Hallo Suid-Afrika: Shu, Lekker Lekker, Shame; My Weekend in Ocean View

I spent this past weekend in Ocean View a township outside Cape Town. During apartheid, townships were created to house the coloured and black Africans. Coloured is not an offensive term here in South Africa, and it refers to mixed race Africans who partially share their ancestry with slaves from Southeastern Asia who were brought to Southern Africa a couple of hundred years ago to work on the farms and vineyards, and then later in the mines. During the apartheid distinctions were made between the white, coloured and black African citizens. Separate townships were created to house coloured and black Africans away from white towns, and economic and political divisions were made between the groups. Ocean View is a coloured township that was created by families who were forcibly removed from Simon's Town - an adorable fishing village and the site of the penguin beach, Boulder's Bay.

Over the weekend I mostly hung out with my host family and their extensive network of relatives (everyone is related in Ocean View). The community still suffers from gross poverty and many residents have histories of drug and alcohol abuse. My host father told me about "tick" a drug that is similar to meth that runs rampant through the community. While all residents are definitely disadvantaged, there is still hope and resilience among the community members. My first evening, I spoke with a man who had just finished his matriculation exams, essentially what qualifies someone to graduate from high school. He was hoping to have high enough scores to study psychology at a university. His daughter, who also grew up in Ocean View is in her second year at Western Cape University, commuting over two and a half hours each way to attend class. She is the first person in her family to go to college, and the pride that the family has in her was obvious.

I could go on an on about the socio-economic inequalities that still exist as a result of the apartheid. Essentially, South Africa has been lifted up as this "rainbow nation" now democratic and free, but the scars of apartheid are still apparent everywhere. Access to educational opportunities and jobs are still difficult for many coloured and black Africans, partially because of residency issues. To make matters worse, the communities in which many of them live are breeding grounds for disease, alcoholism, drug abuse, teen pregnancy and a myriad of other problems that affect education and economic development.

My family was extremely nice, and were born-again Christians. Despite not having much, they stressed charity and were very welcoming to other members of the community and their extended family. They recognized that they had more than some, and so they gave what they could to others. In my house, there were at least six or seven people living. At some times this number grew with additional family. In the back of the house that I stayed in was a bungalow where the sister-in-law of my host father lived with her three children.

Saturday evening we had a fish braai at the house. Earlier that day we went to Fish Hoek and purchased a large Snook fish right off of a fishing boat. My host father brought it home and taught me how to prepare it for his traditional fish braai. After cutting off the head and the tail, open the fish down the length of its body and clean out the insides. While this is occurring, heat minced garlic, fish oil and apricot jam (other jams are also acceptable but "apricot is the best") on the stove until the apricot jam is melted and all the ingredients are combined. Make a lot of this as a ton of it will be used throughout the cooking process. When it is sufficiently combined, take the mixture and brush it liberally along the inside of the fish. Then laying peppers, onions and tomatoes all along the inside length of the fish. When this is complete, close the fish up, and tie it with strong so that it remains closed. Then brush the jam mixture all over the skin of the fish and along the openings. Place it in the braai when the flames have died down and it is mostly just the coals. Turn the fish every few minutes, brushing the jam mixture on the outside every time you do so. When it's done, the fish has all of the flavors of the vegetables inside, while the skin is crispy and delicious. It melted in my mouth, and was like nothing I have ever had. It was one of the best things I have ever tasted, and definitely made my visit to Ocean View memorable.

The meal was striking for another reason however. My host father lamented the fact that he only bought one large fish because they were so expensive. He said that if they had been R30 instead of R40 he would have bought another fish. This made me think a lot, as a few weeks ago, I went down to Fish Hoek with some friends and ate at a fish and chips shop on the waterfront maybe 5 feet from where we purchased the fish for the braai. The cost for that meal was R49, or R40 for the fish and chips and R9 for my coke light. At the time, I was really excited by this, as R49 is about $7. The fact that an entire fish, that fed a large family was considered expensive at R40 made me feel very wasteful. It is interesting how your perspective of cost can be changed over a few short days.

There are many more things I could write about, but suffice it to say that my experience in Ocean View was mostly positive. I learned some Afrikans words, and now know how to say good morning. Lekker, a slang term I had already learned, was used extensively by my family. Lekker is an expression of anything good or cool or positive. The fish was lekker, the church luncheon we went to was lekker and so was our visit to the farm that is across the road from the township. My host mom also lamented the fact that I will be away from Corey for more than four months by the time I get back (Shame! Shame!). Shu or however it is spelled was used any time you needed a break in the conversation, or just to express feeling in general. Everyone in my house was extremely welcoming and invited me back whenever I wanted to have another braai or if I missed having a family. They were wonderful!