Pimp my ride

By the way, since some people asked, the car situation got straightened out. I am not used to having to pull a separate lever for the choke to warm up the battery when I start the car in the morning. I am also not accustomed to things like the radio being on having an adverse effect on starting the vehicle. All that figured out, it is a decent little car. It's a Volkswagen "Clio"compact, which is maybe the most popular car in South Africa. I see them all over the place. This model used to be sold in the US, and I remember seeing them around when I was in high school. I believe it was called the VW "Rabbit", and that is pretty much how it drives. It's pretty boss, as you can see. I drove around with some friends last night before a dinner at church, and the car couldn't make it up one particularly steep hill. Four people being in the car surely didn't help. Trying to get turned around, I ended up precariously close to a lampost, and burned some clutch backing uphill to avoid that encounter.

Getting back to the dinner at church: I was mistaken in my hearing that it was an Oxfam event, when in fact it was the Hoggs family bringing a group from Habitat for Humanity to eat with a bunch of kids from the church, a few of whom were AIDS orphans. We had a good time, and the foods was wonderful, as it always is here. I have made good friends with Mama Katoni and Nkqo (a "click"pronunciation) and will write something about them soon. They cook very well, and feed well-balanced meals to everyone who comes into the church. Last night they made a South African delight I have heard about, fatcoeks ("fat cakes"in Afrikaans), which are basically rolls where you deep fry dough rather than baking it. Y0u can't eat just one.

The Habitat group was young men from universities around the area, who had been building a house earlier in the day. I was glad these guys got to spend time with the kids, since Habitat volunteers often don't get to interact much with the people they are helping. Two of these guys are studying to be doctors, and perhaps they will come to find a call to provide severely needed medical care in the townships. Talking to Chris, the group leader who knows JL Zwane well, he mentioned that one of the kids is the son the New York Knicks owner. Princeton is not far from New York, and I jokingly asked if he could get me tickets. To my surprise, Chris said, "Sure, it wouldn't be a problem. We'll be back tomorrow and we can work it out." N0t a bad connection to make! I will report back if I actually get tickets, but it was very flattering. Chris is a well-connected guy, and gives a lot to JL Zwane. Some of the kids were very shy, but they got goofy once dinner was over. These kids are from various situations, and it is very important for them to have a place to go and a community at the church. Guguletu is a tough place for kids to grow up. The kids wanted to take some pictures, so attached is one of the dozen they took on my camera once they got their hands on it. This happened when Kristina and I went to Nicaragua in December as well. Speaking of which, you can never post too many pictures.