Ndifuna ukuthetha isiXhosa

I have this "fantasy" that plays out in my head occasionally and it always makes me laugh.
More about that later.

Last week a black couple with a toddler climbed onto the bus. I am sorry if you are offended by "black", it's meant to be descriptive and not racist! They spoke French which always takes me by surprise!

Now back to my fantasy - I have this little scenario that plays out in my head, where I am either on a bus or walking in the city and I notice some black people walking towards me and as they pass, they are speaking Xhosa!  I will go up to them and say "Molo Squeeza!  Kunjani namhlange?" (Hello sister, how are you today?)  She will say "Sikhona, ninjani? (I'm fine, you?) and I will say.... "Eish, kuyabanda namhlange. Ndifuna ikofi!" (Eish, it's cold today. I want coffee!) We would talk loudly and gesture a lot and then yell "Hamba Kahle" (go well!) to one another as we parted ways and continue on our respective journeys.

It's a lovely little fantasy - isn't it funny the things you miss when you are away!

Post Christmas Confusion

I have always loved working, especially at a school, it's been one of the most rewarding things I think I have ever done. It always made me so happy to get up and go to work.  One of the things I knew I would do when I arrived here is to send CV's out. I knew I wanted to work for sure!

Late last year I received an email saying that a position may be available for me and asking if I was interested. I replied in the affirmative and was so excited. I was told to expect an email after the 6 Jan.

This week I had this thought flying into my head.... "Why do you want to work when you are enjoying being home?"  For the first time I considered what would happen if I didn't work and it was a bit confusing. I know it sounds like a silly thing to be confused about - but anyway...

I was once given some advice about how to determine that a decision you have made is right. Basically, in short, make a decision and live with it - if you don't have peace with it, it's not the right decision.

I have been mulling over this this week, and was quite conflicted about what I wanted. Do I want to work? Am I just being lazy not wanting to? Am I nervous about starting here? What shall I do?   I went to the site that had advertised the post and I see it's been removed. I haven't heard anymore about the interview, but I assume from the removal of the ad, that the position has been filled.

Now I am just bitterly disappointed. It looked like a lovely position in a great place. I feel completely deflated.  I didn't even have time to make a decision to have peace about, but what I have found out through the disappointment, is that deep down  I really, really DO want to work.

It's a good thing, because now I know for sure what I want!  Let the journey continue with no more confusion, because I have peace with the certainty of what I want.

But while I am home, I shall continue to love every minute of it!

The Coat Saga

The build-up to Christmas and family arriving seems to be but a vague memory now since all have returned to their homes. It happened much to quickly for my liking.

We have had a bit of a "warm spell" and it seems to be getting warmer still (between 4-12 deg. C).  I am told that this does NOT mean spring is on the way, because apparently our coldest months are January and February.

When we arrived I had with me, from our Norway holiday, Coat 1. It is the warmest coat EVER and I have not once felt cold in it so far, even while standing in -2 at bus stops for what seemed like an eternity. However, I feel kind of like the Michelin man in it, and after a while got very bored with having to wear Coat 1 every day, and decided that I  needed another option.

I fell in love with Coat 2, and lucky me it was on sale - 50% off.  (Something you should know about me, I DON'T GO shopping. I HATE it. Shopping, especially in malls makes me feel as though I will break out in a rash.) Fortunately, I have never been a trend setter and am more than happy to just have my own dress thing going. So when I say I "fell in love with this coat", what you should read into that is... I walked past it, saw it and knew it was what I wanted. That's how I roll with shopping, catch my eye as I walk past, don't make me come and find you!

So I bought Coat 2. It's navy blue, gorgeous and fits nicely - BUT, I have realised it is not a "Help! It's cold coat." It's more of a "Oh crap, is it autumn already? I better put a coat on" coat.  I just about froze my butt off in that coat at the bus stop.  It's also not water-proof - which is so not helpful in winter.....you would think I would know that by now.

While My Girl was here and she was browsing through clothes (she actually does like doing that) - Coat 3 caught my eye. "Oh!" I thought, "This looks better! Waterproof with a nice hood thingy, that will work!" So I bought it. I love it, but it still is not warm enough unless you have at least 4 layers under it. It's more of a "We're-going-out-in-the-car-and-may-have-to-walk-a-bit-to-reach-our-destination-so-put-me-on-and-you-will-look-stylish,-be-dry-and-warm-for-a-few-minutes-until-you-get-there" coat.

The way I see it, I need to add one more coat, it will be like Coat 1, but longer with a hood and a waist! Then I think I will have the whole coat saga waxed.

I have also discovered the possibility of a boot fetish. Of course, I would never have known this if we hadn't moved here! So, boots with the fuuuurrrrr... here we come!

OK. The high-heeled boots - impulse buy. If I hadn't have thrown the slip away, I would have taken them back. Don't know what I was thinking!!  But the others with the fur.... LOVE!!

