A Love Letter to Johannesburg

Last night I had a flash of inspiration and love for the city of my birth. The beautiful and dirty rich city of Johannesburg. They call it the city of gold, but it hasn't glittered in years. In fact, this city is dirty, you might get meningitis from touching the walls. But I love it, and it loves me like a possessive husband in a pissing contest. Thanks to Twitter

So here goes:

Hey Joburg, I want to write you a love letter.

Dear Joburg, I love you. I like that you're pretentious and you know it.
I love that you throw around money you don't have, in the hopes of getting enough money to live the life you want to live. I love that you're a city of hard knocks, filled with a bruised ego and a thirst to prove yourself.I like that even though you're dangerous, I'd rather live with you than anywhere else in the world. I love Zoo Lake with its bums and bowls club. And that around the corner there is military museum where we glorify old men.

I love how you look so disdainfully on those who moved here from elsewhere, even though you're a city of immigrants.I love how you think you're an "English" town even though your name is Afrikaans.I love how you're so over the race thing, and that interracial relationships are really not a big deal here.I love that the reality is that in this town, no one owes you anything, whether your name is Mandela or Mandoza.I love that the Liberal White is a dying breed and we're breeding Liberals full stop.I love that you can be shamed in this town but can brush it off and not be ASHAMED (there's a difference).I love that in this town you can wear Louis Vuitton and some funky no name brand you picked up in Hillbrow.The Easter Rugby Festivals that people go to socialise and network. And have a good time.But I love that you're home.

That I'm a proper native and that I can't help but marvel at your beauty and your savagery. I love that I can feel your heartbeat in the afternoon thundershowers that rip apart the sky.And as quickly as the rains appear, they are gone, leaving behind lunatic drivers and intolerable traffic. I love that you're possibly the most significant city in Africa, even though you're not the capital of South Africa.I love that you're so densely populated but at the same time, you can slip under the radar and be ALONE.I love you JHB.

You are special. And everyone knows it. Just thought you should know.

I know. I tweeted ALL of that late on Friday night. But I must be honest, I fall more and more deeply in love with this place, because I know just how shark-like and superficial it all is, but the people I love make it real for me.