One snowy (of course) Saturday in January we went to see the movie about South Africa and Nelson Mandela entitled "Invictus". It was a wonderful movie about Mandela's leadership, the evils of apartheid, and how the national rugby team helped unify the nation at a critical time in their history. I erroneously assumed that Victor and Dennis would know all about this story before we even arrived at the posh midtown cinema in Omaha. As it turns out, the only thing they knew even a little about was rugby, and that wasn't much. This is the latest in a series of lessons I'm learning about how big, how varied, how diverse, and how complex Africa is. Just because something happens in Africa does not mean my African sons know anything about it. Victor is fond of repeating this phrase when I ask a stupid question: "Mum, Africa is a continent, not a country."
So I asked them if they were offended when I referred to them as my African sons. They said that they were not. But then, I am their "North American host mother" and I do fix their "North American food". So I think they are very patient with me. And I'm very thankful for that.
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