Lingerings...

Three years ago, coming into the murky gutts of Joburg Central made me wince in disdain...
All the cars, taxis, noise, humans, buildings...
Most of that disdain and fear most South African's hold for this "once upon a time" great city....dissipated.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not about to carry my handbag casually on my arm and walk 6 blocks alone. But, I guess my eyes are just more open to the colour, diversity....life that this cemented estate holds.
Condemned buildings built in 1889 with their boarded windows and doors, between newer, more modern high rises...the contrast between old and new is starkest in the older parts of this metropolis.
At least half a dozen different cultures culminate on a stretch of shops lining busy streets, while below this city are underground parking lots, filled to capacity by cars driven by the enormous workforce that floods this city 24hours a day, 7 days a week.
As I drive through the busy streets, calling on customers, I pass street vendors trying to make a living, guys dancing to the music playing in their earphones, people sitting in the winter sun on sidewalks warming themselves before heading back into the old cold buildings they work in...

Students wearing the latest fashion, old men dressed in their 70's best to go draw their wages at the banks, women laughing and chatting as they wait for busses and taxis.
And inbetween all these oddly matched buildings lined up at eachothers sides....the sky rises above all this concrete and asphalt, clear and blue.

Sigh.