Kelli’s Golden Birthday: September 27, 2006

In order to celebrate Kelli’s Golden Birthday (27 on the 27th) and to take a break from house repairs, we planned a celebratory trip to Pretoria. We woke up early in order to catch the 6am bus and were treated with a beautiful sunrise. After an hour bus ride followed by a half an hour taxi ride (all the taxis that service the Menlyn area of Pretoria have bumper stickers that say ‘Menlyn Taxi Ass’, no period, and it cracks us up!) we found ourselves at Menlyn Mall. Now if you know Kelli, a mall is not a place she would choose to spend a birthday, but under the circumstances and our travel restrictions, it was glorious. We arrived before most of the stores were open, so we spent some time studying the map, yes the mall is big enough to require a paper map, and marveling at the monstrosity of wealth only an hour and a half away from our village. We took some time to stroll around, checking out the IMAX, outside theatre, drive-in movie, restaurants and hundreds of stores, many of them American.

Once opened, we treated ourselves to smoothies. Not as good as Jamba Juice, but Kelli got a peanut butter/ banana/ chocolate smoothie that was divine. Next stop was the game store where we found many of our favorites, including a cribbage board which we splurged on. At this time we met up with some of our fellow Peace Corps friends from our area and we relaxed and caught up over lunch. We then devoted some time to shopping as we needed to purchase bedding, more cleaning supplies, and mandatory snacks. On the way out the door we found a Carvel and treated ourselves to the biggest ‘medium’ ice cream cones we have ever eaten. There must have been a least a pint of ice cream in each of our cones. Kelli was more than full about half way through hers, but pushed herself to finish as we had no idea when the next Carvel would come along.

Our tummies full, we began the long and adventurous trip home. We caught a taxi right outside the mall and informed the driver that we wished to go to the bus station. In the taxi we sat next to a comedian who thought it was hilarious and ridiculous that we are not allowed to go to Jo-burg (PC policy because of the high rates of crime) and gave us some tourist brochures and posters advertising his shows. After being shuffled into another taxi, we were finally dropped off at a run-down, deserted bus station. We began asking vendors and locals where we could catch the bus to Vezubuhle and were finally told to follow three women.

At this point we were getting a little nervous, especially since we each had 2 bags full of newly purchased goodies, but we didn’t have to many options so we followed the women up a dark, dirty flight of stairs, into a bustling open-air market and then through a maize of alleys. At this point we realized that we were re-enacting a textbook mugging scenario that we had been told during training where a volunteer had all of her belonging stolen after following a group of women to the ‘taxi’ station. There were still plenty of people around so we weren’t concerned enough to stop following the women. Finally, after what seemed like forever, we found ourselves at another bus station. Thanking the women, we got in the front of the line for the bus to Vezubuhle.

It was about 4:30 pm at this point and we were feeling good about making it home before dark once we heard that the next bus would be arriving around 4:45pm. We took some time to take in our surrounding: hundreds of people waiting for buses after a long day of work and vendors selling the most ridiculous objects imaginable: huge bags of fruit and vegetables, cell phone covers, brooms, mops, rakes, steel wool, bags, cooking utensils, light bulbs, and much more. We also shared in some friendly conversations with those in line around us.

At about 5:15pm the bus pulled up and the people we had just been chatting with turned into ruthless running backs, pushing their way to the entrance of the bus. We thought for sure that someone would be run over as everyone pushed towards the moving bus. In an out-of-character moment, Kelli stood her ground and pushed back in order not to lose her spot at the front of the line. The main drive behind this was not so much principal as the fear of spending the entire bus ride standing up and the pain that would cause her back. Plus, it was her birthday and she was going to get a seat on the bus! Kelli’s resolve was rewarded and with some pushing, she was one of the first people onto the already crowded bus. After paying the driver, Kelli looked back to give Joe his receipt only to find him trapped in a mass of humanity. When Joe finally made it to the door, he was surrounded by gogo’s, in front, behind, beside and even beneath him, pushing and struggling to get on the bus. All Joe had to do was pick up his feet and he would be carried onto the bus.

From her well-earned seat, Kelli caught glimpses of his face smashed into the glass partition that protects the bus driver as the gogos were attempting to crawl over, under and through him. Joe finally made it on the bus, although he did have to stand for the ride home. In exchange, Kelli held the bags and almost passed out from heat exhaustion caused by the plastic bags. After a hot, crowded, bumpy hour and a half ride, we finally found ourselves at home, still in time for dinner. Kelli got calls from both families and her sister that evening which was an extra special treat. We finally fell into our newly outfitted bed (egg crate, sheets, pillows and blanket) and drifted into a blissful sleep. Who would have thought that Kelli would be spending her golden birthday at a mall in Pretoria, South Africa?!