Our Smokey Mountains-Trip

Sarah and I are back from an unforgettable trip.
We visited North-Carolina's Smokey Mountains, the Blue Ridge Parkway, Asheville, Cherokee, The Smokey Mountains National Park, The Biltmore Estate, climbed Grandfather Mountain, spoke to some real Cherokee Indians, saw snow(!), to name but a few.
Sensory overload, the lavish beauty of Fall in them there mountains is indescribable.

We'll put pics up as soon as possible.

NasCar Comes to South-Florida!

With the building of the racetrack down in Homestead, South Florida now has the opportunity to partake in what before could only be found in Daytona. As soon as tickets went on sale, I knew that this would be something Marco would love, especially since he's all about finding the "real America".

Sadly, tickets sold faster than hotcakes fresh from the griddle and I wasn't able to purchase them. Disappointed, but slightly relieved, I chalked it up to fate. I mean after all, I went to school in the deep south and I've had my fill of NASCAR. Then Robin called to say she had extra tickets and they were free!

When Marco got home from class, I told him I had a surprise. As soon as I mentioned what it was, he went tearing through his closet emerging 20 minutes later proudly displaying his "country" look- a pair of jeans, a striped blue shirt, and a baseball cap. Standing in front of the bathroom mirror he began to practice his southern drawl, "Howdy y'all! Y'all from 'round 'ere?" I could only groan as I walked by- I can assure you, the Afrikaans and southern accents don't mix well.

The amount of fan paraphernalia was astounding, it made Disney look like a small Five and Dime store! The moment we parked I lost Marco who couldn't wait to mix with "the locals" and was later found swappin' stories at the beer tent.

The races were flippin' amazing. We had great seats, right across from the pit which was highly entertaining. A few cars stood out and seemed to be in the pit every other lap- they reminded me of the Little Engine that Could, who's sole goal was to just finish the race.

I had to laugh though, at one point, I turned to get the camera from Marco and he was taking a portfolio of pictures of the sunset, completely oblivious to the "zroooooom-----" of the speeding cars next to him, the crash that had just occured, or the action that was happening in the pit.

Marco enjoyed every moment of it, especially the crowds and the vibe. However, when I asked him what he thought of the sport itself, he put on his "southern" accent and drawled, "W-e--ll, next time I reckon I'll just sit myself down in front of the dryer and watch the clothes tumble. I reckon it's 'bout the same effect."

Click below to experience a part of the race!

The Annual Alumni Awards Evening

The annual Showcasing Our Own-Alumni Awards Evening was held on Thursday, November 15th. A joyous night for me, as this signifies the end of a chaotic time of preparation and late evenings at the office. The evening was a wonderful success according to our measuring tools and I'm a few years older.

Alumni events planning was forced upon me.

I think I'd rather give birth to a porcupine than be responsible for another big event. I enjoy the Public Relations and fundraising elements of the job much more.

Pic: Some of the Alumni Association Board members and me - Dr.'s Ana Chunneyeva, Lawrence Simon and Chris Rossilli.

The Politics of Parsing

The problem with any election is that someone will eventually be elected!
Here in the States the race is already very heated between the candidates for the Presidential race, irrespective of party lines. To think that the election is more than 15 months away!
Irrespective of Hillary's poor form and obvious plastic statements, the US media is partial and she is usually portrayed in the press as a pretty awesome candidate.

Weekend Getaway

We really are experiencing a wickedly busy couple of weeks. Since Monday was a holiday, I thought well of it to take Sarah away. Well, out of Miami, anyway!
Pretending to take her for a morning on Hollywood's pretty beaches, I booked us into a beachfront hotel and surprised her by picking up our room key instead of going to the car when we left.

Hollywood is the town on the Northern border of Miami-Dade County - Miami. It's mostly a retirement town, but there's beautiful oceanfront beachwalks and it was really, really good just to spend some time together, away. Change is as good as a holiday, right?

One evening we happened upon a strange little shop and had a wonderful talk with the owner, a half-Opi Indian from Arizona. He was explaining Nature's rules to us, seen through his culture and highlighted with colorful animal tales. He said we should look and listen more, that we could learn much from Nature. Very similar to the tales of an old Xhosa man I had the privilege of conversing with one cold night outside of Umtata on one of my last Transkei-trips.

Aaah, the old memories. There's a life one sometimes long for, made from shards of old memory, an impossible life, thought full of adventure and ancient excitement.
Pascal wrote: " None of us are ever really living, but instead hope to live, and whilst we are always preparing to be happy, it is certain, we never shall be so, if we aspire to no other happiness than what can be enjoyed in this life."

Our future excites me.

More Everglades Scenes

Wonderlik - it's a long weekend and we're doing a braai with friends at Mike and Mel's fishfarm next to the 'Glades.

CAU's annual Alumni function is next week and I needed this breather before the chaos starts.


Pics (from top to bottom:)
- The last glimmer of day introducing nightfall across the river.

- A double-crested cormorant posing for a picture.

- Mike , Grant (beide Natallers) en ek het lekker in die langgras gespeel met hierdie antieke ryding.

Fight For Kisses

This is certainly one of the most creative ads I've seen. Wilkinson has taken it to the next level by creating a streetfighting game in addition to the ad! We had quite a laugh.