Life in South Africa.

Last weekend, five of us drove down to a town by the coast called Hermanus where once a year people are gathered for the, brace yourself, the whale festival. Hahaha. In Hermanus lives the world's only known professional whale crier. It means he has a horn he can call the whales with, so that they curiously swim very close to the cliffs where we and all the other tourists are standing watching them in amazement. Haha, we were so thrilled. The whales can jump, did you know that? I didn't. Fascinating. Indeed I was so fascinated that I bought my very own whale horn and are now amusing my flatmates with it. Just have a look at Eline at the image bellow;) (The smoke does not come from the whale horn by the way). Whales, I love you, but I still want to eat you. Word! :)

Languages and race

I am truly sorry I haven't written in two long weeks. What can I say, it has been busy, both study wise and party wise. On the picture you see some South-African girls that we hang out with. They're all in their freshman year and so I feel a little old going out with them, but they're really nice. Palesa on the far left is from Johannesburg. Let me tell you; people here have skills when it comes to languages. Everyone knows at least three, often four different languages. Keep in mind South -Africa has eleven official languages. Down here in Cape Town most people speak Xhosa, but further up north Zulu is more common. If you're more interested in this, have a look at this link:

http://www.southafrica.info/about/people/language.htm

So I ask Palesa which languages she speaks. She speaks Zulu, English, Sesotho and Afrikaans. I ask if she speaks Zulu at home with her family. She answers; "I used to, but then I went to boarding school and turned into a coconut." Haha. what is that supposed to mean? It means that you are black, but white inside. It means you act, dress and talk like a white. You are a coconut, or someone says oreo cookie. And the other way around, if you are white, but act black you are a topdeck (name of a cadbury chocholate that has white chocholate on top and black inside). Hehe. Race is a topic for many jokes in this country, no kidding.

Now it is spring break and at the moment I am finishing some essays for university and this afternoon I'm going to the airport to pick up Simone and tomorrow we're going to drive down to Mossel Bay. It is going to be absolutely fantastic. My first mission as a tourist guide is to make him to try all the exciting meat dishes: ostrich, springbook etc.

I will post pictures of it next week. Have a great week everyone! I'm off to holiday @ the beach!