A Small Breath of Africa: Braai

This weekend I went to my first official braai or "cookout" in Pretoria. A University of Pretoria professor who I met at Fulbright orientation and who works with the Fulbright ETAs in Pretoria invited the Johannesburg Fulbrighters (and a professor from Wits) to her beautiful home just north of the city. Pretoria, the executive capital of South Africa, is very close to Johannesburg (40 miles or so). Interestingly, the two cities are starting to merge, as Johannesburg suffers from urban sprawl.

We put the coordinates in the GPS and set off, knowing that her house was complicated to find. Before arriving we made a quick stop at the grocery store (Spar) to pick up meat to bring to the braai. I've heard conflicting reports, but overall, I feel that the host of the braai provides everything except for the meat (not in all cases), so it's not odd for the host to ask people to bring meat to share (they grill it all together). Then, we continued, following our GPS…until it said that "we had arrived" but we had not arrived. We were told that the house is a "street inside of a street." Puzzled we asked for directions and were told to go to the end of the road. We arrived a massive gate, allowed in, and proceeded to drive through a lush, well-manicured estate (for those in Toledo - it was "Tremore" like but more grandiose). Thinking we arrived, we pulled up to a small home with the garage doors open, when all of a sudden a small Mercedes came up behind us, honked, and indicated that we should follow it (it was raining at the time). It took us up a hill to a large, modern, home…I guess we found the gardeners home. Having to close our mouths ("wow" factor), we finally arrived and joined the party.

The braai was wonderful - a lot of food and great conversation. I enjoyed seeing the Fulbright ETAs (I'm traveling to Botswana with them next weekend) and meeting some professors from the University of Pretoria. We casually watched the Johannesburg Golden Lions versus the Free State Cheetahs in rugby (Go Lions!), talked, and tried some traditional South African braai food. One professor (who is the epitome of "professor" white beard, khaki safari shirt, pipe smoking, and crazy tales about his travels through the bush) decided to initiate the "American guests" and brought all of us boerwurst - a special sausage, particular to South Africa. In any event, it was a nice evening and I enjoyed learning about the braai culture.

Traditional South African braai food:

Pap - It looks like mash potatoes, but has a stickier tendency (how descriptive!) and is not potato. Typically you put chakalakah on top of it as a South African-style mash potatoes and gravy.
Chakalakah - a spicy chili sauce that has a relish consistency
Boerwurst - traditional South African sausage
Malva Pudding - A cake soaked in a syrup, warmed, and served over ice cream. The custom is to also add custard on top.
Ostrich Biltong ("bill-tongue") - jerky that is less salty (and not pumped with chemicals) than in the 'States

To continue with the food theme - on Sunday afternoon my roommates and I started our Sunday afternoon lunch, where one of us makes lunch for the group (I'm next week). I really enjoy talking to them and learning about South African culture, they have unique insights and I enjoy their comments when I tell them my own stories (and I, theirs).

Eternally full (well, you get my drift).