Guess Whose Heading Our Way?

Hurricanes Hannah, Ike, and Josephine and are all heading West accross the Pacific - South-Florida's way.
Hurricane Gustaf just missed Miami, hurtling towards New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico.

This fantastic satelite pic gives a clear indication of the vicinity of the storms: Hannah is just East of Cuba, over Haiti; and Ike is looming behind. According to weather forecasters, Ike has potential to reach Category 5 hurricane strenght within a week. The last storm of that magnitute was Hurricane Andrew in '92, and it obliterated large parts of Miami.

We're holding our breaths.

A Visit From My Boet

A Stroll In The Gardens

The Ninnemans were our guests on Sunday and we headed to the nearby historical landmark of Viscaya.

A beautiful house full of grandeur and priceless works of art. The multi-millionaire built the house to entertain his Winter guests from the North - impressing and surpassing the Joneses was what it was all about.

All glittery and shiny, that is Viscaya - a monument to the plethora of ways man can try to impress others who really couldn't care less.

The gentleman even travelled to Europe about a dozen times and brought back small souveneurs e.g. a small Italian town's centerpiece fountain, another French town's church ceiling, painted by one of the old masters. Additionally, there are nearly a hundred statues in his enormous and elaborate French-style gardens - dating back to the Roman empire. What a magnificent sight - we photographed some exquisite pieces eroding away next to the ocean for our next generation not to see.



Reminds me of another multi-millionaire's house we visited in North-Carolina - the Biltmore Estate. The man built the largest private American house in existence, but his was a philantropist's way and his estate is thriving still today.

Mr. Biltmore's estate is so large that it would take a horse rider nearly two days to circle. He created a forest on some eroded mountain slopes which today still facinates visitors. He build a dairy farm and a town and a school that still exists today.

A big difference in viewpoint and priorities that echo even today.
One who surrounded himself with his wealth, dying a lonely man, while the other built a lasting legacy and truly added value.



Last pic: Megan and Sarah leaning on a Roman altar dating back to 230 B.C.!

Our New Surroundings

We now live in South Miami, about 7 miles from Downtown, and on the edge of the old original Miami. It is beautiful old, tall tree-lined streets and settled older neighborhoods with large houses.

We are about one mile away from US1, which dissects Miami, running North South from Key West in the South all the North along the East Coast towards the Canadian border.

East of US1 is about 2 miles to the coast. Within close range is Miracle Mile and Downtown Coral Gables, as well as beautiful Coconut Grove.

The University of Miami's campus, as well as the Biltmore Golf Estate is within walking distance, and Sarah and I often walk at sunset in the working week evenings.

Come visit us, and bring your walking shoes.

Apologies

It's been a busy two months.
I apologize for those taking the effort to open our Blog regularly for the lack of entries lately. Between moving, finishing my studies, Sarah starting her studies, having different house guests for the whole month of July, and my new responsibilities at work, there's been little time to spare.

I will backlog until I catch up.
Missing everyone.

Enjoy the Olympics!

Steff's Visit

The end was not yet in sight for Sarah's wonderfully long Summer school holiday. Back from her trip to the Dominican Republic we had to privilege of hosting another old friend - Stephanie - for a week. Steph's parents went to South Africa many moons ago as missionaries and she grew up in Upington! She's fluent in Afrikaans and knows many good ol' SA recipies.
Great having you over Steph!

Melbourne Weekend

When Bruce Moore said - I know the best wing-joint in town we were sceptical. Wings are wings.

Turns out we should never have doubted Bruce. Frankie's wings & ...er Things happen to have the best wings and shrimp in Florida.
Ons het soos varke gevreet - die kos was hemels.

The other people in the picture: all good friends from Morrison Academy in Taichung, Taiwan.

Awesome weekend.

More pictures from our enjoyable weekend in Melbourne.

Me First American Wedding

The Johnson-wedding in Melbourne (on the weekend after the Fourth of July) was a Taiwan-reunion in itself! It was also what me and Sarah refer to as the start of our Busy Time. After Rob came to visit we had guests all the way through the two month-summer school holiday. Awesome - we love our guests!

I posted a few pics here of some of the events of an all too short, but very busy weekend. In hindsight certainly not enough time to sit down for some quality time with Dwight and Becky Johnson - our parents, friends, and advisors in Taiwan. But their son got married - what did we expect!!

