What is a potjie, you might be asking. Or maybe you want to know how to pronounce this strange combination of letters. 

A potjie (pronounced poi-key), more or less, is a stew cooked on the fire in a cast iron three-legged pot. It’s an Afrikaner dish. 

The nearby country club hosted a potjie cookoff somewhat similar to a chili cookoff  in the U.S. but minus the crowd favorite. 

I competed in a team with two other PCVs and one of their significant others. 

 

 
We didn’t place in the top three, but we still believe we had the best themed booth. We made a rockin’ chili with Mexican decor that was all homemade. 

 

 
The team that won decorated their stall with taxidermied antelope. If you hadn’t already figured out this was a rich, white people event, then that should tell you. 

  

 In a country with a tiny non-black population, I felt more out of place at this event than I have since I arrived. Integration works, especially when you are living close to the poverty line.