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Published: January 29th 2008
Monkey Business
Scott examines the evidence at the scene of the crime.Well, I have been trying very hard to keep up with the news both here and back in Canada, but it has been quite disheartening in both places. Canadian news headlines seem to be full of Freezing Weather, Terrible Car Accidents, Teenage Murders, and many other depressing things (including non-stop headlines about Britney Spears). The world headlines are full of Kenyan Violence, and the US Recession. Local headlines here outside Durban, SA contain crazy stories of Carjackings, Murder, and Robberies.
So I thought that this week I would go with a news theme that is a little more encouraging. These are some of the headlines in the Life of Scott and Shauna this week:
A Troop of Monkeys "Break and Enter" into our house and make off with a load of bananas.
A gecko falls from the sky.
The Armed Response division arrives at our house to Scott's surprise.
Shauna unexpectedly makes her debut as a model in a local advertising campaign.
Shauna learns to drive.
Scott sings an unintentional solo while visiting a small church.
Scott tackles the jungle with a "Hover Mower".
Scott and Shauna find an apartment to rent, The Monkeys Leave a Trail of Evidence
Shauna gets into the mind of the criminals as she examines the trail of banana peels left as the culprits fled the crime scene. This photo looks like we set it up, but believe it or not, this is how we actually found it! only to lose it, and then get it back again.
Scott and Shauna buy the perfect "student car".
We visit the "Valley of 1000 Hills".
We opened an African Bank account.
and much, much more! (And all in the last week.) So here's some detail on just a few of these headlines:
The Great Monkey Caper
Since we arrived here, we have been seeing quite a few monkeys swinging from the trees. They are really quite cute, but I'm sure that the locals see them as annoyances. Each morning a whole troop of monkeys makes there way through our neighborhood, moving from one back yard to the next, eating the fruit off the trees. There are 'parents', 'teenager', and a few small 'babies' who usually hang underneath their mothers as they walk along the fence line. I wish I had a picture to show, but they seem to be a bit camera shy.
Anyway, one day this past week, we left our house for the day and apparently left one of our second storey windows open a bit. The windows have security bars on them, but apparently the manufacturers didn't count on robbers
Our Gecko Friend
This is our Gecko friend after he survived his perilous dive from ceiling fan to floor. as small as monkeys. As we drove up to the house at the end of the day, we noticed a monkey climbing out the kitchen window. When we went inside we discovered that the "primate gang" had entered and made off with a full box of bananas. Ironic really. I had just opened the box that morning and had only eaten one banana from it, but there on the counter sat the empty box with empty banana peels littered around it. I immediately went into "CSI - South Africa" mode and ordered a full lock down of the premises. DNA testing was not an option due to privacy legislation that allows monkeys the right to refuse DNA sampling. (They say it dates back to earlier days when the human race took advantage of testing on monkeys.)
None the less, when we went outside to track the monkeys escape route, we found a clear trail of banana peels leading from below the kitchen window, down the sidewalk, and towards the trees lining our yards. We found it so funny that we had to take a few pictures.
The next morning, there were quite a few monkeys sitting on the
An African Spin on an Old Classic
Say goodbye Cornflakes and hello Maize Flakes. Apparently Cornelius the Rooster couldn't make the transition. fence, patiently waiting for us to leave for the day, hoping that we had made the same mistake twice. No such luck though. They will have to pick them off our tree like every other day. My question is....Do you think that monkeys ever get diarrhea from eating too much fruit? Either way, I hope they did that day.
Geckos Fall From Heaven
Last night as Shauna and I were sitting down for supper, we turned on the ceiling fan in the living room to cool the place down a bit. (Those of you in the middle of a Blizzard may find it hard to believe that we are trying to cool our house at night, not heat it up.) The temperature here during the day is around 30 to 35 degrees Celcius, with a humidity that adds 5 to 10 degrees. Anyway, we turned on the fan and sat down to eat a wonderful meal of rotisserie chicken with steamed Sweet Potatoes and Butternut Squash. About 5 minutes later a 6 inch gecko came flying from the ceiling and landed with a thud on the hardwood floor a few feet away. Shauna and I looked at each other, stunned. The poor gecko must have been hanging out on top of one of the ceiling flan blades relaxing, when all of a sudden it started to spin. He probably tried to hang on as long as possible before being flung from the blade and landing 10 feet below. We were both sure it was dead, but as we stared at him, trying to figure out how to scrape him off the floor, he suddenly scurried across the floor to the wall and climbed up the wall. The ceiling fan is no longer terribly off-balance and a gecko has a pretty cool story to tell his buddies. I just hope that they don't all take it up as an "extreme sport".
Shauna is Now a Famous Model
We were waiting in line at a place today and Shauna picked up a local advertising booklet. On the second page was a large ad with a photo of three girls taking up a third of the page. Shauna thought that the girl looked a lot like her and was amazed to see that the girl even had the same earings! She then realized that one of the other girls looked like Lalitha, a friend of ours from here. What a coincidence to find two people in South Africa who look just like you and your friend! It suddenly sank in that the lady with a camera, whom we had run into at the outdoor market a week ago, must have been working for the market advertising company and had taken their photos for the ad. Apparently there is no such thing as "Photo Waiver Release Forms" here in Africa.
