Monday, January 25, 2010

Koala!

Here are some pictures of what happens when I go out with my cousins. Last weekend,we went out to one of those Portuguese restaurants where they carve the meat right in front of you and mixed it with some colorful drinks.


The Whole Gang




Kylie and Me



The Fish Bowl



Greg and his Fish Bowl



So Greg likes to do a little dance when he has a couple and it looks very koala-like, so we refer to that dance as the "Ay Mate." Ironically, a lady was selling stuffed animals during dinner and WE FOUND A KOALA!



"Ok, be sad now"



What would a huge, meat dinner be without a flaming shot? Thanks Stac!



Ash & Greg



Ay-matin'



hehe

This week can't fly by fast enough! Friday, I'm attending a "Where were you when the ship went down?" themed party. Saturday, I'm celebrating my birthday with an "A and C" party, which is both a shout out to the government here (the ANC or African National Congress) and my initials. So, everyone attending has to dress up as either something beginning with A or C. Should be interesting!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Jam of the Day





I can't get this song out of my head for the life of me. Enjoy.
(ps Em- this is so a YOU song)

Going to Joburg tomorrow for the weekend. More updates to come but my life as a working woman is getting in the way. Tomorrow, I'm going in at 7 (yes, early I know) in order to get off at 4..We have a birthday lunch at an Indian (!!!) place and I'm making cookies for the office/I have a lot of eggs I need to get rid of before they go bad. Have a good weekend!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

The New Digs!

For those of you who have no clue what I'm doing in Africa, I am interning with Habitat for Humanity's Africa and Middle East Headquarters for the next 6 months in Pretoria, South Africa. Our office deals with all 19 countries in Africa and the Middle East where HFH is active. I work directly with the Research Development and Communications department seeking donors and affiliates and also work on developing the Global Village program in Africa and the Middle East. Here are the digs the organization hooked me up with. Keep in mind, these are the BEFORE pics.


Side View of the Kitchen


Through the kitchen into the living room aka lounge


Patio to the left..yes those are burgular bars..stairs to the bedrooms and my teensy weensy little 4 channel tv..no worries cable is a'comin


Lush African foliage..overgrown foliage that is


Told ya bathtubs were the jam...but not for moi. And these are not luxurious, resting tubs-these are get in, wash yourself and go! Lucky for me, there's a shower..the size of coffin. Tight squeezin indeed.


So I had the moral dilemma of deciding what room to take when I first moved in. I mean, this room is TINY but would the roommate think I was a bia because I took the bigger one or should I take the obvious winner and say finders keepers sucka! This choice was screwing with me hardcore because after all, this is a Christian organization?!?!?! All will be revealed in the After pics.


Room Deux

So thats the gem I am working with over here in the "bush." Well, not exactly the bush but this is Africa. Sometimes I catch myself not believing that I am actually here..and not just visiting..I live here! So crazy (that was for you Dad) and before I go, I want to point out my better blogging and leave you with some SA slang.

Howzit? = Hey, what's up? / How's it going?
Iz it? = Comes out like one word- Used for Really?
Lekker (Lacka) = Cool, good = This burger is lekker!
Ag man (Ahck man) = Said like yeah right/oh man -heavy on the Ahck
Babbelas = hangover ...I've got such a babbelas (I've heard this a lot lately)
Bakkie (buckie) = truck ( For you Elaine and Will!!!!!)
Bliksem = Hit/punch ...I'm going to bliksem you!
Dof (Doff) = Dumb ..Ag man, he's so dof!
Kak (Kock) = shit ...You talk kak man!
Neer = No
Ja (Yah) = Yes
Skelm (Skel-em) = Thief, crook ...Watch out for the skelms around here (Direct Quote..eek)
Tekkies (Tackies) = Sneakers...Grab your tekkies.

So there's a little knowledge for you! Have a great night! And for the record, I did NOT use those god awful sheets that were on the beds.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Some Animalz!

My cousin's fiancee, Elaine and I went to a Lion Park my first week in SA. The park was literally named Lion Park. No beating around the bush here..which is funny because they call the wild "the bush." It was a rainy-ish day but we still managed to see some neat things. We toured the grounds in a safari bus- thats why some of the pictures are through bars. For protection yo.

Question: Is a Zebra black with white stripes OR white with black stripes??


