Rent-a-wrecks and AJCs

All's well in Johannesburg. Steph left for Cape Town, which is sad, but life goes on. Today Tina and I went to Nkosi's Haven in Hillbrow, this group home for HIV-positive women and their children, as well as orphans of HIV positive women. We "volunteered" to use the word as loosely as I've been using the word "research." Basically, we played with adorable children. Tina set a no-camera rule, which I followed and she very much didn't, so we do have pictures of cute African children. We picked out the AJCs, Angelina Jolie Children- a word I just coined, to mean the most adorable child in a group of underprivileged children. Basically, the ones Angelina would have taken from the bunch. We accompanied the mothers and children to a church program, where I had a sleeping child on my lap which was a good way to get out of professing my love to Jesus. The kids were adorable and volunteering here wasn't very different than any place I'd been to in the States. I'm just always struck in these environments how differently these kids grew up then I did- with lots of other children around, but not so much individual attention. I always wonder how they will be when they are older.

In other news, we are on our THIRD, count 'em third, rental car in 5 days. Granted we rented from a company called Rent-a-wreck (since we needed an automatic car, which is quite rare anywhere not in the U.S.) so a normal rental car would have been way expensive. But the first car had engine troubles, the second didn't accelerate, and now there's this one which is adequate. And I really hate driving/getting lost which happens all the time here. Someone told me J'burg reminds them of L.A. the way it is a drving city which I hate.

Last night, after having a lovely dinner with Tina's Cameroonian friends who goes to Wits and his nice friends and relations, Tina and I went out (with friends we met at a Jolly Rogers, a local bar! who we promptly ditched when we got to the club since one of the guys was the most boring person EVER! we're bad people!) and then got lost on the way there AND the way home. le sigh. The club itself, Manhattan, was pretty ok, though I counted THREE non-service people black people. I'm so conscious of race here, I'm going to keep counting when I get back to the states.

Also annoying about driving in J'burg? You have to pay car guards, unpaid people who "watch" your car. Occasionaly they are helpful, but sometimes they are worthless. Yet I feel bad, sicne there are so many poor people here and I'm so rich. People I d0n't feel bad for? All the people who try to get bribes. I forgot to get my ticket stamped after an interview and a guy tried to get me to pay 25 rands ($3.50) instead of the usual 7 rands. I said no.

What else? Steph and I did a tour of Soweto, which is a booming former township where Nelson Mandela once lived and Desmond Tutu and Winnie Mandela still do. It was interesting, and we had a great lunch, though I was very uncomfortable with the whole part which is "look at the poor people like it's a zoo." Not uncomfortable with it? The bratty British family who was part of the tour. The daughter reminded me of that girl from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. After the tour me and thsi French woman I met walked around down town and went to the Johannesburg Art Gallery (pretty good) and the African Museum (pretty bad). Coincidentally, this woman who's 26 and went to Stanford was staying with her friend in Joburg who's from Briarcliff Manor (the town next-door to Ossining). I didn't know him, he went to Hackley (which means he shoudl have gone to Ossining schools, prob), but small world.