How to Explore Joburg With Older People
My dad, Tenney, and his longtime partner, Debbie, visited Joburg from America a couple of weeks ago. Dad hadn't been here since 2013 and Debbie had never been, so I was excited for their [...]
5 Quirky Joburg Places I Like
Lately, whenever I meet someone and they tell me how much they appreciate my blog and what I do for Joburg, I feel ashamed. I've hardly posted this year, and posts about Joburg have [...]
15 Years of 2Summers in Joburg
This post first appeared in Johannesburg In Your Pocket. I published my first blog post on 6 June 2010, making this month the 15th anniversary of the 2Summers blog. (I didn’t actually move to [...]
Soweto Night Out: A Walk Through South Africa’s History
Last Thursday evening I went to Soweto with a group of journalists, tourists, and locals, and we did a simple yet revolutionary thing: We walked around at night. The walk was part of a [...]
A Special Tour in Bulte (Noordgesig): Sign Up Now
Regular readers will know that I've written a couple of posts about Noordgesig -- affectionately called Bulte, which means "Hills" in Afrikaans -- lately (see here and here). Last year I befriended Lavinia and [...]
Tuesday Night at the Sawubona Music Jam
Last Tuesday I put on my big-girl pants -- or, more accurately, my young-girl pants -- and stayed out past midnight to attend the Sawubona Music Jam in Chiwelo, Soweto. I've known about the [...]
Matric Farewell: Party of the Year in Bulte
When I moved to South Africa I was very confused by the word matric. "My daughter is in matric," someone would say, or, "My son is studying for matric exams," and I would smile [...]
A Stance Car Park-Off at FNB Stadium
Some of you might remember a post I wrote last year about bicycle spinning and stance in Soweto. The bicycle stance subculture, which is the art of transforming regular bikes into flamboyant showpieces that [...]
A Morning in Noordgesig
I recently connected with Fabian and Lavinia Otto during a Johannesburg Heritage Foundation tour of Coronationville and Bosmont. Fabian and Lavinia were our guides for the Coronationville/Bosmont tour but they actually live in Noordgesig, [...]
Literary Magic at the Soweto Book Café
Last Saturday Thorsten and I went to a launch of Eve Fairbanks' new book, The Inheritors, at the Soweto Book Café. I was excited because: 1) Eve and I have been friends for years [...]
Spinning Bicycles in Soweto
Last Saturday afternoon I stood on Mbolekwa Street in Dlamini, Soweto, with a couple of hundred other spectators, watching teenage boys spinning around on super-long, low-slung bicycles. Most of the bikes didn't have brakes, [...]
Diepkloof, Soweto, on a Sunday
I'm really distracted right now, planning a mini out-of-town getaway this afternoon and a move to a new house (and a new neighborhood!) this weekend. My blog will soon be filled with news of [...]