Did you know that you can stand on an ostrich egg and it won't break?? There's only one animal that can break an egg open with its teeth..a hyena!


Cute right? Until he eats you. Belee dat.


Fe-lions..hehe


Da whole pride!


It started to rain at one point when we were touring one particular lion enclosure. These lions have gotten smart though! Everytime it rains, they run under the safari truck for cover so the truck can't move!


All I can say is EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! Love them. And hopefully, Nick/Salute Your Shorts/Ug has taught you that a giraffe's tongue is BLACK!


This cheetah was in a terrible mood. I think its because its enclosure was the size of a shoebox and it couldnt run :(


CUBS! We got to hold them but they were a little tired of being handled by annoying 3 year olds so we didnt attempt much.


And after, we met my uncle and aunt for a seafood lunch...where you eat out of woks?
I had spicy, grilled calamari and prawns (kind of like shrimp and crayfish mixed)


More updates to come! And the answer to the zebra question...NEITHER! They are gray! The white and black stripes grow in as fur but if you were to shave their hair, they would be gray all over!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

New Years Eve in Africa!



Those zany South Africans!

I spent my New Years Eve at Emperor's Palace, a HUGE casino and hotel in Joburg (Check it out here) with some of my dad's side of the family. We had a lovely dinner, oxtail was available but I wimped out, partied pretty hard at a club/bar called News Cafe where I experienced Giggle Juice, numerous shots including Springbok shots ( the Springboks are SA's national rugby team and the shot consisted of Amarula- a coffee-ish liquor and ABSINTHE! It's legal here!!!!) and a PK, which had grain alcohol, grapefruit schnapps and something else that I have blocked from my memory- PK actually stands for something NASTY in Afrikaans and my rude cousins thought it would be funny to make me tell the family what it meant REPEATED times! This was after the Giggle Juice, clearly. We celebrated the new year with some crazy house music ( Lauren, you would love the sCeNe here) and won 6,000 Rand (SA currency)- divide that by 7 to get US dollars- on roulette but lost it all because we were too confident/dumb. Made it to bed aroud 5 and woke up to a lovely breakfast and at least 2 naps during the day. Quite a start to the year!


My Cousin Kyle and I at dinner


My cousin Greg's girlfriend Ashleigh and her friend Candice


The Steyn boys - Kyle and Greg


Part of the casino


Another view


Some of the fam


Maturity at its finest




So thats how NYE went down...now that it's January 14th, I'm glad I could share that all with you. Lots to catch up on- Lion Park visit, New Apartment and I'm headed to Joburg this weekend so I'm sure I'll have pictures from that. Hope everyone is doing well! Have a great night..day!

Monday, January 11, 2010

"The Welcoming the American Party"

So my family had a little partay for me, affectionately called a "braai" (bry) or BBQ, here in SA. Here are the pics from the WiLd and CrAzY afternoon.

These pics were taken at my Uncle Mos' place. I introduced my SA family to shotgunning and flip cup. Video to come on that. The Shanty would be proud. My HUGE cousin is in the red shirt and his fiancee is in blue. The hut looking thing is a bar and called a llapa. I think it started as a Zulu thing and is now in every South African backyard. I'll check the facts on that.









The Aftermath


The Aftermath x 2



New Years post coming soon!

Eeek it's time for an update!!

Well I've been in good ol' SA for awhile now and my blogging abilities are terrible! I am FINALLY settled in the new apartment/duplex HFH gave me so I should be a lot better at this! I promise! Let's start from the beginning shall we?

I arrived in SA on December 30th, about 2 weeks before my internship started. During that time, I was staying with my cousin, Willem (Vill-em) --> W's are V's here! and his fiancee, Elaine. Willem plays rugby for a club team here in SA and is 6'8ft. YES 6'8 FT!!!! Pics to come on that. Here are some pics of their super sweet house I was staying in. Shoutout to Elaine and Will for letting me crash and being such great hosts!


All my worldly possessions

Standard SA bathtub. Used to be the big thang..now shower's are all the rage.

Living Room. aka "Lounge"

Tilt yo head. It's the kitchen!

Front Gate. Most, if not all the houses in SA have electric gates with fencing

And signs like these.

Zee mini pool

Their puppies! Bizzy and Lizzy. 1/2 dachshund 1/2 jack russells!