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Published: October 31st 2009
Friday morning.. I am eating a veggie burger with incredibly spicy chili paste that Freds' wife made. She makes jar after jar of
all these amazing Indian pickles, chutneys and chilis. That is probably the only good thing I can say about that woman.. I feel that
she is the primary reason Fred will not offer me part time work. If ever I have seen an example of keeping someone on a short leash, this
is it. See..Fred is a successful farmer that had no children..She was just a sweeping and coffee lady at the office. He knocked her up
and now they have two little children running around..plus her other son, full Indian. This is ok..but if her skin tone were slightly darker then
that would be a whole new story. anyway. Bob Dylan- love minus zero/no limit .. yes indeed..
tried that internet cafe again-- tr try try-- no luck.. no photos. the computer just will not let me install the activeX file that is necessary to
upload files to the travel blog.. I am planning to attempt to get into the PMburg later today and try the internet cafe out there. I do not have too
many photos,
as I have been in the same place for awhile.. I do not have any photos of the wild dogs yet.. they are fast. and creepy.
I decided that my attempts at keeping this idea alive..the program in the township..are pointless.. I wish I could wave a wand and make the computers
appear..the building supplies appear..and a truck to lug everything around.. anyone have one of those wands??
I spent a couple days with other friends in this area.. I walked to SPAR grocery two mornings ago-- then walked towards familar places..
I did not remember the walk being that long..but it was nice..relaxing.. I saw the houses we built in 2006, believing they were to be used for
some great community improvement program..they are still abandoned, with brush growing all around.. yeh that lady, Thabi, was
super corrupt and embezzling volunteer group money..once she bought her second SUV, she was investigated and lost the job.
Again, I thought.. wow what if I could clean these up, get some new doors and windows, acquire electricity...furnish...run a backpackers here??
Oh wait..that would cost about R 4500..or more..I don't know..depending on the plumbing issues.. were the toilet properly hooked up after
we
finished building them?? plus.. they are owned by government I believe.. how much would they want? eish. I kept walking.. walking..
it started raining..haha. but not so bad that I would run back and seek shelter in my 4 year old volunteer project. It was like the heavens
were crying--like I wanted to-- we worked hard on those things..and now they are only home to birds and stray dogs.. I passed the old
container (small store) that we would walk up to and buy Cokes..it seems like ages ago..that is so strange.. I need to email Manuel.
Kept walking-- spun around that big corner--stopping to empty rocks from my shoes-- I walk past the gate in front of Neil and Ingrids' house,
they are are work I am sure.. I keep walking to Elsie and Cerils' house.. I ask this guy cutting grass in the front if they are home, he says yes--
go ahead.. dodge the rooster running at me.. ha. I knock on the door.. Elsie smiles big and hugs me. It is nice to see her.. she said Ceril
was in Mooi River do deliveries for Bruce. Bruce is Sams' old boss as well. Elsie and Ceril
stay at one of Bruces' cottages for a very
small monthly rent, as long as they do upkeep on the house,cleaning etc etc. Bruce sometimes gives Ceril delivery jobs for the farm.
They are an older couple-- maybe younger than I think-- as they both chain smoke in a very intense manner.. Ceril made it home shortly
after. I had some juice..then some water.. it was nice after the walk. I told them about what had happened--why I was back again-- why it
was now all "buggered".. I could see they were truly disgusted.. very caring people.. automatically they said they would ask around
for anyone needing ANY work..and for any small rooms or cottages for cheap rent. We laughed about how South Africa gets Americas'
worst TV shows..like they buy 3 good ones and get a bunch of crap for free.. except WWE , that is great. and George Lopez.
You see, Elsie and Ceril lived in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). In 1982, 2 years after Mugabe took power, the Central Intelligence Organization,
whose slogan was "The CIO is never wrong" came to their door. They accused Elsie of sending various foreign currencies to
South Africa, to help fund the
Apartheid governments' attempts at returning Zimbabwe to white rule. Now this is absurd. They had one
envelope, in which her mother, living in South Africa, sent her some Rand..to help them out a bit.. She denied all of it..they said they
would be back.. Elsie and Ceril packed up and drove across the border 2 weeks later, with 4 kids and 500 Zim bucks. it is an intense
story. but look what they avoided-- the genocide of white farmers in Zimbabwe-- the forcing of families off of land that has been in their
family name since the 1700s.. these people are just as African as anyone who is black,brown,purple or yellow.. After a nice long talk,
they let me know that Neil was sick and at home..but not too sick they said.. so I bid farewell, said I would come by soon. i surprised Neil.
He showed me his new laptop, an eMachine. not bad at all. We messed around on that for a bit, I showed him how to delete useless programs.
