SA Rocks

Eita everybody!

A very big, a warm, South African handshake for everybody. For those of you who don’t know what a South African handshake is, check it out. For those of you who do know, check out the link too – quite cool, thanks so much ubuntu bridge for the video!

So, the last bit of silence (sorry about that) has seen me doing some pretty amazing travelling around South Africa. Not all of it has been for recreation, but the last bit I did was solely filled with fun, SA countryside viewing, people meeting, entertainment. I road tripped (on a budget) for about 5 days from the mother city to East London. Along the way, I stopped at a whole bunch of rad places.

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Se-ve-n!

For those of you who are confused by that greeting, you have some reading to do below. Head back this way when you are done.

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Right, now that we are all at the same place, lets have a little read here. What I can guarantee from this article is warm smile once you have heard the message, and what is almost certainly a guarantee is that many of us will be getting our pencils out too, as we have a shopping list to write down. If you know what I am talking about when I start, fantastic! For the people that don’t – even better, this really is a win-win thing to read about.

Lets just dive in, Santa’s Shoebox Project (SSP)- started in 2006 in the Mother City, by a lovely lady: Dee Boehner.*Just a quick disclaimer: I don’t personally know Dee, but I am sure she is a lovely lady having started this!* In this first year, 180 shoe boxes were collected. Now, these are no ordinary empty shoe boxes…these are boxes filled with thoughtful gifts, for underprivileged kids across our country. In an email I received today, I read a sentence which blew me away. The SSP crew have decided to put a lid on the numbers of boxes they will be collecting, yes…you did read that right! Wait, there is more, the numbers of donations have doubled every year since the projects inception. I have included a graph adjacent to this text, it is simple but effective to show how amazing the people of this land are, those who start these projects, those which volunteer tirelessly and everyone who goes out and gets the things to wrap and put in the box. Then, they wrap the box, too.

Anyway, the focus this year is not numbers (so it has been set at 100 000!), the SSP people are aiming for a wider reach, by growing their satellites to areas where there are fewer donors and the needs are greater. AMAZING!

I was inspired 2 years ago, and loved it so much I couldn’t wait to do it again last year. I got a little carried away on the green and Ben-10 memorabilia, I sure hope the little dude who got it liked green and Ben-10. The box wrapping is definitely something I need to work on though. Third time lucky?! Challenege accepted.

Yes, so check out the website, read the ‘how to guide’, check out the gallery (click HERE for another link to it, especially now that you have decided you are taking part), go get shopping and good luck wrapping!

Shap shap!

Dave.

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Hola seven,

Whats up, whats happening fellow members of this fantastic country?!

That’s right, you will have noticed I changing things up with the greeting, this was for a few reasons. Firstly, change is as good as a holiday and who doesn’t like a holiday. Secondly, it’s time to beef (or tofu – for all the veggies out there) up our slang.

So, hola seven, much like eita – is also a greeting which knows no boundaries. It is pronounced, ‘hol-ah se-ve-n’. This greeting is multi-faceted, and can be accompanied by an extended thumb and forefinger pointing upwards and outwards. In addition to this, it can be said on its own, shortened to ‘hol-ah’ or ‘se-ve-n’, and for situations where verbal communication in not possible – the gesture works like a treat too. So go on, get out there and embrace this new lingo. Watch this space, we are really going to be getting into this. Shap!

Ok, now that we are rolling with the big dogs and speaking like them too…lets get down to business, well not really business as such…more the weather. Now, I typed “South African weather” into the Google search bar. Well, things are definitely not looking so good out there…and no matter where you go, you will always hear a “shucks, it is cold outside” or “I don’t remember the last time the weather was this bad”. Here is an approprite theme tune for the rest of your reading pleasure.

Here is my theory, no one remembers how cold/wet/rainy it was. Sure, the temperatures might be colder, or we might experience more rainfall this year in comparison to last. Nature and the associated phenomena are not static, thus we experience fluctuations.