I am just really glad that Shauna did not catch me off guard and ask for my opinion of the "girl" in the picture! That would have been a no-win situation.
Other Exciting Things
We found a car to buy. It is a 2001 Toyota Tazz. I never would have thought that I would ever buy a small hatchback, but that is all that they sell here. Smaller is better as the roads, parking stalls, driveways, etc. are all made for really small cars. When we looked through the ads for cars it seemed like every ad said, "Great Student Car". I'm not sure what that means here, but back home, I always took that to mean, "This car is a piece of junk, which makes it affordable for a poor student, and oh ya, it's good on gas." Apparently it doesn't mean the same thing over here, but I guess we'll see. We can pick up the car as soon as our money gets sorted out at the bank.
Speaking of Banks....we opened a bank account at the local bank here. What an experience! Shauna has to keep reminding me that it is the overcoming of obstacles that will make us grow as people. I am doing a lot of growing, and the bank can take a fair chunk of credit for my personal development this week. The banks look very similar to home, but there are a few differences. There are machine gun wielding guards outside the door. There is an "airlock" type system of doors that you get 'buzzed' through to get inside the bank. There is a metal detector inside the final door with a wand waving security guard doing the frisking. And, it is really tough to try to get the correct service from the teller. I guess that last one is the same as home though.
Anyway, we finally got a bank account set up, which is still a bit surreal to me.
And Finally...
And to finish off our headlines...We finally found a permanent place to rent. We have put 2 months rent down on it, which I hope is enought to hold it, but the owner seems to change her mind on a frequent basis about whether she wants to rent it out or not. Friday we had to wait and see, Monday morning we w
We visited a beautiful part of the country on Sunday afternoon called the "Valley of the Hills". It is a fantastic place where you can drive through the hills and around every turn is a breathtaking view of the lush green valleys below.
I learned to use a "Hover Mower". I still can't understand why they wouldn't just put wheels on the thing. Those of you who have used one will know what I'm talking about.
We have had a bit of trouble getting used to the alarm system at our house. I think it creates the feeling of panic more than safety! I set it off by accident once again and then waited for the Alarm Company to call the house so that I could tell them that it was yet another false alarm. They never called this time, so I left the house only to find the Armed Response blocking our driveway. The good thing is that they are kind of like those really friendly guard dogs that some people have. They look really mean and ferocious and hopefully give the impression of protection, but they aren't really that mean (I don't think, at least).
We visited a small church in a neighboring community on Sunday. They were singing a bunch of songs during the service (everyone LOVES to sing here). One of the songs in particular was new to me, but it was really repetitive, so it was easy to get the hang of. We actually sang it at the beginning and the end of the service, so I was getting pretty comfortable with the words and tune. They had the music pretty loud and so Shauna and I were both belting it out pretty good, when all of a sudden the music stopped and everyone stopped singing, except Shauna and me. Shauna figured it out pretty quick, but I was pretty into the song and didn't catch on quite as quick. My voice trailed off as I looked around at the others staring back at me. As the pastor ended with a prayer, Shauna got a severe case of 'the giggles', which she barely managed to contain until the service was over. I figure that people pay big bucks to hear a voice like Josh Groban belt it out. Consider that one a freebie, fellow church goers. Next week I'm charging admission.
Speaking of singing, I cannot believe how people can sing here! People just start singing with no words to read or music to sing to. It seems like everyone has such an awesome natural voice and isn't too shy to sing at the top of their lungs. I don't think that I have ever felt the power of music so strong as I do here every morning when the staff at the centre gather for a devotional time. Another preconceived notion I had of Africa was that with all the craziness on this continent, somehow God had left Africa and was on a Sabbatical in North America. I now see that God is here in Africa in a big way. He is here because they ask for Him to be here each day through songs, praise, and grateful hearts. North Americans think that they have the market on a lot of things, but we could learn a thing or two from Africa.
This week I also got the chance to visit some of the folks in the community with a few ladies from the Seed of Hope. It was a great experience that opened my eyes to some of the needs and living conditions of the people in the community which we serve. Among a host of other things, I saw absolute poverty, houses (or shacks) filled with kids and households that are being headed by 15 year old orphans raising their younger siblings. But I also saw happiness, pride, love, and felt a strong sense of hope. I will write more about that experience after I have processed it in my mind a bit more.
We are learning lots of things here. Everything from how to track criminal monkeys, to the humility of driving a hatchback. We are learning from the people how to sing with all our heart, and how to have hope when there doesn't seem to be much in life to sing about. And all the while, we are learning a tonne about ourselves.
Like Shauna says, "We grow through the obstacles that we face." I think she's right. But I don't think I'll admit that to her because I'm afraid that her head is already swelled from her newfound celebrity status as a professional model. Ask for her autograph, she'll appreciate that......
Talk to you soon,
Scott aka Josh Groban (and Shauna aka Christie Brinkley)
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Wendy
non-member comment
Great story!
Thanks for the great "newsy" update! What fun adventures you're having. Sounds just GREAT!!! We look forward to hearing continued great reports in the life and times of Scott and Shauna!