Some of my favorite people in the world are a couple we've gotten to know who originally hail from South Africa.
If you want to be sure of having fun dinner conversation make sure they are on the invite list. You'll have to quit your jobs and read a lot of books and learn a few extra languages before you have them over because they are so brilliant, but it will totally be worth it for an evening of thoughtful discourse and laughter.
The other night our families were enjoying a meal together when the topic of geography education came up. Or maybe I should say the lack of geography education for a generation or two here in the US.
They've lived here for quite a while and are pretty convinced that most ordinary Americans (and dare I say Westerners in general) don't know that South Africa is a country in Africa. It's not the southern part of Africa. Of course all of our readers at BA31 knew that already, but you're not ordinary as you know.
So if I can use this blog as an educational tool for a moment.....
Nelson Mandela was not the president of Africa. He was the president of South Africa. He was a fine man, and although he may have been capable of uniting a whole continent he focused his efforts on the land he was elected to serve. South Africa.
Americans are quick to remind you that we were the first people to land on the moon, but we have no idea where the rest of the world is.
I also learned that UFOs only land in the United States... but that's a story for another day.
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