My Farha or So this is Africa, eh?

There's this Arabic word farha.  It means joy.  It's typically used when somebody is wishing you well.  Farihtak (Farihtik for girls).  Your joy.  It's short for Insha'Allah waqit farihtak.  God willing, the time of your joy.  There are many farhas in ones life - graduations, religious sacraments, birth of a child - but none more than marriage.  The Farha Kebira.  Big Joy.  At Lebanese weddings, single men and women of "marrying age" will hear Farihtak/tik at least 7,864 times ... an hour.  

I heard farihtak many times in the weeks leading up to my departure to Johannesburg.  There is a large Lebanese population in Africa, many of whom have been here since the late 19th century when they arrived in West Africa.  There are two stories behind how Lebanese ended up as the largest non-African migrant community in West Africa.

Number One: A ship-load of Lebanese immigrants was heading to Brazil, seeking opportunities in the new world, but got off at Senegal, believing they had arrived in South America.
 

Number Two: At a time of agricultural crisis in Lebanon, the French government recruited Lebanese farmers to work the West African groundnut farming industry.

Whatever the explanation (I'm pretty sure it's #2), since then, Lebanese have thrived in many business areas and their numbers have grown and spread to other regions of Africa, including South Africa. 

I have relatives here.  I met two for the first time this past weekend.  Mike (second cousin, once removed) and Jimmy (third cousin) live in towns a couple of hours from Johannesburg.  They drove into Johannesburg yesterday to see me and stayed the weekend to help me find an apartment and show me around.  They pick me up at the B&B and we go to Montecasino, a giant (seriously, it's massive) food and entertainment complex in Johannesburg built in 2000 at an estimated cost of 1.6 billion dollars.  It has a hotel, world-class theatre, cinema, dozens of restaurants, retail shops, night clubs, casino and a host of other attractions that brought in nearly 10 million visitors last year.  After exploring the complex, we sit down to Portuguese steaks and listen to the (I think pre-recorded) Latin groovings of a one-man show.  Did I mention there are live bands playing at about every 50m in the complex?  I am in complete awe.  So this is Africa, eh?

The boys pick me up on Saturday morning and off we go.  I'd scoped out a number of potentially suitable units ahead of time and made appointments to view them.  We see six and at the end of the day it's clear that it has to be the first place.  I have a home.  It's a 110 sq m (1200 sq ft) two-bedroom flat in a gated community with a swimming pool in the "up-market" area of Morningside, Sandton.  

The following day, we go to a restaurant - Sheikh Palace (a Lebanese place) - and watch South Africa vs. Wales in the Rugby World Cup.  Go Springboks!  If you've seen the movie "Invictus", it portrays the story of the Springboks at their Rugby World Cup debut in 1995 when South Africa (then newly democratic) hosted the tournament.  They previously didn't compete in the first two World Cups because of anti-apartheid sporting boycotts of South Africa.  They won that year and people still describe it as a pivotal moment in the post-apartheid nation-building process.   

We finished the weekend by visiting the Lebanese Maronite Church where Abouna (Father) Charbel gave us a very informative tour and then dropping by Sandton City, which is one of the most impressive shopping complexes I've ever seen.  Seriously, this is Africa?

I like reflecting on my own little farhas every once in a while.  It keeps me grateful.  This weekend, my farha was finding an apartment and doing so alongside family who I'd never met before and who really went out of their way to help me. 

Stay tuned for my next blog entry, which will describe the 91,547 person soccer game I went to last night.