Tuesday, November 11, 2008

9. Happy New Year’s!!

My first few months in Cape Town were a learning experience in many ways. The communities that the street kids come from are all about a twenty to forty minute drive from downtown. This huge area of all the different communities is known as the Cape Flats.
Of course there are nice parts of these communities, but in general, those areas are known for being “rough”.
Since these are the areas the kids come from, I had to both get used to the areas and learn my way around them. I eventually did, and it came through just going into those communities and trying to find my way around and getting lost time after time again.
Some of the townships areas are extremely difficult to get around in because there are areas with just little, unofficial dirt roads, winding in and out of the shacks. You can drive and think you are on your way out only to zig-zag and end back up in the place you started in.
I got a crash course on finding my way around the communities on New Year’s Eve of 2001.
My friend Andrea was visiting from the States, and we went down into town to meet another friend of mine. Cape Town on New Year’s Eve is a really exciting, festive place to be. The air is filled with spirit and excitement!
Andrea and I were hanging with a group of kids on Long Street, waiting for my other friend to call when a German tourist approached us. I think the tourist thought I was some sort of drug lord or gangster because all the kids were around me talking to me and then right as she came up to me, Denzil, one of the kids ran up and handed me money (because I had to make a phone call and didn’t have any coins on me and he offered to go beg for some money for me).
The tourist said that she had a problem and wanted to know if I would be able to help. I told her I would definitely do what ever I could to help her.
She told me that she had just flown in from Germany and had not been able to exchange her money yet and needed to get out to some friends of hers, who lived in the Cape Flats. She said that she had talked to them and they said that they would pay whomever she could find to bring her out there.
She asked if I had any “connections” and I laughed and told her that I didn’t know about that, but I had a car myself and would be willing to drive her out there.
I left her with Andrea and the kids and I went to call my other friend, who was tied up and was not going to be able to meet us anyways. I came back to the group and told the German lady that we should probably call her friends and get directions.
Denzil reached in his pocket and handed me more money and we went to call her friends. They gave me directions and we walked to my car. The spontaneity of the whole situation only added to the excitement of the festive evening!
So around 9:00pm, me, Andrea, the German lady, and nine kids piled into my car and headed off for the N2. None of the kids that were in the car were from the specific area that we were going to but they all seemed to have a general idea of where it was.
I had NO clue.
I tried to follow the directions that were given to me but I really struggled. We turned off on the wrong turnoff a few times and had to turn around, but eventually after seeing the name of the area on a sign, we found our way.
The directions, once we got into the neighborhood, were much better. We found the house with no problem. When we got to the house, most of us got out of the car and a few kids waited in the car, to “look after it”.
We went in and to add to the randomness of the evening, her friends were Rastas and were just about to smoke ganja right when we showed up. They offered some to us and I declined and then they thanked us for our troubles and gave me fifty Rand for petrol, which was WAY more than what it cost me!
We said goodbye and then went on our way. As we were driving out of the neighborhood, I could tell that some of the kids seemed a bit nervous. One of them said, “Um, Ryan, we need to get out of here as quick as possible.”
I didn’t get excited or nervous but I did heed the advice of my little friend. The only problem was, I got a little turned around and went in the wrong direction.
We ended up driving into an area that is infamous for gangsterism and extremely dangerous at night. The kids all got really nervous and I knew that if the kids were scared, I should at least take it seriously.
I didn’t feel scared and just tried to always be aware of what was going on around me. Each of the kids, at different times, would think that they knew a way out and would begin to give me directions. A kid would lead confidently, thinking he knew the way, and I would follow the directions but as we would come into another area, I would see a defeated look on his face, and he would apologize and say that he had no clue where we were.
We would drive on long dark roads and then come into a township and I would twist and turn through the busy streets, full of people drinking and partying.
We drove around like that for almost two hours. Just about the time when all of the boys had tried their luck and had basically all given up hope of ever finding our way back to Cape Town, one of the boys recognized that we were in the area that he was from.
He got excited and started leading and directing me in which way to go. I didn’t get my hopes up because that was the same thing that had happened time after time before that. But, he proved to know where he was going because we ended up in front of a house and when they heard a car pull up the people inside came out. Sure enough, it was his mom.
Once again, it was something that only added to the randomness of the evening.
We talked with his mom for a while and she was happy to see her son. I asked him if he wanted to stay and he said he didn’t and wanted to go back to Cape Town. He gave his mom a hug and she said goodbye and thanked me for bringing him around, as if I did it on purpose, and I said it was my pleasure and we were on our way.
Now, he didn’t know the way back to Cape Town from there, but he knew the way back to Muizenberg, the area where I live, and from there I knew I could get us to Cape Town.
So he led the way and we eventually found ourselves in Muizenberg. I made my way to the highway that would take us back to Cape Town.
The boys were happy and excited that we finally knew where we were and where we were going, after almost three hours of driving around. They had enjoyed the whole evening and the adventure that it brought.
Right when I turned on the highway, we realized that it was almost midnight and we began our count down. We all counted down and at 12:00am we all yelled at the top of our lungs.
The sky filled up with red flares, as usual in Cape Town on New Year’s. The boys started shouting at every car that we passed, “HAPPY NEW YEAR’S!!!!!” and then they began singing. They started singing a famous fight song that the people used to sing during the Apartheid struggle.
As they were singing, I felt chills all over my body and my eyes filled up with tears. It was like something hit me, and I realized that there was absolutely nowhere else in the whole world that would rather be at that moment than right there with those kids. It was a great moment.
We sang and yelled the whole way into Cape Town. Then we drove around Cape Town and the boys continued to yell “HAPPY NEW YEAR’S!!”, at every single car we passed.
We drove around for a while and then I eventually dropped the kids off.
Andrea and I went home to go to sleep after a LONG night. That night meant a lot to me and something happened in my heart that is hard to put into words. I just had a realization that I was in the right spot and I was looking forward to spending the New Year with the kids. I also got a wonderful introduction to the communities that I would be frequently driving in for the years to come. I now know my way around those communities and I laugh at myself when I think of that night because today, I would have to try really hard to get myself lost in those areas.

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