Die Mooiste Mooiste Taal...

Saterdagmiddag stap ek ons huis binne, met my bloed wat vinnig bruis, my stem hees geskreeu, my hart vuurwarm en 'n onvermydelike glimlag op my bakkies.

Ek het vroegoggend die motor se neus Noord gedruk op die VS1 en geneig in die rigting van Fort Lauderdale (55 myl ver) - die Kalahari Bar my bestemming. Want sien, hulle bedien Castles, hoenderpastei, daar hang 'n kwaggavel teen die muur en meer belangrik - daar's 'n grootskerm en satelliet tv. Dis mos Curriebeker-finaal en Vrystaat speel!

Wat 'n ongelooflike wedstryd! En die toeskouers om my. Full house. Eerste keer wat ek Afrikaans hoor, sien en praat sedert einde Junie. Ek en die spul boere om my was in 'n japtrap op eerstenaam-basis. En toe ek uiteindelik daar uitstap, toe weet ek weer wie ek is, en waarheen ek eendag wil terugkeer.

Glashelder. In technicolor. In Afrikaans...


Naskrif
Enkele dinge wat ek geleer het Saterdagoggend:
- Daar is slegs een Staat en dis die Vrystaat.
- Bloemfontein is nog Bloemfontein, maar Pretoria is nou Tswane'.
- Blou Bulle eet nou wel van die vloer af.

Nag ou grote

Evacuating North

A storm warning for the whole of South Florida has finally been issued late last night, with mandatory evacuation of certain areas. The whole country is still shaken by what happened in New Orleans recently. Rather safe than sorry.

We're going to leave shortly - Sunday morning, 06h30 am, to miss the rush and the rain, should either one actually happen. Power outages have been predicted, as Wilma is expected to increase speed accross the Gulf before making landfall around the Keys. So we're taking all our frozen foods in cooler bags with us.
(When Katrina came past, we had power outages for 4 days, lost everything in our fridge/freezer and it was just miserable without air con in the hot, humid weather. By then it was also too late to leave, flooding everywhere and the roads filled with evacuees.)

We should be out of harms way in wat North, by lunchtime, having lunch with the parents.
Schools and businesses will be closed on Monday.

(Satellite image - Miami Herald)

Friends, Romans...

Welcome to our Blog!

Instead of sending out newsletters - and in keeping with the times, we decided it'll be less boring and way more fun to keep you, our much missed and much appreciated family and friends, up to date in this way.

Firstly, we're hoping that this will be an effective way to keep in contact with you and keep you up to date with what we're doing on this side of the globe. We just know that after reading our blog you'll immediately be absolutely inspired to start writing to us!

Secondly, apparently a picture speaks a thousand words. Being able to share with you our pictures, and also providing links to our online photo albums, we should be able to write less. This will save us time and more importantly, save you from having to delete yet another mass newsletter from your inbox. We'll be updating this blog more or less every third/fourth day.

So please, sit back and take a few moments to enjoy these news "articles" of ours. Save some time though, to write back to us at bouwerblog@gmail.com
We'd love to hear from you.

Marco and Sarah
Miami
Florida

Bracing Ourselves for Wilma

Wilma exploded this morning into the most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic basin, a Category 5, with winds of 175 mph.
Warnings of "catastrophic" (sic-CNN) risk to Florida residents have been predicted, while officials announced at lunchtime the mandatory evacuation of all visitors and non-residents from the Keys, just South of Miami.

Experts at the National Hurricane Center has made it known that if Wilma is a Category 4 at landfall, we can expect storm surges of up to 25 feet into the many bays and rivers in South Florida.
We're hoping it will either turn or decrease quickly in intensity, for looking at the predicted path on the picture, where to evacuate to will be a problem!

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.
(Picture - Miami Herald)

Sarah turns 26!

It's Saturday, 15 October - Sarah's birthday.
This weekend we're in the North child minding Sarah's siblings, while our parents are out of state, looking at property.

Happy birthday (She accepts large packages via mail!) This coming year is bursting with Promise and there is none whom I'd rather share it with.

Other than that, blissful, wonderful Fall has arrived in Florida. The hot, humid days are cooler and the evenings are actually chilly. We're postponing on getting a TV-set and this has been a successful experiment. Man CAN in fact live from companionship, outdoor expeditions, books, Internet and silence alone! And as soon as I've joined Kuduklub for online acces to the important rugby/cricket games, I'll be set.

We do miss our friends and family in Taiwan and South Africa and are grateful to be able to Skype regularly. We look forward to the visit of Lundie and Juan Koen from Grand Cayman early in November.

Thanks for all the replies and news. (Use my Hotmail address or better: bouwerblog@gmail.com)
We enjoy reading it.

My last word: VRYSTAAT!!

Big Brother is Watching You

I'm constantly amazed by all kinds of small technological miracles that appear every day. Google has a function - EarthCam - that combines satellite imagery, maps and Google Search to, literally, allow you to find anything, anywhere on Earth.

You can zoom in from outer space right up to the address you want, fly over the Kruger National Park, gaze at Kuta beach in Bali (Where 2 more terrorist bombs just helped their own tourism-industry slide even further.), take a nice 3D-look at Table Mountain, or find a restaurant in downtown Miami - the possibilities are endless. I went straight to my parents's house in Cape Town and got a close-up view of it. Not close enough to see if the lawn is mowed, but still.

For the geographically handicapped, the picture displayed is Florida, tilted to give a good view of what lies further North. (Click on the picture for a larger image.)