CoUnTrY BuMpKin

by Lauren Roodt
I had a bit of a profound revelation today as I walked up the hill carrying 5 kg's of liquid with me as well as the other "necessities" that one might expect a girl to want. It dawned on me that I am the biggest, most undeniable Country Bumpkin to gallop into Rhodes on my high horse. Typically, if I saw a girl staggering up the hill with bottles of water I would laugh at her and probably call her a rich little snob but of course I would never call myself that. No. It simply reinforced how countrified I really am. Chlorinated water just does not gel with my system. Fullstop.

I am one of the lucky kids out there who has had a rapidly flowing spring constantly trickling past her house. A daily abundance of full cream milk straight out of Mama-mia (our Friesland cow) overflows out of our fridge. Pure, unpolluted, country air is absorbed into my lungs and there are never ending hills to frolic in (talk about stress relief). And, best of all, the cool smell of a thatched house on a scorching summer day and the oozing warmth of the fireplace while watching the snow fall outside.

Sadly, at Rhodes I feel obliged to keep in touch with my inner "boere-meisie" by buying the Country Life magazine, to indulge in my two litres of vanilla milk a week (if I can afford it) and to support Aquelle (after all- they bottle their water not too far from my real home).

Rhodes may have that small town feel to it but it so sadly misses the true joys of Country Living.