The kids I was about to throw Shakespeare at had GRIT—they were survivors and were still surviving. What did I know (other than books, poetry and white kid suburbia)?
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"I can only tell you things that happened as I saw them, and what the rest was about only Africa knows." – Oom Schalk Lourens
We arrived at an estate in the bush after driving for hours. It was a private event. We were to serve food (a potjie that had been cooking for hours) and drinks to around thirty guests—cool, no problemo. Except…
Many years, five children and a new continent later – staring out into the garden of my North London rental and wondering about the friends of my youth – I thought…Chocolate Marie Biscuit Fudge, and attacked aunty Google with shameless desperation.
If there is one thing I love to remember about my childhood living in South Africa, it’s beach holidays…
By the time the shenanigans of our tale began to spiral, the night was in fact still young. It was about 1am and after a few other stops we ended up at Eastgate shopping mall. The boys had just finished a couple of trolley races and now a few of us were just sitting on the roof parking lot, shooting the breeze while listening to some of our favourite tunes (probably Linkin Park).
Time did its thing and High School sprung upon us. We exchanged the palm tree sentinels and long walk up the Derby Road driveway at Leicester Road Primary for the dark corridors and tradition-soaked bricks of Jeppe High School for Girls.
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She arrived with a smile on her face, hips for Africa and the biggest, most extraordinary, summer hat on her head. My mom knew straight away. This was the lady.
We brought them home and loaded some into the garden pond but there were so many that others were offered a bucket-style motel for the evening. We had an excellent time watching the poor, de-homed critters scuttling about. We intended to take them back to the park…
We bundled in the car; excited to see some wildlife at the sanctuary down the road. No time was wasted upon our arrival—out the car and in with the animals…
What do you get when you mix green parsley with some Boesak and a Parktown Prawn on the way to school? A whole stack of momisms.