Well it is with great excitement that I write this, as the blog has just appeared and this is a few notes on (No, not singing notes, take note. Ook nie Noot vir noot nie. Of is dit nood vir nood…?) Anyway.
I sit down for dinner – Egyptian Renga (not the cutlery, the fish) Smash and tomato salad washed down with some lovely red… berry juice of course. My flat mate, Stephan made it. Our arrangement is that he cooks and I clean – since I can’t cook it’s a good arrangement or we shall have boiled eggs and sandwiches forever. (And Carrefour sells some great Renga).
When I arrived some six weeks ago with a group of ten teachers, Stephan was assigned to be my P.R.O. Since he is from Nelspruit, I suppose we had the Lowveld in common. (He taught at Nelspruit Primary way back when. Bless him.) And it made sense to share a flat since we were both here to save money. So I took Diane’s room and Marlene comes over to watch rugby on Saturdays because we have OSN – nearly like Bouquet or some other satellite channel back in the good old R of SA. Sad thing is we can’t drink as much with the rugby like at home after a braai, we have to teach the next day, because our week here starts on Sunday. Eish. It takes some getting used to .
So while they are doing rugby I take off to photograph butterflies in the blistering heat. You can only stay in the sun for about 2 hours maximum. I don’t know how Moses made it without aircon. Up to 20 minutes is still okay, after that you don’t even perspire, you sweat profusely from every orifice on your body. I mean sweat pores and it pours…. Within an hour you are drenched. The toughest part is that my face sweats so much that I drip water like a leaking tap. This causes a problem if you want to keep the camera dry. I have taken to wearing a floppy hat that covers any exposed areas as the sun here is relentless. Factor 50 sunscreen is necessary for all the exposed areas – neck and arms. But I digress, the pics are great and the butterflies too. Not so many as in SA but considering the countryside, we are doing great!
Here in town we still have some wadis with plants growing in them. Going further north the picture is barren and resembles an old quarry. There is literally gravel, a few lost and stranded Acacia trees and mountains of rock. I once saw a movie with a desert scene and I thought, do they really think we think it is a desert? It looks like a gravel yard. Now I know why. A little bit (1000 km) further south we have Dhofar. (It is so far to Dhofar I rather stay in Sohar.) Maybe I shall go there in December, after the rain and it is beautiful and green (with lots of butterflies.)
On my return home, the geyser has never been put on since I have been here (big surprise), I shower. After a shower, I shower again. It is as though your body cannot stop sweating. Drink a litre of water and keep on sweating. That’s what the aircon is for – to cool you down and motivate you for the next outing.
Imagine sitting in a tent with Moses, sweating, gasping for breath. No way. Couldn’t he take a train or a bus? They have aircon.
Then as I go through the photographs I took, I realise that I will be out again. Here I found a common butterfly, Chilades parhassius, the Small Cupid laying eggs on what I thought was an Acacia – it turns out to be Prosopis. (Never heard of it.) But the butterfly does use Acacia as well. To date I have two records of Prosopis – now I just need someone to ID the plants. I wish Doug (McMurtry) and Shane (Burns) were here. (They helped me ID and edit the plants for ‘Butterflies of the KNP and surrounds’.) They know all the plants off by heart. And if we can’t find it, we key it out or contact the plant specialist group. Those were the days. Well now, different day, different country and time to learn something new. And so starts ‘Butterflies of Oman’…
They may be bombing Syria but that’s how it sounds in our apartment building daily. There is a lot of banging. Doors, it seems, are meant to be slammed. It takes some getting used to. Thankfully the aircon drowns out most the impact and leaves you with a silent droning white noise while the fan’s squeaking takes me back to blistering days in Hoedspruit or Letsitele…
I have meanwhile received my Residence Card (like the Dompass long ago) and I am now legal. Now I just need my local driver’s licence. Let’s just hope I can do that tomorrow. But that is for another day, as I watch the sun rise over the next door mosque while the owner sings off-key at 4.30 in the morning. Great Awakenings!
People I miss today: (A long list, as it is my first) Ingrid Seipel, Ina Austin, Susan Schoeman, Dickie and Marietha Coetzer, Dillan Hesselman, Juan Joubert, Basie van Wyk, Jarred Joubert, Christiaan de Nysschen, Brandon Potgieter, Stefan Snyders, CJ van Wyk, Thea Breedt, Jaydee and Ryan – all from Barberton Primary. Anchen and Hannelie from Barberton Times. Ammiel Smith who had a birthday on 23 Sept. The Grade fives at Barberton Primary (I don’t know why… come on guys e-mail me!) Johan van Zyl. My bruvver Danie and wife Susan visiting Marloth, my sister Belinda and son Andre, Cuz Karen, Kim, Amy and Alwyn. Priscilla Eva, Delia Oosthuizen, Doug and Shane, Marina and Spike Troutman. Cousin Ian and wife Liza, Troy, Graham and Leane. The darlings from Darling – Mike, Gail, Kurt, Kris and Skye. Cathy Smith, Coelett, Marco, Arno and Janco Delport. Astrid Christianson, Daphne and Boet van Rensburg. And Marielle and Johan Nienhuis all the way down under in New Zealand. And Sharon Plunkett on the opposite side of the globe in Canada. And of course the hymn singing on Wednesdays with Dupi and Marli. But I shall go on (Like they sang in the Titanic…)
To where? The future will see.
Thanks so much for all the Facebook comments and well wishes. I’m not much into mass media, but it seems I shall have to catch up quickly. Sharp ne!
