Finding Andrew
I bet you're all wondering what happened to the guy from South Africa whom I pulled from the depths of obscurity and launched to international stardom via this blog. Well, he wrote me and here's what he said:
Hi, I'm probably the guy who is responsible for all the hits from South Africa. My name is Andrew. You have a very entertaining blog, and I enjoy reading it- I guess that's my only quest. I live in the very beautiful city of Cape Town, on the southern tip of Africa, and my favourite color is probably a deep, sea blue. I thought I should write after seeing your blog entry as I know what incurable curiosity can feel like. I've sent you a picture that I took from an airplane of Mount Kiliminjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, on a recent trip to Kenya. If you would like to know any more info on life in South Africa, I would be happy to share.
Best regards,
Andrew
Isn't he great? I wish I had more friends like Andrew! Especially if they're also willing to put me up in their house should I ever visit South Africa. Best part is, Andrew "would be happy to share" about life in South Africa. So, does anybody have any questions for Andrew?
Labels: blogging, friends, interactive, travel, writing
posted by k_sra at 7/09/2005 04:51:00 PM
8 Comments:
I'm sure I can think up a thousand questions for Andrew (Africa is a fascinating place I'd love to travel to some day), but I'll start with one.
Andrew, how close are people down there in a relationship sense? Do you know all of your close neighbors, or do you come home from work and stay inside? Do you say "hi" to people you don't know when you walk down the street? (stops self from typing, as my one question has already turned into at least 3)
I think it depends on areas so it would be hard to generalise- South Africa has a wide variety of different cultures, and also a huge disparity of living standards between those who are well off, and those who are not.
For me personally, I would know most of our close neighbours as acquaitances, but not that well. I would generally greet people walking down the street, but probably not everyone.
Hope that sort of answers
Andrew,
Are the people of South Africa as pop culture obsessed as in the U.S.? Movies, TV, Hollywood, even sports figures seem to make more news Outside the entertainment industry since that's what sells here.
Again, you need to allow for many different cultures and value systems, but I would say that many people, especially the younger generations, are pretty pop culture obsessed...often with American celebrities. For instance, the Michael Jackson trial was pretty big. Our sports are a bit different...soccer, rugby and cricket are the big ones, so the sport obsessions tend to be local stars or people like David Beckham (English soccer player).
I have a question: In light of their recent tie with Jamaica do you think South Africa will go all the way in this year's CONCACAF Gold Cup?
What type of health care system does SA have? And what resources are being sought to deal with the recent HIV spike?
Also, do you have a pet?
CONCACAF Gold Cup -who knows? They beat Mexico, which was a surprisingly good result given some of the recent performances by the SA soccer side. If they can do that sort of performance again, who knows, although the USA will be tough on home soil.
Health system -like many things here, there is good and bad. The public system isn't that great as medical staff are terribly underpaid, but the private sector (if you can afford it) is world class -in fact, people from Europe and North America sometime come this way to have ,er shall we say, cosmetic, procedures done for less than half the cost at home
HIV/AIDS is a major problem, and working in insurance, I can see the impact. There are some good treatment programmes run by some companies, but the government has been terribly slow in putting resources into effective mass treatment programmes. The biggest problem is denial -most people don't think they can be infected, and therefore don't seek treatment.
Pets- yes, a boisterous cocker spaniel and a cheeky dachshund. Check your e-mail and they'll say hello :)
must... upload... doggy clip...
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