Mama Africa

So the internet here in the house is unreliable (not really that surprising since there is 16 of us under one roof), so I'm going to have to do multiple days in one entry. Just more to enjoy at one time, right?

Before I get to my service placement, I'm going to talk about Monday night. We went to Mama Afica's, which is a restaurant on Long Street.It was a big welcome dinner from SHAWCO. Apparently, Mama Africa's is a place you have to go to if you ever visit Cape Town. And with good reason.

The food was excellent! Most of us got the famous wild game platter, which was a mix of 5 meats from South African Animals. Which 5?

Crocodile, Springbok, Ostrich, Kudu, and Venison.

I'd say 80% was good. The crocodile tasted like chicken (no, I'm not just saying that), and the rest tasted like steak. But the Venison. Have you ever walked into a craft store during the Christmas Season? That smell of wreaths and pine and holly: "The Christmas Smell"? That's what the Venison tasted like. I wasn't a big fan. But overall the food was great.

And on Wednesday, Nombulelo took the four of us (Doanise, En'Ante, Kuz, and I) to get Gatsby. I'm still not really sure what it was, but it reminded me of a 3 foot sub with fries from Primanti's (a legendary Pittsburgh restaurant). Whatever it was, it was delicious.

On a side note: Don't ever eat a whole one in one sitting. It's a bad idea. And yes, I completed the challenge. I felt accomplished and disgusting at the same time.

The Athlone Advice Center is interesting. My initial impression was on point: we have a lot of down time. But Nombulelo has been doing a great job trying to fill it all. We explored Athlone, stopped at various Government offices (the court, police station, Dept. of Labor, Dept. of Social Service, GCIS) as well as the local YMCA and other area volunteer groups. Talk about learning a lot in a short period of time.

Besides meeting people and learning certain laws, the best part of this placement has been the language lessons. I asked Nombulelo what languages she spoke (it's very common for people in South Africa to know ~3 languages) and she responded with 9 out of the 11 official languages and that she was one of ~20 people to speak the language of the San and Khoi. She apparently learned all these languages from her stint on the Human Rights Commission.

South Africa has 11 official languages recognized by the Constitution, not to mention numerous unofficial languages. Cape Town, and more generally the Western Cape, mainly speaks 3 languages: English, isiXhosa, and Afrikaans.  So far Nombulelo has had someone come in and give us a lesson on Afikaans and isiXhosa.

Well, till next time,

Tot Sien! (Afrikaans for 'Goodbye')