Brave or stupid

This year I decided to do something so brave and out of character, I’m still deciding whether I’m being bold or stupid.

I relocated from Cape Town to Richards Bay(KZN). To some people it might not seem like a big deal but for myself, a Cape Townian who has lived at home all her life it feels like I’ve moved to Timbukto. The move was mostly career motivated. It is not really a promotion, but I wanted to try something else and more importantly see what else is there for me careerwise.

So the family and I left Cape Town on the 6^th Jan and arrived in a blistering 49⁰C Richards Bay the following day after a 19hr car trip (the family was not impressed , en bly anhou vra….. is jy seker jy wil in die warme plek bly?).

Arrived at my new place, only to find the complex is infested with geckos and monkeys. The monkeys I can handle but the geckos! Aaaargh! (apparently people live in harmony with these lizard type creatures….Pok! ek maak die goed dood , ek grill my dood vir die goed.) . I’m constantly watching over my shoulder for these creatures armed with my Raid spraycan and broom.

At first I thought people think I’m Zulu then I realized most people seem to understand Zulu in this province. People often speak to me in Zulu , and still even persist when I tell them I don’t understand. In some cases they even seem annoyed when I can’t converse with them in Zulu. I find this very very weird, never in my life has anyone ever spoken to me in any language other than Eng or Afr, and still seem offended cause I can’t speak a African language. Somehow I find this difficult to process, I think any Cape Townian would find this bizarre.

And where is the coloureds???? The racial demographics scale is more than tipped in favour of the Zulu folks. I never ever realized I would have to live without seeing my own people. Tonight was honestly the first time since Ive been here the past two weeks that I’ve seen more than 8 coloured people in the mall. Ek begin nou al tel hoeveel sien. Jusso , ek moet myself net keer dat ek nie vra, Waar kruip julle uit? Waar bly julle? Where do you hang out? Jusso , lig my ook in. Ek liss I n bietjie Afrikaans praat.

Moving to KZN has definitely been a paradigm shift. Everyday I’m learning new things about myself, and in spite of all these obstacles, im not giving up soon. Right now I’m just observing and from what I gather this is the Zulu Kingdom and when in Zululand , I should do as the Zulu’s do!