Sunny days and nights full of stars

by Rosanna Kemme (Netherlands)

Making a local connection South Africa

A G&T at the bar and a casual chat. Squeezed lime and yes I am ready for this day. Double shot gin and my grey eye sacks seem to mentally disappear. The day just started, but is already making place for the night. Past the empty chairs and tables I walk to welcome the nightly breeze, only to find a great crowd of strangers blocking the street with their fine dance moves. Where did they come from? Their fresh white sneakers get lit up by the lights of a car trying to pass through the street that has converted itself spontaneously in a beautiful open stage of body movement. Tonight is new years eve. There are no rules. Tonight we block the street with our dance moves. Alexandra and I both agree that we can’t dance like these guys. We both do it anyway. Meters above us, on a tiny terrace on the first floor of the building, the DJ spins his finest records on a small table. I have to tell you, this party was never planned. Spontaneous events seem to be part of the exciting life here. This city has many different sounds and a lot of energy. Thousands of streets and millions of people. Yet this group of 30 strangers found each other here, in this random street. At this very moment I stand still on the pavement and take a moment to realize the beautiful energy of this city and its strangers who quickly became friends. New years eve or not, there’s always a big variety of nightly events here. Something different for every moonrise. In this with skyscrapers and dust filled city I experienced cosy house parties with a mix of tourists and locals, and a hiphop party in a venue sponsored by a big liquor brand where the urban fashioned locals dance in tight groups and damn, they've got the moves. We ate chicken at the slums where we partied our heads of on the finest local music. Nights where the dead animal heads hung on the wall: the apple-green wall, in the far away neighborhood, behind a not so special door in that ordinary street. The city is full of mysteries, and that’s what I love about her. Another night we sang ‘’hello from the other side’’ while being super drunk. One man passed out on the couch. One man already gave up since he had to go to work very early. Another friend of ours is still with us, and the barman. The most generous barman that showed his excitement caused by this 5 rando's that were the only ones to walk into his newly opened bar that night, by giving us shot after shot after sho after sh after s after ‘’HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIIIIIIII-DE’’. Earlier this week These extrovert experiences were so in contrast with the conversation I held with Hazel, a woman with hazel brown eyes. She was a stranger that made me look deep into her soul. Her eyes were filled with deep hazel brown glanzed tears as she told me her life stories and struggles as a woman of color. I want to thank her for being so open to me and letting me into her world. On the same afternoon on the same bench, a couple arrived on their cool bicycles. A cool bicycle is one that automatically gives a person the stares and makes them a whole lot more appealing - even though they need to wear a helmet with it. They asked me if they sit could with me and we started a chat. They were two young puppies drowning in sticky honey. They asked and told me about sex and love experiences within different cultures, not leaving away any details, while sometimes doing their magnetic eye thing to each other. With open mouth I listen to them, and as they are daring me and a friend to imitate their magnetism, I can almost see their imaginary honey dripping from all sides of the bodies and smudging their minds into one. And here I am, wondering if they would shine this bright if they would be kissing under a different sky.