Oct 5, 2009 | South Africa, Stories
One of the biggest challenges I’ve found when trying to get settled in a new country (based on two experiences now) is trying to understand the value of the local currency. I was reminded this morning when Mark and I went out for a cup of coffee. We ordered a couple of pots of Rooibos tea (which I was amazed to see has now been introduced at Starbucks in America! Weird reverse culture shock moment to see Rooibos tea in America and say, “What are you doing here?”) Anyway, I wanted honey with my tea and so requested it. The waitress made an apologetic face, and said it would be 6 Rand. Because I’m not exactly aware of the value of currency yet, and was thinking something like, “50 cents” in my head, I said, “Sure that’s fine.”
Of course, as it happens, after she was halfway across the restaurant, the conversion actually sunk in and I realised what I’d just done and looked at Mark and said, “That’s like a dollar!” And I was totally offended to be paying (basically) a whole dollar for a tiny bit of honey to go with my tea. I wanted to go back and say “Nevermind, nevermind, I’m not paying a dollar for honey! I’ll have sugar!” Mark said, “That’s okay, we’re still learning” and told me not to worry about it. Shocking!
I think the really difficult thing, is not just learning to convert the currency you’re working in to an amount you understand. The challenge is actually learning the value of the currency you’re working in. Although 7.5 Rand = 1 USD in terms of currency conversation today, I think I can buy more with 7.5 rand in South Africa than I can with 1 dollar in the US. And of course certain items are going to be more expensive in one country, for example if they’re manufactured there, than they will be in another. We were looking at camping chairs for our balcony today. Is 120 Rand a good price for a camping/tailgating chair? I think $16 would be a great price for one, but around here it sounds like I should be able to find one for even less.
Buying food is an even greater challenge. Walking into the Pick n Pay is such a daunting prospect that I almost dread making a shopping list and preparing for the journey. The cheap and tasty meals I used to do in Edinburgh are suddenly not the cheap and tasty options here. I grapple with these types of dilemmas at the moment:Â Why is spicy cooked sausage so stinking expensive, suddenly? Â How will I do my cheap and cheerful stir fry without it? The other day I spent ages staring into the butter section looking at choice after choice and examining prices and sizes. Asher was tired of being in the grocery cart, and my brain was fried. Finally, a very healthy-sized Mama came along and stared into the case for a moment before choosing her butter, and I thought, “Well she looks like she knows what she’s doing” so I chose the same one and was on my way!
So the adventure continues, even when it’s just an adventure to the grocery store to figure out what’s for dinner. If you have any tips on the value of the South African Rand for me, they are most welcome. 🙂
xCC
Sep 30, 2009 | South Africa, Top Ten Lists
Top of the week to ya! If Wednesday is hump day, I’m thinking it would be the “top” of the week –yeah? Anyway. I’m getting settled in South Africa pretty well. It helps to have visited a few times before the move. But I’m at the stage where if I walk out the front door, I’m likely to see something that will surprise me every day. Really fun. It’s good to learn new things.
Here are a few fun facts, so you can join me in the cultural immersion!
Top Ten Things You Probably Didn’t Know about South Africa (Unless You’re South African)
10. South Africa averages less than one fatal shark attack every year. (For humans anyway). I would’ve thought it was more with those crazy breaching great whites!
9. Most shopping malls have a supermarket or two in them, and some other big department stores that have everything from games to coolboxes (coolers) to dishes, food and pool floats. Lots of people get shopping carts from these stores and push them around the mall. I am struggling to get used to getting sidelined by a grocery cart hurrying to a sale at the other end of the mall!
8. South Africa is roughly twice the size of Texas! Yee haw! We have a lot of trails to explore and I brought my cowboy hat.
7. English is one of 11 official languages in SA. The list also includes Afrikaans, Xhosa, Zulu and Sesotho. Well, you may have known that if you read this blog the other day. There are five languages in the South African National Anthem.
6. Pic-n-Pay, a shoe store in the States, is a supermarket here! I especially like the Greek Yoghurt, and that you can buy milk in plastic bags instead of plastic cartons. (see example, below)
5. While South Africa was constitutionally obliged to fight with the British in WWII, the Prime Minister, Barry Hertzhog, preferred to either remain neutral, or be Pro-Axis (as in, fighting against the Allies.) Hertzhog was deposed, and Jan Smuts returned to power as Prime Minister, and declared war against Germany. He fortified the country against sea invasion because of its strategic positioning. The leaders of the Ossewabrandwag, a pro-Nazi South African movement, were jailed for the rest of the war after committing acts of sabotage!
4. Cape Point, near Cape Town is not the most southerly point of Africa, as is often thought. That accolade actually belongs to Cape Agulhas, which is 90 miles/150 km east-south-east. Cape Agulhas is also the generally agreed upon spot where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet.
3. J.R.R. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein. (That’s the writer of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, in case you were born yesterday!) And that’s Mark’s hometown!
2. There are six unique floral kingdoms in the world, one of which, the Cape Floral Kingdom, is only found in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. It has 8,700 plant species, and 68% of them are only found in this tiny bit of South Africa!
