Tourist Weekend!

I decided that this weekend was going to be a tourist weekend. I really haven’t gone out much lately as I have been flat hunting, then furniture and house supply shopping. I may not still have any furniture in the flat…but I needed to go explore the city and let all that drama wait another week. That is right; my bed hasn’t arrived for the second weekend in a row (South Africa Customer Service ) so I am sleeping on a blow up mattress. I think I could hold the record for fastest person to disconnect the pump and put the plug in, I am that good at it now! Friday night I went to a local restaurant on Long Street (it is a street where a lot of bars and night club action is at) called Mama Africa. They are supposed to have local South African food, so thought this would be a good place to start my weekend. They first delivered the bread bowl with my order of a cosmo…I know it is a girly drink but it’s good. The bread had 3 different types and one of them was like a deep fried donut, Yum! I then ordered a Mama Bobotie as the waitress said that was a traditional South African dish. It is a like a meat loaf…but way better. It is spiced minced meat with raisins and egg topping. It was really delicious. I then sat as they had live music playing and some kind of TV crew blocking my view for a bit, and ended off the night with a Malva pudding dessert. It is like a sponge cake that melts in your mouth with the vanilla ice cream. Some cool things at the restaurant were the decorations that made you feel like you were in Africa…wait I am! They also have a breathalyzer next to the bathroom which I thought was interesting.
On Saturday I wanted to visit the Old Biscuit Mill which many people had recommended to me. The only problem was that it wasn’t walking distance from CBD (central business district) so….I took the white taxi. It is a van that sits about 12 people and many people were telling to never take it because it is the crazy taxi. They shove as many people as they can before they will start driving and it can be unsafe as they seem to have their own traffic rules. What is a woman to do when she needs to get somewhere…GO! I headed up to the taxi terminal area and seriously there were like hundreds of vans, honking and yelling where they were going. I found the van that would take me to Woodstock where this mill was and got into the van with my R5 (like 80 cents.) I sat there for like 3 minutes and looked around to realize there was only 2 other people in the van and it was going to be a while before we could leave, so I got out. Saturday was really hot! It was about 27C which is like 90F and it was HOT! I was not going to sit in that van and be in the middle when they start shoving us in...I will take the window seat thank you. After about 10 minutes they finally have 12 people and I jumped back in. I was very thankful for this driver, as he only filled the van to how many seats there was when we left. I was looking out the window and there were vans over capacity and these people were squatting down and pressed against the windows…thank you Jesus that that was not my behind against the window…that would have been traumatizing, haha. As we started to head down the road, the driver was yelling out the window trying to get more passengers…I looked at the van and was thinking how are we going to fit more…it was an experience…and I probably will do it more often since I want to see things! The driver stopped the vehicle at my area and told me that I needed to walk a couple blocks down. I started walking down the aisle, and I know understood when people told me that Woodstock was “dodgy”=not too safe. It was broad daylight and I could see and feel people on the streets staring at me…as if they were debating if they were going to pursue me...if you get my drift. There was one guy who walked past me and as he did he continued to look at me as he walked away, it was dodgy. The Old Biscuit Mill is like a Pike’s Place Market that is significantly smaller but the does have many booths that serve wine and beer. I walked around for about an hour just looking at the shops, booths, and food and taking the experience in. I do like the atmosphere and it was a lot of fun. I then decided that it was too hot to do another tourist thing, so I headed to the mall at the waterfront. The girls at work say that I am addicted to shopping…not going to deny it…I have an empty apartment! This day though, I promised myself I would be a tourist and bought 2 dresses and some Havana shoes…I was very happy. I went grocery shopping before leaving the mall and took the taxi home. I finally got my refrigerator earlier this week after some things feel through. There is a co-worker who just transferred from the Cork location around the same time I did, and we have called things that don’t work out or seem completely odd as “TIA” which means this is Africa…and you have to also shrug your shoulders as you say it. Customer Service and getting things…don’t happen very well for me…but TIA...and I am learning to just shrug it off and laugh now. On Sunday, I went to a new church down the street from me, I am not sure…so I may try it again and then spent several hours catching up on postcards and people…finally got internet this week also, that was challenging. They didn’t want to give it to me because they wanted 3 months worth of bank statements and wouldn’t count in my US account, but by God’s grace and mercy the guy on the phone felt sorry for me, and as he said “fought Kung Fu” for me so that I could get it. Thank you Brad, my Kung Fu guy!