Into the township Imbali...

Today we officially made history. I made a friend in my dorm the other night and he invited me to see"another part of South Africa"- the townships. Since the townships are strictly black he knew that we would not be able to go alone and offered to take us to the township where his sister lives, thirty minutes away.
Getting there was an adventure in itself. First we took a kumbe into town. A kumbe is like a large van taxi/bus. They have specific routes, of course the routes and stops are not written down anywhere. We were told you will just "figure it out". Well, kumbes are not really a mode of transportation whites really take so the stares began immediatly when we got on. For the equivilent of 40 cents a person we were downtown at the kumbe rank to go to the township. This is a place "white people definatly never come", but i was enjoying the adventure. From there we got in another kumbe and went (for 70 cents) into the township of Imbali, Unit 18.
The township was massive, covering miles and miles of rolling hills. After walking around, meeting his sister and nephews we went to the meeting place of the township. There they pick out raw meet and grill it for you outside. We drank bottles of beer and relaxed on the grass and listen to House Music- like elevator techno music on crack/all they listen to here- and were stared and talk to some of the people that lived there. Around five, it became like an ourtoor happy hour. After the picnic we headed back to the university. History was made in Unit 18, and as time moves further away from apartheid, more barriers are broken.