Jozi

view from my new living room!

Pump the brakes… we aren’t in Kenya anymore! 

Last Thursday I boarded a brand-spanking-new Boeing 787 Dreamliner and had a very comfortable 4.5 hour flight all the way down to South Africa.  The head offices for my HO are here, and I will be spending a month working here and learning the ins and outs of the organization from a different perspective.  Since schools are on holiday until January, it is the perfect time for me to be here. 

I am living in Kensington, which is pretty close to the heart of the city, on Benbow street.  Nearby streets in the neighborhood include Spanker, Ferret, and Hero Streets.  This is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Joburg, and there are a lot of really old houses and narrow streets.  It is also a big immigrant neighborhood, so the area is really diverse.  It is a really cute neighborhood that is very accessible and adjacent to a main road.  Unlike Nairobi, neighborhoods here are like at home—normal houses or apartments that sometimes have fences or walls instead of walled-off compounds that are separated from the rest of the city.  There are also sidewalks, curbs, boulevards, and gutters.  It sort of reminds me of a much prettier Waltham, MA. 

view from the living room

My bedroom is massively huge with tall ceilings and giant windows.  I have a nice view of Kensington, and the living room has a million-dollar view of the downtown skyline.  The house conveniently has 24-hr hot water, high-speed wifi, a washing machine, a stove, and drinking water from the tap.  My roommates are two German artists on a fellowship.  They are preparing for a huge show this week and literally leave for work before I wake up and come home when I am getting ready for bed.  They keep to themselves mostly, but the relationship is cordial.  I find myself getting scared about little things because I had such a passively aggressive and evil roommate in Boston, but it turns out they are actually normal, not evil people.  My dish isn’t left in the sink to send a message about doing dishes, it was left because K thought it needed a good soak, and they moved the toilet paper in the bathroom so I would know where replacements were, not to assert their dominance over the toilet paper.  Having normal roommates has been quite therapeutic for me, actually.  We are going to an art fair next weekend, so that should be fun!

my bedroom

and my view!

UPDATE The weekend came before I posted this!  L and I went to the Neighbourgoods Market in Braamfontein yesterday, which was really cool!  Lots of amazing food, thrift markets, and handmade jewelry.  I got a Christmas present for my sister and an 80s jumpsuit for me.  I get home and where was the jumpsuit made?  Palm Springs, where my grandma lives!  Very strange.  The market was also a crazy example of gentrification.  The hipsterism was strong there and people were obviously well off.  Afterwords we crossed the Mandela bridge and traveled exactly 1 kilometer to Newtown, which is a completely different place.   We bought cheap dresses and blankets on Diagonal Street, which was really cool.  I got a few dresses and we had a ton of fun. 

80 rand dress!

http://www.neighbourgoodsmarket.co.za/johannesburg/snapshots

My house is really close to a bus line that goes to a huge major mall and grocery store on one side, and the city center on the other.  This weekend I went to the Eastgate Mall, which provided me with the most starkly obvious distinction between Jozi and Nairobi.  The mall was massive and full with really high-end shops and department stores and tons of people.  There was a huge food court and restaurants and lots of specialty goods that are simply not available in Nairobi.  I checked out Inglot and GOSH cosmetics, wandered aimlessly, got my phone fixed, then got that frozen yoghurt where you get to pick all your toppings and then they weigh it.  I was a happy camper.  By the time I found my way out of the (underground) mall, I was very tired and ready to go home.

i dont have a picture of the mall, so here is my backyard

On Sunday I had a more cultural experience, I guess.  I saw the hipster, upper-middle class side of Joburg at the Arts on Main market near my house.  This place is really cool, and packed with incredible items.  Most of it is way too expensive for me to afford, but it is all great to look at and there are a few art galleries to meander, and tons of fantastic food to try.  I looked at the Black Coffee line of clothes (really beautiful gowns and lacy tops), then went upstairs and saw tons of handmade jewelry, vintage clothes, and cheeky items.  I picked out a journal to come back and buy when I inevitably fill my current one up.  Afterwords I got a rose and raspberry lemonade and high-tailed it out of there as the craft beer selection started to take its effect on the packed-in crowd.  I will definitely return here for some unique items.

no mall pic.  here is a bird outside of my window.

More to come soon on My Life in an Office Environment and How I’m Handling That next week!