South African Dinner 2009
a report written by Mignon Eckard

On Thursday, the 29th of January, as part of the final event of our group program, we hosted a dinner for our lecturers and other important people involved in the program. During this dinner, traditional South African food was served, which we prepared during the day. The preparation that preceded the evening's festivities was almost as fun as the evening itself, as we sang and danced while preparing our food. What surprised me was the fact that the ingredients were easily obtainable here in Tübingen (except for boerewors!)

This evening was not only special as it was our last evening in Tübingen, and as we were showcasing our tradition to our German guests, but also because it managed to unite the group one last time in our effort to give our guests the best tastes of South African food and culture. The response to our food from our German guests also made us proud of what we had prepared, as they thoroughly enjoyed sampling South African cuisine.

After we had enjoyed our delicious meals (which included pap, samp and beans, vetkoek, chakalaka, bobotie, morogo, bratwurst, melktert, pampoenkoekies and peppermint tart), all the group members received a certificate of participation of the Tübingen South Africa program. Gifts were also given to the team leaders and to our group leader, Lidia, as well as to the German lecturers whose hard work resulted in a performance from each of the German classes. This was highly entertaining not only to us, but to the guests as well.

We ended this wonderful evening in true South African style, with songs, dances, a smile on each face and a tear in some eyes. To me, this was the perfect way to end an amazing time in Tübingen. Thank you so much to everyone that made this wonderful experience possible for us, through their hard work, effort and dedication. I thoroughly enjoyed these three weeks and will miss everyone here so much.

Mignon Eckard