1. The world’s first heart transplant was performed in Cape Town, South Africa, by Dr. Christiaan Barnard in 1967.
So here’s to learning more about a great country with a lot of heart! whaa-wha-whaaaa… 😉
xCC
Sep 20, 2009 | South Africa, Stories, The Good Word
I don’t speak Afrikaans. Some of you might need a little history lesson of South Africa in order for that statement to make sense. Well, very briefly, South Africa was first colonized by the Dutch, and then by the British. When they decided to have a fight about who was gonna be the boss, the British won. (This was called the Anglo-Boer War — ‘Boer’ means Farmer.) This might be seen by some as similar to the American fight for Independence, except that the British won. Anyway, many years and many stories later, there are an incredible number of languages and cultures swirling and twirling together in the melting pot of South Africa — including 11 official languages, one of which is Afrikaans. This language has come from Dutch, and while Afrikaans and Dutch are still fairly mutually intelligible, Afrikaans is sort of like old Dutch with some other influences mixed in, which tends to happen, due to what I think is termed language fossilization away from the homeland, and a number of other interesting things that you might study in linguistic classes.
All that to say, most people in the area where we’re staying at the moment speak English and Afrikaans, but Afrikaans is more often the default language. A lovely and amusing thing has been occurring since my arrival. Since I don’t have ‘American’ stamped on my forehead, a local might assume I also am South African, (usually until I open my mouth) and will therefore also assume that I too can speak Afrikaans. Â People often come up to me in the grocery store, and I can basically ascertain from their demeanour that they’re commenting on how cute Asher is. Â I just kind of smile and nod unless I think I am missing something, and then have to open my mouth with a big southern, “Sorry…I don’t speak Afrikaans.” At which point they politely change to English and then I have a clue of what’s happening.
This week, for my birthday Mark and I did a bit of browsing at the mall, among other things, and I found a skirt I thought I should try on in the dressing room. I came out for a moment to ask Mark’s opinion, and while I was still standing in the doorway, a lady came up in a huff, with lots and lots of garments in her arms, and speaking Afrikaans she proceeded to go on and on and on to me. I, obviously, had NOT A CLUE what the heck she was talking about. Â She just went on and on – I am not exaggerating – and wanting to be polite, I didn’t interrupt. When she finally finished, mind you I’m still standing there in an unpurchased skirt and my socks, I just looked at her with a big bewildered face and said, “I’m sorry, I don’t speak Afrikaans.”
She then switched immediately to English and began again, perhaps in a bigger huff, “I’ve got all these garments and there are too many of them for me to go into the dressing room with, but I want to try all of them on and so I am going to need some help but I can’t go into the dressing room with all of them, so what should I do and …” And it went on for a little bit longer until I finally realized what was actually happening, and, finally, I correctly responded to the situation:
“Ugh…I don’t work here either.”
Man it’s great when we finally have a clue of what’s going on! As I’m enjoying the beautiful surroundings here in South Africa, I am thankful that God demonstrated His love for us in such a way that it would cross all cultural and language boundaries. And because His love for us is evident in what He has created, we are without excuse to recognise Him as Creator, and to love and follow Him. I don’t need to speak Hebrew and Greek to know that God loves me — the translation of that love into action took place in the life of Jesus, and on the cross at Calvary.
Praise the Lord we have the opportunity to translate that message of Good News to everyone we meet, so that they too can make Jesus their Lord, live for Him, and spend eternity worshiping Him in His glory. I want the life I live for God to need no translation – for it to be clear that I’m His and He is mine, for the fruit of my words and actions to make that readily apparent. If those of us who claim to be believers could all live that way (not saying I do, but that I want to!) – what a message we’d be sharing, to everyone, everywhere.
God loves you! How do you translate that?
xCC
Sep 17, 2009 | South Africa, Stories, The Good Word
Good news! We found a car! And we were incredibly encouraged in the process. Would you like to hear the tale? Well, we arrived in South Africa with no credit history, so the only possibility for us to purchase a car (instead of paying for a rental for months and months) was to buy a car with a credit card. (We don’t exactly have a good $9,000 laying around, and cars are a wee bit more expensive around here). We just trusted the Lord to lead us to a good car, at a good price, and at a dealership that would allow us to use a credit card to make the purchase.
Just before we left the States, someone suggested we see the movie, Faith Like Potatoes. We were glad we did. It was a faith-building story, although I cried through a lot of it. It’s about a Zambian farmer named Angus Buchan, who moves to South Africa, meets the Lord and with his pastor’s encouragement, he begins his work for the Lord as an evangelist. His family is originally from Scotland, which further interested us. He was born in Zambia, and it was fascinating to see him begin to identify himself as an “African from a white tribe,” instead of as a Scot. It helped me to understand a little better Mark’s experience of being white and African. And the leading actress was from Mark’s hometown. Side note! But I shall tie all this in. The Lord puts it on Angus’s heart to plant potatoes, even though it will be very difficult for them to grow without enough water in the climate where he has settled. I don’t want to spoil the plot for you, so to find out what happens, please watch the film!
