The Week in Updates

Monday night my friend Doug came to help me work on my car. He thought it was the relay and so we looked at that and then conferred with my handy dandy book, "How to Keep Your VW Alive". Then we went looking for the starter. I jacked up the car and took the tire off and put a screwdriver across the connections on the solenoid, connecting the starter to the battery and my engine turned. That was exciting, although it was pouring rain throughout our work. So then the book says, that the problem must be that there is dirt and rust in the solenoid and bang on it with a hammer. The car started right up after that. :)

Then it died the next night. :( I was rushing home with a friend to meet other people to go to a soccer game between a local team and a British team. My car died right by the stadium, so people weren't happy and the police came and helped push start it. Eight of us walked to the stadium and were greeted by a line of police, we couldn't buy tickets at the gate. So we turned to the scalpers who had received free tickets from the provincial government, the problem was there was a lot of discussion since there were 8 people trying to get as many of us to have seats together. The police pushed forward and one came and took the tickets and grabbed hold of one of the people selling them. So we missed the game, because the ticket outlets were already closed. Some of us went to a a bar and listened to jazz instead.

Wednesday night, the screwdriver connection resulted in nothing, so I figured my starter needed to be replaced. Took it to a mechanic the next day and replaced the starter and solenoid, the fan belt, learned the battery cells were dry and just replaced the battery as well. I also got to talk with the mechanic about bug issues and watch him work. So I learned a lot of things.

The next day on my way to clinical supervision the car started clanking and then died. I called the mechanic and he was able to come out (unfortunately two hours later), so a friend dropped off a book and some coffee and I waited. The mechanic came, fiddled a bit, determined the car wasn't firing on all cylinders and we took it to the garage, but by the time we got there, it was running fine.
The big problem was that it has been raining this past week unlike I have seen this whole time. Seems like almost nonstop and there has even been lightening and thunder which is very rare for Cape Town. So bugs don't do so well with rain sometimes. But it is running better than it has run the whole time I have owned it and I am learning all sorts of things about cars now.

The Cederberg Experience

Philippa absailing, hiking and scenery.

Watermelon Blue

The first picture is of Don absailing. Don is in Cape Town from the States on a Fulbright Scholarship. More donkeys, Taryn and Sarah resting and Spencer spending time with Vuyo.

The Desert Rocks

Pictures of the scenery, Philippa spending time with the leader of the pack and the "river" crossing.

Have you absailed?

I have a few more pictures of donkeys. Thought my mom would like to see them. The house is one of the cottages in which we stayed. Janet is whipping up egg whites for pancakes and is the organizer of this event. Above Joel is carrying Vuyo, felt the need to coddle the dog on a long hike among lots of rocks. Joel just arrived in South Africa from the USA for an exchange in Durban and flew to Cape Town to meet a friend of his girlfriend's that he didn't know.
Gee up above is anchoring for all of us absailing down the rock face.

Keeping Your Face to the Stars

Tromping Through the Cederberg

Well let me start with my Friday first. Met with my clinical supervisor for the first time at the University of Western Cape. That went well and then drove back to work and later went out to see about having my cell phone unlocked and my car would not start. Tried push starting it and jumping the battery. So a friend came and we push started it and got it home. Then rushed around to get ready to leave for the weekend (packing for a dog now too) and had some McDonalds. It is starting to feel more like McDonalds helps me cope with my car than with culture shock. :)

The Cederberg is a huge mountainous area 3 hours or so north of Cape Town, a good outdoor weekend getaway. Twelve of us went and stayed in self-catering cottages. Saturday we hiked for most of the day and then had a braai (pronounced (br-i) (I can't simply translate it as a bbq, because people do feel that it is better than a bbq or grilling). The stars were beautiful and we stood out looking for shooting stars for a while. Vuyo went on the hike and was coddled a bit, people carried him and we carried him across the stream because I was afraid he would pull me down in his struggles, but I suppose he needs to learn to do those things instead of being rescued.

Sunday morning, I made breakfast burritos, tortillas from scratch even. Took a few hours and so the natives were restless, but all thought it was worth the wait. :) We went out for short hike to a rock face and absailed down, packed up and went home. I unfortunately panicked too much on first climbing down the rock and fell against the face, but all went well enough.