Now, for everyone who knows me – they know that winter is not my favourite time of year. This has not changed, BUT in stead of complaining about it (which changes nothing) I am embracing it. I know that by doing this, I will appreciate my summer that much more this year, and every year after this. It really works, I suggest you try it. For those of you who love this weather, enjoy it twice as much because summer is just around the corner.

That is all for me, be safe, keep warm and do something nice for a fellow member of the rocking Republic of South Africa.

Shap shap!

Dave.

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Eita my fellow South Africans,

Yes, it is that time. The London Olympics have officially begun and are already on day 6. There is a buzz around the country and where ever one looks, you can see Olympic fever is here. Even Google has the fever, start typing in basically anything and it will drop down with the famous ‘did you mean’ and have a suggestion related to the Olympics. Obviously, with our very own Cameron Van Der Burgh smashing the  world record in the men’s 100m breaststroke final on Sunday has really bumped up the ‘gees’ of our nation.

The race itself was epic, although quite quick (58.46 seconds). It had myself and the people I was watching with on the edges of our seats.

The thing that struck me about Cameron though is that he is a real local boytjie. He was born in SA, lives in SA and studies here too. A real home grown dude – fantastic to hear. Well done on the WR and the Gold Cam, you have made us all very proud.

It looks like the pride of all South Africans will be increased exponentially by the winning of yet another gold medal by Chad le Clos. Another truly local young gun, was competing against a number of well accomplished swimmers in the men’s 200m butterfly final and when watching the race, on the last turn it appeared he would have to settle for bronze. However, the last lap saw him dig deep and take first place by just over half a second. Nail biting stuff.

South Africa now sits 10th in the rankings with 2 golds, 6 days in and 7 to go. Lets make sure we get behind the people that have been chosen to represent us in the Olympics and show our support. Click here for a link which will fill you in on all of our sporting folk, the details of their events and all you need to know about them.

Until next time,

Shap shap!

Dave

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Eita everyone,

I apologise for my absence, but I have been out of SA for a few weeks. We all know the expression, ‘you don’t know what you have got till it is gone’. Well, all I can say is – as fantastic as the break was, I really am happy to be back…yes – cold, wet weather and all. More on this another time though, so watch this space!

During the time of my travels, I happened to find myself at the OR Tambo International Airport, in Johannesburg. In the middle of my brief layover, I popped into the men’s restrooms. A very normal experience, for most people on a day to day basis. This time was different, in a good way.

At the entrance to the toilets, stood a man – holding a mop. He greeted everyone with a big smile, and a very friendly “step into my office”. Something so simple, yet for me it made such a big difference. Here was a guy, who’s job is to clean the men’s restrooms at an airport – now I am sure he never grew up wishing he would be a cleaner. However, he is – and he is embracing it. The space is in fact his office and he is doing the best job he can, with what has been provided to him…brilliant.

The difference this man made to my life, was re-enforcing the fact that we all have a very special role to play in the world, and in this country. A person might think they have a very important job, which they might very well do…let us just remember, without everyone doing their bit, or working together, our jobs/lives would be that much more difficult.

There was no way I could leave the bathroom, without chatting to this guy. I knew that I had to write something about him, and share this experience – so I did. His name is Clive, and he was super cool and very chatty. I took his photo, which he looked at and gave me the thumbs up…Clive did have one request though, that I don’t put it up on Facebook – you got it Clive!

For me, Clive is another wonderful example about some of the fantastic people which call this country home. I sure know, I am happy to call myself South African. Man, because does this place only rock!

Shap shap,

Dave

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Eita,

Being an old Rhodes University student, the National Arts Festival is something which I used to take for granted. I attended it almost every year during my stay in, what was fondly referred to by many of us as, the ‘Gspot’. Since I finished up there in 2009, I have not been back since.

I decided enough was enough and this was the year I would go back for a visit. A visit which would include a bit more of the cultural side of things than it had in the past – which it did. Although my stay was  about 2 days in total, I managed to squeeze in quite a bit of exploring and show watching. The latter was limited by budget, time and also about half a day of feeling quite sorry for myself.