Since we're all christians my first American wedding was unspectacular in the familiarity of the proceedings. Few new things here and there, some differences, but all in all the bride shined beautifully, the groom looked great and speeched well, and they dedicated their marriage to God in front of a bunch of witnesses, many from Taiwan. ;-)

Wonderful to see so many old familiar faces.

Treat Carefully - Turtles Nesting!

Wat is die kans!?!
Die oggend na die aand van die Fourth of July (Nag van die Lang Vuurwerke) gaan stap ons op die strand. Hierdie keer nie Blouberg se strand nie, wel Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Bestrooi van die vorige nag se vuurwerk-geweld, nagedagtenisse aan onwelvoeglike drankmisbruik, harde reen, hoogwater, en oseaan-gekotsde seegras oralsoor.
Vroegoggend.
Tel 'n bierbottel op mits iemand dit dalk later raaktrap en sien toe die gedoente wat afspaander branders se kant toe.

Wraggies 'n seeskilpadjie!!!
Die kans is omtrent 1 in 100 000. Magic! Dit was onbeskryflik om dop te hou hoe een oorlewende seeskilpadjie (sy nes is omgewoel en raakgetrap deur vuurwerk-toeskouers die nag tevore)afsukkel water toe. Elke voetspoor in die los sand is soos 'n berg vir hom. Maar die outjie is haastig.
Dit was 'n fantastiese pasella vir 'n dag wat mooi uitgedraai het verder ook.

Fourth of July '08

This is my fourth Fourth of July spent in the US. I've loved it every time.

We were at the beach in Fort Lauderdale with our friends the Ninnemans, on a strategic spot between two municipality-sponsored firework displays - to the North and to the South. Planning can only go so far though and down came the rain as the shows started. Been there, done that, got my T-shirt wet!

Visitor from Seattle - Ni Hao Ma?

Rob Willett from Taiwan-Morrison-fame graced us with a visit and we had a blast hosting him in Miami.

I took him to the Everglades National Park and that was really uneventful. Thus, we provided our own entertainment (pic)!

The usual reaction of the first time visitor to the Everglades is kind of a deflated: "Oh...". I agree, there ain't much to it and the mosquitoes fly in squadrons of 100 each. They always draw blood. They always get their man.

Not to be outdone in the cultural department by the rest of the country, I also took ol' Rob to Schnelby's Winery - the Southernmost winery in the country. Miami does have culture!

Here at Schnelby's they make wine from tropical fruit, and after a few years of imperfection they are finally making great tasting wines that I would actually consider buying.

On Saturday Sarah and I took our soon to be China-bound friend kayaking on the intercoastal, from Oleta State Park. In Seattle the water is icy and at first it was very funny watching Rob trying his darnest not to touch the 80 degree water. That is until he realised it is never colder than lukewarm down here in the tropics, and after that we couldn't keep him in his kayak!

The Great Pretender

Robin and Curtis graciously allowed me to hold this handsome little fella. Sorry Dad, unfortunately not ours!

Ours first bbq after moving into the new place.

Moving Sucks!

We moved further East, to the older, prettier part of town, where there is less people living per square inch. Sarah is now less than 5 minutes from work, compared to her usual 3-45 minut drive and I am nearly halfway closer. Our driving time in leaving Miami over weekends - which is our favorite pastime by far! - is also less.

Our new place was a painted in ridiculous pinks and bright blues - typical Miami colors. So we did some painting before moving in.
Pic: Sarah and Simone were my paint heros on the day.

Greek Lesbians Sues Lesbians

Three inhabitants of the Greek island of Lesbos is suing the homosexual and lesbian community of Greece for using the word lesbian to refer to gay women! The argument is that used in it's commonly known sense, the word insults the almost 90,000 island dwellers living on Lesbos, and also known as lesbians.
Lesbos, with an area of about 630 sqaure miles (1630 km), is situated in the Northeastern Aegean Sea.It is the third largest of the Greek islands with a coastline of about 200 miles (320 km).
According to Dmitri Lambrou, one of the three mentioned inhabitants, the islanders have been known by the term for thousands of years, while the term has only been used to refer to gay women for the past few decades.
Lesbian, used in its homosexual sense and used in languages around the world, comes from the poet Sappho, who lived on Lesbos around the 6th century B.C. She wrote many passionate poems about women. However, the use of the word is ambigious in many languages, and can refer to the islanders or gay women.
Funny as this lawsuit is, I'm thinking that even if the Greek courts rule in favor of the islanders, how does one stop the use of a word used in common language around the world?