Mark was beginning to get a bit discouraged after a few days in South Africa, because our lack of credit history was prohibiting us even getting a cell phone contract, and we were finding it challenging to get things done. (A delightful challenge of settling in a new country is that you can have platinum credit cards and a great credit history in one country, but it does not make a hill of beans in the next!) The other morning I was reading the story in Genesis 24, where the Lord gives Abraham’s servant great success in finding a wife for Isaac. The servant prays for a specific sign that he will know he has found a wife for Isaac, and the Lord shows up, just as he prayed. I was encouraged by the story, and before Mark left to continue the car hunt, we prayed together similarly, that God would give us a sign, so we would know we were purchasing the right car at the right place.
Mark headed out, and went to look at several of the dealerships we’d seen the day before, and came to one where we’d seen a Citroen Xsara Picasso that seemed to be a good price. He began chatting with the dealers about the car, and found out that it had belonged to one of the owner’s wives. It only had about 80,000 kilometers on it (less than 50,000 miles) and was in great condition. They went to further discuss the purchase upstairs in the dealership’s coffee shop, and none other than the pastor from Faith Like Potatoes was sitting in the coffee shop! After discovering the owners were Christians, Mark took all of it as a sign, and decided this was our potato!
The blessing of all blessings, the car is what we’d been praying for, and more. It was within our price range, and the dealership helped cover the costs of getting its roadworthy certificate and license plates, and helped us find very inexpensive car insurance. We were hoping for a car to comfortably seat five, even with Asher’s big car seat taking up space in the back, so that when Mark’s parents fly in to visit we can all fit in one car. It’s a diesel engine and gets like 50 miles to the gallon, and right now in South Africa, diesel is cheaper than petrol! Mark was especially concerned about it being safe, and was really glad it has run-on-flat tires, so that if I get a flat in a dodgy area, I can keep on truckin’. The windows are tinted and have anti-smash-and-grab protection as well. It even has roof racks for Mark’s bike rack to attach to!
Since the car has a bit of a funny shape, (leave it to the French!) and the encouragement for the purchase came from Faith Like Potatoes, we decided to call the car Mr. Potato Head. It was wonderful to turn in our rental car, and cross that concern off our lists. Praise the Lord who can provide us with the Faith for Potatoes, in whatever form they might arrive!
The Sermon in a Nutshell: God is the same today as He was 3,000 years ago. If your hope is in Him, and you’re walking with Him, He will supply all your needs according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:19) Is there a need weighing on your chest today? Ask God to give you the faith to trust Him for His perfect provision, in His perfect timing, and a content and thankful heart in the meantime.
xCC
Jul 29, 2009 | Scotland, Top Ten Lists
Four years ago today, my brother and I took the train up from London and I arrived in Bonnie Scotland for what has become a great extended stay. What an awesome time it’s been…I have been blessed beyond belief. Today, movers are in our flat packing up our worldly goods. If you haven’t heard the news already…here it is: We’re leaving Scotland for South Africa next week (with a month in North Carolina in between).
In honour of the adventure behind me, and the adventure to come, here’s the Top Ten Scottish (and a few British) delicacies I am seriously going to miss when this place is in my rear view mirror.
10. Haggis has to be mentioned. It’s last on the list because I’m not going to miss it severely. It’s an enjoyable, occasional option to have with neeps and tatties every once in a while. Sorry haggis, but you’re in last place.
9. Digestive Biscuits. Although I dearly enjoy these, chocolatey, biscuity (cookie) goodness with a cuppa, it is probably very good for me to say bye bye to them.
8. Fruit Muesli from Tesco. They must put crack in this stuff. It is seriously addictive and I eat it every morning!
7. “Hello, Loon Wah, may-a help?” So, apologies, thanks to globalization this Scottish delicacy is actually Chinese, but the Singapore Style Chow Mein at Loon Wah on London Road (across from Meadowbank) is off the chain. I really hope it’s on the menu in heaven. I’m really going to miss it.
6. Shortbread! Especially Millionaire/Caramel Shortbread. Praise the Lord for the sense of taste.
5. Brown Sauce, also know as HP Sauce. This stuff is awesome. Enough said.
4. Banoffee Pudding or Banoffee Pie, especially Banoffee a la Mr. Paul Broon!
3. Cream Tea. (Tea with scones, jam and clotted cream). This should be served to pregnant women on a platter once a week.
2. Steak and Guiness Pie at the Golf Tavern by Leith Links or Steak and Ale pie at the Clachaig in Glencoe. Why do things that are so bad for you taste so good?
1. The Bacon Roll with Brown Sauce. I had two of these while I was in labour with Asher. They are the most delightful things ever. To my friends outside the UK: think Bacon on a Bun with sauce a little more vinegary than BBQ Sauce. I really hope these bad boys are on the menu in SA.
Dear Scotland,
You have been sweet to me these past four years. Thank you very sincerely from the bottom of my tummy.
Love,
Caroline
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