Since I’ve been back in South Africa, I really feel like an
anthropologist. And it would actually be a fascinating job! The life of a
missionary isn’t even really all that different of that of an anthropologist.
If you don’t know, I live with an Afrikaans guy and girl.
They have been good friends for years and are two very great people.
The gender roles are strikingly different between Afrikaans
South Africans, descendents of the Dutch, and English South Africans, descendents
of the British. It would be fascinating to me to do a study on gender roles for
all of the different cultures in this area.
On Monday night, Cobus’ parents came over for dinner. And
even though it was his parents who came over, Helouise did all the cooking. This
wouldn’t be uncommon in an Afrikaans household. Typically the women are very
domestic, even if they have full-time jobs, and the men are very dominant and the
main bread winners of the household. Afrikaans men are known for being more
chivalrous than English men, but at the end of the day, they expect to have a
meal on the table lovingly prepared by their faithful wives.
So this struck me as odd. Cobus’ parents were over, but
Helouise prepared the entire meal herself, and cleaned the entire kitchen herself.
And she has no romantic feelings towards Cobus. She even waited on both parents
hand and foot making sure they had their coffee and tea and all that.
Was this expected of her as the eldest female in the house?
Did she do it out of duty or did she do it because of her close bond with his
parents?
One of my passions has become educated my readers about South Africa.
It truly is a beautiful, multicultural, and extremely interesting place to live
and learn.
Love with a rainbow colored (coloured) heart. 
