Pretoria

Welcome to Pretoria!

This is Museum Park, a little complex, which used to be a fire “brigade” station (gotta love the British English), and is now a million different things. There is a larger courtyard with a giant tower in the middle. Robin’s guess is that it was used for fire fighting practice. The buildings surrounding the courtyard serve a variety of purposes, from housing volunteers and staff to being the home for the School of Creative Arts. PCM (Pretoria Community Ministries, internationally known as TLF or Tshwane Leadership Foundation) doesn’t own the place, but seems to have the run of it. The other day a group came to practice fencing in the engine house where there are still fire old trucks! There’s always something happening here.

When you cross the courtyard, you unlock one of the gates leading to quite a few stairs and then a hallway. To the left is the room where, on my first morning I heard beautiful singing echoing. When I went to check it out I found a group of young people running in circles and doing singing exercises. To the right is our dining room/living room. It has white and baby blue walls with mostly orange furniture. Perfect. Across the room you go through a little outdoor hallway that leads either to the patio, where I have eaten nearly every meal since arriving here, or the kitchen. From the stairs if you don’t turn into the dining/living room, you will find another hallway.

The first occupied door is Stevens’ room. He is my new brother. He’s 24 years old, staff at PCM, loves dancing and plays very loud music (mostly Whitney Houston). The next door is Priscilla’s. She is our “house mother.” She’s in her late 40's, early 50's, has a few grown boys and is also staff at PCM. She runs the catering business for TLF, which means there is always something delicious being baked or cooked in our kitchen. She has the gift of hospitality like no one else I have ever met. Yesterday she was preparing lunch for the group of largely low income and homeless youth who have been practicing for a play (sometimes very loudly at night). Not only did she make them a delicious meal, but she set the tables with candles and folded the napkins into the glasses. One of the girls began to cry, expressing how wonderful it was to have such amazing and lovingly prepared home cooked meals. This is how Priscilla lives everyday.

The next door is the room Robin and I share. It has high ceilings and looks out into the city. The sun rises over the clock tower in City Hall that is directly in front of our tall window. The last door is Alexa’s, but I haven’t met her yet as she’s in Mozambique (which is just a bus ride away!). We make up a pretty diverse group since Stevens is Tswana/Zulu, Priscilla is “colored,” which is what people of mixed race are called here. When we were all talking about Obama the other day, Stevens remarked, “so he’s colored?” Robin and I said in the U.S. we would call him “mixed.” He and Priscilla laughed pretty heartily at that. Robin and I are the only Americans I’ve met so far. Alexa has come from Germany, but I believe is originally from somewhere else.


This place feels like home already. I sometime have to remind myself I’m in a different country. I am surprised, though, by how few white people we’ve seen. But it’s nice that people don’t always know right away that we’re foreigners. We could just be white South Africans. People are very friendly, especially men. But Robin and I are both being smart and careful. I”m so glad Robin’s here! It’s amazing to have someone who’s game to explore and also happy to just hang out. I wouldn’t want to walk around all the time by myself. It’s also great to cook again, to settle into a place I know I’ll be for awhile.

They’ve given us a few days off before we start working, which has been great. We’ve done a lot of walking around, finding the internet cafe’s, fruit stands and parks. Priscilla and Stevens took us to the mall one day. Apparently malls are popping up everywhere, perhaps in preparation for next year’s World Cup. Sunday morning Robin and I checked out one of the closest churches, Doxa. I don’t understand how people’s voices can be so powerful. I felt like there were at least ten times as many people in that sanctuary, belting out the beautiful choruses. And the pastor was both entertaining and thoughtful. He talked about coming back to Pretoria after a weekend away and mentioned his nose getting instantly stuffed up as he entered the city. I can definitely vouch for that.

Probably the most exciting thing that has happened so far is that Robin and I went to the zoo! We spent the whole afternoon marveling at the amazing creatures, many of which we’d never heard of. God is so creative!

We walked home from the zoo, smelling the crisp air that seems like fall, though it is actually now closer to Spring. Jacarandas trees line the sidewalks with their golden leaves giving everything a glow. The sidewalks are full of people selling fruit, veggies, snacks and grilled meat on a stick. We walk through Church square, outside the Palace of Justice where Nelson Mandela was tried for treason. We think the president works in one of these buildings too. People are hanging out in front of the scary statue of Paul Kruger. My other favorite spot so far is Burgers Park, where Priscilla runs the catering business from the “kiosk” and PCM headquarters are just across the street. People are hanging out everywhere, just chillin, playing soccer, cuddling on a park bench, napping in the grass.

Sunday was Women’s Day, so most people have the day off today. The School of the Arts’ Art Factory is putting on performances in the park, kicking off the Feast of the Clowns Festival that PCM is putting on. I’m looking forward to another beautiful day.