That stuff you put on hot dogs and burgers. Is it Ketchup or Tomato Sauce, or is it neither? In the U.S. they call it Ketchup. Here they call it Tomato Sauce. That's where the problem comes in. With the word Tomato. I don't like it. Do I say, Toe-mah-toh or Toe-may-to. Who knows. Neither sounds right to me. My hybrid culture rejects both. Ah, the curses of being an MK (missionary kid) and a 3rd Culture Kid. I am not American, South African, Congolese or French - all places I have lived. I'm a hybrid. A mix of everything. My culture doesn't exist to anyone else. I'm South Afrengolesican. Hereafter I shall respond to the question "where are you from?" with "South Afrengolesica". That seems much easier than my usual responses: "Well.. uh, that depends...", "everywhere", "nowhere", or "do you mean where was I born, or where do I live right now?"
That all being said, my MK/3CK-ness is also a blessing. I have a much richer life than most people will ever have. I've been to 23 countries and counting. To me that doesn't sound like very many. However, from the amazed stares and exclamations I've gotten from people after that fact has been revealed, I've come to the conclusion that Americans are poorly travelled and South Africans are not much better. Maybe I just don't associate with the people who do travel. I still have ambitions of traveling to every continent and at least 100 countries. It might take me a while. Maybe I'll accomplish my goal before I die.
Anyway, after that meandering introspection I suppose I should update you on life as it is here in the Sunny South. January was basically work as usual. I can't really think of anything extraordinary about it until the end when my very own Mother flew out to visit for two weeks! Hoorah! We collected her at the airport without a hitch and headed back to Gordon's Bay for a short night of sleep. The weekend was filled with visiting and relaxing. On that Monday, Mom, Nareema, Xavie and I went to the Aquarium so I could dive in the shark tank (read about that adventure in the previous post) and Tuesday was filled with relaxing, shopping, eating and other things that I can't remember.
Unfortunately, on Wednesday I had to go back to work so was dropped off at the college for three days of work. The next weekend we attended a beautiful memorial service for Great-Grandpa Max and spent the day with family and friends. I again took Monday and Tuesday off to do things with my mother. On Monday we climbed Helderberg Mountain to spread the ashes of a woman who requested to be spread on the mountain and had no other family to bring her ashes back here from the States. Tuesday evening was filled with excitement as the hoard of Family who had gathered here in South Africa for the memorial service headed off to Table Mountain for some sunset sightseeing. Unfortunately we didn't know that the Red Hot Chili Peppers were having a concert at the Green Point Stadium that evening, causing the traffic to be horrendous. It took us an hour and a half to make it up a section of road that should have only taken five minutes. Ten minutes before we arrived at the cable station on Table Mountain, it closed because of high winds. Now that we couldn't go up the mountain, we drove over to Signal Point to at least see the sunset over the sea. No such luck. That's where everyone else went and there was no parking to be found and the wind was intense. So, we turned around and headed to Aunty Pam's house nearby in Cape Town. We finally got to have our picnic at 9:30 pm in the comfort of Pam and Keith's house after leaving home at 5:00pm. What excitement.
Sadly my vacation ended I had to go back to work again. Bummer. Oh well. Wednesday evening we had a birthday party for Granni and Aunty Lyndsay at Le Riad, Lyndsay and François' house, before Mom spent the night with me in my dorm room. During the weekend, we all stayed at Le Riad with Xavier as his parents where in Johannesburg. On Sabbath the plan was to go to Church and then for a drive along the coast to Hermanus. Instead it rained quite heavily all day - good for the plants, bad for our drive - so we had a quiet afternoon with Planet Earth and relaxation. Sunday brought the departure of most of the family in the morning. Mom, Granni and Grandpa, Xavie and I took the drive out to Betty's Bay to see the penguins and then back to pack for Mom's departure later in the evening. On the way back from our Penguin experience we got a call from Dad saying that mom's flight had been delayed by 6 and a half hours. What excitement. So instead of leaving at 11:30 pm it now left at 6:00 am. We left for the airport at 3:30 in the morning, and stood in a queue with her for an hour so she could check into her flight.
