Random Thoughts

Who is this blog written for?
If some items in these pages seem odd, I am writing for three audiences. First friends and relatives, I am trying to stay connected. Second, people who think they might become South African Peace Corps Volunteers trying to find out what the real PC is like; this is paying back for the blogs I read while preparing for serving. Finally, I am writing for myself; weeks go by so quickly (and days sometimes so slowly) I want a way to capture my responses to this African life.

White Magic:
Mr. Zulu drives the khumbi (15+ passenger van / jitney) that serves as our area’s sole transport. He leaves at 6:30-ish for Vryheid and returns at 3:30-ish. Mr. Zulu is very traditional, is related in some fashion to the Zulu king, and speaks very little English. He is a very nice man. We saw him on Friday and with much hand signaling, our poor isiZulu and some body language (generally acting like a crazy umlungu (white guy)) let him know we wanted to take his khumbi to town the next morning. That Saturday when we went to get the khumbi he greeted us warmly and insisted we take the two front seats beside him. After he started driving he began to fumble through some papers and retrieved 3 lotto forms and asked Susan aka Nonhlanhla (means good fortune in isiZulu) to pick numbers. Crazy, umlungu and “good fortune” a perfect trifecta – sure to win big.

Besides isiZulu we need to learn English
I didn’t realize I had a problem with English until coming here. A biscuit is actually a cookie and a scone is a biscuit, as in “I’d like an Oreo biscuit and a scone with ham gravy”. Robots are traffic lights, as in “Turn left at the second robot” or “The robot is turning red”. Paraffin is kerosene, as in “Fill the camp stove with paraffin.” Geyser (pronounced GEE-zer) is a hot water heater as in “The old geyser doesn’t get hot anymore”. Stiffie is a USB thumb drive. Bakkie (pronounce more or less BUG-gy) is a personal motor vehicle, generally referring to a fairly beat up small pickup truck coated with mud and a fine sheen of road dust.

I love the SA usage of “this side”, “that side”. I don’t know if the usage is universal in SA but it certainly is used here in KZN. Seemingly every person, thing, place or concept is associated with a side. The usage provides a wonderful level of ambiguity, as in “He’s over that side today”. This might mean is in the next room, next door, down the road, over the hill, across the country, in the United States or around the world.

Getting plugged in
Electricity is a problem. No not the problem that out here the power goes out with every good storm – that problem could be fixed. No the deepest problem with the electrical grid is the electrical plug. South Africa has a power plug found no where else. The plug is roughly the size and shape of Tyrannosaurus Rex’s fore-paws. It has three round prongs each about a quarter of inch diameter and a little over an inch long.. So far no problem, a little unwieldy perhaps– a 6 outlet power strip is the size of a small aircraft carrier – the problem is that even South Africans don’t use it. About half the electrical appliances use the European plug with two small round prongs and virtually all electronic gadgets use the European plug – this includes items manufactured in SA for South Africa. This means that nearly every electrical outlet needs an SA to European adapter (and of course the Crazy American needs a American flat prong to European round prong adapter to go into the European to SA adapter).

The amazing fact is that the adapters don’t work. Get to work in the morning and plug your laptop into the American-to-European adapter, then plug the American-to-European adapter into the European-to-SA adapter then plug the whole mess into the wall and NOTHING happens. This is when the fun starts. The trick is to jiggle the various plugs for five or ten minutes until you hear a crackle, see a satisfying arc of sparks, feel a small jolt of electricity in your fingers, perhaps see the overhead lights dim; this means you’ve found a connection. If you move anything you lose the connection and you must start jiggling all over again.

I suppose this is a pretty petty rant – some PCV’s and lots of South Africans don’t have electricity at all but I was frustrated this week when I bought an extension cord. When I tried to use it the first time it didn’t work. How can one sell an extension cord that doesn’t work? So many cultural adjustments.

Birdwatching for Dummies
Birds in South Africa are amazing. I sit at my window and each day I see new varieties. It helps that I am a naïve American so that even the commonest of birds look and sound exotic. I suppose that my excitement can sound odd to a South African like raving over sighting a pigeon or sparrow might sound to an American. The sights and sounds of these beautiful birds warm my spirit.

The Yearly Cycle
This year has been very confusing for us. We have had 2 winters , 2 springs and parts of 2 summers and no fall at all. We are now in South African spring-time which seems to sprinkle in a few days of summer now and again. The mountains are turning green with the increased rainfall and are filling with wild flowers. Jacarandas are native to South Africa and are in full spectacular flower. Somehow the jacarandas seem to have a deeper, more intense purple here than in LA.