Here I am, once again at Brooklyn mall, pretty tipsy off of one glass of TriBeCa’s house Sauvignon Blanc, listening to none other than Robbie Wessels’ Grootste Treffers- the one at the moment being “Leeuloop”. I just finished eating some super awesome chicken strips (my favorite) and it was such a huge serving, that it could have easily fed two. My super amazing cappuccino just arrived, and I’ve gotta tell you, that is certainly one thing I’m going to miss in upcoming weeks- the amazing coffee everywhere you go in South Africa.
Seriously- this culture enjoys their coffee! I have been exceptionally spoiled with gourmet, properly made, high quality, coffee in the variety of cappuccinos, lattes, espressos, and filter coffee that hasn’t been sitting in a pot since 6:00AM. Ah, South African coffee, how I will miss you so. Continue reading “As Close To Oblivion”
Category: African Life
Never-ending Laundry
Laundry is just one of those never-ending chores.
Laundry, Dishes, Sweeping, Mopping… As soon as you thought they were done, they are ready to be done all over again.
When I first moved to South Africa, I wasn’t too pleased with the fact that no one uses tumble dryers here- everyone hangs their clothes out on drying racks.
But shortly thereafter, I fell in love with laundry all over again. Continue reading “Never-ending Laundry”
“Excuse Me.”
Alright. You caught me. I missed posting yesterday. 😩 and I was doing so good! Two whole weeks! Only to have my lazy Sunday interrupt my perfect cycle. Ah, it’s still a personal record, anyway. NaBloPoMo is really just there for inspiration, and inspire me it has!
So, here I am today, at the Brooklyn Mall here in Pretoria sipping on some yummy coffee from the not-so-South-African Seattle Coffee Company. Lol This will probably be my last time at Brooklyn for at least six months, so you’d think I’d go and get coffee at TriBeCa, but no, I came here. I just didn’t want to walk further, okay! 😉 Continue reading ““Excuse Me.””
10 Funny Afrikaans Animals
It’s almost 4:00 in the afternoon over here in sunny South Africa, and this girl doesn’t have just so much to say today. So, in honor of NaBloPoMo, I’ll share with you some Afrikaans words that I find to be quite funny. It’s a very descriptive language, so sometimes direct translations can be pretty entertaining- with the animal names taking the cake. Enjoy!
Afrikaans Word: Ystervark
Direct Translation: Iron Pig
English Word: Porcupine
Continue reading “10 Funny Afrikaans Animals”
Afrikaans Language History
Have you ever heard of the Afrikaans Language?
No?? Well, it is a pretty big deal over here.
South Africa has 11 national languages: Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu.
However, English, Afrikaans, and Zulu are the most widely used across the rainbow nation.
Learning any language is always a good decision- it enables you not only to connect more intimately with other cultures, but also to know what people are saying when they think you are just the average American tourist. :)
If you are visiting South Africa any time soon, I suggest learning some Afrikaans phrases, as well as knowing the commonly used terms.
So, some history on the Afrikaans language:
(A bietjie geskiedenis op die Afrikaanse taal.) Continue reading “Afrikaans Language History”
Sunday Funday 🍃🌲🚴🏻
Ahhh the laziness of yesterday was made up for today.
We are at Rosemary Hill today, but aren’t here for their fabulous morning or afternoon tea- we came to cycle.
Rosemary Hill is located just east of Pretoria and they are well-known for having a truly awesome mountain biking trail. (6km/10km) …but I’ve gotta admit – I chickened out and stopped at the 5km mark. My husband kept going and did the full 10km’s. He said it was awesome. It has a huge hill, and several tricky parts. And if he is saying they’re tricky, you better be a bit experienced to handle them. He also said you ride through abandoned buildings, and there are portions where you can choose the ‘chicken’ or ‘bull’ path. The first 5km’s that I can tell you about from experience, has about six spots with little hill-bridges and a whole forest portion with some tight turns.
Saturday Blues
This is a pity post.
It’s existence is merely due to my vow to complete NaBloPoMo this month.
Even though it’s only 1:25pm at this exact moment, and there is still more of the day to happen, it has not been the most amazing day. Not that every day has to be amazing to have meaning.
Today means that I was able to relax and have time all to myself at home.
Sometimes that is good for mental well-being.
Sometimes it means you go stir-crazy. Continue reading “Saturday Blues”
The Hunting Topic and its Controversy
One of my greatest passions is hunting –
and why do I have to be afraid to say that?
I am new to the Twitter-Sphere and I have been trying to learn how to utilize it for our businesses, as well as for personal purposes. There is a Twitter site (do you call it a site?) @AverageHunter and they do a weekly hashtag that is very popular called #TrophyTuesday. I have participated in that hashtag a couple of times, once with a picture of me and my ducks, and once with a picture of me and my Axis Deer.
A few days after the last #TrophyTuesday I did, which happened to be of my ducks, I got a notification. (It’s easy for me to check each one because traffic on my twitter account is quite rare.) It was a notification of someone that had re-tweeted my Axis picture.
I clicked on the account of the re-tweeter and it was @Blueskyemining.
Doesn’t sound like a hate page, right?
As I scrolled through their twitter page, I saw countless re-tweets of hunting, but not in a good sense. One common re-tweet I came across was originally from a man who posted edited pictures of hunting where he included the hunters/huntresses name, work address, and work phone number, encouraging people to get them fired. I mean… the only appropriate response to that is “What the french toast??”.
Needless to say, I blocked them and deleted my tweet faster than you could say ‘Hot Tamales’. Continue reading “The Hunting Topic and its Controversy”
Happy Halloween!
…and a very Happy 16th Birthday, to my oldest nephew, Tate (AKA: TaterTot)!
