Are We Speaking the Same Language?

Life here at Camp El Olam is never dull. There are always things to do, and there are always people everywhere doing farming things, building things, administrative things, kitchen things, school things...you get the idea. I have not been bored! We had had the first camps that we did program for in the past two weeks. One a group of 3rd and 4th graders and the other a group of 10th graders. Two very different groups of kids but both so much fun. I got to see the camp really in action! I even got to lead some activities from my "home" camp, Camp Friedenswald, with little El Olam style changes of course. I love seeing the camp alive with campers, it has a presence, I know that it's God, but I can feel it so strongly when the kids are here.

Other than the camps, life is quiet and fun, horse back riding, reading in Adirondack chairs, drinking tea etc. Oh wait, horseback riding has not been so serene, last week I went on a ride with my roommate and the horses decided they had no interest in walking any further...needless to say, we both found ourselves on the ground instead of in the saddles. We both faired pretty well, although we both are quite sore and I have a huge bruise on my leg, that is healing nicely but looks pretty gnarly. I must have been hoofed as I fell off but I only remember being on the horse and then the ground...so who knows!

After the ride, smiling
but in pain!

Before the ride!

 I got to go to a game reserve for the first time this past weekend and it was so cool to get to see the animals close up! I saw, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, a warthog, Ostrich, lots of deer like animals I don't remember the names of, and rhino. These rhino were special though, in order to reduce the likelihood of poaching, vets have come in and humanely de-horned them. They were still huge and cool but did look a little funny without their horns.  

The Giraffes!

That's my quick update and now to the title of this post. I am so lucky to be in a place where nearly everyone I meet speaks at least some English. This has made feeling homesick a farfetched idea at this point...I know the time will come. But it is so nice to be able to communicate what I mean and how I want to mean it, a luxury that is not usually achievable in a new place with a completely new language. However, there are differences in the English that I speak and South African English. As I mentioned in another post that their are a lot of words that are different from the words that we use in the U.S. for the same thing. These are called colloquialisms...in case you didn't know! As I spend more time here I am learning more and more, there are so many in fact that sometimes I feel like we aren't even speaking the same language. Of course we are definitely both speaking English; but I never thought I would have to say "what does that mean" so many times, in one day! Some of these colloquialisms I have picked up very quickly and already say them without thinking about it. Some I say with a very conscious effort to help feel more a part of the culture, (like trying to speak a truly different language to help learn) and some I don't think I'll ever be able to integrate into my own speech patterns, but only time will tell.
I'm going to try to list as many as possible. Some I knew from my time in Australia, and some I knew from my time in London, the British influence from colonialism is strong.

baggies: boys swim suit or shorts
biscuit: cookie
boot: trunk of the car
bonnet: hood of the car
borewors: long sausages used to braai
braai: barbecue the verb and the noun
bruh: friend/brother (pronounced broo)
chips: french fries or chips
cokey: marker
costume: swim suit
haibo: "no way bruh"
hectic: anything that is extreme, chaotic, crazy, cool this is a filler word
hoot: honk the car horn
house: grouping you are placed in while in school (yes, like Hogwarts)
loo: bathroom
lounge: living room
peg: clothespin
potjie: a stew made in a three legged cast iron pot (this is an Afrikaans word pronounced Poy-key)
roll: bun for hot dogs or hamburgers
slops: flip flops and other sandals
stationary: anything used in the office basically, pens, pencils, paper, binders, etc.
term: length of one session of school, there are four terms in a year
tomato sauce: ketchup
torch: flashlight
tune: scold "I will tune him later about wrecking the house"
vienna: the meat part of a hot dog, once the meat is in a roll then it's a hot dog
yah: yes or yeah

Of course these are not all of them, I can only think of so many as I sit here and write but I will try to add some to each new blog! Look out for another one soon about Zulu classes! Feel free to keep updated on my travels on Facebook.com and instagram.

Congratulations you made it to the end! Thank you so much for letting me share my journey with you!