#Africa

Happy New Year! Thorsten and I recently returned to Joburg after an incredible 10-day road trip through Limpopo province. I have many stories to tell about that trip, but before I get into that I want to write a quick review of my first two months driving Greylene, my new Suzuki Jimny.

Some of you might remember a post I wrote last year about bicycle spinning and stance in Soweto. The bicycle stance subculture, which is the art of transforming regular bikes into flamboyant showpieces that ride very close to the ground, stemmed from the car stance culture – same thing, but with cars.

For those of you who didn’t see on social media already, I bought a car. Her name is Greylene and she is a 2022 [Suzuki Jimny](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_Jimny#:~:text=The%20Suzuki%20Jimny%20(Japanese%3A%20%E3%82%B9%E3%82%BA%E3%82%AD,Japanese%20automaker%20Suzuki%20since%201970.).

I have never been a “car person”. I have never thought much about cars and never understood why people spend such insanely large amounts of money, time, and brain space on cars. My previous car, Henrike – named for the very dear, now-departed friend who sold her to me – was a tiny, no-frills, 2007 Hyundai Atos, and she suited my needs perfectly for a decade.

Last weekend Thorsten and I visited Dolobran, one of Joburg’s oldest, quirkiest, and most mysterious mansions, on a tour with the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation (JHF). Dolobran is unique among Joburg’s “Randlord” mansions (other examples of which include Villa Arcadia and the View) in that it’s privately owned, still occupied by descendants of the original owners, and almost never open to the public. Saturday’s tour was open only to JHF members and photography wasn’t allowed inside.

I know nothing about rugby. In 13 years of living in South Africa I’ve attended only one live rugby match. But I know a lot about sports and I know a lot about people. And I know that Saturday’s Rugby World Cup final between South Africa and New Zealand was something I’ve never seen before: An entire nation of 62 million people coming together – forgetting their gaping divides, forgetting their country’s problems and all the world’s problems – experiencing unadulterated joy while watching a sports team that belongs to all of them.