The other day I had quite an
interesting encounter with someone. Twice during our time together they indicated
in all seriousness, that they ‘used to be Afrikaans.” I found this to be
quite a bizarre statement. Yes, Afrikaans people have done and can do
incredibly stupid and questionable things; with that said, show me a nation /
culture / demographic that hasn’t and don’t. I then started wondering how do you
disown your heritage? Is it possible? Surely it is part of who you are?
I
am very grateful to my Mom for sending me to an English nursery school (Rachel
Spero, yes, a Jewish one!), and then to Arcadia Primary where I learnt to speak
English. On my own accord I nagged my Mom to send me to Pretoria High School
for Girls.
My mom got a lot of flack
from some of her ‘friends’ who said that she was going to confuse me and I wouldn’t
understand my culture by sending me to an English school. Thankfully, my mom
did not heed their concerns, and was comfortable with this risk of exposing her
daughter to English folk.
Even though my schooling was
in English, I was very much raised Afrikaans. I proudly have my grandmother’s
names, can cook a mean, “rys, vleis en aartappels,” and really find no other
language quite as expressive!
It’s about being true to
yourself. How authentic are you if you do not embrace and make peace with who
you are?
I sometimes listen to
RSG to listen to the language spoken without it being mixed with too much English, a trend that I am sadly quite guilty of too. The other day they shared this poem:
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