I am trying really hard to incorporate shorter posts into my blog, so that I can have more content more regularly. One of the downfalls of being a writing perfectionist, is taking forever to draft, edit, and finalize a post.. and it also usually results in a lot of words to read! oops!
Since we are almost never in South Africa for Christmas, we always try to find a way to do something special with my husbands’ family before we go back to the US each November.
(We spent Christmas day here in South Africa four years ago, and let me tell ya, it was weird. A hot Christmas? No, thank you. It’s the last day of October today, and it’s 88*F outside! Dis warm, manne!)
This year, we decided to go to Montecasino and see a theatrical performance- one of my most favorite things to do! Continue reading “Happy Halloween!”
Speak Like a South African
Planning on visiting South Africa?
Here are some words you’ll need to know.
| USA English | > | South African |
| Awesome | > | Bakgat |
| BandAid | > | Plaster |
| BBQ | > | Braai |
| Beat Up/Hit | > | Bliksem |
| Biscotti | > | Rusk |
| Blinker | > | Indicator |
| Brass (spent ammo) | > | Doppie |
| Bug | > | Gogga |
| Cheers! | > | Duzzai! |
| Corn | > | Mielie |
| Crazy | > | Mal |
| Destroyed | > | Moer toe |
| Disgusting | > | Siff |
| Drink | > | Dop |
| Eat | > | Chow |
| Excellent | > | Hundreds |
| F%#! Off! | > | Voetsek |
| Fancy/Uppity | > | Laanie/Kitch/Posh |
| Farmer | > | Boer |
| Farm | > | Plaas/Plot |
| Fed Up | > | Gatvol |
| Finished | > | Klaar |
| Friend | > | China/Chommie |
| Gas | > | Petrol |
| Gross | > | Seis |
| Guy Friend | > | Bru/Bra/Boetie/Maatjie |
| Hangover | > | Babelaas |
| Hello | > | Howzit |
| Hood (of a car) | > | Bonnet |
| House Shoes | > | Pantovels |
| In a minute (soon) | > | Now Now |
| In a while (later… or never) | > | Just now |
| Jerky | > | Biltong |
| Kebab | > | Sosatie |
| Ma’am | > | Tannie |
| Millipede | > | Shongololo |
| Mini van | > | Kombi |
| Mountain | > | Berg |
| Movie Theater | > | Cinema |
| Nice/Cool | > | Lekker |
| No | > | Nee |
| Not Nice/Awww | > | Ag, Shame |
| Ooh… | > | Eish! |
| Ow! | > | Eina! |
| Party/Good Time | > | Jol |
| Pasture | > | Veld |
| Pick-up/Truck | > | Bakkie |
| Pretty Girl | > | Poppie/Cherrie |
| Purse | > | Handbag |
| Ranch | > | Farm |
| Rough/Trashy Person/Thing | > | Zef |
| Sausage | > | Boerewors |
| Sh!* | > | Kak |
| Shot | > | Injection |
| Shrimp | > | Prawn |
| Sir | > | Oom |
| Slap/Hit | > | Klaap |
| Some Guy | > | Oke |
| Stoplight | > | Robot |
| Stupid | > | Doff |
| Surgery Room | > | Theatre |
| Swim Suit | > | Cozzie/Costume |
| Tennis Shoes | > | Tekkies |
| Trashcan | > | Dust Bin |
| Trunk (of a car) | > | Boot |
| Waiting in a line | > | In a cue |
| Wallet | > | Purse |
| Wow | > | Jirra |
| Yes | > | Ja/Yebo |
| Young Boy | > | Laaitie |
Heritage Day and the Billy Goat
While milling around yesterday in the African younger sibling of Sam’s Club, Makro, I walked by a fellow bulk-shopper. As I walked away from this boot-wearing middle aged man, I felt the corners of my lips twitching- I just couldn’t contain myself, I had to ask him the question I knew the answer to. I gave my husband the i’m-going-to-do-it look and turned around. “Excuse me, Sir. You’re not from South Africa, are you?” He turned to face me, and I glanced at the white cap he was wearing, I instantly noticed it had the state of Texas embroidered largely on the front. “OH! You’re from Texas! I’m from Texas!” He giggled a bit at me, explained the he has lived here for about 3 1/2 years (looks like I will survive), and that there are about 200 Americans living in the east of Pretoria. We, er… I, exchanged contact details and teased him with the allure of my homemade tortillas and enchiladas. Will the overly-friendly, slightly-awkward Texan girl (ahem, me) ever get invited to an American get-together in South Africa by this stranger from Amarillo named Steve? Only time will tell. Continue reading “Heritage Day and the Billy Goat”
An Introduction
Here I am!
Married in March, and only now do I decide to start documenting this transitional time in my life.
Thinking about it, I don’t know at what future date our lives will cease to be transitional. College, dating, moving, paperwork and visas, marriage, more paperwork and visas, moving again, babies, paperwork, babies while moving, paperwork….. Paperwork, changes, dishes, and laundry, are about the only constants we can count on.
I decided to start a blog because it seemed more sensible to me than buying yet another journal, that I will write in approximately 8 times a year. Detailed entries, yes. Good handwriting and commitment to writing frequently, no. However, one thing I am diligent with using on a daily basis, is my handy-dandy, world-connecting, handheld device- my iPhone. So a blog, a public journal, if you will, sounded more reasonably suited for documenting my thoughts and experiences. Plus, there is so much less anxiety in publishing a blog post that was written with a public audience in mind, than carrying around a journal filled with personal thoughts. (Flashback to Jr. High when schoolmates found my journal. *shudder* ) Continue reading “An Introduction”
Dühring Life 