rugby madness.......

There is an electric atmosphere in South Africa today..... traditionally when South Africans get together to watch rugby, it is mandatory to eat vast quantites of Naartjies, Droe Wors and Biltong. OK, let me translate, for the uninitiated, that means Tangerines, dry sausage (a specific blend of spices makes them uniquely South African,) and dry salted meat, the US equivalent is beef jerky. Well the stores have been cleaned out, not a bit to be found.... as the country makes important preparations for tonight's World Cup final against England!

If you have been reading Max's blog, you will have seen some awful gloating going on (I mean REALLY, how insulting putting a ginger pussycat in to depict the English Lions!!!! he he.) I suspect that if the Springboks don't bring home the Cup tonight, you will see a nation in mourning, and sad scenes as grown men cry!

It is hilarious driving around, flags everywhere and "go Bokke" written on the sides of cars (even a rather smart beamer had been suitably decorated, but sadly Max was driving and couldn't catch a photo!)

You know someone takes the game seriously when they are willing to tape a springbok onto the bonnet of their precious car, even at risk of stripping the paint later!

Even the littlest people have flags on their wheels!........

So we wait with bated breath for 9pm tonight, and in the meantime, the cry of GO BOKKE rings around the country!

(I might add that we are still experiencing major power shortages and load shedding, and we have been advised to turn all other geysers and electical appliances apart from the TV off, to avoid blackouts during the game. There is such excitement about the game that I suspect, if there are outages, heads will roll at ESKOM, our para -statal power supplier!)

Tonight, if you watch the game, and see the full stadium, take a careful look at that sea of humanity.

The stadium seats 80,000 people.

Just to give you a visual image to bring home the message of how serious our crime problem is in this country, double that amount of people have been murdered here in the last 5 years! (And this is a democratic country in a state of peace, not a war zone!!!) So that should give you an idea of what I have been blathering on about ....

I just wish there was a way of getting this message to our State President tonight as he sits there watching the match..... If he looked around, and saw a visual image to bring home the enormity of what is going on under his leadership, he might stop running around the world talking about peace, and do something concrete about his own people who are dying like flies!

While the nation watches the match tonight and gets so hysterical about the result, several more South Africans are going to die. Will we even hear about them? Yet more proof that our priorities are really upside down. It is a mad world!

(I hope all this ranting about crime doesn't give you the idea that I am one of those die-hard whites who are unable to accept the new democracy in this country... that is so far from the truth. I love this place and am very positive about it, but I also think that there are some serious changes that need to be made to improve it, and addressing the unacceptable crime situation is the main one.)

So after that sobering thought, there's nothing like a bit of comfort eating!

Who's for Yorkshire Pudding? I must thank Denise for the recipe, and even photos of how to make it!

I even made a gluten and dairy free version for K who has horrible allergies. The finished thing isn't beautiful, but it was delicious. Thanks Denise.