11.10

Quick note while Matt is making coffee, while videos are downloading from the camcorder. Last Thursday & Friday was the court case between Abahlali and The Slums Act. On Thursday, Matt and I went out with cameras in hand to capture members of Abahlali coming together. Many of the members had red t-shirts with slogans against the slums act and we were promised our very own shirts, which was incredibly touching to me. Unfortunately, no decision was made at the time of the hearing for or against Abahlali and we are told the judge has nearly 6 months to make her decision! I will not go into detail here about what I've heard of her behavior during the trail, only to say it was appalling.

Friday evening, Bananas gave us an incredible send off since we were leaving to go stay with Bongani and his family. I think (I can't quite remember) that I started taking shots of whiskey. Matt did me one better and had a combination of tequila, jager, whiskey, and beer. Which is why he was so much worse off the next day than I was. We showed up to Bongani's a bit drunk and rather embarrassed but we all enjoyed a glass of wine and headed off to bed. We were excited about our new room and completely passed out.

We woke up Saturday and made Bongani and Mangi a vegan breakfast, which they thoroughly enjoyed. Nalee, their daughter, even had a few spoonfuls though it was painfully obvious she was only eating to impress us. Matt went up to Abahlali and I ran errands with Mangi in her then undamaged BMW. We dropped Nalee off at her grandmother's house which was situated on a beautiful, pristine hilltop in Kloof. For more information on Kloof visit the following link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kloof. After working with such poor people, in South Africa 50% of the population works under the poverty line of R20 per day (which is approx. 2 USD), it was strange to see such an immaculate house with so many different rooms that it had its own wings, its own maid, its own possible zip code. I won't mention that they actually cook the meat that they're going to feed their three dogs. That same evening we went out to dinner, where Matt and I were left footing the bill for Bongani, Mangi and their 2 friends. I'll spare you the details, but the evening deteriorated as Mangi was upset that her friends did not join us and did not want to drive Matt and I home. Bongani took the responsibility of driving us but at that point was way beyond the legal driving limit. He revealed a number of personal relationship issues, which were probably best kept to himself and made me realize how lucky I was to be with someone that I cared about so deeply and who returned that same affection to me.

Sunday, Matt and I awoke in a state of utter stress and immediately left the apartment to hunt for coffee and food. 4 eggs and 2 very unhappy vegans later, we decided we could no longer stay with them. We took a walk up Florida Rd in search for another backpackers (in vain). I should mention that Florida Rd is a sort of restaurant row in an area of Durban called Morningside. We called Banana and darling Sabine answered the phone and said we must come back. I should also mention that at this point we noticd a series of unidentified dents in Mangi's car, which we can only assume were from the previous nights escapades. We returned to Bongani's apartment, picked up supplies for the Chatsworth Women's Meeting and headed out. We had a terrible taxi ride there and back, I somehow always end up nauseous. Once in Chatsworth, we had a quick (and amazing) bite of veggie curry and rice at our usual spot and rushed over to the meeting. I handed out 8 disposable cameras for the women to use this week in document their everyday living experience. They were so excited that it made all the cockroaches I've endured worthwhile. That evening, Matt and I packed our bags and rushed out of the apartment and right back into Bananas arms. This time around we have a bigger room, but also exponentially more cockroaches. Last night, Matt woke up about 4 times and killed a small army of them.


Monday was the Abahlali March to the municipality to issue a memorandum for the municipality to hear their concerns. It went off wonderfully, though it took our bus a bit to locate the march. We eventually caught up to them and joined in, again cameras in hand. I hope to turn over all the footage to Abahlali sometime today or tomorrow and get it up on the website soon! Matt and I were so tired after the march that we completely passed out and woke up only to respond to Bongani's email about his disappointment and declaration that he would not return our deposit of R1,000 (approx. 100 USD). We implored him to atleast give whatever he has left to someone who truly needs it.

Today, we were supposed to venture out to Pietermartizburg but the weather is terrible and our clothes are still wet on the laundry line. Matt is busy painting his nails and we must obtain arms against the cockroaches. We've decided that our only hope is Doom and roach motels. We grappled with this issue, but it is time. The war has begun. More importantly, we are also heading into the upper class suburbs for some leafy greens as we haven't found anything even remotely acceptable in any markets in the city. Wish us luck!