Maracas!

5/20/09
Tonight we made reservations for high tea at the Mount Nelson Hotel. It had been written up in many of the tourist packets as a “must do”. We thought it would be fun to get dolled up and be fancy and high class for an evening. The final group consisted of myself, Lucy, Jamie and her roommate, Pippa. We arrived just be before 4 pm and walked through the lobby to the back garden. We passed a delightful spread of sweets, hors ‘douvres (sp???), cakes, pastries, and various breads. We couldn’t WAIT to dive in. We sat outside by the fountain and ordered our tea from our self-proclaimed “Tea Man”. He was super sweet and accommodating. Once our tea order placed, we made a bee line for the buffet. We filled our plates with heaps of food. As we set we made an informal bet/challenge that I would consume 5 plates worth of food. I consumed 6. note: they were small dessert plates…

Murray came over that evening to exchange photos from the camping trip and a game night. We had been talking about getting together to play Apples to Apples, a game Jamie brought Murray from the US. Before long the computers were humming, my apartment was filled with people and we were fully engaged in Apples to Apples. Murray also brought the popular South African Game, 30 Seconds. This game is a charades type of game. You choose a card with 6 words on either side. It is your goal to get your team members to say those 6 words. The more you get correct, the more points you get. It was a high-energy and very entertaining scene. Especially since many of the words are specific to South Africa, and we Americans had no idea how to even prounounce them.

FYE: During high tea, we were chatting and Jamie mentioned something about “Drama out the wazoo” Lucy interrupted quizzically, “Sorry. Drama up the WAD-zoo?” I interjected (stepping up to my Jamie Interpretation duties) and tried, “Or drama UP the wazoo” thinking maybe that would clarify. Lucy’s response was, “Oh, is the wazoo a river?” Blending cultures not only provides entertainment, but education about your own culture. I can’t say I use the word wazoo myself, but I knew what Jamie was talking about…and began to wonder where on EARTH that phrase came from.

Quotables from 30 Seconds:
Murray: “opposite of south…”
D and Jamie: “NORTH!”
Murray: “In the sky…”
Jamie: “THE NORTH POLE!”

Bart: “Things you shake at Christmas…”
Pippa: “MARACAS!!”