Airports

After 12 hours straight accross the lenght of the African continent, en route from Amsterdam to Miami, I had a lay-over in Detroit.
I amused myself taking pics of the beautiful Detroit airport.

Newlands in the Rain!

My Dad and I went to Newlands Rugbystadium to watch the home team, the Stormers, draw 13-13 with the NSW Waratahs in the last league match of the 2008 Super 14 tournament.

It rained cats and dogs and the rugby was atrocious, but I got to spend some great time with my Dad.
I loved every moment of it!

Back in Cape Town...

Ou bekende gesigte:
Tipiese Kaapse Wintersweer op Bloubergstrand.







Simon (-sberg) in al sy glorie - ek was 3 weke in die Kaap en daar was 2 sonskyndae soos hierdie. Ek het my kans gegryp met die kamera wyl die lug skoon was.







My ouers se huis van die afgelope 15 jaar. Cape-Dutch building style.

Hierdie beeld van my Pa is afge-ets in my geheue. He still wakes up before dawn every morn' to read the newspaper and get his day going.






Boerewors en tamatie-braai-sous -Ek is by die huis!

Kaap Toe!

In a while I'll be flying to South Africa, via Detroit and Amsterdam down the lenght of the mighty African continent. But for a brief stint in January 2005, I've not been "home" for nearly 6 years. I'm anxious to see if good old Cape Town is still home, or a place I can call home now and in the future.
It has nothing to do with political unrest, self-consumed leaders, the weather at the time, or even my beloved friends whom I miss very much. It is about a feeling of the heart. Home is after all where the heart is, and my heart is in Miami, where a certain Mrs. Sarah Bouwer resides and where we've carved out a temporary niche for ourselves.
Miami is definitely not a place we want to stay in for much longer. But we're here now. On the other side, my family is in Cape Town - and everybody else I miss spending time with.
This is the age of globalization, and the world has become small and easily accessible/transferable.

Miami, or Cape Town, or elsewhere?
It's going to be an interesting visit...

Employee Day on a Tiki Boat

'n Werksdag op 'n boot buite Miami met 'n kelkie in die hand, wyl die samba-dromme sing.

Foto: Die Afrikaanse Ontwikkelingsbeampte met die Kansellier en haar span.



Amerikaners doen alles uitspattig, volgens Afrika-standaarde beoordeel. Voeg daarby 'n stewige dosis Latino-kultuur-element en jy het 'n sukses-resep vir 'n tamaai werks-partytjie.

Ons jaarlikse Werknemer-Dag is vanjaar op 'n Tiki boot gehou - in hierdie geval meerendeels 'n drywende tropiese eiland, om die beskrywing nou nederig te hou.

Skaamteloos is daar eiland-kroee, 'n buffet ete, Bali-styl sofas en rusbanke, 'n "live" eiland-band en les bes, see-sand en kamma-gras.

Die kaptein het rondom die stad en die beroemde Suid Strand gevaar, en ons met skemer afgelaai by 'n bekende winkelsentrum.

Weens my dissertasie-voordrag die volgende oggend en my vlug die aand daarna, moes ek die gedans, gewuifery en gesellige atmosfeer met 'n kalmerende bedeesdheid benader. :-(

Die Samba-wurm loop op die Tiki-boot!

The Incredible Lightness of Just Being

This has been way too long a Blog-silence - the past 2 weeks.

On Saturday I completed the last requirements for my MBA, defending my thesis in front of a panel of judges. Driving to a dinner with Sarah and some classmates, it felt like emerging from a long period underground, from a cave-like existence back into the light. And light as a feather!

Sarah though, started her Masters a couple of weeks ago and I think the brutality of studying AND working full-time has hit her. Her course is very intense and although it seems less problem solving-oriented as my business course was, there is more academics in the true sense of the word involved. If that makes any sense...

We spend the weekend at good friends' place at the beach. Vegg is too active a word to describe my state of being Saturday and Sunday! Will miss the sun, sand and surf as I travel to African Winter tomorrow to spend a few weeks with my family in Cape Town, 3 years since I stepped on African soil.

Te lank gelede, seg ek.

Sien uit om die vele nuwe aanwinste tot die vele jong gesinne van my vriende te ontmoet!