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.