Since then, I've been working. Surprise!
This past weekend my adventure took me to Bergkroon Faith Center in Wellington about an hour and a half North-East of here. The Helderberg College Annual College Camp started on Thursday evening and lasted until Sunday afternoon. We were set to leave at 5pm on Thursday, but hey, it's Africa. The buses finally pulled out around 6:30 pm and stopped in Stellenbosch so that we could get ourselves a snack before going on to the camp. We arrived around 9:00 pm and it took them probably half an hour to get organized enough to send us to our rooms. Thankfully, I'm considered staff so I got to stay in the chalets instead of the larger-roomed-dorm-style buildings. There were six beds and a bathroom in our chalet but only three of us volunteers. After we got settled it was nearing 10:00 but they still planned to have their Valentine's Day Ball, something I chose to skip in favor of reading my book for a while and then going to bed at a reasonable hour.
Friday was a wonderful day. I thoroughly enjoyed skipping breakfast and spending a leisurely morning before going to see what activities were occurring on the field that lay between the pool and the cafeteria/meeting hall. Vivienne, another volunteer, and I meandered over to the field to find them playing games and load music. After lunch there was more napping, and more reading, more napping, supper, vespers, more reading and bed. Sabbath again started at a leisurely pace before we headed off to Sabbath School and Church. Vivienne and I taught Sabbath School to the kids, four girls and two boys. The girls were absolutely spoiled as none of them could let any of the others finish one sentence before interrupting and trying to make the conversation about themselves. Makes me want to throttle the parents for allowing their children to have such horrendous manners.
Anywho... Church followed as an act of pure endurance since by that time it was stuffy and hot in the auditorium. By lunch we just wanted to get out of there but the pastor kept talking and talking. It was a good message anyway. Our afternoon nap was strenuous because of the absolutely stifling heat of the day. I finished my book in the evening while the others Braai-ed their meat. On Sunday we packed and had a farewell service before piling back onto the buses and heading for Helderberg. With homework, shower, and laundry completed, the weekend closed and another week of work began.
I've been working, working, working in my office ever since. The only excitement came when the grandparents wandered in to have me print things and to inform me that they are going to take me to Addo for my birthday!!! Hoorah! I'll let you know how that goes.
I'm sure you all want to see pictures, I'll put them up as soon as I'm done with the editing.
That all being said, my MK/3CK-ness is also a blessing. I have a much richer life than most people will ever have. I've been to 23 countries and counting. To me that doesn't sound like very many. However, from the amazed stares and exclamations I've gotten from people after that fact has been revealed, I've come to the conclusion that Americans are poorly travelled and South Africans are not much better. Maybe I just don't associate with the people who do travel. I still have ambitions of traveling to every continent and at least 100 countries. It might take me a while. Maybe I'll accomplish my goal before I die.
 |
| A map of my travels. |
Anyway, after that meandering introspection I suppose I should update you on life as it is here in the Sunny South. January was basically work as usual. I can't really think of anything extraordinary about it until the end when my very own Mother flew out to visit for two weeks! Hoorah! We collected her at the airport without a hitch and headed back to Gordon's Bay for a short night of sleep. The weekend was filled with visiting and relaxing. On that Monday, Mom, Nareema, Xavie and I went to the Aquarium so I could dive in the shark tank (read about that adventure in the previous post) and Tuesday was filled with relaxing, shopping, eating and other things that I can't remember.
