. We walked up to the counter and ordered 2 combos, the girl behind the counter asked me if I was having one of them, when my friend said yes, the last table still making noise, suddenly went silent. We paid for our food then left, as we exited the door, the buzz of activity suddenly returned.
This experience taught me what it is like being the minority in a situation, which is something that I have never truly understood before (I'm male, white, north american, etc). It felt really weird and awkward, strange, but it was still kind of funny.
Oh, a week or two later a friend of mine told me that when he went in there a couple days after my visit, they told him about the white guy that had been there earlier. It's nice to know that I am known.
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