Somerset West – 24 August

I am now in the house with 4 women, Lisa with her two sisters and their mother. What a hustle and bustle they can make!

The past few days were relaxed and we spent them with Lisa’s family. Saturday we had a real African braai with enormeous amounts of meat which were prepared by the ‘ultimate braaimaster’ brother-in-law Julian. It’s really very different here than we are used to in the Netherlands. Especially the quantities of meat are unmatched,  but also how it is prepared is completely different. A lot of spices, a lot of salads but also a lot of wine and a beer. The meat is roasted on a grid which is above a charcoal bed on a few stones and is regularly turned. They make the charcoal themselves here by setting wood on fire hours earlier and then sliding the coals under the grid.

It really tastes different!

Yesterday Lisa’s youngest sister Sandra arrived here after a 22-hour flight from the United States. It was a big surprise for Lisa’s mother because she hadn’t seen Sandra for 3 years.

Today we spent picking up Sandra’s car and preparing for…. A new braai!

At the airport we had a very strange experience when, waiting for Sandra who was at the bank, we saw a bunch of Japanese passengers, about 20. They were wearing had disposable overall’s over their normal clothes, just as you can get at a DIY shop to use during painting. It was an unimaginably funny sight to see 20 people decked out in these overalls walking around the airport apparently because they were so incredibly afraid of COVID. My mother-in-law, 81, couldn’t contain her laughter…..