Howdy Americans,

Today is the second day before going back to reality in America. We are still here in Johannesburg. What did we do today? We visited Nelson Mandela's and Desmond Tutu's homes and we also visited Hector Pieterson museum. Before we headed to Mandela's home, of course, we must have breakfast before the day going. Most of us ate toast with butter spread and added brown sugar on it. Sound delicious, right!

We got in the van, our "uber" and went to Mandela's home. Around 30 mins away from our hostel (Brown Sugar). His house isn't what I expected…it is really small. The city, Soweto, was named after South Western Townships. It is where we saw Nelson's home and it isn't the original one. It was rebuilt in 2005. He lived there when he was sent to Robben island prison. This house is recognized by National Heritage. Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu lived on the same street name Vilakazi. Desmond Tutu and his wife lived in their house since 1975 and had their 50th wedding anniversary there. It is rare to have two Nobel Peace winners to live on the same street.

Second part of the day was Hector Pieterson museum. It was so touchy that it gave me goosebumps! It's about black young students having a march about their language…they prefer to have English than Afrikaan. They didn't know what would happen next. Police trying to calm them down by throwing a stone to them, then the students got mad and decided to throw it back which make police start shooting them. Hector Pieterson didn't plan to join march but he was curious because his sister, Antoinette, was part of the march. Hector and Antoinette were hiding in one place, then suddenly, Hector was missing by hiding another place. Antoinette started worrying and later, she spotted a guy holding a boy. Antoinette knew it was Hector when she recognized his shoes. The guy who held Hector, said "He's finished". Antoinette grieved and didn't expect her own brother being shot by the police. Police killed more than 600 students and 1,000 were wounded. I couldn't imagine myself seeing somebody holding my brother. Now Hector Pieterson become a symbol of this terrible incident.

After the heart-breaking museum, we went to African restaurant name Sakhumzi. We ate buffet filled with African foods. These foods taste very interesting, and some of those foods are good, so parents…y'all shouldn't be worried. After the meal, we ate DESSERTS! The desserts tasted so good! All of us ate ice cream with malava. Perfect treat from a long day!

Last part of the day was Orlando Tower. Orlando Tower is place where tourist can have a "heart attack" such like bungee jump, freefall jump, and paintball. It has a restaurant too. This place is also a well-known landmark in Soweto.

Our day was great and same time touchy such as Hector Peterson. Now it is time for us to go to bed and get some sleep for another long day tomorrow! Goodnight Americans!

Your beloved,

Kaci

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Comments:

Crystal Schwartz: Sounds like a good balance in your day: impactful experience at the museum, adventures with food, and fund at the tower. Good to know!

Traci: Glad you all had a good productive day, before going back to USA! Enjoyed reading about Hector museum, my heart breaks too. Thanks KJ for sharing.