Day 4 (July 1)
After a leisurely morning, Sarah came by and drove us to Joburg where we walked around looking at the vendors selling their goods – hats/gloves, African masks, giraffe and elephant carvings, drums, jewelry – the list goes on. But the interesting thing was how few people were there, how few people were buying anything. Sarah said that even at the height of World Cup games, when there were multiple games, that it wasn’t very crowded. But that many people had invested a lot of money and hope into the expected influx of tourists for these games, and with such an underwhelming turnout, there would be many hurting people afterward. It’s kinda sad to think of all the money that was put toward these multimillion dollar stadiums when there are so many people in such great need. I understand the idea of trying to stimulate the economy and create jobs, but the consensus from Sarah, Jeanette and Orel is that the jury is still out on whether this gamble will ultimately help SA. Orel pointed out that people are skeptical because after the World Cup, what will these stadiums be used for in the future since they are so close together?

We also walked through a section of Joburg that is reminiscent of Chicano Park in San Diego where graffiti artists have painted murals on the posts of a freeway overpass. After that we walked to a restaurant called Ko’spotong so that we could spend some time planning for the next week when the students will return for workshops. Right now they are on a 4 week break, but LEAP students are required to attend the workshops put on by the school during part of their break. Sarah is trying through these workshops to introduce and model project-based learning for both the teachers and the students, so it was really good to talk with her and share our experiences and offer suggestions to build on all her hard work.

It wasn’t all just shop talk though – we had a great time getting to know Sarah better – and watching Marc eat what was basically a French fry sandwich --called a “chip roll.” Later, we headed to another part of Joburg where the extremely wealthy live – quite a contrast to yesterday. Street after street of huge, mansion-like houses hidden behind huge walls. Here, we went to yet another mall where there was a restaurant called Moyo that Sarah said had some great art and some authentic African music and food. It truly was a remarkable place, with 4 or 5 levels, a wine cellar, outdoor seating right in front of a huge outdoor screen, authentically costumed performers. The food was fairly standard, though there were a few unusual items – John had Springbok – but no crocodile yet. Here we spent the rest of the evening, talking, eating, drinking, watching live music. A fun, but low-key day – which was good because we’re still getting over our jet-lag.