Telling on myself: the Cape Flats smile

Ok, I’m going to tell on myself here and remind you of how critical and judgmental I am—in case you had forgotten!

While in Cape Town, I met a lovely young man and he was very, very handsome. I couldn’t help but notice though, that he was missing all of his top-front teeth. I remember worrying about what happened to him at such a young age: Was he in a car accident? Was he in a fight? Could he have suffered with such horrible tooth decay? He looked marvelously healthy in every other way. We spent a bit of time together and I had an occasion or two to observe him eat. As I watched him tackle an apple, I was saddened at the thought of him trying to eat with such difficulties, and again, at such a young age.

After a few days of my ranger duty, I noticed a BMW in the office parking lot. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t met many park workers making enough money for such a high-end car, and curious, I asked to whom it belonged. I was told that the car belonged to the parents of the very handsome young man who had no teeth. And in my critical and judgmental thinking, I thought, “His parents can afford such a nice car, and yet they cannot afford to fix their son’s teeth?” (Notice too, my thought of “fixing” the teeth… I’m becoming aware of my USAmerican notions of “fixing things” instead of letting things be. Is this a Karen tendency? Or a USAmerican tendency?)

A-N-Y-W-A-Y.

A few days later, my housemate commented that she had noticed several Capetonians of the colored race having missing front-top teeth and was curious about it. Was it a cultural thing? (And I can feel the collective cringe from the USAmericans at my designation of a people by their race. Sorry folks! That’s the way it’s done here! It takes awhile, but unfortunately, you somewhat get used to it, or at least I have, which is sad…) She later confirmed that when she inquired with Captonian friends about it—this missing of top-frontal teeth—it is indeed, a cultural thing and is considered a very, very attractive attribute from those who practice it.

Yikes! I just shudder at the thought of a dentist extracting perfectly healthy teeth!

So, I learned a completely new cultural thing about a new group of people (to me) living in Cape Town. I’m posting an article from News24 and a photo I’ve borrowed from the internet. (The photo of the toothless young men was not a part of the article.)

Can’t quite wrap my mind around this one, but hey, I don’t have to!  And, I must admit, I don't understand the attraction in a lot of USAmericans "fashions" either!

Soon,
Karen

The Cape Flats smile

2009-10-09 14:26

Fran Blandy

Cape Town - The laughing young man has a perfect set of teeth, his golden incisors glinting in the sunlight.

Suddenly he pops out a pair of dentures, revealing a gap-toothed smile, the four upper front teeth missing, a common sight among coloured Capetonians that has spawned outrageous myths and stereotypes.

A group of youngsters clad in baggy sweaters, caps drawn low over shiny sunglasses, mill around curiously before they start to pop out their own dentures, showing off gummy smiles and striking gangster poses.

"It is fashion, everyone has it," said 21-year-old Yazeed Adams, who insists he had to take out his healthy incisors because they were "huge".

One of the most enduring images of coloured South Africans is the frequent absence of their front teeth, a mystery to many but popularly believed to facilitate oral sex.

Fashion, peer pressure

This sexual myth - not borne out by research - has seen the trend referred to as the "Passion Gap" or the "Cape Flats smile", after a populous neighbourhood.

Jacqui Friedling of the University of Cape Town's human biology department studied the phenomenon in 2003 and found fashion and peer pressure the main reasons for removing teeth, followed by gangsterism and medical reasons.

"It is the 'in' thing to do. It went through a wave, it was fashionable in my parents' time," she said of the practice which has been around for at least 60 years.

Dental modification in Africa is historically found only in tribal people, including filing of teeth and ornamentation, but in modern Cape Town the practice abounds, often as a rite of passage for teenagers - almost exclusively from poorer families.

Rob Barry from the dentistry faculty at the University of the Western Cape said the practice has surged, even though dentists are ethically barred from removing healthy teeth.

"Almost every week I get some or other teenager in here wanting teeth out," he said.

