The events of this week has been paired with the weather almost perfectly, some days are rainy with little or no real productivity, some have been sunny with a few intriguing results.
I feel as though many other people do this, but I find it funny that when I walk by the hundreds of students on campus, I find that I recognize some of the people as people from home, but then I realize that I'm in Africa, and it's probably not so and so from Woodbridge, VA.
Afrikaans lesson #8
bokkie - term of endearment, like 'girlfriend'
teef - 'bitch'
Quite the antithesis of words, but it seems I got all the swears down now, just in case.
Yesterday I thought my laptop was stolen. I had left the room to check on the x-ray diffractometer and came back to a vacant spot on my desk, which sent that feeling of absolute trepidation throughout my body, where you suddenly feel like someone has taken your soul from you, in the shape of a 15 inch, silvery-colored, dense wondermachine. After a few minutes of assessing the situation and determining if I had turned on the gps feature of some apple products (which macbook pros do not possess, only iphones and ipads), Matteo came in and pulled my pride and joy from a desk drawer and let me understand the gravity of the situation that could have been. I wasn't upset that he taught me that lesson, it was just surprising at how quickly tragedy can happen.
I use the word 'tragedy' loosely, especially when it comes to losing an inanimate object over let's say, a person. I use it because like most people, I keep the most precious of possessions on this machine, all of which are intangible memories in some form (music, pictures, data, etc.) that can never be replaced. I backed up my hard drive within 5 minutes of getting my laptop back and started locking the door behind me.
I watched the Caps vs. Pens game via a live stream here a few days ago, which is inconveniently on from 1-4am. Now that it's hockey season, I am missing DC that much more. As with traveling anywhere, you pick up on the small nuances that you take for granted when back at home but you appreciate the different benefits you receive from being abroad. For instance:
Missing in DC/USA: Halloween, pumpkins, pumpkin-related concoctions, the fall foliage against the eccentric colors of georgetown residences, walking outside in the crisp air and it smelling like a bonfire, rocking the red at Verizon Center and watching the Caps usually win among close friends, the slightly faster internet speed, central heating, wendys and taco bell, tosh.0, the time zone, bocce in front of Basic Science, happy hours with friends, etc.
Appreciating in Stellenbosch/South Africa: the hospitality of perfect strangers, Dom pedros, the exchange rate, rugby and cricket matches, wine country, breathtaking landscapes, relaxed atmosphere, the night lights illuminating university buildings, the abundance of traffic circles (while riding shotgun), lesser known but better movies at the Neelsie, the slightly different vernacular, the food variety, exotic animals, the gratitude of servers/bartenders when you give them a big tip (though typical of the amount in the states), a large supporting cast in the lab, etc.
Some of the vernacular differences are subtle:
We say texts - They say SMS
We say line - They say queue
We say apartment - They say flat
I am 30 days in, and have 30 days left here, with 21 in Stellenbosch, and 9 in Johannesburg before I touch down at DCA on November 20th (around 10am). I will be working hard and playing hard these next three weeks in the Western Cape. It's a mexican dinner saturday night with members of the lab, and possibly surfing/wakeboarding on sunday.
Thanks for all the support and kind words from back home. Miss you all.
CK
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