Abundance and Blessings

Some of my new friends ... Ashley, Sharon, Ros, Michelle-Anne and Shaz 

I am becoming a Tea Granny.  I love tea!  What a great invention!  Tea to South Africans means so much more than just a hot drink on a cold day.  Tea means friendship.  Tea means comfort.  Tea means love.  Tea is never drunk alone.  It is always accompanied by something to dip ... a rusk, Marie Biscuit, a chocolate cookie ...  drinking tea without a sweet snack is like french fries without ketchup, hot wings without hot sauce,  Mickey without Minnie, a birthday without presents and cake.  And tea is always social.  Even if you are drinking it alone, as I am right now, I am not really alone.  I am writing on my blog, checking Facebook and email messages.  I am thinking about friends and family who are far away. I have dipped my rusk.  I now sip and ponder.  I remember tea times gone by.  I plan for future tea times with friends both new and old.  I think about how I will teach my children and my children's children to appreciate the true art of tea.

Chantel, Michelle-Anne, MJ & Jocelyn

Every second Wednesday morning, a group of ladies from our church meet for tea and a visit.   We meet at Michelle-Anne's house and she prepares a huge spread of tea, coffee and sweet goodies.  The visiting is always top notch.  The first time I joined them, I left feeling loved, accepted and just like one of the gang so I was really looking forward to my second visit.  Yesterday there seemed to be more of us than usual.  And then the ladies surprised me with a "welcome to Africa" party.  What a treat!  They spoiled me with smelly stuff, scarves, accessories and other girly things.  I was completely overwhelmed!  These are good people! They have accepted me and loved me from the first day I arrived.  While Derek is away, a variety of people feed me, take me shopping and make sure I am never alone for very long.  And of course, they drink copious amounts of tea with me!  

I suspect it is more than the tea that makes these people so loving, but the tea does seem to play a pivotal role in life in South Africa.  Speaking of which, I  just have enough time for a cup of tea before my new friend Zoe picks me up for our afternoon together.  Time to put the kettle on again.

Getting spoiled

Les and I

Shaz, Leisha and Sharon

Alone in the Wild (again)

Derek just returned from a conference in Rotterdam on Saturday.  It was so great to have him home. He'd been gone eight days.   Isn't it amazing how quickly you can get used to having someone around?  How can it be that I am already having difficulty remembering what it was like to live without him close enough to touch?  How can it be that he already feels like home to me?

From early April to the end of June, we "romanced" each other virtually... through email, text and the occasional long distance phone conversation.   We then had 15 days to get to know each other "live".  For two of those days, we were officially "dating" and another two days, we were engaged. He returned to South Africa and then "real life" gave way to "virtual life" again...  more email, more texting and more frequent long distance conversations during three months of whirlwind wedding planning.    After all that time apart, I was understandably pretty darn excited to actually be in the same time zone as my husband.  Derek and I joke that he had to marry me so that he could date me.  And so we moved to Africa, he returned to work and on evenings and weekends, we "date".  And I've gotta say,  real life beats virtual life's butt every time!

Derek's work involves a significant amount of travel and we knew that we'd only have three weeks together before he'd be off to the Netherlands.  So we were back to virtual life again.  Although it was strange being here without him,  I was well taken care of.  Derek has an amazing network of friends who took me under their wings and made sure I was not alone for long.  And he was always as close as an email or text.   However, email and text have lost a bit of their charm  now that I know how good reality is!   I missed him terribly.  The days were full, but time dragged in spite of that and I was literally counting the hours until he walked through the door.

And then, quite unexpectedly, an urgent situation came up at a factory in Nigeria and Derek was given the directive to get there as soon as possible.  So, we had 2 days together and this morning he was off again.  Barring any unforeseen events, he should be home this Saturday.  When he gets back, we will have been married for 42 days, but will only been together for 30 days of that time.   Being home without Derek isn't like being home at all.  He IS my home.  When he is gone, I am just alone in a house and no amount of email, texting, and phone calls is enough anymore.

An English proverb says, "Absence sharpens love, presence strengthens it."  I know this to be true already.

Shopping in Africa

This post is dedicated to my lovely sister, Cheryl... my shopping buddy.  Shopping is  just not the same without her.  For a third world country, South Africa sure has a lot of great shopping available.  And there are some things unique to SA that I just had to have as soon as we arrived... biltong, Ultramel with canned guavas, marshmallow fish and Flings.  Ahhhhhh... it's good to be home!

This one is for you, Dan... Parmalat is everywhere!
You could get a job here.  Tempted?

My favourite chips.