Dentures

He said he has made thousands of partial dentures for people who need to look acceptable at work or for special occasions.

Friedling said the dentures themselves have become a fashion statement, some decorated with gold or bits of precious stone or various designs.

She noted that the Cape Town trend preceded the hip-hop culture fad of wearing ornate gold or diamond "grills" on teeth that swept the United States in the last decade, in which people opted for removable gold or ornamented caps rather than extracting the actual teeth.

"Here, it was a case of them elevating themselves above the rest of their peers, (it was) not to do with hip hop culture. The minute they can afford different sets of dentures then (the idea is) 'I am a bit better than you'," Friedling said.

"That's what makes it here in South Africa so unique," she said.

Kevin Brown, 33, sits in his "office", a crate on the corner of Long Street, the city's nightlife hub, where he hands out cards for an upstairs brothel, popping out his teeth at passers by - often tourists - and laughing at their reactions.

"I am the pimp," he smiles, displaying four gold incisors. "It is a fashionable thing."

Form of identity

Ronald de Villiers, 45, lost all his teeth after he initially put in gold dentures which infected the rest of his mouth, a common occurrence.

He said his 11-year-old and 14-year-old had already had theirs out "to look a bit prettier" and says it is easy to find a dentist to pay a bit extra to remove the healthy teeth.

"I think it was initially a form of identity. If you look at the coloured people they are a hodge podge of everyone that came in, they couldn't claim any of those ancestries of their own," said Friedling.

To her surprise, she also discovered the practice among a few whites, blacks and even one or two Chinese living alongside poor coloured areas.

In interviews with 2 167 people, 41% had modified their teeth, of which 44.8% were male, in the only study of its kind.

Gangsterism

Peer pressure was cited by 42% while 10% removed their teeth due to gangsterism practices - a huge problem on the Cape Flats - a mainly coloured area on the outskirts of Cape Town.

"They said when they have gang fights they take the people's teeth away, it is taking a bit of their wealth away," said Friedling, adding that different gangs would also have different implants.

Not everyone is pleased with their decision.

Ebrahim Jardin, 33, is not wearing his silver, gold or plain pair of dentures today. A cigarette is clenched between his gums.

"I should have kept my front teeth. Most of the younger people do it, but I don't think it's cool anymore. It is people expressing their stupidity."

- AFP



http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/The-Cape-Flats-smile-20091007

photo from internet: www.ifashion.co.za

Return of the prodigal gardener



Welcome to the jungle! 
Thorn fence blown apart; African spinach (back left) towering as behemoths;
tired zucchini on right;
 tomatoes and okra hiding in the weeds

Several of you have asked about my garden and how it fared in my absence and how it weathered the storms. W—e—l—l… It did ok, all things considering.


I almost fell over at the sight of the 2’ high weeds on my return—so much for deep mulching! Oh well, at least the weeds were happy and thriving in their mulch! The weeds, it seems, is the most formidable challenge of repair on my return. They’ve had massive, massive rain while I was gone and have been living quite happily and growing to monstrous proportions in my vegetable bed!

A portion of my thorn fence was lifted over onto my beans/green bed. This has happened before. The beans seemed to be happily blooming up through the thorns! My African spinach (amaranth) as happy though and had grown into 4’ behemoths. Zinnias too, were happy blooming in the amaranth’s shade. (I’ve since had a couple of dinners of African spinach, so the shade problem has been solved.)

My tomatoes were sprawling (as the plants were quite small when I left and I hadn’t yet tied them to their stakes) but seemed to be doing well in spite of the weeds; they were in bloom when I returned. Maybe I’ll have decent maters yet! My heirloom okra is alive and well too, again, in a tangle of weeds. I had asked a neighbor to come “take what you’d like” from my garden, hoping she’d take the zucchini, so it would keep producing. I confused her, however, as I told her it was a “squash plant” and so she was expecting to see butternut squash. Since the plant was producing, well, green zucchinis, she didn’t know what they were and did not harvest them. (They call zucchinis “baby marrows” here). So I SHOULD have said, it’s a baby marrow plant. Oh well. So, I had some bloated, tough zucchinis rotting on the vine. I’ve removed them, in hopes of reviving the plant, but we’ll see.

