A long overdue update.

First, due to a lack of internet availability and some very busy days, this update is extremely overdue; so before getting into any details, sorry about that. Hopefully our update won’t disappoint! Pictures will be posted at a later date.

On June 19th, my dad took Sara and I to Klerksdorp, his childhood town. We visited the homes he grew up in, his school, and my grandfather’s medical office. We also visited with some friends that my dad hasn’t seen for close to 40 years. In the usual South African way, we were very warmly welcomed into their home despite no phone call or warning, and fed not once but twice. The most interesting part of the visit for my dad was getting a better appreciation of the work my grandfather did with the local African community and the difficulty it caused him under the Apartheid regime. For Sara and me, it was absolutely wonderful to see the places that we’ve heard about for so many years, and see the people that were a part of my dad’s childhood.

The next day, my dad’s cousin had a reunion for the Joburg family (the small side of the family with a mere 12 cousins). For my dad, many of these cousins were revelations since they’re younger than him and he didn’t know them very well when he left for Canada. Again, it was so good to hear stories about my dad, his cousins and aunts and uncles, and my grandparents, from people who were so close to them.

We managed (through some fantastic work from one of my cousins) to snag some tickets for a World Cup game, so in the late afternoon, we headed over to Soccer City for the match between Brazil and Côte d’Ivoire. Soccer City is an amazing stadium built in the shape of a calabash with a capacity of 8,800. The match up was a classic – the kings of South American soccer versus the best of Africa. Unfortunately for us, Côte d’Ivoire went down in defeat (and Brazil was a bit disappointing). The good news is that Ghana’s Black Stars are still going strong, and we’re supporting them all the way.

On June 21st, we took Joburg’s new high speed train system, the Gautrain (named after the province Gauteng) to Sandton, Joburg’s premier shopping and hotel destination. We looked around, saw a 3D show, and saw many a rowdy Spanish fan. Good times all around.

The following day, we flew to Durban, which was my grandfather’s home city, and is home to some of the most beautiful beaches anywhere. The weather here is a thousand times better (none of us were dreading getting into or out of bed, which was a definite step in the right direction). June 23rd we spent relaxing and enjoying the not-so-frigid weather, and in the evening, we took a drive and got ice cream at Sun Coast, which is basically a giant building with tons of restaurants and a casino right on the beach.

On June 24th in the morning, we did a tour of Durban by bus and saw a lot of the city. After, we headed down to the beach and one of the many fan parks to watch the Italy/Slovakia game. This particular fan park is apparently the best in SA, which I can believe: imagine watching a World Cup game on a massive screen while sitting on the sand of a beautiful beach! The boardwalk along the beach is jumping with music, arts, and some gumboot dancers (this dance originated with the indentured African labourers in the mines around Johannesburg). Funny story: as the three of us and a whole herd of family were all enjoying the sun and the sea, two men with cameras and a giant microphone came up to us and said they were doing a piece on Crisitano Ronaldo for a German T.V. station and asked us to participate. Before we could really say yes or no, they asked “what do you think of Ronaldo?”, which ended up being the most serious question; from there it was things like “is he handsome” or “would you marry him”. We were mostly grateful that no one we know watches German T.V.…

After the game, Sara and I tried one of South Africa’s uniquely famous culinary treats: the bunny chow. A bunny chow is a quarter loaf of bread with the center removed and then filled with curry (or a hamburger and fries if you’re other cities in SA). Aay, it was so delicious.

The next day, we went back to the fan park to watch first Brazil/Portugal, and then Spain/Chile. The first game was pretty disappointing, but the second game was so much fun, and the atmosphere was amazing. After the second game, a DJ came onto the stage on the beach and basically made the entire population of fans into a giant dancing unit. We stayed there until almost midnight dancing with a whole bunch of my dad’s cousins and their children, it was so wonderful!

