My Weekend in Langa

Last weekend I had the opportunity to participate in a homestay in Langa, one of Cape Town's townships or "informal settlements" as they are sometimes referred. On Friday afternoon we drove fifteen minutes away from our house and the difference that those short fifteen minutes can make is astounding. Langa is a place full of love, family, and community values with very little emphasis on material goods. The houses are small, many are simply shacks, and the families often times struggle to get by. We had a welcome dinner at one lady's house and it was there that we were introduced to our host families. My friend Mariah and I were paired together and our host family consisted of a single mother, her ten year old son Lihle, and her 18 month old daughter Phalo.

After the welcome dinner, we went out with some of the host brothers and sisters who are around our age. They took us to Style's Tavern where the men of the township go to drink, watch soccer, and play dominoes. We quickly discovered that alcohol abuse is a major problem in Langa, and at the bar 40 ounce beers were 10 rand, or a little over one US dollar. To put things into perspective, we normally think that a 12 ounce beer for 10 rand is a steal so these prices make it so much easier for the citizens of Langa to buy, and then abuse, alcohol. After leaving

the tavern we went to one of the host's house and listened to music and talked - one man followed us there from the bar and even though no one knew who he was, they didn't see, to care since it is part of the Xhosa culture to open your house to anyone. After a little while we were all pretty tired so we went back to our houses to sleep. My host mom and the baby slept on a mat on the floor of the bedroom while Mariah and I shared the bed with Lihle (who was quite the little snuggle bug I must add!).

Saturday we spent walking around the streets of Langa truly getting a feel of township life. There were a lot of people out and about and many people set up small food shops right on the road. We stopped at one to try sheep liver, not my favorite snack but it was better than I was expecting! After the tour we went to Ace's Place which is a bar in another township nearby. We sat at Ace's for a few hours, again with only men around as we discovered that the women are not usually supposed to drink with the men, and we then went back to one of the houses. Our hosts began drinking pretty heavily around one in the afternoon and this pattern continued until the end of the night. None of us were really drinking very much so at times it became boring to be sitting around so much, but after thinking and talking about it when we returned we realized that this is just how they live. That in Langa there is not much else to do but to drink, that alcohol sadly is the main form of entertainment for the young people living there.

Sunday morning I went to a Roman Catholic church, and it was nothing like I have ever

experienced! It was awesome, there was so much singing and dancing, it really was a celebration of their faith. Unfortunately a lot of the singing was in Xhosa so I couldn't understand much of that, but the sermon was in English as was the preparation of the Eucharist which was comforting in a way to see the similarities and connections to home. After church we went back to our host house where our mom was preparing a delicious lunch of chicken curry, potatoes, vegetables, and bean salad. Around three o'clock it was time to say goodbye and our time in Langa was over for now. It was a great experience for me to have, to be able to truly see how everyday life works in a township, and I am so grateful for such a chance!