I’m debating what to do next. I will certainly salvage the tomatoes and okra and keep the amaranth, of course. (It will produce all season with cutting.) Will watch the zucchini plant to see how it fares, but I may need to go ahead and put it out of its misery. Any suggestions?

I think I will not rebuild my thorn fence and will dismantle what is left of it. The point of the garden was to see if a home garden could be (somewhat) easily constructed by someone living in rural South Africa, and even more to the point, someone who is living in rural South Africa and affected by HIV/AIDs. So, the hope was that the installation and maintenance of the garden would be somewhat easy. I have learned that it is not so easy, even with a healthy, able-bodied individual. The digging of a trenched bed is labor-intensive, although community members could help an ill person with digging; and a home garden most certainly needs proper fencing and without it, goats are a formidable problem (proper fencing being too expensive for most ill, rural South Africans).

Also, I was hoping my “demonstration garden” would be a point of interest for community members and, well, it was not.

Ultimately, I garden for personal satisfaction and enjoyment, and will likely continue to garden a bit during my last days in Africa; however, I think I’ll downsize considerably—and be free from the danged thorn fence!

Soon,
Karen



Zinnias thriving, despite shade from the towering African spinach



Did I mention that Ounaai is ok??

 

The college brings in the New Year with a BANG!

A neighbor who had it the worst, but he was away and is ok.



School on Monday?  Maybe not...



wind strong enough to bend a steel security fence

A BANG to the drum of a a terrible, terrible storm.

At one point in my South African career, I erroneously believed tornadoes only occurred in North America: NOT TRUE, NOT TRUE, NOT TRUE! Tornadoes most certainly occur in South Africa and if a tornado didn’t blow through my village on New Year’s Eve, then tornado-force winds certainly did! My trailer fared very well, considering my neighbors’ damage (as you can see)—mine only suffered only a broken window. And I am more than a bit grateful I was not here for the bringing in of the New Year!

As you can see from the top photo, my furthest neighbor, Mr. J, had his trailer flipped: the good news is that he wasn’t home either! School is supposed to resume on Monday (the 10th) but with all of the power wires down, I’m somewhat doubtful. Thorn trees were snapped at the trunk, huge pepper trees were uprooted, steel fences were twisted, and roofs were blown off of several of the educators’ houses

.I’ve not heard of anyone being hurt—if this is the case, my village is lucky indeed! Eish!

In this awful aftermath, I have developed an emergency evacuation plan: run for the most secure structure, and in my case, the students’ toilets—a stinky but much more protected spot for waiting out the fierce African winds!

Soon,
Karen




another neighbor's home shifted about 5 feet--note former staircase into home



trees down everywhere





But Ounaii is ok!




African Penguins at Boulders Beach

In my remaining days of the park, I was lucky enough to hook up with a group of incoming conservation students and sit in on their orientation and get the full tour of the park as well as gaining helpful history and background of the park. On the second day of the orientation, we visited all the major areas of the park: the northern section where Table Mountain is; the central section, where the Silvermine Dam and Silvermine River Valleys are (where I have been residing in the park), and the southern portion of the park, where Boulders Beach is along with the very famous Cape Point.

I have pictures of the penguins at Boulders Beach and was delighted to actually be seeing the birds that I had taught a lesson on with my sixth graders last year--and was wishing more that my sixth graders were there to see the penguins as well!

Here’s a bit on the penguins from Mountains in the Sea: Table Mountain to Cape Point: An Interpretive Guide to the Table Mountain National Park, 2004:

“Penguins are among the creatures most loved by people, and with good reason, for they are perhaps the most human of all birds. Slow, comical, and clumsy on land, they are incredibly swift and graceful in the water. Brave, loyal to their partners, and good socializers, they are also feisty individuals given to odd eccentricities. Penguins are a flagship species for conservation, and nowhere else on Earth is a member of this remarkable as accessible to people as Boulders.

