Introductions.

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of culture shock and academic overload. Living in a house with six Germans has me sitting at our dinner table nightly, following the conversation with my eyes, trying to read body language and inflection as if I was observing animals out of habitat. Then I exit the German household after learning a few dirty phrases and strut into a street with a Xhosan percussion of clicks and honks from white mini-buses with “sexual seduction” or “will the real slim shady please stand up” printed across the front. Modernity has really taken hold in some odd forms… Then the Afrkaans chimes in from behind thick gates, pulsing with electricity. This blends nicely with the breeze of ocean, cooling from the back of the neck down to my dusty toes. I walk a mile to school and there the other Bantu languages plus pretty much every other European tongue slips into the race of who can express themselves quicker. I slither between the noise and try to make sense of action incorporated with accents. To be honest, it’s far beyond confusing.
The politics of being human caught up with me as I stood in a local karaoke bar, sweaty with the post performance glow of “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” by The Temptations. I had just been rejected from my occasional training at the fashion department on the 2nd Avenue campus in PE, apparetnly the program is far too rigorous to be enrolled in any other classes. My disappointment was tremendous. I attempted to ease the pain with a dress, a drink and some too true red lipstick: the classic Maddy remedy. I ended up chatting with a lovely Xhosan man when an Afrikaaner decided to pour an entire pint down my back. I was not pleased so I attempted to retaliate with a beer pour down his extensive torso but I was returned with a quick twist of the wrist and a shove to the ground. He told me, “to know my place.” I told him to go to hell and left in a furry of frustration and disappointment. I found myself, once again amazed at the blantent attempt to keep the "old South Africa" alive with the mentality of apartheid. It feels like traveling back in time...but its so currant and stands so aggressively in your face from nights out on the town to class the following morning. Its a vibration that shakes through everything.
The next week followed me with decades of notes on South African history of group rights and multi-nationalism pride. It was, for the lack of a better word, weird. I traversed past the monkeys on campus, clutching my apple and into the brilliance of weekend that lead me to my first African hip hop show and a pod of 50 plus dolphins, playing in the warmth of a cloudless morning.
Zwede provided me with raw, clean material for so many stories but one truly stuck out among the up and coming African rappers of this country. This was my first African hip hop show. it was African culture influenced by African-American culture which was in turn inspired by African culture. Modernity once again, huh? It was beautiful. There were three mics, two guitars and more talent in the smallest venue I’ve ever seen. I spent six hours enjoying the company of this township and I would like to think it could say the same. I was properly introduced to AZAPO and the art of being African in South Africa…a conversation I will never forget. I wont go into detail because the whole afternoon and evening was fuzzy with the notion that change is occurring so rapidly that most times we will never catch up. I left with my Xhosa name: Ncmisa, which means “the one that makes you smile”. Acceptance has got me floating and the weight of cement rubble and tin shacks has pushed me back down to the sizzling grill of South African life.
The adventure took yet another turn when I added ceramics and I was introduced to a fully South African art class, exploring the inspirations of the beach onto molded platters for future occasions. These people are teaching me Xhosa, humor and how to sing among traditional African songs. They are awesome and one of their grandmothers is cooking me dinner next weekend. Brilliant.