Market Weekend

I know the first thing many of you will ll say when looking at these pictures is, "Who is that beautiful woman?" I kid. The first thing you'll say is, "What in heaven's name is that delicious looking food?!"

The answer lies in our activity for last weekend--Market Weekend! After bidding au revoir to Andrea and Gregoire on Friday night, we found ourselves at the Braamfontein Market on Saturday morning with friends. And let me tell you folks: that scene could put a Williamburg-living, work-boots-and-plaid-shirt-wearing, irony-dripping, skinny-jeans-sporting, perma-five-o'clock-shadow-and/or-Zooey-Deschanel-haircut-having hipster to shame. If anyone ever tells you that Johannesburg (read: Joburg or Jozi, but never J-burg no matter how much I try to get it to catch on) isn't a city of cool, tell them they're a damned dirty liar. Braamfontein's Neighborgoods Market is great: a place where in a matter of steps, I can obtain a glass of champagne, nachos, and a "Balkan Burger" (read: a delicious burger of pounded, grilled, spiced, cheesy sausage). It's an interesting area and the site of some urban rejuvenation seeking to reinvent the public market as a civic and community institution. As you might imagine, that angle really appealed to the public-policy-and-urban-planning geeks that live inside of me and Peter.

Sunday, then, had a lot to live up to. Enter the market of Arts on Main! Another great market that, dare I say, was even better attended by the Johannesburg hipster set. This market again provided access to some great food--my favorite of which was the "bunny chow." Imagine a half-loaf of white bread hollowed out and filled with spicy curry, and you've just imagined the best Sunday I've ever had. Needless to say, my mouth is watering right now just thinking about it! This market also provided a platform for some really interesting local artists and their projects. One of these was "I Was Shot in Joburg," a community-oriented project that helps street kids develop photography skills and then record their environment before formatting those photos for sale to the public (http://www.iwasshotinjoburg.co.za/Landing.aspx). Just one example of the dynamic and really, really cool environment here in this city.

I particularly enjoyed our trip to the markets because it reminds me a lot of how people used to think about cities like MSP. That is, Joburg hasn't always been synonymous with "cool" and "urban" and "fashion" and "art." Instead, it tends to get a bad rap, even from some South Africans, for crime and an obsession with business. Attending these markets really gave insight into the life and spirit of this city, and it made me think of how often in the past our region of the U.S. has been thought of as "fly-over country." Now that farm-to-table and indie music are popular, however, people seem to have recognized the power and potential of the Midwest. It's an exciting time to be here and feel a similar vibe--it actually gave me goosebumps! Or maybe that was the bunny chow? More to come soon!