It’s not even independence day here in South Africa but Marcilio and I witnessed (aurally) loud bangs in the distance. They started around 8 in the evening or at least that is when we heard them and lasted until after 10 PM. They came from two sides of the office/my house or maybe our ears were playing tricks on us. If they were gunshots it was the first time hearing gunshots live for me (other than target practice at camp or watching my uncle shoot). For Marcilio I think they brought up painful memories of wartime in Mozambique. He seemed shaken as the sounds continued and intensified but the never seemed to get closer to us. He told me about “shootouts” between the cops and “Nigerians”, which seems to normally refer to people from Nigeria but also seems to be a stereotypical way to talk about thieves, gangsters, rapists, etc. It seems that Nigerians get a bad rap the whole world over, especially here in South Africa.
As for now just after 12:30 in the morning the sounds have stopped, in fact they stopped about two hours ago. I will let you know if I hear or see anything from the various media sources around here if there actually was some sort of a shoot out. As for our personal safety I was never concerned but I certainly prayed for the safety of anyone who might have been involved or in the area if a firefight was going on as well as for the return to sanity of any criminal elements concerned.
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