Uncle Neil, of course offered me a beer. haha. he is sick but he was downing brandy and Coke Zeros.. Ingrid came home from work
and was
very jubilant to see me as well. we caught up, shared stories-- again--they hated hearing what had happened.. they said "well
you are in South Africa." haha. I know I know.. but Ingrid always follows these statements up with "but I would not want to be anywhere
else." I understand why. the view just from their sitting room is amazing.. you gaze over the vast rolling hills of farmland, with the
Drakensburg mountains far in the distance-- the sun rising over the hills is one of the most beautiful things my eyes have ever
experienced. they offered the same--to ask around for work and rooms-- plus they said of course you can always stay here-- in the
guestroom.. thank you. maybe help Neil with his panel beating and experiments in welding? We finally all crashed-- I took the guest bed.
the next morning, we shared coffee and toast.. Ingrid went off to the dentist-- Neil stayed home again due to his cough-- lighting up
another cigarette haha. He went to fetch his friend Andreas and we spent about 3 hours welding together pieces of an old gate--Neil
is using these old gates to make car trailers. It is actually a
good idea. it was a task getting the tires positioned perfectly(they still were
not) before welding them on to the sides.. he bought the gates for R200 each and is selling the trailers at around R500 so..good job.
Eventually, Neil gave me a lift back to the farm.. He said I must come Saturday to the pub with all the guys to watch the Sharks play
the Blue Bulls. Rugby qualifying cup. I definitely wanna go, the Natal Sharks are a great team. I saw them clobber the Free State,
while I was in the Free State. haha. so I will definitely go..sounds good. Bob Dylan- Mississippi.. so good.
So I heard from Aaliya--at Amangwe-- seems to be interested in my returning there and helping in various ways around the place.
I hope so.. I truly do.. I love that place. I would love to be involved with the computer program there again-- I did start it. and I funded
it as long as I could..haha I have no money now.. the people there are great and I definitely feel good when I am there. I can clean toilets
too. So-- I am hoping for the best. I also think
the guesthouses there would be a wonderful backpackers.. what could be better? Nice clean
houses-- rooms--toilet and bath--kitchen.. I would gladly keep them up , do the maintenance,cleaning, cook for guests.. YES!! could
be so great. and if we could get Amangwe listed in Coast to Coast and various backpacker websites-- it is a booming industry in
this country-- and the money would help keep Amangwe going..bring more interest to the area. Amangwe Village backpacker--
clean, friendly, volunteer with children!!, visit the nearby game reserve, visit Battle sites, visit Richards Bay.. could be great. truly.
I just hope they see it that way.. I have stayed in so many backpackers and I promise you that Amangwe could outdo at least half of
them if it was done right. so the toilet story-- the toilet here at the farm , the one for the workers-- has not been kept clean-- what happens
is the workes that do not live here-that live elsewhere, well they use it. what do they care though? they do not live here..they are just
lazy, if there is no toilet paper they just use newspaper..and clog it. and Sam has fixed it many times.. Fred refuses to
do anything about it
as he sees people just do not care..probably why he has not built the shower here.. well I got angry about it-- got gloves, solution, and cleaned
the old toilet brush that was just sitting there.. I cleaned it with much intensity..took a broom and swept down all of the cobwebs and
crap on the wall.. I bought toilet paper and put one roll in there.. It looks good. it smells better.. we shall see.. seriously,
why do they think that Fred would build a shower if they do not even try to keep the toilet clean?? if I make it into PMburg then
this entry will be added to the blog today-- I have no way of knowing-- I hope!! and I hope I can upload some photos. otherwise, I fear
that people will stop reading my blog. haha. I know it is not the African adventure that everyone was hoping for..but this is.. just life..
take care.
PS. on the way here I went off on this guy.. I get so sick of people calling all white people umlungu..instead of just saying their name.. even if it is their boss and they do not
is that not amazing..
where the river water and the ocean meet. soooo prettyparticularly like him..
So I said how about from now on I just say muntu to every black person instead of saying their name.. he apologised. damn straight.
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suellen wrinkle
non-member comment
Very glad to read this blog! You sound good sweetheart, and yes this is life. But you are there in S.Africa for a reason, God will give you the reason, you just listen for it - it will come. Faith, it is what you have to live by-if not for faith-you wouldn't be here!! lol Seriously, things work out for the best, I know you get so tired of me saying that-but it is true! I believe with all of my heart that you are there for some reason or you would not have this burning desire to be in S.Africa, just trust darling, that's an order!! I love the pictures!! It truly is beautiful, can't wait to see it! Guess it will have to be in July with the fam. But that's okay, I can wait as long as I know you are doing what you want. You look so handsome, guess I forget how cute you are...and you are not fat! I love you and miss you so much. I am praying for you constantly-so know this..IT WILL WORK OUT!! haha, there I said it again!! Mom