The African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) is one of the 17 penguin species, all of which occur in the southern hemisphere. It is Africa’s only penguin, with a breeding range from Namibia to Port Elizabeth. There are 27 breeding colonies, 24 on offshore islands where a protection from predators is greatest. Mainland breeding colonies are rare because the birds are much more vulnerable here. . . . They are accustomed to human presence and this is the only place in the world where you can get this close to wild penguins. (138-39)

Soon,
Karen

Amended New Year’s Resolution: or, Falling in love in Africa, Part Two!



Hiking over the forests and winelands of Constantia.
 I'm told that Constantia is home to the "oldest winelands in the Cape."





“This is a good sign, having a broken heart. It means we have tried for something.” As (re)told by Elizabeth Gilbert

In 1989, I discovered 12-step recovery and my life would change forever. Of the many, many lessons I’ve learned, the most helpful is “stay in today.” If I’m able to stay in the day, and this simple instruction is by no means easy, I am free from worry of tomorrow or pain from the past, and life feels much, much easier. In learning to live one day at a time, I gave up my habit of making “New Year’s resolutions” because really, I needed to be making “new resolutions each and every day” instead. In 12-step recovery, this is called “trying to do the next right thing.” So I quit following the tradition of New Year’s resolutions, and hadn’t made any for almost 20 years. But all of this changed for me last year, when I decided that yes, certainly, I would live my life one day at a time, but it would be nice to set a yearly goal for myself, to have something I could monitor and adjust and evaluate, (I AM an American, from the USA after all!) and in 2010, my tradition of New Year’s resolutions resumed. Last year, I resolved to cease complaining and dedicate each and every Sunday to spiritual devotion followed by a day off. In other words: NO WORK ON SUNDAY! I think I made it to the third week of January for NO WORK ON SUNDAY and the complaining, I’m sorry to say, resumed even earlier!

Alas, I’m trying again in 2011. I had originally decided that I would try to meditate each and every day of 2011, and so far so good (today is Jan 2), but in my meditation, another idea has come up. (I love how that works!)

I will probably remember 2010 not only as a challenging first year in Peace Corps South Africa, but also as a year of healing (again) from a broken heart. I’m far from finished with my grief, but believe I’ve made great gains. In my struggle with healing from the grief of loss, I’ve spent a great deal of time in prayer, asking for prayer support, feeling my feelings, and reading spiritual texts. Two texts have helped me immensely in my recovery from a broken heart: Pema Chodron’s When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times and Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love. (Go ahead and roll your eyes!)

Pema Chodron, in her retelling of Buddhist philosophy, advises to lean into the pain, embrace it, and run towards it (rather than numb it with anything: tv, computer, reading, eating, drinking, or –and this is my favorite way of avoiding the pain of a beak up--falling in love with someone else) and although I find the practice daunting, to lean into the pain, I find it very effective.

Elizabeth Gilbert has helped me in many ways too, although her memoir Eat, Pray, Love is probably not considered a spiritual text by most people. But her book (in part) tells of her quest to find a true(er) spiritual connection, and in telling of her spiritual journey she has greatly helped me with mine.

In her search, she examines the notion of true love, long-term passionate love, and the notion of being so in love, you’re convinced you have a “soul mate.” I was particularly struck by Richard from Texas’s (one of Gilbert’s many spiritual guides along her journey) definition of a soul mate:

“People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that’s what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that’s holding you back, the person who brings you to our own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you’ll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave. And thank God for it” (Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love, 149).

And thank God for it indeed!

I love Richard’s spin on soul mates because I can shift my perspective to one from my many “failed” relationships to one of being blessed with a lifetime of soul mates! And it’s true when I think of it: in all of my presumed “life partnerships,” each and every “spouse” has helped me to change my life in ways that I discover more about myself—and really, what a blessing! Although they are painful blessings!