The next morning, we took a fantastic drive down the South Coast, stopping along the way at a few beaches and interesting landmarks. It was absolutely beautiful.

We spent most of the 26th relaxing. In the evening, a group of 14 of us piled into two cars and headed into town for a hilarious one-man show called “Bend It Like Beauty”. After, we all ended up having pizza and tea together, and just enjoying being all together until late into the night. As an aside, I finally understand where my love of tea originates; I’ve been drinking so much tea and am absolutely in the right place.

So yesterday, another of my dad’s cousins took us out for the day. We went to a sort of marineworld here in Durban called uShaka. We spent the day out and around there, and it was so nice. We spent the evening at home with my dad’s cousins’ family.

Finally now we’re at today! We were out with our family all day, seeing a movie, shopping, and spending some time on the beach. Tonight we’ll be watching the soccer game all together and not too much else.

Ok so that’s all for now! Hopefully updates will be more regular now that we’re a little more settled. My mom and Adam are coming on Friday night (we’re missing them quite terribly and are mighty excited to see them), and in a week and a half we have a family reunion, where, if all my dad’s cousins and their children come, there will be about 200 guests!

- Leila, Sara, and Yusuf (aka Uncle Yusi or Yufus)

Finally here!

After two long, awful plane rides, we finally arrived in Johannesburg on Tuesday night. A word of advice: if you ever plan on coming to South Africa, stop over in a European city for a few days in between flights. Awful.
Once we arrived, we waited for our luggage, which apparently had gotten shipped to some kind of cargo warehouse. But everyone in the airport was super nice and our bag rolled around sooner than we expected. My dad’s cousin and her husband picked us up from the airport, and we headed back to their house. It was so cold! It’s like early spring without the snow here. Good thing we brought some pants…
Yesterday we spent the day hanging around the house under blankets. We watched the soccer games on TV and ate our first meal, which was incredibly delicious. Bafana Bafana played a game in Johannesburg last night, so we all dressed warmly and went to a giant fanpark. My dad says that it’s very interesting to see how the World Cup, and having the South African soccer team in it, has united the entire country. It’s quite fantastic. They lost, but the atmosphere was amazing anyway.
Today we’re going shopping for all kinds of soccer gear. Tonight Mexico and France are playing, so we’ll be watching that at home.
We’re having a fantastic time, and we’ll update again soon!
-Leila, Sara, and Yusuf

The adventure begins...

Hello! Welcome to the Osmans' blog for our trip to South Africa!

Tomorrow, Yusuf (my dad), Sara, and I (Leila, today's blog updater) will be leaving for Montreal, then Amsterdam, and finally Johannesburg. On July 1st, Adam and Lori (my mom) will be joining us. Once we're all together, we'll be moving between Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town, and we'll be making a short trip to Kruger National Park.

The first exciting part of this trip is the fact that the World Cup is going on in South Africa right now! We're excited to be there in the middle of the hype and spirit, and to be a part of all the fantastic and exciting images we've been seeing on TV since the tournament started on Friday morning. Apparently the atmosphere in SA right now is the most exciting any World Cup has ever seen! My dad and Adam are extra excited because they're both ardent soccer fans...and Sara and I both don't mind the Spanish soccer team. Or the Ghanain team. At all. My mom says ditto.

Our trip is also very exciting because it's our first time in South Africa (not to mention the first time we've traveled all together in quite a while). This trip has a special meaning for my dad, because the last time he was in SA was in 1992, before the fall of apartheid. This is the first time he'll be in a South Africa that is not governed by apartheid. It should be interesting to see his perspective and feelings about the new SA. The trip is a very big deal for each of us; it will give us the opportunity to finally meet our South African relatives for the first time, and, after almost 20 years, will be a homecoming to a changed country for our dad.

We hope that you'll follow along and read about our trip! We plan on updating this with our adventures as often as possible, and if we can figure out the technology, to add photos whenever we can!

Take care. Go Bafana Bafana!

- the Osman family