Soweto

We toured Soweto today.  Soweto is where the girls have lived since they have entered the Johannesburg Child Welfare System.  The area also holds a lot of historical value.  

We started our tour with the last house that Nelson Mandela lived in, the house has huge walls built around it like all the houses in the area.  It is in a very nice area of town.  Outside of the gated walls are these plants with colorful stones all around each of them.  These stones are what people left after he had passes, similar to how we might leave flowers in the US.  

Our fist stop in Soweto was the FNB Stadium, this was built for the World Cup in 2010, and it is massive. Today it is still used for football (soccer games) as well as big ruby matches.  It is in an area of Soweto that doesn't appear to be too busy on a typical day but would be bustling on a game day. There is a train stop right outside the stadium as well as plenty of areas for public transport.

We checked out all different neighborhoods in Soweto.  It is a very diverse area both ethnicity wise and socioeconomically. We stopped and spent a bit of time at the Hector Pieterson Memorial/Museum.  If you are not familiar with Hector Pieterson he was one the first students to be killed during the 1976 Student Uprising in Soweto, he was only 13 years old.  He has since become a symbol of youth resistance to apartheid.

We also stopped and took a tour of Nelson Mandela's home that he lived at with his wife Winnie. This is a small house like all the houses around it, not to far (less than a mile) from where Hector Pieterson was killed.  This is the house Nelson came back to after being released from jail.  

 These are the Soweto towers...  People bungie jumping between them.

There was so much to see and learn.  Some of today was a bit heavy, it's so hard to believe that so much has happened in Soweto in just the last 50 years.  This area has really played a huge roll in the countries history.

Tonight we decided to walk over to Moyo's for an early dinner, this is a traditional African Restaurant.  The girls loved the food, the atmosphere, and the entertainment.  We even brought along our own finger magician...  Corky!

The meal I ordered was soooooo HOT!  My lips were tingling, I broke out into a sweat, and chugged so much water the waiter could not keep up.  It reminded me of an incident that happened yesterday at the Sunday Market.

Corky and I were walking around and there was a stand with cheese at it.  We slowed down to take a look and we were offered a sample of cheese.  The lady asked, "You like cheese?"  I believe I replied, "Yeah, we're from Wisconsin."  I take her cheese and pop it into my mouth as does Corky.  The next thing I know my mouth is on FIRE...  Seriously, 911 Emergency!  I'm looking at Corky and he cannot talk or stop coughing.  I debated scrapping my tongue when she hands me another piece of cheese.  I take it because I figure cheese is suppose to cool your mouth off and honestly it can't be hotter then the last piece- it just wasn't possible.  Corky's eyes are darting around looking for anything to drink.  I begin laughing because I just can't believe cheese can be so HOT and I can't believe there is no relief in sight.  We skedaddled out of the area before Corky could fall over from his coughing fit...  Good news, Cork found a Coca Cola, he didn't even try to talk the seller down in price to buy it.

Later on when we were discussing the market I mentioned what a good trick Cheese Lady played on us...  I'm not sure Cork thinks it's as funny as I do.

Stay tuned...  Tomorrow I will tell you all about our $55.00 (US dollars) small load of wash.