While there is a part of me that still searches for that “one true love” or the “love that lasts forever” (which is why I’m enamored with finding couples in their 70s, 80s, or 90s still being publicly affectionate with one another), I’m gently reminded that my one true love has been with me all along: me. And if there were something “wrong” or something “needing fixing” because of my seemingly inability to sustain a long-term committed relationship, the “problem” would be with me; because as much as I like to believe that I’m a whole, completely self-sufficient, evolved, intact human being, and therefore an ideal partner, the fact is that I still wrap myself (and my identity) up in my partner and come to depend on that partner for my “happiness.” Shame! And what a batch of problems to lay on a life partner! Yikes!

All of which has prompted me to amend my New Year’s Resolution: while yes indeed, I hope to devote time each and every day to meditation, I also devote and dedicate the year 2011 to falling in love with Karen! I hope this New Year is a passionate, joyful, compassionate, sensuous, sexy search for that unconditional love for me, and in so doing, that I will ultimately—and eventually--evolve into whole-heartedness. So, that’s it! I’m devoting 2011 to having a delicious love affair with Karen--and no one else is invited!

Soon,
Karen



one of the original reservoirs for Cape Town on top of Back Table



New Year’s Day on the beach: People-watching on Fish Hoek Bay

protected pool



rocky point, high shark alert area, kelp beds, mountain range: Hottentot's Holland in background




I woke on New Year’s Day to a steady rain. I was hoping the rain would allow a leisurely morning with plenty of good coffee and then clear later so I could walk down to the beach to engage in one of my favorite hobbies: people watching. It did and I did!

And perhaps I should wish more for rain: after the rain cleared, there was no wind and not a white cap on Fish Hoek Bay: it was absolutely the calmest I’ve seen the sea. And even now, when I’m home and settling in for the evening, there is no wind breaking down the doors and I can still see the calm bay—not a white cap in sight!

A friend recently noted that she doesn’t approve of my hobby—people watching--because she doesn’t like to be stared at. In my defense, I people-watch in a loving, affirmative way, not a mean-spirited, cruel way. People-watching brings me great joy. I love to watch people, well, almost anywhere really, but I especially like to watch them at happy places: like parties, or wedding receptions, in malls, in airports, or at the beach! And Bardstown Road in Louisville is an especially good people-watching spot!

I’ve been especially watching for happy families—probably because I so keenly miss mine. And Cape Town has its lion’s share of happy families, I’m pleased to report!

On Christmas Day, while Raquel and I were sitting on the beach, I was watching a huge, HUGE family having a wonderful meal on the beach. There were many grandfathers bouncing babies, many grandmothers fussing with food, and many children running in and out of the surf. I delighted in their interaction: everyone seemed so happy! The next thing I know, a grandmother approaches us, plates in hand ready to dole out some lunch for us. We politely declined, as we had just eaten, but I was moved by her friendly generosity.

There is also a large, family group staying at the Sunbird Center, having a family reunion for New Year’s. They too, have included me as part of their family! They’ve just delivered my share of their New Year’s Day braii: much meat (chicken and sausage), not the usual 5 pounds of pap—but plenty, and a nice serving of veggies. I’m a lucky girl!

Today, I was treated to families, many families having New Year’s Day fun on the beach. And I treat the world “family” very broadly, and even a single person on the beach, like me, qualifies! The older I get, the more I appreciate the beauty of children. I remember being a kid, being mean about so and so being so ugly! Now I can’t find an ugly child anywhere! Each and every child I see seems so perfect! So beautifully perfect and full of joy! I love watching the little ones play in sea. They’re precious.

I too, enjoy seeing the different body shapes. We are really unique and beautiful, no matter our body size or shape—no matter what the media tries to tell us! I love too, how unselfconscious everyone seems. Everyone seems perfectly happy with their bodies and very comfortable, and that makes me happy to see!

