Friday, 1.3.19

When I woke up in the morning, I was a little surprised to see a black woman in our kitchen. It was Monica, the cleaning lady. It is normal here for every family to have one or two black employees at home to do the household and gardening chores. The white people offer the poor black people a job, but it is the dirty work they have to do. I am still somewhat torn about whether I think this is good. Monica cleaned the apartment spotlessly and crawled into every corner! She was cleaning from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. in the afternoon. I went to the city around noon and walked along the beach again, it was wonderful! Along the way, you can see many different flowers and birds. The way to the city is very, very steep and I am completely sweaty every time I reach the top. My daily workout here. After a few cozy hours in the city, I went to the beach again. Unfortunately, it was very cloudy when I arrived and it was quite windy. So it was rather cold and I went back home rather quickly. In the evening, Paul, Steph, and I went to Paul's sister Riana's house to feed the cats, as she was away for the weekend. To get to Riana's house, you have to drive on gravel roads with huge potholes, dirt roads, and through the woods. Riana actually lives in a small cottage in the middle of the forest. A beautiful house with a very special living atmosphere. The cats, Socks and Lea, were doing very well! They are incredibly trusting and you can carry them around in all kinds of ways. On the way home, we drove through the township, Kwanokuthula, where one of the Masizame children's homes is located. It was quite shocking to see how people live there. Very, very small houses made of corrugated iron, which don't look very stable. The people on the street also looked poor and a bit frightening... and I don't mean that in a racist way at all! Even the locals here say that it is still somewhat dangerous in this township.
After dinner, I went out in town for the first time. First, I went to the bar "Zanzibar". Jason is the manager at this bar and could take care of me a bit that evening, as I didn't know anyone else. Jason is 23 years old and comes from Plett. I know him from Sarah and Rouven. In Zanzibar, I played a little billiards with Jason and got to know more and more people. Unfortunately, no volunteers, just locals. But better than nothing! At the bar, I ordered a beer and since I didn't know the difference between the different beers, I just ordered the first one. The beer was called "Black Label". As I later found out, it lives up to its name... because normally only black people drink this beer :’D. Oops... but it was delicious! We then went on to another bar/club called Flashback. At 2 a.m., all bars here close and people either go home or go to the beach. However, I had to go home. It is a rule of Paul and Steph that you have to be home by 2 a.m., as apparently it becomes too dangerous after that. Paul kindly picked me up and took me home.