not the typical week - but that's what's great!

Another week has past so quickly! In the last 6 days, I’ve spent 5 of them (or at least the evenings after work) with new people, most of them locals! Monday and Tuesday evenings, I went out to dinner with different people from the client and Wednesday evening I met a mutual friend of a coworker who comes to South Africa a few times a year to support different HIV/AIDS clinics in the townships throughout South Africa. (Townships were created as living areas for non-whites under the old political system of Apartheid and are made up of miles and miles of rows of many times tin shacks. A township tour is still on my list of things to do so more to come on them soon.) It was so interesting talking to her about her experiences and her work!

On Thursday evening, a few of us from my team went to dinner and then saw Oceans 13. Friday night, Patricia and I went to Kristin’s house for happy hour and dinner. (Patricia had been put in touch with Kristin through a friend.) Kristin has been living in Cape Town for a few years working in the film industry and teaching at the university. She made an amazing meal and the other guests were all currently living in Cape Town AND it was the first time I ate ostrich – not bad! She lives in the Woodstock area, which is 15 minutes from downtown, which can be described as a ‘hectic’ neighborhood. Patricia and I drove and fortunately we were able to park right outside her house. To explain ‘hectic’, one of the guys at dinner, Mike (who moved to Cape Town from Iowa 12 years ago and is a correspondent for NPR) lived less than 3 blocks away and wouldn’t walk home after dark. It was good to have a reminder about being aware…

And then today was another amazing day and I owe a thank you to Bill and Pete, for putting me in contact with JP, another native South African. I got up early this morning and as it appeared to be a cloudy, rainy day, I bundled up to prepare for a day out fishing on his 17’ boat. However, we were pleasantly surprised to see the sun was shining at Gordon's Beach on False Bay (the water on the other side of the Cape Point). The day was fantastic and I keep thinking how incredible this place is; it’s SO beautiful. At one point, I was driving us through the swells and scanning the water (long-formed habit of deadhead searching on the Mississippi) and we found 2 whales! I didn’t get any good pictures between worrying about the boat and wanting to see them but I’ll be more prepared next time! As for the fishing, we had a friendly competition between the ‘Yanks’ and the South Africans and while Patricia and I didn’t come through with the win, I did manage to pull in two small ones (a catfish and an I don't know what). After pulling in the boat, we enjoyed a few beers, watched part of the rugby match (South Africa vs. Australia) and by that point, I was exhausted... We drove home and now I'm preparing for another full day tomorrow with Hermanas, a BBQ, and perhaps some live music before another week of work...

G'night!