One thing that really struck me about the 6 shows I managed to make, was the complete and utter talent we have in South Africa. Not that I have ever doubted it, but I was completely blown away by the performances I watched. However, one’s viewing pleasure does not stop there, people are performing in the street, parking lots, the village green (where all the stalls are) and basically anywhere there is an open space. These performances range from: dancing, theatrical performances, comedians and musicians.

The shows I did make, consisted mainly of stand up comedy and illusionists/magicians. And by mainly, I mean only – I would have been keen on watching some theatrical pieces, I am going to blame me not going to any of those on the people I was with…yes, that is it. The buzz in and around the audience during the shows I watched was amazing; the pre-show excitement, the South African touches during and then the wonderful post show chatter and ‘highlights’. I found the overall admin side of the arts festival was handled really well, everything was well labeled, the program booklet was super helpful and all the shows were very fairly priced too – a winning combintation of you ask me. Grahamstown National Arts Festival organisers 1: people who say nothing is well organised in SA 0.

Overall, I would recommend the Grahamstown National Arts Festival for anyone, from SA (or abroad). There is something to do for anyone and at least one show is guaranteed to elicit an emotion of some sort. If this does not suit your fancy, go for the people. If you are a ‘people-watcher’ like me, then during this week and a half you will be in for a real treat.

Shap shap,

Dave

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Ladies and gents of sunny South Africa…Eita!

A truely South African greeting, which is almost guaranteed to earn you extra street cred if you drop it in casual situations. For those of us who have never heard it before, it is pronounced “eight-ah” – it is the modern day version of the very 1990′s: “Howzit”.

To take the education a little further, take your point scoring into another league include an additional word with Eita and you are winning. The sentence would now read ‘Eita bra/sissi’, depending on whether or not you are greeting a guy or girl. Bra being pronounced “br-ah”, but we all knew that, right? This again, can be compared to the fairly dated “Howzit boet” – this greeting had no gender, it was one size fits all.

Look at me rambling on before I have even begun, to all of those old faithful readers, welcome back. For all of those, who are reading this for the first time. Welcome. I am new here myself, I was presented with this platform to write positive things about South Africa, how could I not. For everyone, I would like to introduce myself. I am Dave, I currently live in (not so) sunny Cape Town. I am hugely passionate about this country and everything it has to offer.

Above all else, there is one thing this country can call its own which inspires me. The people. I am not a huge fan of politics, so I will not discuss that, unless it is funny – then I will, obviously. I am not a major sporting fanatic – although after Friday night (which was the inspiration for this post), the IRB Junior Rugby World Cup Finals. South Africa vs New Zealand. Newlands Park, Cape Town, Africa. 18:30.

I was invited to go and watch the game in a box, I must admit to opportunity of watching the game (any game) from a box was what initially made me want to go. It really is a pleasure, sitting in comfortable seats, not too crowded and nice and warm. Well, so I thought. After the following 80 minutes of jumping up and down when there was a chance at scoring, screaming out my priceless advice and opinions about the ref’s decisions, being struck in awe of 30 000 voices singing and jaunting. I wanted to be part of the mass of fans, I wanted to be wearing green and gold, sitting in the rain and having a castle. I wanted to be as South African as possible right then.

So, gone are the days of me saying I don’t like watching sport. I love it, but what I realise now it is more about your country’s sporting team, representing you and the people around you in a battle against the others. For that period of time, nothing matters – skin colour, culture, home language, nothing. Sport is something which unites us, and that is what I want to see…and be part of. I am definitely going to become a ‘yes’ man when it comes to South African sporting events.

I look forward to writing down the amazing experiences I go through and hear about along the way, in this wonderful country which I call home.

South Africa, jou lekker ding.

Shap shap!

Dave

P.S. How could I not rub in the view from the box. The first picture is our view, during the singing of the national anthems. The second, well that is me pointing to the scoreboard which read ‘SA: 22, NZ: 16′ at full time.

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