Just for fun!!

Ok, just for fun here's a post on some of the differences in South African English and the way we say things in the US.....I hope you get a kick out of it!!

In the US we say ------- In Cape Town they say....
trunk (as in a car) ------boot
hood (also of the car) -----bonnet
fries (ie french fries) ------chips
chips (ie potato or corn) ----crisps (though sometimes call these chips too?!)
cookies -------------------biscuits (they don't have what we call biscuits here, for instance, I used to love the biscuits at KFC back home, well at KFC here they just don't have them, and they don't have potato wedges either....just the chips (ie french fries)
you're welcome (after thank you) ---------pleasure!
soda or pop or soft drink ----------cool drink (ie coke, pepsi, etc)
diet coke or diet pepsi ---------coke light and pepsi light
to go (ie is your order for here or to go?) -----take away (is your order dine in or take away?)
barbeque ----------------braai
ground beef ----------------mince
what's up? or what's going on? -------------- howzit?
really? or for real? -------------is it? (Rolf says this is short for "is it true?")
right now ----------------now now
in a little bit ---------------just now
no way ------------------no ways (the "s" on the end just makes me giggle)
catsup or ketchup --------------tomato sauce
candy ----------------------sweets or sweeties
gas or gasoline ---------------petrol
gas station -----------------garage (though they don't do car repairs)

other funny differences...
- chili is not a soup here, its a sauce they would put over rice or pasta, but never serve in a bowl as a soup
- you can't buy a bag of chocolate chips, they come in small boxes or even smaller plastic containers, you'd have to buy several of them to equal a small bag of chocolate chips in the US
- here there's a South African tea called rooibos, so if you order tea, even at someones house, they ask if you want "normal or rooibos?" - normal being English tea
- you can't use your credit or debit card to pay for petrol, you have to use cash or they have gas cards
-all garages are full service, you don't fill up your own tank here, and you tip the guy who fills up your car....they will also check your oil and water levels and put in if you need...and usually wash your front and back windows
- at most shopping malls and tourist areas there is someone who will watch your car for you, you just either pay them at the beginning or tip them when you leave
- where there are parking garages, a machine issues you a ticket at the beginning, then when you leave, there are pay machines before you go to your car where you put in your ticket, it calculates how much you owe, then you put the money in the slots and it imprints your ticket and gives it back to you. Then when you drive out, there's another machine like the one that gave you the ticket that you slip your ticket into again and it moves the arm up so you can exit. Its a great system, I don't know why they don't use them in the US instead of having a person there at the end taking your money.....its much quicker and efficient

So that's all I can think of at the moment....I'll post more if I remember them....hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into the culture! =:)

developing at Christine Revell...

Here are some more pics from Christine Revell Childrens Home. My favorite thing about volunteering here is that since I work with the infants through 18 month olds, you can see them develop practically right before your eyes!! When I got back after the holiday break, three of the boys who were still learning to walk before, were now running, not walking, running all over the place!! They now have actually moved them out of our room and to the next room with the 18 month to 3 year olds. So now we've got a couple more starting to walk and some starting to crawl. One of the boys, Ivan, could barely sit up on his own when I started in late Oct, now he's sitting up, crawling 90 miles an hour and starting to walk with our assistance! It so much fun to watch them discovering things, how some of the toys work, etc. I really enjoy my time at Christine Revell more and more....I'm getting to know some of the staff as well....enjoy the pics!

Goodbye Feli!!

Feli just left this morning, and again, it was a hard goodbye. I started a count and she is the 18th volunteer to leave since I've been here! This is one of the hardest things about this program, you just get to know the volunteers and they leave you!! So she's on her way back home to Germany. We will miss her so much! She has such a giving heart! She volunteered her first two months here at Visshershok Primary School, where she and two others planned their own life skills lessons twice a week for the 6th grade class. These volunteers are just out of high school and they are planning lessons to teach in class! I think it was quite a challenge for them, but they pulled it off, and the kids loved it! Feli also had a heart for a group of "farm kids" that the volunteers have visited off and on for the last few years. Its a small settlement of families who work at the large main farm. They live in pretty poor and unhygienic conditions, but the kids love the volunteers coming out to visit them, its quite a treat! Feli and a couple other vols have taken some of them on several outings, to Table Mountain, the beach and ice skating. Feli also bought white t-shirts for all the kids and then showed them how to tie-dye them - such fun! Here are some pics of Feli with a kid at Vissershok, the tie-dye shirts hanging on the line and then Feli with the farm kids in their tie-dyed shirts. For the last month Feli has joined the hospital team that runs the program with the Kangaroo Mums and they volunteer at the pediatric ward. Feli is so creative and fun to be around, she was also very sporty, showing the boys a few moves on the soccer field....I think they were impressed! She will be soooo missed!

