Foreign Blend

A white American man falls in love with a black Nigerian woman, what could go wrong? Today we are talking about a popular CBS TV show which revolves around the culture clashes of the characters Bob, Abishola and their families. The show writers Gina Yashere and Chuck Lorre have put together a bunch of stories touching on marriage, religion and the assumptions foreigners and locals have of each other. The stories are spread across Lagos and Detroit in both Yoruba and English and we are keen to dissect it all and decide if it's worth watching. 

Have you ever wondered why your uber driver has a mechanical engineering degree but doesn't use it? In this episode we review the book The Educated Waiter by Tafadzwa Taruvinga. A memoir of a Zimbabwean man who comes to South Africa to get a degree and start his career. A very bumpy ride ensues. This is a gripping story of how even educated people can still fall through the cracks and takes an uncomfortably close look at the lives of the overqualified and educated uber drivers, waiters, nannies living and working among us. This story spans South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Germany and Dubai so keep your seatbelt on because there is some turbulence ahead. 

Drinking game: Drink every time you hear the word cornflakes in this episode :)

Where you can get a copy of this book:

#readafricanliterature #africanauthors #migrantworkers

Every few months there has been a story about Cuban doctors, Cuban engineers or Cuban teachers brought into South Africa by the government to work. In this episode we ask: what is going on?  Why does this keep happening when there are so many qualified people available locally being overlooked? Does Cuba have South Africa's nudes perhaps? How did these foreign workers manage to get the VIP treatment from the SA government? In the words of Camilla Cabello, it seems like South Africa's heart is in Havana, ooh-na-na.

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The Plugs (aka LINKS)

Music sampled in this episode:

Have you ever applied for a job, with a beautiful CV and cover letter - only for the company to ghost you? In this week's episode we are talking about jobs and asking questions about what is going on behind the scenes. We are joined by our friend Yao as a special guest spilling the tea on getting hired as a foreigner in the corporate world of South Africa. Disclaimer: BEE did come up but no bees were harmed during the making of this podcast. #SaveTheBees

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Talk to us at  https://twitter.com/ForeignBlend

In this episode we talk about the complexity of coming to South Africa, how newborn babies get caught up in the crossfire and we spend a little time on the phone with Home Affairs.

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Talk to us at  https://twitter.com/ForeignBlend

This week we have a fun episode where we invite our South African friend to take part in quiz. Join us to test your knowledge on South Africa's immigration rules. Do you know what it takes to get into South Africa? We ask questions like are people born in South Africa automatically citizens? How many days can someone visit South Africa without a visa? Do foreigners pay income tax? Find the answers to these and more in this episode!

The quiz questions and answers can be found on our Twitter page next week Sunday 14 Feb at https://twitter.com/ForeignBlend

:::Related links :::

WATCH: Living Undocumented - https://www.netflix.com/title/80209609

What can your passport do? - https://www.passportindex.org/

Today we talk about the business of hair. We touch on all the players: salons, stylists, product manufacturers, influencers and the economics of it all. Are they helping us flourish or is this just another scam?

Follow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/ForeignBlend

::: Here are some links :::

Support local hair products (Goodbye Clicks!)

Concerned about ingredients?

Story of Cosmetics: examines the pervasive use of toxic chemicals in our everyday personal care products

EWG's Skin Deep: find out how safe your products are 

Watch a movie

Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam CJ Walker

An African-American washerwoman rises from poverty to build a beauty  empire and become the first female self-made millionaire. 

Since it's August we have to talk about our entanglement with relaxers aka perms aka chemical and how we managed to walk away. Almost every black woman from Cape to Cairo has a story of being entangled in this toxic relationship and this is ours. 

The conversation continues on Twitter so be sure to follow us @ForeignBlend 

::: Links :::

 GOOD HAIR DOCUMENTARY (excerpt) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCEX34-1o6M&feature=youtu.be _ 

QUINTA VS PERM 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQPqzJ88jds _ 

HAIR ESTEEM QUIZ 

https://quiz.tryinteract.com/#/5e44aab163f5200014250e70 _ 

VOGUE BEAUTY SECRETS WITH KAT GRAHAM 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kunqw1FWrJM _ 

S O L' Vlog Series: Let's talk Natural Hair 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBO39fbxS-0&feature=youtu.be _ 

WHAT IS A RELAXER (Detailed experiment) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lMauJ9-jUE&feature=youtu.be _

In this episode we review the film The African Doctor. If you consider yourself a third culture kid, an immigrant or some sort of foreign blend like us, this movie is dedicated to you. A true and heartwarming portrayal of what it is to be us as told by the Zantoko family.  #AllTheFeels  #Netflix&Chill  ***MODERATE SPOILER ALERT***  

We are on Twitter now @foreignblend !

::: Links :::  

MOVIE

https://www.netflix.com/za/title/80123740  

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TRAILER  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2UZe8FNsck  

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PLAYLIST   (broaden your horizons, Lingala and French music is le bomb)  

https://music.apple.com/za/playlist/inspired-by-the-african-doctor/pl.u-XkD048ZF4z47Kz 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5kCFLe7ODHQgcsseKBDJfS?si=zFKo2Dm_RJKp7abMDL5evw 

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Merci à notre producteur JK qui pourra probablement regarder ce film sans sous-titres