But the plum prize, for whenever and wherever I’m people watching, is to find an elderly couple being openly affectionate with one another. I love seeing an elderly couple holding hands or having their arms about one another, and it gladdens my heart to see long-lasting love! I got my plum prize today when I saw a man and a woman, sitting at the point, him with his arm around her! I almost cried!

It was also super-dooper nice to see people of all colors playing on the beach together! South Africa as truly the rainbow nation! At least in Fish Hoek Bay, on New Year’s Day!

Happy New Year everyone!

Soon,
Karen



kelp beds



protected pool with stairway down to

Greatest holiday gift of 2010: a broadened perspective



mountain fynbos overlooking Kalk Bay

 I have enjoyed my holiday trip to Table Mountain National Park, near Cape Town, South Africa, in so many ways. As my holiday concludes and I move into the New Year, I’d like to share some of the gifts my Christmas holiday in Cape Town has brought me.


Of course, the greatest gift has been to see and experience the amazing Cape Floral Kingdom in Table Mountain National Park, and I’m posting here a few more pictures of this amazing, amazing flora! I feel so lucky to have walked along with the watsonias, the proteas, and the restios! To experience the flora has been nothing short of spectacular for me!

But perhaps the more long-lasting gift I have received from my stay in the park is a substantial increase in my perspective. I understand that people travel the world to gain wider perspectives, but I am not that world traveler, and my Peace Corps service is my first opportunity to travel abroad and encounter “another way” of living. While I’ve been living and working in the Republic of South Africa for well over a year, it has taken coming to Cape Town to better understand my life and work here in South Africa.

In meeting Capetonians, although they live in arguably the most beautiful city in the world (or at least one of them), of those I meet, many feel very, very sad that I have seen more of their nation than they have. Many of the people I meet here have never traveled any other area in South Africa and indeed, I have seen more of their country than they have. Now, I haven’t traveled as extensively as other volunteers and compared to most of them, I haven’t traveled at all! But I have been north, near the Zimbabwean border and have seen northern Kruger (to see the baobabs!!); I have seen South Africa’s great cities of Pretoria and Johannesburg; and I have ventured west through the Namaqualand to see the Atlantic coast. And now, of course, I have traveled to Cape Town. So I feel very, very rich in my travels through South Africa!

I have met and spent time with a true world traveler in my new friend and fellow park volunteer Raquel. She is from Spain, but has lived in Scotland, Guatemala, the USA, and the Canary Islands. She has helped me understand many things about my life in South Africa, my perceptions, and my attitudes.

Raquel’s home language is Spanish, of course, but she speaks excellent English. She speaks so well in English, in fact, and seemingly without any struggle, that I never for a moment imagine her as a person for whom English is a second language. One night, after a very busy day, we were chatting a bit and she commented that she was very tired, and her English in her head was “becoming all jumbled up and she was too tired to make any sense of it.” With this simple statement, I suddenly realized that, “Hey! Although her English is excellent, she is having to work much harder (than I am) to converse with me!” Finally, it dawned on me how much harder my counterparts and other friends in my village community have to work to speak English with me! No wonder they would rather speak to each other (and me!) in Setswana—to speak to me in English takes a great deal of effort!

And although Raquel has never, ever suggested it, she has helped me to see how arrogant I am as a citizen of the USA. I simply assume everyone will speak English to me, if they want to speak to me. It never occurs to me to learn, so I can speak with fluency, Afrikaans, Spanish, Xhosa, Sepedi, Zulu, or yes, even Setswana! I have come to the conclusion that trying to learn Setswana and gaining fluency is too hard and I’ve simply given up. In my haughty, , lazy, American way, I’ve decided that people must speak English to me if they want to speak to me. How arrogant is that??