Goodbye Asher!!

Ok, I have to say "I'm sorry" to Asher first up, as she has been gone since Dec 12th!! But my excuse is that I was already on my way home to the States, she left a day later, so I sort of spaced off, it wasn't the usual goodbye! But anyway, Asher left on Dec 12th, and she will be sorely missed! She is an awesome woman of God and she definitely left her imprint on YFC Cape Town. She basically pioneered the volunteer program at Karl Bremer Hospital. Previoulsy, only Rosa, our Options Care Center Director, had worked at Karl Bremer. But Asher got the ball rolling for our international volunteers to go in and do a program twice weekly with the Kangaroo Mums. These are women whose babies were premature and instead of placing the babies in incubators, they are strapped to their mothers 24/7! So the moms stay at the hospital for a couple months and are for the most part, bored to tears! Our volunteers go in twice a week and do a program with the moms. Sometimes they have a spa day, doing massages and manicures for the women. Sometimes they made bracelets, or cards, or watched a motivational movie and talked about it afterwards. The aim, I think, is to befriend the women and be of some support to them. Asher did all the groundwork and put together a manual for this program so that it is easily passed on to the next group of volunteers. The hospital was hesitant to allow us to come in because they had apparently had issues with previous Christian volunteers being too overbearing and pushy with their beliefs. Asher was undaunted by this obstacle, persevering, being careful in word and demeanor until the door was opened for us. She has such and upbeat, positive personality, she was really easy to be around. So heres a pic of Asher and some of the vols with the Kangaroo Moms. You are loved and missed, Asher!!

Back in SA!!! Sorry for the delay in posts!!!!

Hello all my friends and how are you today?! (This is a variation of the greeting I get from all the kids at SOS Kindergarten each day I'm there...."Good morning, Auntie Bobbi and all my friends, and how are you today?!" They all say it in unison! Its so cute!! I missed it while I was gone!)

So I've been back in South Africa for a month now and I apologize that I'm just now getting around to putting in a post, but its been kinda hectic!! I know, excuses, excuses!! I had a fabulous time with my parents and niece, Nicole, while they were here, Jan 11 - 21st. We went to all the sites and had a blast! I'll upload some pics to my WalMart photo site soon, so check back!

Since they left I've been trying to get back into the routine at the projects and at the office. I've been back to the SOS KG and Christine Revell Children's Home for three weeks now. I really missed the kids so its great to be back! Today when I was at Christine Revell I held one of the infants for at least an hour and I loved it!! I soooooo love babies! Her name is Benni and she was born 3 months premature and was in the hospital for several months and has now been at CR for a couple weeks. She's so precious, she's 14 weeks old now, but given that she was 3 mos premature, its like she's really only 2 weeks old and that's about how big she is! But I loved holding her, she was so good, hardly cried at all, but she's got a bit of a cold, kept sneezing....say a little prayer for her, being a preemie, I think it will be harder for her to get over illnesses....

In other news, I had to move out of my flat before I left for the US as the apt had been sold and the new owner wanted to raise the rent, deposit, and make us sign a longer lease, to which we (Rita and I) said "no thanks!", so we had to move out! Rita then decided to move to one of our new projects, an hour outside Cape Town, so I had to find a place on my own! After much searching and anxiety, God lead me to the perfect place!!! Its a "granny flat" which means its a part of someones house, not part of a complex. The owners live in the other part of the house. Its a very cute place, good size, lots of closets....I love it! I'll try to post some pics soon! Its close to the volunteer house, the office and my church - Assembly of God, Table View. I've been mostly just attending this church the last few months and now I've joined a "Life Group", their name for small group Bible study and I've begun a class titled "Renewing your mind" so I'm starting to make connections there and it feels soooooo good! I've missed my small groups back home, so its nice to get into it here! It makes me feel more rooted here, which is nice. I've been thinking lately about what I will do next year, or more accurately, I've been wondering where God will lead me next year... back to the States? stay in Cape Town? go somewhere else in South Africa? another country? I'm really not sure so I'd appreciate your prayers for God's guidance! I hope all is going well for you back home!

Love and blessings to you all!!!