11 Things

1. To anyone who does not know, I am a huge closet ABBA fan. Seriously. I know every word to the songs on ABBA Gold. In Canada this is usually grounds for some serious teasing, but in South Africa ABBA is really popular. I think this may be grounds to just settled down here for the long-term. Not only did they play a "club remix" of Mama Mia at a bar last week, but this weekend we are supposed to go see a show called Abbamaniacs. I do not know what to expect but I am pumped. 

Gotta love that hair. 

2. This actually happened two weeks ago but is too funny not to share. In South Africa they have unmarked "cabs" which are just people driving to and from town which is where I work. I always catch these up at the mall, which is a short walk from our bed and breakfast. To catch one you walk up to the car, ask if they are going into town and climb in. One morning I went up to a cab that was letting a girl out, opened the door and asked if he was going to town. He looked confused and said no. I quickly walked away and waited for another car. What I didn't realize was that THIS WAS NOT A CAB. Just some random guy's car!!! He politely waited a minute or so before he parked, got out of his car and went into the mall to go to work. I stood there and silently died of shame. 

Holy. Embarrassing.

3.  This past week I was looking online at a menu for a restaurant I wanted to try when I get back home. Naturally I gravitated towards the dessert menu and saw they had a piece of (vegan) cheesecake I thought sounded amazing. When I saw the price was "10" I thought "What an amazing deal!". Then sadly, I realised it was in dollars... not rand and a total rip off. Looks like I am having an easier time getting used to the currency than I thought.

4. This week I ate my last Clif bar that I brought here and it was a heartbreaking day. I would be lying if I told you I didn't sniff the wrapper several a few times before finally throwing it out. I have yet to find them here, but I am hoping when we head to a bigger city I might have some luck.

How I will miss you Cool Mint Chocolate and Carrot Cake Flavours. Anyone want to send me a care package?

5. This article was so funny I knew I had to share it, if you are in your 20s you will for sure relate to at least something on this list. This website in general is pretty addictive, it has kept me very entertained on some of the slower nights here. I highly recommend checking it out.

6. This past weekend we went to a braai! A braai is an outdoor south African barbecue, this one was in celebration of our new good friend Mercedes' birthday. There are these kind of outdoor stoves that most houses have here and everyone cooks meat over hot coals, you can see it in the background of some of the pictures. Although I was given some advice about how to braai vegetables I did not have any suitable ones on hand and I definitely did not feel like going grocery shopping. Instead I packed a Tupperware of some leftover vegetable curry I had made the day before and snacked on some bread at the house. This was such a fun night and we felt so welcomed by the Edwards family.

A cllection of pictures from the braai. Happy Birthday Mercedes and Amelia! Look at the delicious cupcakes.

7. Speaking of the braai I met this cutie who kept snuggling up right between my legs. I miss animals so much being here and Diesel and I quickly became buddies.

This picture took so many tries! This girl did not like having her picture taken

8. I finally had my first experience sitting in the front seat of a car here. Let me just say, sitting in the passenger (read: Canadian driver) seat and driving on the opposite side of the road? Terrifying! I got more used to this as the car ride went on but for the first few minutes my heart was sure racing.

9. Keeping on the topic of driving, I wanted to mention that people here do not wear seatbelts. It is such a strange thing to get used to. We were warned by our host Ghana that people do not really "bother with" seatbelts here. As a result lots of cars here have broken or missing seatbelts. However, the car safety nut that I am I can say that I always bother with wearing my seatbelt, even if people look at me like I am crazy.

10. This week I also had my first bowl of South African bran flakes. Bran flakes are my absolute favourite cereal back home and I was so excited to dive into this bowl.

At least it looked yummy!

Unfortunately South African bran flakes and Canadian bran flakes are not at all the same. I finished the bowl because I hate to waste food but I will definitely not be having these again. Yuck. 

11. Ending this blog on a sentimental note again this week. I really feel like I am finally starting to get into a great routine here. I have always been a creature of habit and I can say that after a month I am back to my old wake-up time (around 6 am), eating oatmeal food that I love, getting into a workout schedule and settling into work. After a hectic month of adjustments it feels really great that things are starting to feel "normal" in my new home.     

Feeling great and loving Africa