An Afternoon in Noordhoek with the Gauthiers

What we have in common:

• Recent graduates from the Wheaton Grad School and former attendees at College Church.
• Travelled 10,000 miles to Cape Town to pursue further studies (the men).
• Faith and courage and excitement about living in South Africa!

Randy and Heather Gauthier arrived this month to the Cape Town area, and now live in a small flat on a farm in Noordhoek, on the Cape peninsula (and only 30 minutes from us). Though we knew of each other from College Church and had met a couple of times there, we had never really talked or spent any time together – until Friday night!! Randy has just begun a D.Lit. (British equivalent of a PhD) in Septuagint studies at Stellenbosch University (located in Stellenbosch, just outside Cape Town). Since the degree is a research degree with no classes, they chose to live in Noordhoek instead of in town. Noordhoek is a lovely old village on the coast, nestled in a mountain valley, and known around the area as a quiet farming and fishing community. A lot of artists and potters have shops there too, and one of South Africa’s most renowned chefs has his restaurant there. Also the beach is famous for its 8 km stretch of sand and horseback rides along the beach are popular with tourists (think The Black Stallion). Thanks, Randy and Heather, for a great afternoon and evening together, and hopefully we will be seeing more of each other the next couple of years!

Two shots from the Noordhoek beach (above and below).


One of Randy and Heather's dogs, Wumpus/Wumpy, a pug-labrador. Jul was scratching his chest and he kept pawing at her to keep going. Hard to resist that face!

Coastline Drive along R44 and Gordon's Bay

We drove this gorgeous coastline highway from Cape Town area to Betty's Bay (see entry below). As you can imagine, the geology of these mountains is impressive - not to mention the ocean! - and Jim pulled over for many photos. Fortunately Andy and Lesang had a sense of humor about us Americans!

The Message’s annual camp

The church that we have begun attending here, The Message, held its annual camp last weekend and so we joined them at “Cactus Lodge” in Betty’s Bay, a small seaside town about 80 minutes from Cape Town. Over the two nights and two days together, about 50 of us discussed four topics related to stewardship (the care of guarding of that which has been entrusted to us by God): the gospel, finances, children, and our bodies. We were excited to make some new acquaintances and to further along the relationships that are just beginning for us among church members. The church is a mixture of students and recent graduates from UCT as well as some middle-aged couples and families, and there is wide diversity in the ethnic backgrounds. Also the church is still less than five years old, so there was a feeling in our discussions that we are really setting the foundation for how the community is defining its priorities and functions. Jim and I felt quite privileged to be a part of the discussion and to hear a variety of African perspectives on church and church-life.

With Andy and Lesang, current UCT students who attend the Message and car-pooled with us to Betty's Bay.


Pastor Paul and Lara Schoenfeld


Julianna attempts to bat cricket for the first time in her life (sorry for the poor form, cricket fans). Meanwhile Deon was the 'wicket' keeper (plastic chair was standing in as the wicket).

The coastline at Betty's Bay - incredible!!


Close-up of a pincushion protea. Nice job, Jim.

Yes, It’s English…

…but often Jim and I find ourselves saying or thinking, “What? What? What does that mean?” We are having fun learning new colloquialisms and seeing how language is intricately tied with pronunciation and common sayings, and bound together by culture.

Can you guess what these mean?

1. “I’ll see you just now.” AND/OR “I’ll see you now now.”
   
2. “Howzit?”
   
3. “The relationship went pear-shaped.”
   
4. “And then I found myself with one leg up a gum tree.”
5. “The programme is starting at 7:00 for 7:30.”

Answers

1. “Just now” means, see you within the half hour or so. “Now now” means, see you very soon or within a few minutes. Yes, people really say this, and everyone laughs about it when we ask them to clarify! Apparently it comes from a direct translation of an Afrikaans expression for "now now." So you can see how direct translations are confusing
   
2. What’s up? How’s it going?
3. It “went south” or things took a bad turn and didn’t end up well.
4. Being found in a no-win situation or a tough or awkward spot.
5. You are welcome to come anytime between 7:00 and 7:30 (“half-past seven” not seven-thirty), and we’ll start the program sometime thereafter. To be honest, we’re still not quite sure what time to arrive if we hear this.

The Student Y winter camp weekend

A couple of weeks ago we joined Fritz's campus ministry group, the Student Y (from UCT), for their winter retreat weekend. Fortunately for us they needed some extra hands in the kitchen, so we gladly went along. The purposes of the weekend were to have some intense time as a group to discuss missions/missionology, relax together, and get away from the normal routine of Cape Town. About 35 students attended, and it was also great for us to participate with the group and get to know some students - from a variety of different backgrounds. The location was in Franschoek, a small mountain-valley village founded by French Huguenot immigrants. Gorgeous!!

Tanya, Y staff member, and Jul with the sandwiches for Saturday's lunch. We had a lot of fun together!


Students lining up for lunch... careful, Gerald, I see you taking that whole tray.

Vuyi, another Y staff member. She helped lead some of the discussions over the weekend.


Fritz and Martin (second-year student) manning the braai (grill) for Saturday's supper. Delicious boerewors (sausage)!


Spring is beginning! Here are some flowers we saw a lot of over the weekend.