Heita ooollaa

The boys in the office are trying to teach me the local slang.  So far all I’ve been able to pick up are a few different ways to say what’s up:

 

Ayoba (literal translation: togetherness)

Heita-ola (how ya doin? Joey from Friends style)

Kao fela (cool like that)

 

It’s both fun and funny to hang out with them.  There are three, each in their early 20s, all from Soweto.  They drive around in their pimped out cars when the windows rolled down and the music blaring, but it’s not hip-hop – it’s deep house.  They balk when the women in the office (who are hysterical and deserve their own entry) adamantly declare, “All men cheat.”  But then the next day they come in wearing a shirt that says, “Here’s to my girlfriends (big picture of beer mug) May they never meet.”  When I ask about the shirt, the smirky reply: “I bought it for the colors.”  

 

All men may not cheat, but in so many ways they are the same. J

 

But honestly, these guys, like everyone else in the loveLife office, are super nice and really great.  The fact that they continue to put up with my dumb questions and terrible pronunciation is a huge testament to that.  And they’re teaching me a ton about South Africa’s youth.  Next week, they’re taking me to Jo’burg’s biggest house music party.  A Black rave sans the drugs they tell me.  Should be fascinating. J