Unfortunately, on Wednesday I had to go back to work so was dropped off at the college for three days of work. The next weekend we attended a beautiful memorial service for Great-Grandpa Max and spent the day with family and friends. I again took Monday and Tuesday off to do things with my mother. On Monday we climbed Helderberg Mountain to spread the ashes of a woman who requested to be spread on the mountain and had no other family to bring her ashes back here from the States. Tuesday evening was filled with excitement as the hoard of Family who had gathered here in South Africa for the memorial service headed off to Table Mountain for some sunset sightseeing. Unfortunately we didn't know that the Red Hot Chili Peppers were having a concert at the Green Point Stadium that evening, causing the traffic to be horrendous. It took us an hour and a half to make it up a section of road that should have only taken five minutes. Ten minutes before we arrived at the cable station on Table Mountain, it closed because of high winds. Now that we couldn't go up the mountain, we drove over to Signal Point to at least see the sunset over the sea. No such luck. That's where everyone else went and there was no parking to be found and the wind was intense. So, we turned around and headed to Aunty Pam's house nearby in Cape Town. We finally got to have our picnic at 9:30 pm in the comfort of Pam and Keith's house after leaving home at 5:00pm. What excitement.
Sadly my vacation ended I had to go back to work again. Bummer. Oh well. Wednesday evening we had a birthday party for Granni and Aunty Lyndsay at Le Riad, Lyndsay and François' house, before Mom spent the night with me in my dorm room. During the weekend, we all stayed at Le Riad with Xavier as his parents where in Johannesburg. On Sabbath the plan was to go to Church and then for a drive along the coast to Hermanus. Instead it rained quite heavily all day - good for the plants, bad for our drive - so we had a quiet afternoon with Planet Earth and relaxation. Sunday brought the departure of most of the family in the morning. Mom, Granni and Grandpa, Xavie and I took the drive out to Betty's Bay to see the penguins and then back to pack for Mom's departure later in the evening. On the way back from our Penguin experience we got a call from Dad saying that mom's flight had been delayed by 6 and a half hours. What excitement. So instead of leaving at 11:30 pm it now left at 6:00 am. We left for the airport at 3:30 in the morning, and stood in a queue with her for an hour so she could check into her flight.
Since then, I've been working. Surprise!
This past weekend my adventure took me to Bergkroon Faith Center in Wellington about an hour and a half North-East of here. The Helderberg College Annual College Camp started on Thursday evening and lasted until Sunday afternoon. We were set to leave at 5pm on Thursday, but hey, it's Africa. The buses finally pulled out around 6:30 pm and stopped in Stellenbosch so that we could get ourselves a snack before going on to the camp. We arrived around 9:00 pm and it took them probably half an hour to get organized enough to send us to our rooms. Thankfully, I'm considered staff so I got to stay in the chalets instead of the larger-roomed-dorm-style buildings. There were six beds and a bathroom in our chalet but only three of us volunteers. After we got settled it was nearing 10:00 but they still planned to have their Valentine's Day Ball, something I chose to skip in favor of reading my book for a while and then going to bed at a reasonable hour.
Friday was a wonderful day. I thoroughly enjoyed skipping breakfast and spending a leisurely morning before going to see what activities were occurring on the field that lay between the pool and the cafeteria/meeting hall. Vivienne, another volunteer, and I meandered over to the field to find them playing games and load music. After lunch there was more napping, and more reading, more napping, supper, vespers, more reading and bed. Sabbath again started at a leisurely pace before we headed off to Sabbath School and Church. Vivienne and I taught Sabbath School to the kids, four girls and two boys. The girls were absolutely spoiled as none of them could let any of the others finish one sentence before interrupting and trying to make the conversation about themselves. Makes me want to throttle the parents for allowing their children to have such horrendous manners.
Anywho... Church followed as an act of pure endurance since by that time it was stuffy and hot in the auditorium. By lunch we just wanted to get out of there but the pastor kept talking and talking. It was a good message anyway. Our afternoon nap was strenuous because of the absolutely stifling heat of the day. I finished my book in the evening while the others Braai-ed their meat. On Sunday we packed and had a farewell service before piling back onto the buses and heading for Helderberg. With homework, shower, and laundry completed, the weekend closed and another week of work began.
I've been working, working, working in my office ever since. The only excitement came when the grandparents wandered in to have me print things and to inform me that they are going to take me to Addo for my birthday!!! Hoorah! I'll let you know how that goes.
I'm sure you all want to see pictures, I'll put them up as soon as I'm done with the editing.
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