A Different World

"Communication can be difficult even with those who speak English. Aside from discerning the accent, totally different words are used to describe many common things. I shopped for a curling iron and couldn’t find anyone who understood what I wanted. To visualize such a thing in a South African's mind must conjure up images of an ironing board with a rounded iron set on it. What use is that? Finally, I found one on the shelf and it is called “curling tongs.” That actually seems a more accurate name, if given some thought. Our most expensive purchases so far have been a Garmin GPS at about 1500 R and a water filtering dispenser at a few hundred Rand. If we can avoid getting lost and have potable water, we can make it. We had no hot water the first days in our flat. Perhaps cold showers helped shorten jet lag time! The maintenance man said that there must be something wrong with the old “geezer”. I thought, “No, my husband is fine!” : )

We asked what in the world a “geezer” was and he said it was the tank that contained our hot water. Though it is pronounced “geezer” it is spelled “geyser.” When I saw it in print it sounded like a sensible enough word to describe a flow of hot water. We have so much to learn!" - Sister Basso