It was a great crowd.

The Cederberg reminded me a bit of New Mexico with the desert landscape and mountains. On the drive back saw some mountains blue in the distance and then with the setting sun reflected on them were catching the pink cast of the Sandias.

Not True

After the whole purpose for the previous post and I can't get the computer to upload my picture. Everyone will just have to wait. :(

Something to Tide You Over

My friend Danie sent me a picture of our visit to a winery in Stellenbosch. Since I haven't posted any pictures this week, I though I would throw it up here. I am going to start taking Vuyo for walks now that he has received another vaccination and will than take pictures of the neighborhood.



Another friend came over last night to help me start learning the ins and outs of my car. We adjusted the idle setting and he left me with a shopping list for more work on the car.



One of my biggest frustrations adjusting to life in South Africa is that shops are not open in the evening. Yesterday I wanted to buy a kennel to start training Vuyo with it. The shop closed at 1700, so I left work at 1600 to make sure I got there, it was a little distance away. I could not find this place. Then I saw the name on a building, but could not figure out how to get there. At one point I found myself staring directly at the building on the other side of the railroad tracks. Well, I didn't make it in time. :(

After work I run to the grocery store along with everyone else or wait until the next day. Now it is a little more complicated because I either need to get home to feed Vuyo or drop him off before I shop. Can't leave him in the car because I might possibly find that someone else thought he was wonderful too and nicked him.

Garderobe: a confusing word

Merriam-Webster's word of the day is garderobe and it could be a wardrobe or it's contents; a private room: bedroom; or a privy/toilet. How confusing is that? I suppose it is all context. Two new words for the week, a bit of slang..bolshy - gutsy, with an attitude; cojones was also used to define the word. Over the weekend, someone else talked about...ok, I have to find some clarification for you but I thought they said spading, "should I stop spading you," and was told it meant flirting. Then I mentioned it at work and they said the term was speening and it was Cape Flats slang for going out. So I am still thinking the term is spading, because then speening doesn't fit the context. The Cape Flats are considered the worst area, basically never go there.

Which brings me to another Cape Flats trend I read about last week. The "passion gap," people have their front 4 top teeth pulled for fashion. It is said to improve kissing and other things.

And, in my life...Had a birthday party at our house for my housemate Fritz on Friday. Jules made Mexican Hot Chocolate. He puts chile in it and pours it over an egg to thicken it (?). It has a bite at the end.

In puppy news, I have been bringing Vuyo to work for the past few days, but have learned that Muslims consider dogs to be dirty. Basically if a dog touches a Muslim, they have to change clothes before praying, that is my understanding and I think there are probably variations. Vuyo takes off while he is we are in the garden. Find him, take him upstairs and get a call later - he has pooped in the executive director's office and a Muslim coworker stepped in it. My executive director said it was fine, he's a puppy. Keeping him on the leash now, because I am in charge :) and I can watch for when he needs to go outside, but my programme loves having him around.

I'll try not to turn this into a blog about my dog. :) No exciting pictures this week, but I am going away to the Cedarberg this weekend.

I Felt the Need to Buy my Best Friend

Hello All! I would like to introduce you to my dog. I am still working on a name, so please feel free to post your votes. The current popular choice is Vuyo (joy), but that is a very common boys name around here, so haven't quite settled on it yet. Another is Sekani (laughter), but some do feel that is getting a bit long. Fritz, my housemate is pulling for all your base, from a japanese video game with the bad English translation..."all your base are belong to us." Anyways, he is a belgian shepherd (tervuren) and I think he is incredibly well-behaved. He doesn't get excited, but he has a good level of energy. Belgian Tervurens are very intelligent and attached to their owner. He is currently about 9 weeks old (born May 3) and he is big already. :) Yes, I do plan to take him back to the States with me when I go home, otherwise I would not have bought him.

People taking up the camera

A friend picked up my camera, so I was able to get lots of pictures.


I wasn't really suppposed to let this one get out, but I did tell them I would post it on my blog. This is Winston and Ryan (in blue) practicing some dance moves.
My co-worker Wonique talking with Ryan
My housemate Fritz
Another housemate - Jules (Julian) and his girlfriend Louise
practicing there dancing

Fireworks bursting above

Shaun & Doug making sure the roman candle is in the ground.
:( Again, maybe too dark, but this is the roman candle going off. I was
told that people were not looking at the fireworks, so much as the
electrical line above.

