"If there are Indians, you know it's safe"

The quote is from Spu's friend, Q, that I met Saturday night. We were at a casino/food court/club/movie theater/hotel in Durban. The place was packed with people at 10:30 at night, most of which were Indian. He said "If there are Indians, you know it's safe." So I knew that this place was super safe. 

"How did you end up in Durban?" you say. Let me rewind to Saturday morning. It was a lazy morning. Lwazi left early to go to a clinic at work. I got out of bed around 9:30 am, watched some movies on tv. I then took a shower. Went to the grocery store because I was planning on making dinner. I then came back and watched Tom and Jerry and Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo. After that, I read for a few hours. The weekend was turning out to be a pretty easy going one. 

Well Lwazi came back around 5:30 pm stressed out. He had just had a stressful day dealing with a stranger taking the keys to his mother's Mercedes that he was borrowing. He was stuck at the clinic site all afternoon freaking out but luckily the person returned the keys. He had made some frantic calls and already had Spu (who I had gotten dinner with and bonded over Rick Ross my first night) on his way up from Durban with the spare key. Lwazi sat on the couch and said that he needed to get out of Eshowe and go to Durban. I said, Sure I'm down for an adventure. Once Spu got to the house, with a friend of his from his "hood" nearby, we headed out. I rode with Spu and his friend while Lwazi drove his mother's car separately. First we went to the hood to drop off Spu's friend. It was a lower income area that was dead on the side streets but alive near this main area where a restaurant and bar were. Spu told me that he would bring me back to the hood next for a barbecue. After dropping off his friend, we drove through on and off heavy showers to Durban. We reached the city around 8:30 pm. As we entered Durban, Spu was telling me about the different areas where the blacks lived, where the colored people (mix of Indian and black) and where the white people lived. Very interesting to hear about the separation. We drove straight to the beach and met up with Q, who was with his girlfriend and girlfriend's friend. We piled back into the car and drove to different parts of Durban to drop off the girlfriend's friend and girlfriend. Definitely saw some different areas of wealth during this drive. Spu then drove us back to the beach and to the casino/food/etc. place. Plans to get dinner were changed once we got in contact with Lwazi. We left this place that was buzzing with life. Adults, families, teenagers, kids running around all over the place. As mentioned before, most of them were Indian and this is when Q told me about Indians and safety. After meeting up with Lwazi at an intersection, I hopped out, bid farewell to Spu and Q, hopped into Lwazi's car and drove to Lwazi's mother's house. Lwazi had gotten some good ol' Indian mutton curry. I'd been wanting to try SA Indian food since getting here and I'll say...I can't tell a difference. It tastes just like other curries I've had. We watched some bad Nigerian soap opera and then went to sleep.

Sunday we got up early and headed out. Lwazi drove us through Durban so I could see it during the day. I was able to see the Durban Soccer stadium that is in the shape of a basket. It is awesome looking. Also got to drive past the rugby stadium that hosts the Sharks. I then finally got to see the Indian Ocean and it was beautiful! Blue waters with merchant ships in the background and white waves crashing on the beaches. Can't wait to go back and go into the water. Alas we had to head back. We drove a different route back to Eshowe that for the first 20 miles or so was a coastal highway. Ocean on the right, rolling green hills on the left. We stopped at this town called Ballito, where I'm considering buying a vacation property in the future. It is about 20 miles outside of Durban and right on the coast. We went to this outdoor mall and got breakfast. Post-breakfast we walked around to different shops. The temptation to buy shoes and clothes was killing me. We spent about two hours there before we headed off. The rest of Sunday was what I initially thought the weekend was going to be, lazy. 

This morning I came to work and found out there was going to be a workshop happening for the employees that go out into the field and work with villagers. Since I do not fall into that category, I've been working on the presentation for the program. Interesting enough, though, is that the woman who was leading the workshop is an American woman. She is from Connecticut, went to school at Georgetown, has worked in Norway and Angola and then ended up in Durban. What was supposed to be a 5 month stay turned into 5 years. She is a consultant now and specializes in a variety of areas. It was great to meet her and I will definitely be getting her contact info. I just finished my lunch which was...KFC! Let me say, the KFC here is much better than in the U.S. 

My next goal is to get some pictures of my accommodations and office. I've just been too lazy to do it. Filled out my March Madness brackets. Have you??? 

Lwazi's mother's house in Durban

She is on a hill so this is the view from her house

Durban Soccer Stadium. You can go in a cart up that arch.

Home of the Sharks rugby team

The Indian Ocean with the merchant ships in the background

Another shot of the ocean.