Think Pink!

First of all, let me apologize for not putting up a single blog in a week. Sorry, but for the last week things have been pretty mellow, casual, dull, and any other synonym you can think of for boring, so it was difficult to find anything interesting to blog about ... OR ... maybe I was too busy and distracted by all the amazingly cool things I get to do in South Africa and you don’t because you are stuck in the boring old US of A to even think about writing a lame old blog.... OR ... maybe it’s a mixture of both? You know, like hot and cold, i.e. lukewarm. I would go with option C, most things usually are...

So this past Friday, July 18^th was a great day, which from this sentence forward will be known as “Pink Friday,” but only because “Rainbow Friday” doesn’t sound as cool! It all began with an interview. As part of our class, we are required to interview a South African person and write up an essay. At first, I was rather unenthusiastic about the idea of having to interview someone because: A. I don’t like to conduct interviews (I am really socially awkward when conversations are forced or expected); B. I didn’t know who to interview (I don’t know anyone here!). However, once we started to go to Lwandle, I began noticing how different people’s attitudes were towards homosexuality in the Townships and in the actual city of Cape Town. Once I noticed this, it was settled. I knew i had to interview a Gay man from the township.

Cape Town is considered, so I have heard, the Gay capital of Africa—not that there is much competition, although I think Cairo is a close second, ha!—and same-sex marriage is legal here--the fourth country in the world to do so, whopdi woop!—so I figured that the society would be relatively open and accepting on this issue, right? WRONG, especially in the townships. This topic is very taboo, but hey, what’s life without some excitement and turmoil. So, via Lunga, the Lwandle Museum curator, I met my new found friend, Zackes (pseudonym) whom I interviewed. The interview went great, but he couldn’t speak English very well, so I had to have Lunga translate which made the interview all the more awkward and difficult.

Details aside, it was a very eye-opening interview; I learned a whole heck of a lot, which I guess is the point...dur! The craziest, okay, okay, the most meaningful, moment was when he told me that my interview made him feel human! He told me (this was outside of the interview, so it’s okay if I say this) that the mere fact that someone was interested in listening to his stories and struggles made him feel like a real human. My heart melted (Cornn-y. I know, right!). I know that this may sound scripted, but it really did happen. Damn, I then realized that this is why I want to be a scholar, and that this is why I need to study the GLBT community. I realized that by writing about my community, I can, in a similar way, give life to its existence, livelihood, and power. I never saw them coming, both the epiphany and the comment.

After my first eye-opening experience at Lwandle, I moved on to my second, which began with dinner promptly at 8:30. I had been in Cape Town almost three weeks and I hadn’t even seen one single freaking rainbow flag hanging from a brightly painted coffee shop selling ornate delicatessens, or an organic homemade soap and shampoo shop, or corner candle and flower shop etc., etc. (ha! Just kidding ya’ll). I had to remedy this, and since there is a lack of sexual diversity within the cohort, I was compelled to find outside help. Thankfully, I have a very popular professor who introduced me to my ally in crime for the night, Hayden.

After our 8:30 dinner, Hayden, a couple of his friends and I made our way to the famous “Pink Corner,” which is a convenient conglomeration of gay clubs and bars all on the same block. Talk about trouble, no? Once again, details aside (come on, I need to keep this blog rated PG!), the night was very very enjoyable, but it is not hard to have a good time with good company, right?

Finally, my appetite to experience what the “Pink Rand” can buy you in Cape Town has now been quelled, but at the same time, it has opened a bottomless Pandora’s Box within my aspiring intellectual head. For the third time, I will spare you the details, but let’s just say that I won’t just be leaving South Africa with bags of souvenirs and a heart full of memories, but also a brain full of ideas and questions! I may be indulging in the “Pink Rand” much sooner and more often than I had ever though...