Our Week in South Africa

Hello! I apologize that it has taken me so long to update this blog with a first real post. For our first week in South Africa, we only had brief moments of paid internet access at local malls-- just long enough inform family that I was still alive.
We just arrived and settled into our house in Windhoek (pronounced Win-took), Namibia yesterday, so I should have more reliable and frequent internet access now. But not much has happened in Namibia yet, so instead I'll backtrack to highlight from our whirldwind 10 days in Johannesburg.
- A walk through Kliptown, an informal black settlement just outside of Johannesburg. There is an 80% unemployment rate among Kliptown residents, their houses are two-room shacks made from tin siding and spare metal, and raw sewage runs through the streets. As we entered the settlement, children came running from every direction and grabbed onto our hands. They held our hands for the entire 15 minute walk, and rubbed our palms and knuckles to feel how our skin felt.
- The Aparthide Museum: an incredible look at of the fledgling history of freedom that South Africa is experiencing as a nation, and a solemn reminder of the sheer brutality that humans are capable of inflicting on one another.
- Our 3-day homestay: We stayed with families in Soweto, the largest black township in South Africa and a place where whites are rarely seen. We stayed with a kind windowed woman and her four nearly-grown children. The two youngest were 19 and 21, and took it upon themselves to teach us as much of the Zulu language as possible. I can now speak some basic Zulu phrases, and was even given a Zulu name by my host sister: Togo-zili, which means "Happiness".
We did and and saw and learned and experienced so many things this past week, it's a lot to process and remember all at once, so I'll leave it at that for the time being. I miss you all, and hope you're doing well! Much love, Togo-zili