Questions I’ve already been asked more than once:
“What are Black Americans really like?”
“Are all Americans as beautiful as they seem on TV?”
“Are there any poor people in America?”
I still can’t really wrap my head around each of these conversations, except to note that pop culture, one of America’s largest exports, seems to have conveyed that there is no racism in America and everyone in the US looks like Beyonce and lives like Jay-Z….
The boys in the office are trying to teach me the local slang. So far all I’ve been able to pick up are a few different ways to say what’s up:
Ayoba (literal translation: togetherness)
Heita-ola (how ya doin? Joey from Friends style)
Kao fela (cool like that)
It’s both fun and funny to hang out with them. There are three, each in their early 20s, all from Soweto. They drive around in their pimped out cars when the windows rolled down and the music blaring, but it’s not hip-hop – it’s deep house. They balk when the women in the office (who are hysterical and deserve their own entry) adamantly declare, “All men cheat.” But then the next day they come in wearing a shirt that says, “Here’s to my girlfriends (big picture of beer mug) May they never meet.” When I ask about the shirt, the smirky reply: “I bought it for the colors.”
All men may not cheat, but in so many ways they are the same. J
But honestly, these guys, like everyone else in the loveLife office, are super nice and really great. The fact that they continue to put up with my dumb questions and terrible pronunciation is a huge testament to that. And they’re teaching me a ton about South Africa’s youth. Next week, they’re taking me to Jo’burg’s biggest house music party. A Black rave sans the drugs they tell me. Should be fascinating. J
The IT guy just asked me if I knew there were lions in the office.
“I’m sorry, what?” At first I couldn’t tell if he was kidding or if there was some sort of San Francisco tiger situation going on.
He said, “Many of our visitors expect to see only lions roaming and men in loincloths.”
I assured him I was not one of those Americans and expressed my embarrassment for their ignorance. He just laughed, as if we were all the same. Gotta love American tourists.
Day 1 at loveLife couldn’t have been more exciting and fun. I knew the NGO was huge, but I don’t think I truly understood their depth and breadth in South Africa. As SA's largest HIV prevention NGO, they are essentially everywhere – their magazine in every major newspaper and rural community publication, their radio and television PSAs on nearly all possible outlets, their “groudBreaker” peer educators in every province, and the list goes on… So needless to say, I’m quite excited about the opportunity to work with them.
But beyond the organization itself, the best part has been the people, who I firmly believe make the difference in any professional experience. They’re all smart, funny, cool, and deeply passionate about what they do. They’ve been incredibly kind to me and have gone to great lengths to make sure I’m taken care of and included in every part of their campaign’s development. And perhaps MOST exciting, they all have their shit together. For the first time in a long time, I don’t feel like I’m in a stereotypical “non-profit” environment.
Also, exciting is their creative energy. Although often criticized for doing so, they really believe in being radical; they take “out of the box” seriously. In fact, the CEO joked with me that he was concerned that they hadn’t been called to a government hearing in over a year. Love it. J
