While we watch amazing pictures of a snow-bound Britain and rejoice at the cricket news from Australia, we realise that it is gradually getting hotter in the Karoo as we come towards the height of a South African summer.
So my first observation is that we probably have arrived here at the worst possible time of the year.
Not only because it will be very hot for the next couple of months but also that this is the time for holidays (it is like August in Britain) which means that very little happens. So we will have to be a little patient over the next few weeks and remember that the lack of activity in the churches and in the life of the town generally is because many people have disappeared to places in the south to enjoy a more congenial climate. This means that Christmas is a rather tame festival and we are struggling to get very excited about the fact that we are in Advent. There is very little planned for our churches over this period; for example there are no carol or crib service. Some who know me well may legitimately ask whether this was the real reason for escaping England when we did and I must say that a quieter Christmas may have its attractions. It has seemed so strange that I have even volunteered to hold a Christingle (of all things!) this Sunday evening. Last Wednesday we helped produce a World Aids Day service which was very successful and at times moving. We now have a large red cardboard Aids ribbon attached to the altar; something apprently the Bsihop has asked each church to have. A box of small candles was bought for the occasion and as there were quite a number left we thought we could use them for a Christingle! So we persuaded others that this might be a good thing and it will happen at 6pm on Sunday – probably not dark enough but we will make the best of it.
Last evening Emma and I decided to go to a Carols by Candlelight service held on the lawn of a large Dutch Reformed Church on the other side of town. We sat ouside the church on our garden chairs and sang some familiar and some not so familiar carols all in Afrikaans. It was certainly a different experience and nothing like our Lessons and Carols; not a Rutter tune in sight. We sang to a recorded accompaniment which sounded like a Bavarian brassband – all very Dutch/German. However the people were very welcoming once they found out who we were and we enjoyed the evening. But this was entirely a white congregation and very Afrikaans and we wondered whether any black or coloured people ever went to such a church. We shall gradually find out.
Today was our day off so we travelled 60 kms to Hanover which is a small Karoo town (actually all Karoo towns are small!) on the N1 midway between J'burg and Cape Town. It is a delightful place full of characterful Karoo houses with some lovely gardens. We went to the local hotel for coffee and the proprietress whose name was Beryl was extremely friendly and told us the history of the town and all about the farming community in the area around. She was delightful and we returned for lunch so that she could continue to tell us more. What was interesting was that she and her husband had moved from Hermanus (famous for its whales and very sought after) to be in Hanover because they enjoyed the wide open spaces of the Karoo and that certainly is its attraction. We had a good day there but stupidly did too much walking in the midday sun – a schoolboy error in this climate – and so suffered a little on our return to De Aar. We shall have to learn not to venture out too much in the midday sun at least for the next couple of months. Those of you who are freezing at home will not have too much sympathy with this predicament – and we would certainly not want to grumble!
So it is so far, so good! Our main concern is with the language differences. We think church people are not communicating with us because they are not confident speaking English and so we feel slightly isolated. And we have no connection so far with anything other than the church community. But we hope that gradually we can break down these barriers. I am finding it diffcult to see what contribution I can make in the time we are here... but it is early days and we are now in a holiday period so we must wait and see.
We realise we could give out our home phone number – 053 631 3704. It is expensive for us to phone the UK (though for the family we are using skype succesfully at least by the very cheap phone method and sometimes by the video link which is free and wonderful for us to get a glimpse of the growing grandchildren).
From the UK you can use telediscount by phoning 0844 428 6464.
It gives the price per minute – 4p I think – and instructions. 0027 is the S African code
so after listening to that if you phone 0027 53 631 3704 hache you should get through!
We'd be thrilled to get the occasional call. Remember though we are two hours ahead of you and bedtime here is about 9.30pm.
We should say too how thrilled we are to get lovely emails from readers. It really does encourage us.
