I’m not sure if the word “wash” was suppose to look like that or whether the artist just didn’t get to finishing it, but what I do know is that they got to finish the AYOBA part and that’s what this post is all about. AYOBA..now I know everyone in South Africa has heard the word. Have come to know the meaning and for some of us, it has become a part of our vocab. (Just to help those of you who don’t know how to pronounce it…it’s something like “A-YOOOO-BA! A nice long YOOO and you have to say it with attitude!)

The word became popular after a marketing campaign of a local mobil company MTN. But apart from it being a clever marketing campaign the word is now used to express excitement or to say something is “cool”. In short it’s become a funky slang word :)

The weekend of the 12th of June, iaan and I traveled to Upington in the Northern Cape. I’ve never been there before and I was super excited to see it. Not only was iaan born in that area, but I’ve heard such great things about the people and the landscape. So I packed my bags for Petra & Barri’s wedding and off we went.

We arrived the Friday and we were warmly greeted by a friend of Petra’s. She picked us up and took us for a little sight seeing. Upington reminded me of the days when I was still a little girl. We would travel up to the Freestate to our family for holidays and stop at all the little farm stalls. All the home made cookies, biscuits and rusks. Sweeties in tins and glass bottles. Home made jam and all the dried fruit.

While we were driving I saw this guy. I just had to stop. I was in awe! He had no legs and he was working in a garden. I went over. Introduced myself and then he told me his story. In the 1970′s he had a pain in his legs. He then went to the doctor and they said he had some kind of virus. It was spreading through his legs and they had to put them off. Then he learned how to move around and today he is a gardener. He also proudly added that he’d never missed a days work! Wow, we can all learn from him!

Upington in my opinion was Ayoba :)