Holy house party! 7/5/09

Today is Sunday, our day of rest.  Over the past few days I have had a chance to bond with a girl named Lydia, who is a LEAP student alumni:

She is currently in college earning her teaching credential. As we have been talking over the past few days I asked her about her taste in music and what music is popular in the townships. To my surprise, house (techno) music is HUGE in the townships.  I really never imagined that.  Given that I have been exposed to house through my good friends Gene, Jorja and Brian, I thought it would be really fun to go out and hear some of this township house music.  So, I asked her is there is a place to do so that is still relatively safe and she said that there is actually a great place that is open during the day. 

So today, a group of us headed to this “outdoor bar and restaurant” to hear the music and relax.  I had no idea what I was in for.  After driving through various townships to pick up other LEAP Alumni students, we arrived to the bar called Mizoli’s.  We instantly saw that this was no ordinary bar.  There was a huge area with tables and chairs.  People spilled out into the streets in all directions.  Cars (specifically brand new VW Golfs) lined all the surrounding streets with the hatchbacks open and house music pumping out of each car. As South Africans of all colors, but mainly black, dressed in the hippest fashion I’ve seen (even better than SF!), were posted to their cars or dancing near by.  It was literally a huge block party.  I guess this is THE hang out for local celebrities and a mix of everyone else.  One of the LEAP alumni explained, “if you gather up any money, this is the first place you come.”  I could see why.

Lydia then explained how the food worked.  You entered into the building, which was literally a raw meat market.  You wait in a long line, pick out buckets of raw meat, pay for it and walk it back to the grill.  Then, they season and grill it up for you.  It took about an hour and a half for them to grill our meat because the place was so packed, but boy was it worth it.  It was some of the best BBQ I have ever had. 

As the afternoon grew later I continued to people watch and have a great time.  Although it was such a wonderful slice of township life, I did start to notice some things that alarmed me.  The alcohol use was insane.  Everyone, except our group, was drinking A LOT.  Normally we would have had a few with the rest, but we did not feel okay promoting alcohol abuse in the company of the LEAP students.  Seeing the amount of drinking and partying made me begin to realize why so many young adults from the townships are not making it to or through college. The only way that Lydia has been able to balance this is by not drinking.  “I don’t really go here,” she told us.  I could see why. It was a false sense of reality. She also said, “I don’t understand why everyone needs this much alcohol to have a good time.”   Lydia is obviously much stronger than many of the young adults in the township.  She feels that going to school at LEAP has helped her think, understand and stand up for what she believes in.   Hopefully she will continue to be a model for others in her community.