Winston (in red), an honourary housemate and Shaun.
Me, with the quesadillas. I wasn't so good with watching the tortillas while they cooked - busy trying to roll out the next one. Always catching them just as they started to burn a bit.

Celebrating Independence Day Outside the USA

Christy helping make quesadillas
Graham, the fellow American, using the indoor grill. No weber. :(
Oh, is this one too dark? It is me, talking with Doug
This is Tory, since there are two of us, I am currently
known as 'American Tory'. I think people might be looking for a
nickname for me. One of the "flowers", quite small. The wick on the other burned down
before we could get it going.

I hosted a housewarming/4th of July/American food party at my house with another American, a week after moving...last Saturday. Since I am still meeting people and didn't have contact information for people, I asked a friend to post an invitation on facebook. So I had no idea who was coming to my party. I made quesadillas, with homemade tortillas (which were probably the biggest hit of the party), salsa, guacamole, hamburgers and hot dogs (viennas). I also bought a couple fireworks - some sparklers and flowers? and a roman candle. As I was setting up the fireworks, I was told they were illegal. "But," I said, "the shop sold them to me." We decided to light them and they were really quite, shooting bursts of fireworks, so no one called the police. :)

Oh, for dessert (pudding), we heated bananas with chocolate inside them. I have actually never had any before, but they are good.

So I think it was quite a success!

A Reprise of Earlier Notes

My new bedroom (please go back and look at my old bedroom to compare the improvement) :). Kinda fun to set things up again. I've had the same quilt since I was six. But also makes me think a bit about my life...have to buy things that I already own and at almost 30, I'm unemployed. At least I can say that I am living in Cape Town. :) :)

Need to start keeping notes so I can remember the things that I want to tell you.

I now have my visa and can stay in South Africa until October 22, so I will need to reapply to stay a bit longer.

I am in my new house now and feel like it is a huge improvement. Although it is a bit difficult to start from scratch in setting up a bedroom, especially when one has already bought all those things previously. I am living with 2 boys, Fritz and Julian (Jules) and 1 girl, Cat. Cat has been on holiday almost the whole time and so I have seen her briefly. A lot more interaction with my housemates and we take turns cooking during the week. Which also means that I only have to wash dishes on the night I cook and some on weekends.

There are always little things that keep me out of my element. We have prepaid electricity and so a person runs to a shop tht sells it and then enters a code on the electric box at home. We ran out Sunday and it was my turn to buy it. So I did everything, but didn't have electricity. No one was home, so I pushed buttons, waited, pushed the same three buttons...Finally flipped the circuit breaker and...electricity!!

My other story of the week is that my housemate was discussing how the "gee-suh" (hard g) broke and had to be replaced. Turns out that is the hot water heater. He was suprised that we didn't have a specific name for it. Later I found out from someone else that the name comes from the natural geysers. OOOhhhh, he's saying geyser.

Bully Buddies to the Rescue

Last Tuesday, I finished a training for 6th graders on how to watch for bullying on the playground and remove the victim from the situation, report it and support the victim. Since I started my internship, I have mostly been given this program and put together the sessions. We have talked about feelings, empathy, why people bully, communcation and listening skills and conflict resolution.

One of the activities was to draw a peacemaker - as a superhero, cartoon character, etc. So the last two photos are of them sharing their drawing with the group.

When school starts again in another week, they will have badges and ask victims to walk away from the bully with them. We will also have ongoing meetings with the bully-buddies to support them and discuss any issues that arise.

Sharing drinks with friends around the world

My friend Danie is traveling South Africa with his wife for a month. They are living in Uzbekistan and Delia just received her exit visa and so they are taking a honeymoon (married last year) and visiting Danie's relatives. Danie and I attended Wheaton College together.

They were in Cape Town two weeks ago (see two week old news). :) I took that Monday off and we visited two wineries and an organization called Bridges of Hope that is setting up an orphanage/boarding school and is also used for retreats. Certainly enjoyable to see someone that knows me and that I know, as well as hearing about what he is doing. Community Development.