Joburg Day 1

Johannesburg weekend trip-bike tour and museums, dinner at Moyo
According to locals of cape town, Johannesburg is not a city you want to visit. Nevertheless, I was excited for our weekend trip to Johannesburg. Although it lacked beaches and mountains, Johannesburg had a lot of history to offer. We stayed at a hostel known as Ghandi's backpackers. It's called that because ghandi stayed there before. The hostel was amazing! There was a pool, bar, and the kitchen had stainless steel appliances. All then girls stayed in a room with 16 bunk beds. I enjoyed staying up late and having girl talk! On our first day there we went to constitutional hill and the apartheid museum. What I liked most about Constitutional Hill was the symbolism. Everything had some greater meaning to it. For example, one of the themes I caught was the number 11 because of the 11 official languages of South Africa. The number 11 and the official languages were incorporated everywhere in the museum. It shows that South Africa is made up of different cultures but everyone is included and respected equally. I also learned that the south African flag contains the most colors of any other flag in the world. Also, the green Y-shaped part of the flag represents how the country was once divided through apartheid and now have come together and are united. 

After constitutional hill we ate a picnic lunch in the park and then headed over to the apartheid museum. Our admission tickets indicated if we were white or non-white. I thought it was funny because I was white for 5 minutes. It really didn't mean anything we just went through separate entrances. The apartheid museum was huge. There was a whole section on Nelson Mandela. Many of the events in the museum I already learned about in class, but it was interesting to view videos and read quotes of people who experienced the events. There is a sense of community surrounding apartheid. Even though it was a terrible and difficult time for many people, now South Africans view it as a sign of their strength and persistence rather than a struggle. Nico talked to us at lunch about his experiences during apartheid. When telling us stories he always had a smile on his face. Initially I thought this was inappropriate affect, but in the end he explained to us that apartheid showed the strength and bravery of black South Africans in that they were able to fight and overcome their oppression. 

We ended the day with a fantastic dinner at Moyo. Some of us, myself included, went out on row boats on to the little pond on the grounds. We all got our faces painted during dinner and were serenaded by a guitar player. Dinner was fantastic! I ate so much, but my favorite was the butternut squash and creamed spinach! Mmm!