Lamb Chops and Surprise Guests

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Photo: Nonqaba waka Msimang
Student's visa.  So, you finally got your visa to study in England?  You need English for the lectures and grocery shopping at stores that sell African and Asian food.  You must also understand British culture and poverty.  You cannot visit people without an invitation because of lamb chops.

“I was in the neighbourhood and decided to drop in and see you.”
Don’t do that.  It’s just a line in a movie script.  You cannot drop in because people in apartment buildings use electronic cards to go home on the 12th floor.  Some buildings have security guards at the main door. 

 Buildings also have the intercom system where you press the apartment number and announce yourself, then the person you are visiting opens the building door from her apartment.   She can also ignore the buzzer.

Let’s say your mother in Brazil gave you her friend’s address in Manchester with a little garden and street parking.  Don’t Google it and show up at the door.

She might let you in because you are the spitting image of your mother but she might ask you to wait in the living room while they finish dinner. It’s because of lamb chops.  They bought two and cut them up for the family of four and they only eat meat once a week because it’s very expensive.

Life is very difficult in North America and Europe.  That’s right.  This is not Africa or Asia, where people will hug you and say how grown up you are and fix you a plate.  Remember the cost of lamb chops when you touch down at London Heathrow Airport.
By:  Nonqaba waka Msimang.

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