Where?

After reading a letter, I realized that I’ve mentioned that I live in a village and go to town, but never really explained what that means. Here’s the low-down on place names in South Africa:

TOWN - a city or any place that has a grocery store. Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, and Durban are the largest. Pretoria (where Peace Corps office and most embassies are located) is about six hours away. There, it’s easy to forget that you’re in Africa with the bars, restaurants, and the largest mall in the southern hemisphere. Lephalale (formally Ellisras although both names are used) is about 45 minutes away. There, I can do grocery shopping, get pictures developed, go to Clicks (think Walgreens), eat ice cream or macaroni and cheese, go to a one-screen movie theater, buy clothes at Pep (cheap) or Mr. Price (like Old Navy), buy books at CNA, or go the post office. There really isn’t an American equivalent to Lephalale. It’s the only place to buy groceries in a 100 km radius and other than the list I made above there are some bars and a ‘One Price’ stores (which sell random cheap things). There aren’t houses close to the stores and fewer people live in Lephalale than in any of my villages. Very first world, Peace Corps NGOs live in towns (some even in Durban!)

TOWNSHIP - kinda like a black suburb. During Apartheid, blacks were not allowed to be inside the towns at night and instead made their homes here. Soweto is the largest, outside of Johannesburg, and has a history of student and political demonstrations/riots. District 6 in Cape Town was a township completely emptied of its inhabitants during Apartheid and the current government is trying to repopulate the area. The options for shopping and thing to do are much fewer than in town, lots of shebeens (unlicensed bars) and shops selling mealie meal, bread, cold drink (soda), cell phone minutes, soap, and occasional fruits and vegetables. Usually, there are street vendors with a wider variety of fruits and vegetables, simba (chips), and sweets. Over the past ten years, there has been a rise of white-only suburbs outside of major cities (white flight, crime rates are high in cities and townships). They vary from Beverly Hills-esqe (where the diplomats live outside of Pretoria) to shanty towns and everything in-between. I’m not quite sure if the shanty towns are included in the township description or not, but they occur in the same locations. Most townships are nice places to live. In general, townships aren’t safe for white people although several Peace Corps NGOs live in townships.

LOCATION - a lot like a township except not outside a town. A place where black people were allowed to live, usually out in the middle of nowhere where no Afrikaners wanted the land. There aren’t townships outside of Lephalale (it’s too small) but there are several locations about 10 km outside of town. Similar shopping/things to do as townships. Pretty third world, Peace Corps NGO and education live here.

VILLAGE - this is where I live! Shongoane 3 (formally Ga-Monyeki) is laid out like any suburb would be; organized streets, houses on plots all about the same size, people greet each other in the streets, buses and taxis pick up along the two main roads, but there are some major differences. Shongoane 3 has about 20,000 people. There are four shops (like I described for the townships except none of them sell cell phone minutes for some reason), many homes double as shebeens (nothing like a drunken serenade at night and being woken up with one in the morning), and none of the roads are paved (making travel treacherous after heavy rain). There is one primary school and one high school. There’s a mechanic’s shop. Tons of goats, donkeys, and chickens wander the streets with occasional cows, turkeys, dogs, and pigeons. Even the taxis are run-down, imagine a 16-passenger van with doors that can only be opened from the outside (the handles stopped working), most seats lost the vinyl covering, and some are hot-wired. Truthfully, I’ve listed everything that there is in Ga-Monyeki. There aren’t many places to work here! Many people have jobs in Johannesburg and come home to their wives and children a few times a year. Other villages have much more to offer. Moletji was closer to a larger town, had street vendors, tow post offices, six primary schools, and a community center. Many community members had jobs either in the closest town or in the village. Shongoane 1 (formally Setateng) has internet (yay!), a post office, many more stores, a few clothes shops, and petrol. I go there whenever I want to use the internet. Homes in the villages can vary from running hot water and all the amenities to a two-room, no electricity, and concrete-brick building. But, people seem so happy in the villages and sometimes it's idylic. . . yesterday children were playing soccer in the street and I overheard my neighbor singing while in her pit toilet. Good times. Most Peace Corps Education live in villages, with a few NGOs living in villages as well.

FARMS - usually an Afrikaaner-owned tract of land employing people from the local villages, Mozambique, Botswana, or Zimbabwe. Farms grow tobacco, mealies, corn, watermelon, cabbage, and butternut in my area. There are also beef and game farms, along with a couple of tourist lodges. Some farms are large enough to have their own schools. I am only speaking about the farms in my area! First-world for the owners. . .

I almost forgot! The only thing as popular (and occuring as frequently) as shebeens are churches! All over towns, townships, locations, and villages. People are very accepting of Christian religions.