Weekend in Sibasa

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I’ve been following all of the news about Hurricane Sandy … WOW! It seems to have packed a punch for most everyone in the eastern U.S. Be safe and watch out for your neighbors! Snow in the mountains of West Virginia while it is 80 ° and sunny here!

Anyway, here’s my latest news …

The suburb north of Thohoyandou, Sibasa, is a rapidly growing town where I'm living in a neighborhood that people still refer to as the ‘white area’. I was confused about this description, having never seen another white face during my short stay in this place. It turns out that it used to be a white neighborhood during the apartheid era.

Long story short … Venda is a former homeland or Bantustan in South Africa where blacks were relocated as part of the national segregation efforts. As an ‘independent’ country (recognized only by South Africa), they had a South African embassy and houses for whites in this neighborhood. I found it just up the road from our house – a large compound with a high fence surrounding the buildings inside. Just one more remnant of the apartheid regime that lives on in people’s memories.

Errands and laundry on the agenda for Saturday – lots of dirty clothes to wash, grocery shopping, and errands to run. Again, many lessons in these everyday activities. The washing was more labor-intensive than back home (see machine) and I took advantage of the African sun to dry my clothes. Grocery shopping was another adventure as I was the only American in the place, but I’m getting used to this situation of being an ‘outsider.’ And finally a fill-up at the local gas station opened my eyes to the high gas prices in this country – 1.2 rand for 1 liter … @ 8 rand per dollar, this is about $6 per gallon. This explains why so many people walk, take taxis, and drive rundown jalopies here.

Finally, I took in some local scenery in the afternoon with a colleague from the university and her family (sister, nieces, daughters, sons, etc). Nandoni Dam was built 5 years ago to provide irrigation and drinking water for the area. It was quite big (see photo) and we had a great time picnicing and frolicking by the lake. No swimming, but we waded in the water to cool off a bit.

And now it’s Monday. Back to work … Love you all, Ann

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Photos

ShopRite store
shopping in Sibasa ... maize meal