she’s heeeeeerrrrre!!!

tonya finally arrived a couple weeks ago and is settling in quite well to joburg life. i’m very happy to have her here.

"Humanity was born in Africa. All people, ultimately, are African."

the first weekend after she arrived saw us bumping down dirt roads with two crazy american friends as we desperately tried to figure out where we could find the cradle of humanity.

the cradle is apparently where, according to scientists, the first human, “eve”, emerged from the primordial sludge. being the huge evolution theory buff that i am (one of the few dorky traits to which i will publicly admit), i was more than thrilled to be on the adventure – despite the precarious mode of transport.

let me explain.

shanya, one of the americans and one of my closest friends here in joburg, had a friend visiting from the states. they decided to rent a vehicle from “rent-a-wreck” in hillbrow (yes, the scary area) for the day and go for a bit of a road trip. i get a phone call out of the blue that morning as tonya and i are bumming around the mall getting haircuts, asking if we wanted to join on the adventure. excited that i now know someone as spontaneous and insane as i am, both ton and i agree to join them.

the rental company was true to its name. rocking down the dirt roads in this beat-up piece of crap, only the constant jokes and one-liners about the car (if it can be called such!) kept our spirits high!

to find in the end that the cradle was closed.

damned wedding people booked up the entire nature park for the day.

in any case we were happy to go to the “wonder caves” that were nearby. we took a tour of these millions of years old caves with crazy cool stalagmites and ‘tites. once again, very interesting to a closet science buff like me.

on the way out of the park we were also graced with seeing a group of rhinos, a family of ostriches (complete with a tufty-headed baby – awwww!!!), and a family of warthogs (with more cute babies – although considerably more “ugly-cute”). we were informed at the caves that there was also another place we could visit close by where you can pet and play with jaguar, leopard, lion and black panther kittens!!! we marked this as “to-do” for another day when we had more time.

all this was only one hour outside of the city! absolutely incredible!!

ton and i also discovered s. african theatre this week so we’ve been regular little theatre dwellers for a few days now! it’s been fun.

i’ve always traveled and lived mostly alone so it’s been great discovering how much fun it is to share experiences like these with someone else! we’ve been checking out a lot of the touristy stuff that i’d been putting off ’till she arrived, so it’s only now that jo’burg seems to be opening up for me. less intimidating, more interesting – especially historically. 🙂

Ton demos the versatility of the couch bed

we finally got a proper bed. as a freak coincidence one of the other cuso people here had a foam mattress she wasn’t using so, just a day before ton got here, i hustled out to the ‘burbs to pick it up. we used the previous horrid mattress as a kind of makeshift flophouse couch for a while (VERY heroine chic! “please keep the place relatively tidy while shooting up, clean needles can be found on the desk right next to the laptop…”) and, with this awesome tacky “amazon” blanket tonya got for christmas (complete with some “chief” looking guy holding a draped out and busty scantly-clad virgin in his muscley arms!), we were the absolute epitome of stylish and sophisticated entertaining. at least the locals thought the blanket very cool – i guess tacky pseudo-amerindian romance novel cover blankets are “in”. 😛

we also got a proper 2-seater couch this weekend. plus, it’s a sleeper couch, so should we miss the aztec maiden and her beau too much we can totally remedy the situation quickly!

all this in time for our housewarming party on the 19th – anyone traveling through south africa is more than welcome to stop by!

we’ve been informed that, to have a proper party in s. africa, you need to provide all the meat and booze and salad and pap (nsima) and…

so we figured we’d splurge on a goat or something, and pap is cheap, but there’s no bloody way we’re footing the booze bills! oy! we’re gonna be reeling already from buying both the couch (we were smart – bought it out of the classifieds!) and a new braai (bbq – it’s about as tall as my knees and about as wide as two regular sized plates side-by-side, very cute! again, all we could afford at this point!).

should be good fun though, as it seems that parties are highly respected and well-attended things here. with not as much to do in the evenings, parties become cheap and easy sources of good fun (cheap and easy, that is, if you’re not footing the bill!). we’re expecting a decent-sized turnout.

we’re also hoping, should the money hold out, to head to malawi for the easter break in march. that week also has many statutory holidays for s. africa so i basically get 8 days for the price of 3 – I’ll only have to take off 3 days from work, technically, while enjoying over a week of fun in the sun with some of my fave people. i’m also very excited to trip down memory lane a bit and re-visit some of my old friends, haunts, life – where my love for africa was first kindled.

so all this to say that we’re happy. ton’s here. we have some furniture. we’re having big fun.

hope all is well with everyone still suffering out the cold canuck winters. my love and warmth goes out to you all.

mmm… masonja!

all african adventures must have the following:

a) a trip to a safari park (complete with blurred pictures of “an aligator, see? you can see it right there, … i think…?! or is that a hippo…?!”);

b) a trip home with a sunburn (“i just didn’t have a clue that the sun would be that intense in *insert african country name here*”);

c) a standard story of how you got “ripped off” by locals (esp. hawkers or salespeople – no folks, it’s not a rip-off if you agreed to the price!);

d) a semi-lame hair weave or plaiting (accompanied by a “really great” story of some wonderful local who became your best friend and did it for you); and

e) a story of how you ate bugs (or some other comparable nastiness).

so here’s my obligatory bug story.

i’m walking along, minding my own business and chatting with my colleague, today on the way from a take-away restaurant when she asks if i’d mind stopping into a different resto for her to grab something. we go into this bizarre shop that looks like a used-car dealership (sans the cars) and she orders her food. she points to the counter where there are bowls of assorted salads you can order. “have you tried this?” she asks as she lifts the plastic wrap off of one bowl. “nope,” i respond as i look into what looks like a bowl of black worms. i didn’t want to make assumptions given that i’d already tried tripe last week (and almost threw up over that experience) and the contents looked much the same. the clerk smiles and offers me one. yup, it’s a worm. a big fat black worm, complete with large shiny black head and a hundred spindley little half-fried off legs. (ugh).

i say no thanks but the shopkeeper insists. my colleague is also standing there looking at me expectantly and encouraging me to give it a try. doing my best for cultural exchange and sensitivity i take it and bite down.

nevermind the feeling of a hundred little legs on your tongue, the worst is the hard thin-shelled crunch followed by soft inexplicable gooeyness.

screw cultural sensitivity, i ran out the shop and promptly spit it onto the ground, doing my best to spit out the little legs that have now lodged themselves between my tongue and teeth.

the two instigators are still standing in the shop laughing their asses off at me. i’m embarassed and ashamed (i’m supposed to be skilled and trained in diplomatic relations!) and thoroughly grossed out by the experience and they’re falling off their feet with laughter!

once i’d regained composure i apologised profusely, grabbed my colleague and her food, and we headed back to the warm comfort and safety of the office.

the kicker: apparently my zulu colleague has never even eaten these things (mopani worms/masonja, a “delicacy” from another (shangaan) tribe). once we got back to the office she told me that she wouldn’t have the courage to eat them.

yup yup yup.

those silly canadians – they’ll chow anything!

ever feel like an anthropological experiment gone bad??

i’m looking forward to the office party tomorrow. we’ve been told that there’s a one-drink minimum, unless you buy your own booze. and so i ask, what is an office party without booze and a convenient excuse to hit on your coworkers?! 😉

thankfully there will be only beef at the buffet, no mopani worms.