The Narrowed Lens: Culture101

I have been an unofficial South African resident for approximately 65 days now, I think. If my math is correct. I hope most people who know me well know to stop trusting me when I start delving into the world of numbers, but I’m fairly sure that this is an accurate calculation.

While we have been living here for over two months, most of that time was spent on the training base. It’s a nice enough place, but very secluded and highly multicultural. It was interesting and fun to be around people from all over the world, but it doesn’t contribute much towards a South African acclimation.

Now that we’re out in the wide world (and I do mean wide world...I’ve never been a big city girl before), we can finally start learning about our new home! It’s an adventure we’re chomping at the bit to begin, and really have sort of begun. Here are some things I’ve learned about South Africa:

“Just now” is a term you hear frequently, but it doesn’t mean what you think. The first time I heard it, we’d only been on the base for a few days. One of the other trainees said that she’d see us at dinner “just now.” It sounds straight forward, but we were walking to the dining hall and she was going the other direction. I was thoroughly confused. Upon further exposure to the phrase, I have deduced (and been informed) that “just now” simply means that whatever someone plans to do will get done eventually. It in no way indicates that it will be done immediately. Go figure.
Braai (pronounced bry): the term used to describe a South African barbecue, but not with an American- looking grill. The ones I’ve seen have usually been stone with iron grates, and your choice of charcoal or wood (perhaps wood is more common?) is lit beneath the grate. Some of the smaller ones resemble a traditional grill a bit. South Africans are HUGE carnivores...I mean these guys really love their meat. Sausages, chops, steak, it’s all available. I’m more of a chicken-and-fish kinda gal, but I can get into some red meat when I have to :)
ZA: South Africa.
The Afrikaans tend to be, on average, a bit taller than Americans. This is just my personal observation, mind you, and it’s definitely a generalization. It probably has something to do with their Dutch decent, as the Dutch are among the tallest people in the world (another generalization, but my information comes from a Dutch lady). While we’re on the topic, Todd is of Dutch decent as well (a good example that not all Dutch are towering giants :) ), and a couple of people have picked it out based on our last name.
The Afrikaans language has a lot of English similarities (or Engles, as it is in Afrikaans...see, I’m learning!), and Todd and I are trying to pick up a bit. Pretoria has a large Afrikaans population, and on more than one occasion we’ve been approached by someone who proceeded to speak to us in that language. But no worries; they switch seamlessly to English when you respond to them. We haven’t noticed any kind of prejudiced, or hesitancy to use English when needed.
Rooibus tea has become a favorite of mine. Rooibus is a plant only harvested in a particular region of South Africa, so I’m told.
Related to the tea, there is a delightful little snack that South Africans love to enjoy with their tea and coffee; it’s called a rusk. It’s like a chunky biscotti, for lack of a better description, and it comes in many varieties. I didn’t think I’d like them at first, but now it’s one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast, a rusk dipped in rooibus tea! (I actually don’t advise trying to eat one without dipping it first). It makes me feel like I’m really embracing the culture ;)
Todd and I are trying to put forth an effort to adopt some of the English lingo we’ve heard over the past few months: cookies are “biscuits,” fries have *sometimes* become “chips,” and dessert can be referred to as “pudding,” regardless of what it is. It’s hard to be consistent, but we’re trying!

I don’t want to overwhelm anyone (including myself) with culture...but I am actually kind of excited about learning everything! These are the easy things, of course; we won’t get into currency conversion (there’s an app for that...so much better than the rough estimation we were using!), learning to drive on the other side of the road (be looking for that story “just now” ;) ), and dealing with heatless homes.

But God has taken good care of us. I confess, I got really stressed out yesterday...we started looking at accommodation online, and most of it didn’t look very promising. I’ve got a brighter perspective this morning, though, and am just praying for him to provide what we need when we need it. He always has before. I think we’ll have many stories of his miraculous provision to share with you all!