Spring Break! (Part 1)

This spring break kicked off early Friday morning when Liz and I headed out at 6.45am to catch our flight to Johannesburg (aka- JoBurg). We had a rough itinerary planned, but by the time we arrived, we changed it multiple times. On Friday we checked into our hostel and caught a cab out to Constitution Hill. This used to be a prison where many political prisoners were held and tortured during the apartheid regime but now is the home of a major courtroom in South Africa. It was very interesting to see a place where so much injustice was carried out now is a place where justice is sought out everyday.

Saturday was the real adventure…..We started off the day at the Carlton Center which has a view of the city from the 50th floor. Got some pics there and then headed out to the Soweto Art Gallery. We walked for about 15 minutes to the intersection where it was supposed to be, but couldn’t find it. So, we just kind of wandered around the area looking for a sign or something to tell us where it was. Now, you have to realize that there are certain parts of JoBurg that aren’t exactly what you would call “nice” in the States. After searching for about 10 more minutes, Liz and I realized that we hadn’t seen another white person in a while and most of the people around us were men….Good thing Liz and I both realized this because we started walking very quickly back to the intersection. For the first time in my life, I experienced what it was like to be a part of the minority. My area of town in Cape Town is very diverse and mixed because of the university so this was completely different. Anyways, we finally found a sign for the art gallery which said it was on the 2nd floor of this building. Well, this building was more like an old shady apartment complex with cracked stairs and places where there used to be windows, but were no longer. We went to the second floor (which was actually the third, but that’s beside the point) and wandered up and down the hallway without finding anything. Then there was this room with bars over the door and a little tiny sign that read “Soweto Art Gallery.” We looked thru the bars a bit before a guy came out and let us into a little room with a computer and desk attached to another small room with 4 paintings on the wall. That was it….4 paintings….We had wandered around for half an hour to see 4 paintings….little did we know what was in store for us….

(to be continued…..)