Jozi Round-up
When I first moved to Joburg I blogged about everything I did. Going for a walk, shopping for groceries, sitting in the yard watching birds…No activity was too trivial. Everything was bloggable.
Nearly three years later, my blogging habits have changed. I do a lot more exciting things than I used to and I don’t have the time to blog about them all. I also don’t bring my big camera with me everywhere I go anymore, which means I’m at the mercy of my iPhone camera. Sometimes I get good pictures and sometimes I don’t. If I don’t get enough good pictures, I don’t blog. Hence, I pick and choose my bloggable experiences.
It occurred to me yesterday that I’ve done all kinds of interesting things in the last two weeks and I’ve hardly blogged about any of them. So here’s a quick round-up of my recent (almost-bloggable) adventures.
Yeoville/Ponte walk
Two Saturdays ago I took a walking tour of Yeoville hosted by Dlala Nje. (You might remember that I went on a walk around Hillbrow and Ponte city with Dlala Nje a couple of months ago.) I really like Yeoville and I enjoyed the walk, but I didn’t bring my DSLR along. This resulted in a dearth good pictures. I did get a couple of decent iPhone shots, below.
A Yeoville ridge overlooking the city. This is one of my favorite views in Joburg – I’ve written about it once before.
Yeoville kids.
The Yeoville walk did not officially include a tour of Ponte City, even though the walk started and ended from there. But the Ponte core is open to the public so my friends and I went down for a look after the walk. (If you want to know how to get in there, send me a message and I’ll explain.)
Ponte core. So awesome.
Chinese New Year Celebration
Later that same evening, I went to Joburg’s Old Chinatown to celebrate the Chinese New Year. I left early – my ears were ringing from all the fireworks going off in every direction. Plus the food lines were too long and I got hit in the leg with a firecracker. It wasn’t very pleasant.
Commissioner Street in downtown Jozi, decorated for the Chinese New Year. The lanterns were nice but I was otherwise unimpressed. I did hear that the big fireworks display was amazing, but I was gone by that time.
One Billion Rising at Constitution Hill
This event actually deserves its own post. But I missed the boat on that so I’ll include it here.
On Valentine’s Day I attended the Joburg One Billion Rising demonstration at Constitution Hill, on the site of the old women’s prison. One Billion Rising events took place all over the world last Thursday, protesting the pandemics of rape and violence against women.
View of Hillbrow from the ramparts of the Old Fort Prison at Constitution Hill.
A powerful, graphic protest against rape.
The other day, while waiting in line at the bank, I saw the following news headline flash past on a TV screen: “144 women report rape in South Africa each day. Research reveals only 1 in 25 women report rape.” These statistics are unacceptable. Enough is enough.
Sunset at Constitution Hill.
Miscellaneous weekend fun
This past weekend was filled with quirky fun stuff.
On Saturday morning I attended a photography exhibition about the Troyeville Bedtime Story at Gallery MOMO in Parktown North. This kid is posing in front of a huge piece of wallpaper made from a photograph of the Troyeville Bedtime Story headboard. Please don’t ask me to explain. Just enjoy the photo.
Crazy shot of Moonchild rocking out at the Afrikan Freedom Station. I’ve written about both Moonchild and the African Freedom Station in previous posts.
I ended the weekend with a sunset Instawalk on the Melville Koppies.
My Instagramming friend Tim.
Wild dagga flowers in the koppies.
Sunset behind the power lines.
Writing this post has made me exhausted and I haven’t even written about the all the things I did over the last two weekends. These are only the highlights.
I need a holiday from all the Jozi fun.
My parents were up for the past week and we did so much of fun stuff yet I think you and I only did one thing that overlapped (Chinese New Year.) There really is SO much to do in Jozi. It really does get REALLY tiring!
I hear you, Jozi is just too much fun! Have had family over the past few weekends and we did so much. I’m so busy with work and having fun, that I don’t seem to blog about anything these days. I really should though :)
Having fun comes first. Blogging second :)
Hi Heather. I feel exactly the same about life here in Santiago. In the beginning (curiously, also three years ago), I wrote about everything in my blog, but now life just seems to get in the way. I have done so many random, interesting things so far in 2013 and not written about any of them, so you have inspired me to write a kind of “year to date” summary post. Thanks! P.S. I love the fact that even though most of the photos here are with an Iphone, they are all still amazing shots.
Thanks so much, Ingrid. Yes, blogging become overwhelming when you get busy. The more things you have to write about, the less time you have to blog. Thanks for the compliment on my photos – that really means a lot.
Makes me miss Jozi. I agree, for a blogger there is the constant pull of blogging versus doing things to blog about. Doing too much of one leaves either no material or no time for the other, a bit of a catch 22! Especially since you really have to write about what you do right away, or you lose your sense of urgency or your best voice. I’ve faced this dilemma since leaving with about 25 started blog posts, none of them finished, because my life is now so different…
Great photo montage! Thanks for sharing.
I also want to thank you for attending One Billion Rising and for sharing images from the protest against rape. The panties with Enough is Enough painted on them is a pretty powerful message. Too, too much violence against women in this world.
I tend to be a lurker but I thought I should pop in and let you know that I appreciate you sharing your experiences and beautiful photos.
Thanks, Sally
Thanks so much, Sally. Lurker or otherwise, I appreciate your readership. And I agree about the message conveyed in that One Billion Rising display.
Best, Heather :)