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.