The Journey Inward

I slept in a bit this morning and then drove about 20 minutes to the Hazel Food Market in Lynnwood, a suburb of Pretoria. I passed some really cool artwork on the side of the road as I drove. The nicest man greeted me as I parked on the street and we had a sweet conversation before I took the short walk to the entrance. The dirt path was lined on both sides with vendor stalls with everything from fruits, vegetables and cheeses to Sri Lankan and Greek and Indian foods to clothes and jewelry. One of my students goes there every weekend and I kept telling her it was on my list. Today was that day!

I got the lay of the land and then zeroed in on a brunch of greens, chickpeas, tomatoes, onions, olives, lamb and feta (cheated on dairy again) with a scrumptious sauce that I tried to say no to, but was glad I had it!

The foods looked delicious and they had my favorite Portuguese pastry, pastel de nata. It is an egg custard tart and goes beautifully with tea. The smell of the meats off this open grill were out of this world. South Africa does meat well!

I turned and saw three of my students walking by and said, “Well, look who’s here!” Their faces when they turned were so funny and they ran away, one yelling, “Creepy!” Later they came and found me while I was watching cricket on a neighboring field and had their wits about them again and we chatted and chatted. I get it. Seeing your teacher in the wild is mind boggling!

The vendors were so nice and I spoke at length with a few. One was a man selling jewelry he and his wife make. They grow the flowers on their farm that they cover in resin and the shells were collected by them in Cape Town. He forges the metals and she does the resin and flowers. When he discovered I was from the States, he wanted to know what brought me there and how I liked it. I went through all that I love here and how happy I am to be here and he said, “Thank you for reminding me how wonderful my country is. Sometimes we take it for granted.”

Another was a woman who sewed bags from schwe schwe fabric, a common African cotton print. It is vibrant and often called the denim of South Africa. It is used in tradition Sotho and Xhosa attire. Her collection was vast and practical and I bought two of her bags, though I could have bought more. She was so lovely to speak to and seemed genuinely touched by my compliments. A final young man sold me a pair of print pants, a wrap skirt and a dress. When he discovered I was from “America,” he told me he wanted to go to the Grand Canyon and Yosemite. I was impressed with his choices and he said in broken English, “Because of Yogi Bear and Boo Boo.” We then discussed all these American cartoons from my childhood that he knew well! It was so funny!

I bought two empanadas for the sweet car guard and he said that God blesses me deeply. It feels so nice to do the smallest kindnesses and because I never have cash, buying food or drinks seems to go over well, too. I had given my security guard here at my estates my leftover pizza Friday night and he was beaming!

My haul consisted of the above…a red dress with beautiful patterns, three woven fans to hang in the house (that woman loved her designs and told me they were more unique than the typical round woven plates you see), two bottles of the best kombucha I’ve ever had (they were not flavored, but rather by the barrel-amazing!), four pairs of earrings, a schwe schwe cooler bag and a schwe schwe insulated wine carrier, two schwe schwe potholders, a sweet little purse a woman makes by using different feet on her sewing machine and going over her sketches (I immediately sent to Gillian), a woven basket to store blankets in this winter, a pair of patterned pants, a wrap skirt that reverses to a totally different pattern, and a patterned pair of billowy pants. Such African gifts!

After my tech guy came to troubleshoot my weak Wifi upstairs due to the thick concrete walls and ceiling (he’s going to hardwire next visit), I attended a professional rugby game at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, with the Pretoria Bulls playing the Durban Sharks. I signed up on the InterNations app, but they ended up canceling, so Hashem from Jordan and I went with his five year old son. I am in LOVE with rugby! It was so exciting and Pretoria crushed! I don’t like American football with all the stoppages and this game is the very opposite! It moves so fast and no fouls were called at all! The crowd was fantastic and I spent a good deal of time talking to a young South African woman Gabrielle’s age. She asked to exchange numbers and I’m meeting her and her sister-in-law next weekend for coffee!

After the game, kids ran out onto the field and I was surprised parents let them. But that was nothing compared to the surprise I got when the entire stadium wandered onto the field. Teenagers were running and sliding across the grass, kids were throwing rugby balls around and adults were kicking drop goals. It was chaos in such a fun way and so typical of South Africa! I talked to Lori and then Shari for an hour or so each before heading to bed.