LL-L "Travels" 2008.12.28 (01) [E]

Sun Dec 28 16:39:07 UTC 2008

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L O W L A N D S - L - 28 December 2008 - Volume 01
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From: Roger Thijs <rogerthijs at yahoo.com>
Subject: LL-L Travels

I don't know whether the list accepts my yahoo address as sender, so I'm
sending this to both LL and Ron.

I'm in Bloubergstrand (a Northern suburb of Cape Town) between Xmas and New
Year. I had difficulties with finding my boutique hotel, since the maps one
finds in Europe are generally limited to downtown Cape Town (and the hotel
was 20 km to the North, along the shore).

A good and relatively recent street guide I found here:
MapStudio, Cape Town, including South-Western Cape towns, Cape Peninsula and
Winelands, 1:20.000, A14th edition, ISBN 978-1-86809-865-1, 312 pp.
For the best: one should check always for the very last edition.
Bloubergstrand is visibly expanding rapidly to the North (cf. several new
estates are in construction).

Since at many places the shore is rocky and hilly, most estates consists of
little houses, all painted white, constructed on terrace steps, so that all
or most have a nice view on table mountain about 15 miles to the South.
It can be very hot here, but most of the time there is a refreshing wind
from the South (a real paradise for surfers)

The shore is sandy though, and on low tide one can walk to several rocky
islands in see. Robben Island is in the direct West but too far away for
reaching with simple means.

There is little police here but one sees patrolling vehicles of Chubbs and
APT all the time. Most buildings also have a shield from APT or Chubbs or
both mentioning "armed response". I'm not sure what one fears over here.
Certainly not the black people since the "visible population" on streets and
strand is 95% Caucasian. It may be part of a protective culture and mindset.

Coming to languages.

A curious thing is the inconsistency with the spelling of the ou:
In Bloubergstrand it is ou, e.g. Blouberg Sands
In the suburb "Table View", a couple of mile to the South, it is aauw:
Blaauwberg road.

My perception of language use in this area (looks +90% blank, with many
tourists surfing on the strong Southern wind along the shore)):
- strong presence of Afrikaans in name giving of  streets and suburbs,
besides English. Some French, very few in native languages
- presence of Afrikaans for several dishes on menus in restaurants
- spoken languages in the street: 100 percent English heard
- black personnel in the hotel: English to all guests, something native
among each other.
- indications in airport, on roads: English only, English + Afrikaans on
older shields, as e.g. on older ATMs
- books in the shops: 95% English, 5% Afrikaans, 0% in native languages
(except for some phrase books and learner's guides)
- cards for birthdays, anniversaries etc. in the racks in shops, 80%
English, 20 % Afrikaans, 0% in native languages
- audio CDs: curiously 40% Afrikaans, 60% English in some shops, nothing in
native languages
This is just a perception by an outsider.

I have been looking for books on languages. The bookstore in the Seaside
Village shopping centre is focused on literature on cooking, but I found a
larger choice in the bookstores of a larger shopping centre, the Bayside
Centre in Table View.

The "Wêreldatlas vir Suid-Afrikaners", Sunbird, Kaapstad 2008, gives in
percentages for huistale (languages used at home):
isiZulu 23,8
isiXhosa 17,5
Afrikaans 13, 3
Seshoto sa Leboa/Sepedi 9,3
Engels 8,2
Setswana 8,2
Seshoto 7,9
Xitsonga 4,5
SiSwati 2,7
Tshivenda 2,3
IsiNdbele 1,6
(ander/other 0,5)

We try to see some similarities between the 7 official languages, with a
selection from:
J Bennet & N Tsoeu, Multilingual Illustrated Dictionary, Pharos, 2006,
Besides the pictures vocabulary is listed in this order:
English, IsiZulu, Sesotho, IsiXhosa, Setswana, Afrikaans, Sepedi

Some samples:

hair, izinwele, moriri, unwele, moriri, hare, moriri p 16
nose, ikhala, nko, impumlo, nko, neus, nko p 16
hand, isandla, seatla, isandla, seatla, hand, seatla p 18
talk, -khuluma, bua, thetha, bua, praat, bolela p 25
father, ubaba, ntate, utata, rre, pa, tate p 32
mother, umama, mme, umama, mme, ma, mma p 32
brother, umfowethu, abuti, umnakwe, morwarre, broer, morwarre p 33
snake, inyoka, noha, inyoka, noga, slang, noga p. 215
tree, isihlahla, sefate, umthi, setlhare, boom, mohlare p 221
egg, iqanda, lehe, iqanda, lee, eier, lee p 241
no, cha, tjhe, hayi, nnyaa, nee, aowa p 303
I have, ngina-, ke na le, Ndine, ke dirile, ek het, ke na p 303

car, imoto, koloi, imoto, koloi, motor, koloi p 114
motorcycle, isithuthuthu, sethuthuthu, isithuthuthu, sethuuthuu, motorfiets,
thuthuthu p 114
potato, izambane, tapole, itapile, tapole, aartappel, letapola p 234
violin, ivayolini, vaoline, ivayolini, serankure, viool, baolini p. 279

Since only one term is given per language, it is not excluded that the
version of another language may also be used as synonym in a first language.

Local food has a strong Afrikaans colour, even when served in English, some
experience:

Starters

Soup of the day, a very thick creamy Pampoensop,  R34 in Ons Huisie

Salad Cajun Chicken, A large dish with Cajun spiced strips of chicken on a
bed of mixed fresh lettuce, onion rings and other vegetables, R 47 in the
Bica Café of the Table View "Bay Side" shopping center.

Main dishes

Ostrich bobotie: Ostrich stewed with vegetables in a pot, finished with some
mango chutney on top, and lightly-cooked vegetables on side (including red
beet), R 70 in Ons Huisie

Prego Roll, a roll with very spicy meat (very hot), R 49.50 in the Blue
Peter, Popham St.

Mussel Potjie, a dozen of mussels in half of their shell, in a kind of
terrine filled with a tick creamy garlic sauce, served with bread, R 89.95
in the Cape Town Fish Market in the Seaside Village shopping Centre.
(Seaside Village is part of a progressing expansion to the North, it is not
yet on the maps or in the guides)

Deserts

Souskuitjies: pieces of bread in a vanilla pudding, with some cinnamon on
top , R 35 in Ons Huisie

I also visited the Frituurtje serving Belgian Fries in Table View,
Regular fries with mayonnaise, a curry sausage special (frikandel with on
top onion and curry ketch-up) and a Stella beer. R 75
The fries are tasty but cut from quite small potatoes, so one gets
additionally quite some crisps of tinny parts cut at the circumference (we
call that "kepsel" in my West-Limburgish) .
Although the Frituurtje is close to the shore, it is at the backside of a
little shopping estate and not easy to find.

I will draft a list of books of interest for the group later this week
(under subject "resources"). I'm sending this from an internet café, since I
have problems with my portable again.

Regards,
Roger
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