NikNaks... the chutney flavour is superb!

Ice Cap... "It's not inside...It's on top!"  

A school of marshmallow fish.  I can almost hear Cheryl drooling!

Biltong... so much biltong!!!  Friday night is movie night.
Not only is it actually affordable to go to the movie theatres here, you can buy a
bag of biltong to enjoy during the film.  Move over popcorn! I'd rather be a carnivore.

Market near Ushaka beach front.

This is drive by shopping... in a certain part of town, men and women wander the
intersections and roadways selling essential (and not so essential) items to
motorists.  We bought hangers from one young man.  No time to haggle or shop around here... make your decision,
roll down the window, pay and drive away as soon as the traffic moves on.

I've never seen this many flavours of milk before... plain, chocolate, strawberry,
banana, toffee, cream soda...

I stunned myself by spending R568 (everything in my wallet) on my first big grocery shop.
I felt like I'd overspent until I got home and realized that is only $72 Canadian.
I'm having a little difficulty adjusting to the big numbers over here. 

First Impressions

Durban, kwa-Zulu Natal

Returning to South Africa has been like coming home.  The sound of the crickets at night, the "Haw Dee Daw" birds making their racket every morning, even the smell of the country... it all brings back such great memories and has made this transition so much more comfortable.  Yesterday Derek and I went to the bank and he told the customer service rep that he had married a foreigner.  Then we proceeded to pull out my SA identity book which clearly states that I am a South African citizen.  Not much of a foreigner after all!  Yet I still feel like a foreigner in so  many other ways.  For example, I learned to drive in South Africa, on the left hand side of the road, in a stick shift vehicle.  But living and driving in Canada all these years has made me soft!  I am amazed by how much left vs. right hand driving affects so many different aspects of daily life. Not only do we drive on the left here, but all the escalators are on the opposite side, too.  When you walk in the mall, the crowd walks on the left side.  I walked up the stairs in a restaurant the other night and totally threw off a waitress who was trying to descend on "my" side.  No wonder I am nervous about driving here... I can't even get the walking right!

So... first impressions... Durban is beautiful.  Living near the ocean is a constant reminder of God's beauty and grandeur.  Our home is lovely, with a big front and backyard surrounded by large trees that vervet monkeys often climb.  Luckily, our two dogs keep the monkeys at bay.  While I think they are adorable, Derek says they are a scourge.  I'll take photos from a distance and be happy the dogs keep them out so we don't have to clean up the havoc those little monkey hands can wreak.  A variety of birds live in the neighbourhood and so it is never silent here.  The neighbours next door have a pair of Egyptian geese living on their roof.  Apparently, they lay their eggs in tall trees.  When the goslings hatch and are ready to take flight, they drift out of the trees like the fluffy seeds that blow off of a dandelion.  The first Saturday morning we were here, we took our morning coffee with us to the beach at Umdloti and sat watching a pod of dolphins frolic in the ocean just beyond a group of surfers out honing their skills.  This past week, we walked the beach at Ushaka, stepping gingerly over the hundreds of blue bottles that had washed up on the shore.  We stayed until the sun set and we could see the lights of Durban blink on one by one.  What a enchanting place to live!  I am soaking up every moment.

Shadow and Xena greet us as we arrive home.

Our front stoep... South Africans park on the grass willy nilly.  How odd!  I guess it doesn't matter in a place where the grass grows back so quickly.  Do this in Calgary and your neighbours would be appalled!

Front yard foliage

Saturday morning coffee time at Umdloti

The monkey scourge... the reason why locals do NOT appreciate the "cuteness" of these little fellows. We watched as the garbage man removed the bags from the bins getting them ready for pick up.  As soon as he walked away, the monkeys would descend, rip open the bags and remove a few handfuls of tasty treats.  The poor sanitation worker spent most of his time running between bins chasing monkeys.  Talk about a tough day at the office!

Ushaka Beach and Moyo on the Pier, where we enjoyed fancy
cocktails and watched the sunset. 

Watching the lights come on in Durban.

New country...new home... new life...

So this is where it all began... well, not really... our story began back in high school, though neither of us knew it at the time.  And now here we are...dating, engaged, married and living in Durban all within a matter of seven months.  How quickly life changes when you are least expecting it!  This blog will be my attempt to keep family and friends updated as to what is happening in the lives of the Delmars.  You'll get to follow us as we settle into married life, develop friendships and become part of this South African community.  Along the way, I will share parts of our story.  My hope is that our lives will be an encouragement to you.  I may also gush about my new husband at times.  Just don't say I didn't warn you!