Hotel Touring in Orlando!

We were full of energy for the sightseeing expedition ahead of us.




Unfortunately, not everybody shared our enthusiasm.

Playing Tourguides in South Beach

Old man and mannequin - Bayside Area, Downtown, Miami.

Frostie the Snowman

Saturday Night Live

Our homegroup held our Xmas party in a gorgeous hotel room with a magnificent view of Miami and South Beach last night.

This group has been meeting for the last two years and we've grown pretty close. It was pretty special to meet one last time in 2008, with lives getting busy, couple's getting pregnant, and just life in general happening to us all.

'n Taaie Tameletjie

Die einde is in sig. Dit voel soos die laaste 3 km van 'n halfmarathon wanneer elke spier in jou lyf begin saamkreun en kla dat dit tyd is om die skare te systap, erens op 'n gemaklike sofa te gaan neerplof met 'n koue bier, en bewegingloos daar te vertoef wyl jy re-runs van die afgelope S14 beskou.
Ek het 4 maande se intense, kraakvars, maagdelike M.B.A.-materiaal oor om kaf te draf voor ek kan ontspan. Dit raak nou lank.
Sedert die begin van die mnd. is dit Finansiele Bestuur en ai, dis so 'n interessante EN onontbeerlike veld. Ongelukkig het Jaap hier (die uwe) skrapse Finansiele agtergrond, en ek suffer. Klastyd is dit soos om molasses te eet - vir 4 uur lank!

Hou bene hou!

Food for Thought

Franklin Graham het gisteraand 'n skare mense in 'n buitelug-arena toegespreek by die kerk waar ons besoek.

Dit was 'n vlugtig gereelde, maar baie besonderse geleentheid. Duisende mense daag op om hulde te bring aan die Elisa van ons tyd. Ons is nuuskierig. Maar dis sy nederigheid wat my aanvanklike skeptisme teenoor hom laat waan en sy opregtheid wat my oorwen. "I cannot save you, only God can do that for you." 'n Simplistiese boodskap, hard en reguit, sonder fancy tierlantyntjies (so gewild in kerke deesdae om mense te "lok"), en honderde mense kom tot bekering. The real deal.
Hy is hoof uitvoerende beampte van Samaritan's Purse, 'n wêreld-organisasie wat grootskaalse hulpverleningswerk in noodgeteisterde werelddele doen, gemeenskapsontwikkelingsprojekte bestuur, globale mediese dienste verrig en evangelisasiewerk doen.

This is a touching picture (above) from the Samaritan's Purse website, isn't it? No successful proposal, business plan, awarded grant, fundraising event, or any other unimportant work-related accomplishment comes close to stirring the heart like this picture does.
A smile will mean a lot to these kids. Imagine how these kids will treasure a can of coke!? Here in superficial Miami our colleagues bicker because the annual staff Xmas party is too ordinary. They buy cake worth $1000 because it will impress the guests. Only a new X-Box or I-Phone will impress the kids.

This Life

Maybe twice in my life I reached what I wanted to. Once we were playing "These Foolish Things" and at the end the band stops and I play a little cadenza. That cadenza - no one can do it better. Let's say it's five bars. That's a very good thing to have done in a lifetime. An artist should be judged by his best, just as an athlete. Pick out my one or two best things and say, "That's what we did, all the rest was rehearsal."
- Artie Shaw, as told in the book The Call, by Guinness.

Such a fantastic quote, there is so much to it on so many different levels. I can read it over and over again.

Mysterious Bee Disease Threaten US Crops

A mysterious bee disease, called colony collapse disorder (CCD) is causing havoc among the busy little insect colonies in the US, since the first report in 2005. Seemingly healthy honey bees would abruptly disappear from their hives forever.

While visiting N-Carolina, Sarah and I one day happened upon an agricultural presentation being given on this new phenomenon. Not a big deal, I thought. Wrong. Apparently, it is having quite an impact.
Bees play an integral role in the world food supply, and are essential for the pollination of more than 90 million fruit and vegetable crops worldwide. In the US alone these products pollinated by bees are worth more than $14.6 billion per annum. Since 2005 CCD have caused a 50-90% loss of bees in 25% of all commercial colonies in the US.

The first reports of the disease correlates with the first time that the US started to allow the importation of beehives from Australia and China. The popular theory is that these foreign bees have brought the disease, through mites they carry. Beehives were imported because agricultural corporations could not keep up with the demand for commercial beehives for the pollination of crops such as nuts, berries and other fruits and vegetables, especially in the West and Mid-West.

Beekeepers actually rent hundreds of hives during a season. Some of these hives travel thousands of miles/annum accross multiple state lines to do their job.

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.

Auf Wedersehn

Been there, done that, and then got the T-shirt too. We took Sara to Miami's Hard Rock Cafe' on her last night out down South.

Hopefully we're skiing down a Mount Tabor or Mount Washington slope in Oregon with Sara in the near future! Would love to visit Portland.

Thanks Sara, it was great having you.

Batting Practice

At the FIU Sportsgrounds there are some neat batting cages, which is where we met with some friends earlier.

I'll stop here more often after work in the future - trying to smack a ball coming at you at 50 miles/hour is awfully good theraphy. Especially after a frustrating day at the office.

In the picture, we caught Sarah at the exact moment of absolutely smashing the softball through mid-on, over the fielders head, for a beeeauuutiful four! Nice pic.

The Everglades at Sunset

Friends Michael and Melanie Joubert invited us to their fishfarm, near the Southern tip of Florida.

The farm borders the Everglades National Park and dusk is magical, transforming the land into a beautiful shadowland, lined with dazzling bright reds, oranges and purple streaks. Reminds me of sunset in Africa.

We had loads of fun trying to feed a dead fish to one of the neighborhood aligators. Mike stuck a chunk of foamalite in the fish's mouth and the current took it straight to where the aligator were lurking.
There were no gigantic hunter-prey struggle, but the scaly dude squirmed enough for us to get some good glimpses of his ancient body.

Unfortunately he was just too far away to get a nice picture, but I did manage some good shots of the sunset.

A Visitor from Portland, Oregon

Sara arrived yesterday in South-Florida amidst loud cheers in the Bouwer household.
It's been nearly three years since I last saw Sara and we are looking forward to spending some time with her, showing her as much of Miami as we can, and spending some time in the sun.
Florida is to the US what Hermanus is to Capetonians = holiday country! Unfortunately, it started raining since she arrived and South Beach's golden sand will probably not see us as soon as we anticipated!

Vreugdevure Brand Hoog! DIE BOKKE IS KONING!!