In Jo'Burg for awhile

June 6

Today we went out to get food and booze because the liquor stores here close quite early. Got that taken care of. Then headed back and found some people that wanted to go into Sandton, and we headed off. The city was pretty neat. We went to the mall there which was basically like a mall in America, and we did not stick out at all. There were all kinds of races and what not, so that was different. After that we went to go pick up our tickets. Quite exciting! Got the tickets to our first three matches. Walked around the city some more. Seemed like a pretty safe place. Then when we got back Jeffrey and I went for a run. The air in the area is terrible. Bubble boy aka J-bone was having a little trouble breathing but we made it about an hour. We stuck to the main roads as the sun was coming down upon our return to the place we are staying. Made a pretty good dinner with a spice we bought down here. Not quite sure what it is but it tastes quite good!

June 7

Headed out about ten today on this tour we arranged the night before with the guy who gave me a ride from the airport to the hostel. We went to Soweto to see all the history there. We went to the Regina Mundi church, the Hector Pieterson Museum and the Nelson Mandela house. We saw the slums, informal housing, of the areas and the elephant houses as well. It was quite an eye opening experience. From there we went to Alexandra where Raymond was from. We drove by where Nelson Mandela lives now on our way. It was a pretty nice house with lots of security. We stopped to get some food. It was pretty good. Ate chakalaka and pap along with some tasty meat at this little restaurant/butcher. He showed us around the city and where Nelson Mandela lived when he was in college. Saw more slums, more housing built by the government in an attempt to get rid of the informal houses. We got to go into one of the houses and we went to a shebeen, bar without a license to sell ligquor in a house, in the area with some locals. Shot some pool there. We were the only white people that we saw in all of Alexandra, but it was a neat experience. One girl we drove by shouted ahh something in zulu that meant white guy. We asked Ray what she said and he said white guy because they are not used to seeing white people in this area. It was quite a different place. 1.3 million people live in 1.5 square miles and you could tell.

June 8

We went to the Apartheid Museum today after giving a couple of American guys a ride into Sandton to pick up there rental car. The museum was pretty neat and I learned a lot but it seemed like it went on forever. That was pretty much the whole day. Stopped and had some pizza on the way home that was quite tasty.

June 9

Woke up today and went for a pretty good run. The air was a lot better for some reason. After the run and a good warm shower we headed out for Newtown. We parked in a gated parking area and walked through what seemed like not the best part of town. Found a nice looking resaurant and sat down to have some food. We had chicken livers for an appetizer and cow intestines. They were both pretty good. The liver was better though. Then we went to SAB world of beers. Probably the best tour ive been on in awhile. Got a beer during the tour and then two after the tour all for R30. Pretty good deal.