Speaking of being an American… Again, Raquel has never, ever suggested it, but I’ve sensed unease in her when I referred to anything in my experience as being “American.” At one point, sensing her unease, I qualified my “American” statement as “American, as from the USA.” She was visibly relieved at this statement and went on to explain that yes, my experience was specific to the USA, because my “American” experiences wouldn’t apply to someone living in Guatemala (or anywhere else in South America). So, now I know to qualify that my experience is that of an American from the USA and will be careful to do so.

Raquel has also helped me become aware of my American (as from the USA) distraction with cleanliness and germs. She seems to disapprove of my desire to line the trash can with plastic as a harmful, unnecessary waste. (Indeed, I’m using brand new PLASTIC to line the trash basket and THROW AWAY.) I seem constantly concerned about washing my hands, brushing my teeth, etc., and she notices with an amused yet “am so glad I’m not like that” smile. Indeed, I’m reminded by a time in my village, that I refused the community cup, and my counterpart explained, “She doesn’t like African germs.” Similarly, I’ve become aware of my American (as in from the USA) distraction of hydration: Where are we going? How long will we be gone? How much WATER do I need to bring?

And lastly, for this trip, I brought along Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love. I read her book long ago, when it was first published, and understand that it has since (and rather recently) been made into a movie with the smoking hot, Spanish actor, Janvier Bardem. (OMG, is he not the most gorgeous man alive today?? And well, Julia Roberts-- she isn’t hard on the eyes either!) The book had been floating about in the “Peace Corps volunteer-shared-book-stream and I picked it up. I remember being strongly impressed by Gilbert’s account of heartbreak and despair following a painful divorce, and, well, having gone through one myself recently, thought Gilbert’s book might prove even more meaningful for me.

I laughed out loud when I realized the book is about many things, but mainly about a woman living in three DIFFERENT CULTURES, and it was her account of living in different cultures that proved the most meaningful to me. (And in fact, her account of her painful break up brought up another painful, sorrowful wave of grief for me.)

In one part of her story, she accounts for the Balinese and how they greet each other in Bali. My jaw nearly hit the floor when she relayed that the Balinese, each time they greet, will ask a series of questions: the first, “Where are you going?” the second, “Where are you coming from?” and the third, well, is “Are you married?” One of the first things I noted in my village life was that people would greet me in this manner and it felt invasive and rude to me: WHERE ARE YOU GOING? WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? And I would think to myself, “None of your business—quit being so nosey.” But now, rather than being grumpy about this kind of greeting, I understand it better, having read Gilbert’s account of the Balinese greeting in the same manner in another culture. She explains that it is their way (of the Balinese) to mentally place their community members on a grid of understanding: if they know where you’ve been or where you’re going, they feel they know you better as a person and therefore, you better “fit” in their community. I guess my community members have a similar cultural understanding and I will be much, much more tolerant of it in the future.

So when returning to my village, after having spent time with fellow Capetonians, a woman from Spain, and Elizabeth Gilbert, I will better understand my South African community. The fynbos and a broadened perspective—what wonderful holiday gifts indeed!

Happy New Year everyone! May 2011 bring abundance and blessings to you and to yours!

Soon,
Karen

PS: I spent my New Year’s Eve on the beach--tough job, but somebody’s got to do it! It’s a rainy New Year’s Day morning here in Silvermine and I’m enjoying the lovely sound of the rain on the roof, bountiful cups of very delicious coffee, and “talking” to you! I’m hoping the sun will pop out and the Cape winds will blow out the rain so I can revisit the beach for New Year’s Day. I found a lovely area along the point full of boulders, crashing surf, kelp beds, and protected pools that I’d like to show you pictures of. Until then!



view from my park "home"--that's the Fish Hoek bay in the distance



took this shot for the moon, which you see as a tiny white speck in the sky!



The light green is a lichen: old man's beard. I was introduced to this lichen in Alaska--it's usually found in the higher elevations and it will not tolerate any air pollution, so you know you're in really clean air if you see it.  The air is really clean in the higher elevations of Cape Town!