After a short hiatus, due to the fact that Amanda was here to visit me for two weeks (yaaay!), I'm back in learning mode. So what have I learned over the last TWO weeks!!??!
Lesson 13
Cricket is the weirdest game I've ever seen. I tried to watch a game this past weekend, and I was this close to falling asleep in a restaurant. I thought it was like baseball, but I'm gonna have to take that back. It's more like baseball practice. The picture takes this long running start and tries to skip it past the "batter". Meanwhile, I never saw the batter run once! He just sat there and hit several balls. Do you remember the pre-Tiger era of televised golf? It was a lot like that.
Lesson 14
As I thought, the head-nod is a universal greeting that reaches across continents. Whether one speaks English, Afrikaans, or Xhosa, a head nod sums it up. Observe a recent interaction
When I nodded: Hello. How are you, I hope you're having a wonderful day!
When he nodded: Hello to you. I see you are a guest to my country. Welcome to South Africa!
Lesson 15
Contrary to what I've been told, the French are awesome!!! Along with having two French house mates (Antoine and Alex), we also spend a lot of time with Heloise and Pauline, who work at SAEP. They're hysterical, they're great cooks, and they've taught us how to select excellent red wine (which I hear is good for you...in moderation). So to all those Americans that were calling for "freedom fries", cesser d'être un idiot!
Lesson 16
No matter how many people are on a MetroRail train, there apparently is always room for one more…or seven! This past Tuesday, there were so many people on the train that people were hanging out of the door. At one point, I'm pretty sure that my feet weren't touching the ground. I thought we were gonna lose Sarah for a minute there, but she made it out. Speaking of getting off the train…
Lesson 17
Amanda can really lower the boom on some chumps. We saw many people struggle to get off the train during several stops. But once the train got to our stop, my wife lowered her shoulder and parted the sea of people like Moses. I saw her overpower several grown men that were trying to get on. I'll keep this in mind the next time I try to get out of washing dishes. Finally,...
Lesson 18
The next 7 days could have a dramatic effect on Zimbabwe and South Africa. The highly-anticipated runoff election in Zimbabwe is taking place on June 27th. With each passing day, the situation is growing more tense as more and more nations weigh-in on the legitimacy of this runoff. President Mugabe has made it clear that he won't give up power easily. If MDC candidate Morgan Tsvangirai winds up winning the election, there is a very good chance the results will be followed by violence. And post-election violence could lead to a huge number of Zimbabweans fleeing into South Africa, where they are still targets of Xenophobic violence. African leaders, along with the UN, must use their best judgment in addressing this matter. If they fail to do so, it could very well get ugly.
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2 comments:
Will you be in Zimbabwe? and if it gets ugly, will you all have to leave? I can't have no trouble coming to my darkness, now.
A lot of my fellow interns in the office (over half) are French. They really are a cool people. I think one of them, though, is on his way to a quick harassment suit if he ever works in the States.
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