Between coats and boots, as well as scarves and hats that I have always loved wearing, I guess it's not surprising that I am really enjoying winter here!

My 365 and my Word for 2014

My word for 2013 was "Make" and as I read through that post, I realised that this word had stayed with me all year, and I think it was the perfect word!

Now we are in a brand new and exciting year - I still like all the things I wrote down for "Make" and would like to keep that as a "forever" word!

However, as I have been considering my word for the year, I have been making a new blog (see top tab!) which was inspired by this video clip.  She started it because she was unhappy and needed to focus, which is not my case, but I think it's just such an amazing way to really look and see who and what is around you - and appreciate every detail of it.

I am grateful for so many things already on a daily basis, things that may seem obvious - so won't name them, but I never want to take them for granted.

The more I have spent time getting my new 365 blog organised, the more I have realised how much I have to the grateful for.  

So, I feel that my word for this year is just that:

Wishing you all a beautiful 2014 and may 

it be filled with gratitude!

Happy Happy One and All.

We haven't gotten the snow we had hoped for, but we do have Our Girl and my McG Folks with us for Christmas - which, as far as I am concerned, is way better than snow!

Wishing all of you a wonderful Christmas and a 2014 that is filled with realised dreams, renewed vision, passion for the day-to-day, all with a good dose of fun and laughter tossed in!

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. (2 Cor. 9:15)

You and those shirts...

We woke this morning to the news that Madiba had finally found real freedom. We all knew it was coming, and I suspect many of us had quietly said goodbye in our hearts a long time ago - but it didn't quite cushion the grief I felt on hearing it 'for real.'

I got dressed and wore my SA flag around my waist, as I am in the habit of doing with my scarves, and tied a black tie around my arm.  I couldn't help swallowing hard and trying not to cry on the bus - everyone was just going about their normal daily routine as though nothing had changed in the world.

It was horrible. I just wanted to be home, in my country with my people - where we could look at each other and know we were all feeling the same sense of loss.

Standing alone at the bus stop, in the hectic morning traffic, I prayed "God please, just one person, one South African, just send me one."

I heard a hoot, and a black car whisked by me, I couldn't see who was in it, but looking between the seats through the back window, I could see their arm raised in a fist, in the Amandla salute - and I frantically waved back.

I can't tell you if I cried then because Madiba had left the building or because God so graciously answered my prayer before it left my heart.

I suspect it was a bit of both.

I will always remember you like this... filled with passion for life and people, for dancing and for shirts that only YOU could get away with.

 And, of course this one!

There's nothing I can say that hasn't already been said. So, thank you for your unselfish life of courage, for not backing down even when the going got tough, and for demonstrating how to forgive and live graciously.

Thank you.

Getting what you ask for, or not.

We've been here four months now. I was thinking about what I prayed for on waiting to come out here. I had asked only a few things that I felt were absolutely necessary if we (or I) was going to be settled.

Because my #1 concern was thinking I needed people around me and perhaps being lonely I prayed:

• for a home that was in a big town within walking distance of shops and a gym.
• for neighbours surrounding me so that I could have "over-the-wall" conversations.
• for a spiritual home - but different. I didn't know HOW I wanted it to be different. But different.

God in his infinite wisdom chose to give me none of the above.

• There is not a shop AT ALL in our village, never mind a gym. I need to take a bus to get to either.
• I have neighbours on either side of me that in the 4 months we have been here, we have laid our eyes on once. I have no neighbours in front or behind me. In fact, I have forest.
• Church in its "normal format" - nothing fresh or new. (Same procedure as every year, James)

I wonder how much more isolated and far away from my requests I could have gotten.  Yet, the strangest thing has happened. I am not lonely. Not even a little bit.

I love looking out at the trees and the sky -every day the scenery appears different. I go for runs or walks with the dogs through forest trails and stumble across caves, rivers with quaint bridges and castle ruins.  One day the forest is green, then the leaves are orange and red, and soon the trees are merely ghostly shadows.

On the bus, I have begun to recognise people and we greet and attempt to make conversation, and have even met up socially. God can bring people together on a bus as much as over a wall.

I feel like I am getting to know a part of myself I didn't know I was. I may never have known that I can live in such a minute community.My desire to be around people has little to do with need and more to do with want. I just enjoy company!

We have found a spiritual home, (not nearly as epic as our Cpt spiritual home). However, yesterday I went to the first of their "Bible Studies"... I have found that perhaps the Sunday meetings are the same format as I am used to, but the group is filled with women from various countries and I found that THIS IS FRESH. Each one of us, although sharing the same faith, appear to walk it out and express it in so many different ways based on our culture. It's exactly what I love. Variety. Conversation.

I feel as though I have the best of both worlds. I have the lovely quiet of our home and surroundings and the beginnings of added friendships..

Sometimes God doesn't give us what we ask for because he knows exactly what we need.

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