Entry 4.

Today was über-productive! Ursula, my main helper, is a 20-yr-old gal who lives here in Paarl. Her first language is Afrikaans, but she does quite well with English. She is very interested in painting and one day dreams of attending college for an art degree. From 11am - 6pm we worked on the mural - 3 coats of white paint, a full sketch, and the beginning of color. It is difficult to see the faint blue sketch from this photo, but perhaps it will be more interesting to watch it unfold this way. Waiting for coats of paint to dry we jammed to American hip hop on the radio and she even began teaching me a "sequence" (organized dance moves). Somewhere between my San Mateo cheerleading days and present day I have lost my knack for gracefully executing a dance routine.

A quick South African culture lesson - there are three ethnic groups of people here : White Afrikaners (decedents of the Dutch settlers), Coloureds (mixed race, medium-toned skin with a lot of Malaysian heritage), and Blacks (dark black skin with indigenous African roots). While coloured is a term considered offensive in the U.S. it is simply a word used by the people here to identify themselves. For the most part each group lives in neighborhoods exclusively of their own ethnicity. White Afrikaners and Coloureds speak primarily Afrikaans. Blacks in the Cape Town area speak Xhosa (pronounced 'Kosa'). English is a second language for most.

The reason I explained that is because I am learning sometimes humorous differences between the Afrikaans language and English.

English (Afrikaans)

- I will give you a call ( I will give you a tinkle )

- an elevator ( a lift )

- a stoplight ( a robot )

- an extension cord ( a lead )

- You rained on my parade ( You pee pee on my battery )