Post by El Sid on Jun 4, 2003 6:59:11 GMT -5
The 70's. Angola, bordering northern Namibia, was in a total state of conflict and civil war. The whole effen place was in a mess and many parties were in on the unrest. There whas the major political role players like the MPLA, Cuba, UNITA, FNLA and yes, South Africa too. Anyway, with this bit as background, I want to tell a story about one chap from Angola. I forget his name but, for the story, I'll call him José, as he was Portuguese speaking.
OK, so José became pissed off with the whole Angola lot and, as he put it: "First I belong to MPLA but then it get's heavy shit. Now I join FNLA, you know, "Fuck Now Leave Angola""
So, together with his wife and 4 children, in a yellow VW Beetle with all of their belongings, they eventually arrive in SA. José, a carpenter by trade, was seriously looking for work and was employed by the company I was working for at the time. It so happened that he and I ended up on the same contract.
Just a bit of info on the particular contract. It was actually a huge project and many different contractors were involved. A 4 km tunnel, a huge bridge at the western approach, lotsa roadworks and the 2 bridges on the eastern side we were involved with. A relatively large construction village was constructed where most of the families lived for the duration of the project. I was fortunate enough NOT having to stay there ;D. José and his family did. Also, this whole project was in the heart of the winelands where the wine can not only be plentiful but also cheap, depending what plonk you buy. The real cheap stuff is nothing more than the last dregs from the barrels and was practically given away to the unsuspecting in 20 litre black plastic containers, also known as "Black Piglets". Needless to say, the "Village" people loved the stuff. If not the taste then definitely the price, the amount and the desired effect it brought.
So, on with the story. It was a pay-weekend and our friend, José, bought his usual "Black Piglet" before heading for home. Now these pay-weekends, without fail, always turn out to be 3 day long piss-ups interspersed with all sorts of adultery and the ensuing fights. Now, this particular weekend was no different to any of those before, with possibly just a slightly different flavour. Some time before, José had bought a live sheep which he kept on his allotted site just to keep the lawn in check and to slaughter at Christmas. This time, together with all of the neighbouring friends, and when they were already totally sozzled, they decide the sheep has to be slaughtered right away. They were far too hungry and Christmas was still a long way off. So it had to be done NOW! So with some of the inebreated guys making a fire, the others are commandeered to catch and slaughter the sheep. The sheep, of course, saw what was coming so it tried to give it's captors a fast get-away. It almost succeeded but just could not give the chasing hordes the slip. It was slaughtered, cut up, roasted on the coals and every morsel consumed by the captors. Nothing but the skin remained. Then, after having had their fill, some made it to their beds whilst the others slept in a fallen state right where they had passed out.
There they all were. Dead to the world. At least until the following afternoon. It was then that José started looking for "Fluffy", the family dog. No success with all of the calling and whistling. The dog was missing. Gone.
That was also when José noticed that the sheep was still there keeping the lawn in shape.
OK, so José became pissed off with the whole Angola lot and, as he put it: "First I belong to MPLA but then it get's heavy shit. Now I join FNLA, you know, "Fuck Now Leave Angola""
So, together with his wife and 4 children, in a yellow VW Beetle with all of their belongings, they eventually arrive in SA. José, a carpenter by trade, was seriously looking for work and was employed by the company I was working for at the time. It so happened that he and I ended up on the same contract.
Just a bit of info on the particular contract. It was actually a huge project and many different contractors were involved. A 4 km tunnel, a huge bridge at the western approach, lotsa roadworks and the 2 bridges on the eastern side we were involved with. A relatively large construction village was constructed where most of the families lived for the duration of the project. I was fortunate enough NOT having to stay there ;D. José and his family did. Also, this whole project was in the heart of the winelands where the wine can not only be plentiful but also cheap, depending what plonk you buy. The real cheap stuff is nothing more than the last dregs from the barrels and was practically given away to the unsuspecting in 20 litre black plastic containers, also known as "Black Piglets". Needless to say, the "Village" people loved the stuff. If not the taste then definitely the price, the amount and the desired effect it brought.
So, on with the story. It was a pay-weekend and our friend, José, bought his usual "Black Piglet" before heading for home. Now these pay-weekends, without fail, always turn out to be 3 day long piss-ups interspersed with all sorts of adultery and the ensuing fights. Now, this particular weekend was no different to any of those before, with possibly just a slightly different flavour. Some time before, José had bought a live sheep which he kept on his allotted site just to keep the lawn in check and to slaughter at Christmas. This time, together with all of the neighbouring friends, and when they were already totally sozzled, they decide the sheep has to be slaughtered right away. They were far too hungry and Christmas was still a long way off. So it had to be done NOW! So with some of the inebreated guys making a fire, the others are commandeered to catch and slaughter the sheep. The sheep, of course, saw what was coming so it tried to give it's captors a fast get-away. It almost succeeded but just could not give the chasing hordes the slip. It was slaughtered, cut up, roasted on the coals and every morsel consumed by the captors. Nothing but the skin remained. Then, after having had their fill, some made it to their beds whilst the others slept in a fallen state right where they had passed out.
There they all were. Dead to the world. At least until the following afternoon. It was then that José started looking for "Fluffy", the family dog. No success with all of the calling and whistling. The dog was missing. Gone.
That was also when José noticed that the sheep was still there keeping the lawn in shape.
just listening to them.
