This Monday, since Thandokhulu High School is on holiday, Julian and I were invited to take a tour of a township called Langa by one of our students. He took us to various places around town, including a local braai place similar to Mizoli’s in Gugulethu. We got to see a table full of smileys before they were cooked; a smiley is the head of a goat which is deep fried and served whole, the name comes from the facial expression on the goat head. Julian even had second thoughts on eating one after seeing them. We found that Langa is quite different than where we live in Rondebosch, which we obviously knew, but we were still surprised by what we found. For instance, few gates or front doors are locked. We walked right Xhanti’s house without any need for a key. Xhanti took us to some of his friend’s houses, which we just walked into, again without a key. Although we arrived unannounced, we were greeted warmly and with many questions regarding where we were from and how we were enjoying Cape Town. We also got to see some of the informal settlements, including the cows that graze in them, which makes me wonder where exactly the cheaper beef from Pick ‘n Pay comes from… Overall, it was nice to see the real Cape Town outside of our little bubble.
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