#South Africa

For nearly three years, Thorsten and I have watched and listened to the exercise classes happening in Kingston Frost Park behind our Brixton house. We walked past many times and spoke to Dennis Dlomo, the coach, who greets everyone passing by and invites them to join. I heard the classes every morning and afternoon while typing on my laptop in my home office. But we didn’t get up the courage to actually join Dennis Dlomo’s Fantastic Fitness Club (the word “fantastic” is my own addition) until last month.

I don’t want to go into the whole story of why the library, which underwent a glorious renovation just a little over a decade ago, has been closed for such an inordinately long time – theoretically for repairs. There are lots of other stories you can read about that, and anyway if you live in Joburg you already know the answer. The city is experiencing a complete breakdown of infrastructure and public services, and our political leaders seem unwilling or unable to do anything about it.

Every time I think I’ve visited all the historic churches in downtown Joburg, another one pops out of the woodwork. My latest “discovery” is the spectacular Cathedral of St. Mary the Virgin, or St. Mary’s Cathedral, on Wanderers Street in the Joburg CBD.

Ever since I moved to Melville in 2010 – and since long before that – people have been portending the suburb’s demise. “Melville’s not like it used to be,” people would say. And I used to chuckle at those people until a couple of years ago, when I’m ashamed to admit I became one of them.

I recently learned a bonkers statistic: Around 40% of all of the hominid fossils ever discovered were unearthed in the Cradle of Humankind. In other words, close to half of all the known fossils from our human ancestors – in the entire world – came out of the ground right here in Gauteng Province. This UNESCO World Heritage Site, less than an hour from Joburg, is more than a bunch of bucolic green hills – it’s one of the most important archeological regions on earth.

This jumpsuit love story began eight months ago, when I booked a Caraci experience on Airbnb to celebrate my birthday. Thorsten and I spent a glorious day in the Joburg CBD, shopping for African print fabric, learning how to sew, hanging out in the city, and having fabulous jackets made to our exact measurements.