Games

Game Night - When I was packing up my stuff in Seattle for my move, I insisted that I got to bring most my games with me, even though Tracy rolled her eyes. I thought that it would be great way to invite people over and play board games and hang out. So when I invited some co-workers out, they were quite impressed that I had actually packed it in the suitcase. We started to play Jenga which was a wonderful game and played like 4 rounds, and then moved to Uno. Nadja and Rosemary were great company and said I had a nice place even though it feels kind of empty…maybe I need more pics. We all had a blast with great conversations and laughter-I definitely think it has to be a once a month thing.

Saturday I had a full agenda of wanting to get coffee, car shop, and then go to a rugby tournament. On the way to the bus stop, I thought I would get my ticker to the tournament and be on my way. Once I got the ticket, I kind of got sucked into the field, and basically spent the next 7 hours tanning, watching, admiring and eating. It is a wonderful game of violence and strategy and it for sure doesn’t hurt the eyes with all the HOT shirtless men…I had a blast on the stands! I did have a Mayism moment though when I went to grab lunch. It was quite hot on Saturday and while I was standing at the bus stop I was talking to a guy about the weather. After several minutes, his friend comes up and is sweating a storm. I look at him and continue my conversation by saying “see he is hot…I mean he is hot, but he is sweating, which shows how hot the weather is.” I was probably already pink from being hot…but my face was probably a whole new shade of pink…so funny!!

Sunday, I ended up staying at the mall a little too long after church and learned a valuable lesson. I got to the mini bus station at 8pm and it was basically a ghost town. I asked a couple people that were waiting how long they had been there and they said 30 minutes. I went to the gate keeper and he said the next one wouldn’t be for 75 minutes…which would mean that it would after 9pm before I even got downtown and still would have to catch another bus to get home. Knowing that the main station is pretty dodgy I had to find another solution. I am not kin on taking regular taxis as they are expensive (relatively, as I typically think about how much sushi or chocolate I can get) but knowing the risk I would be putting myself in wouldn’t be worth it. So I forked over R100 and got a taxi at a hotel. The attendant at the hotel, named Damian was extremely sweet and bargained with the cab driver so keep it at R100 and take me completely home and not just downtown. The cab driver was named Eshad and was from Congo. A lot of taxi drivers and car watchers are from that area. We had a fantastic talk about “Living” and defining when you should say I am living in a city and call it home. He said, “if you are in a place for more than 2 days, then it is home. You need to make it home, take it as your own, it is home, so you are in Cape Town, so this is your home.” He was a sweet man, and I am grateful that I got home safely. Lesson learned…May it might be time to get a car!

*Things I could use prayer for- I really do want to get a car and need to decide if I should want until my co-workers have time to take me or to just go to a car lot by myself. I have been waiting for a month, but our schedules keep interfering and we have had to cancel multiple times. I would like to travel a little further than what the buses and my feet can take me. Also, I seem to be having trouble getting my police clearance from the US. They refuse to email it to me, and have sent it to my US address which it never got forwarded and now they have sent it to Cape Town…and who knows how long that can take. I have until the end of March to get it and if I don’t, I might get shipped back to the US…

Pigalle

Saturday night I was invited to an Amazon post holiday party. Our building has two different divisions and this division that was hosting the party isn’t the one I work in, but have had the opportunity to help with over the past year both in Seattle and in Cape Town, so they invited me. They told me that I could invite someone and without hesitation it was Emily Woo of course! We got all dressed up, and we looked hot! When we got to the restaurant, the front doors were closed. For an instance I was thinking “Oh crap! I have the wrong place,” but then some waiters from the balcony was yelling at us and told us to walk around the corner. It was a nice chuckle. When we got inside, it was beautiful. The place was very elegant and then there were these pics of Elvis Presley holding a gun…it seem out of place for me, but randomly fun. I enjoyed having Emily meet some of my co-workers and we devoured our shrimp cocktail, Steak and salmon, and our chocolate fondant with unlimited wine. Emily and I headed onto the dance floor at the end of the night, and danced to some of the songs. When Shakira’s song “This Time For Africa” came on, we just looked at each other like “YES,” and then danced some more. Here is the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFdZ10rtv2Q&feature=related
Pigalle, thank you for the wonderful evening!

Simple Things in Life are Sometimes Always the Best

This was the title of the sermon last week that Pastor Lucinda Dooley spoke on at Hillsong church. The message wasn’t that profound but I have found that it has resonated in my week. Over the last couple of months as I have ridden the MyCiti bus, it always drives by an area in which I can see a sign that says Seattle Coffee Company. I tried visiting the place a couple weeks ago on a Saturday and it was closed. On Wednesday I got up early enough t drop my laundry off (as most places don’t have washer and dryers, you have to take it in to a laundry mate and they do it for you…kind of a perk and kind of not) and still make it downtown for coffee. I walked into the place and the smell…the smell of coffee was refreshing. When they handed me my grande vanilla latte and I took a sip, it felt like home! You know when it is snowing outside and a cup of tea or hot cocoa soothes the soul…it was like that! Absolutely amazing! Although my day at work was the same as any other days…this day, on this Wednesday, nothing could have dampened my day all thanks to a cup of coffee…it’s is the simple things. This week I had to have all my performance reviews done for work and it was stressful to get them all done but was also a good time on reflecting this past year and all that that happened at work. It was an exhausting and emotional week for a variety of reasons and on Friday I came home to an orange envelope in my mailbox. When I grabbed it and looked who it was from on the top left, my emotions kicked in and there I was standing in the foyer at 9pm at night crying….a simple letter without even opening it yet, but reminds me that I am loved, not forgotten, what I have left behind, and yet knowing that this year is going to be better than the last, and God has so much in store for me. This letter was sent over 2 weeks ago and God delivered it sooner, as most letters I have gotten has taken a month! Work was extremely challenging this week and there have been thoughts of “What am I doing here!” PJ will probably have no clue, but that letter breathed life back into me, in that moment, it was just a reminder that God sure does have me in the palm of His hand. Ek is lief vir jou, vriend! On Saturday, I went grocery shopping and it was the first time since I have been here that I picked up flowers for my place. I have been staring at these flowers the last few days and what a difference it makes in my flat and in me…I love looking at them, smelling them, it has brought joy to me this weekend…It really is the simple things in life that are sometimes the best!
Since this week seemed to be a reflection on week, I thought I would finally get to thinking about what lies ahead this year. Last year I created a prayer wall at my Seattle home, and when I left, I took a picture of it and was amazed to see all the things that God said and answered for me and the people I felt called to pray for. I bought the materials at the beginning of the year, but just finally got around to doing it today. It was a good time of prayer in seeing things that I get to intercede for and the promises that He has in store…It is going to a great year!

More Pictures

More pictures can be found on FB. Hope you enjoy!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150371274234183.374953.719764182&type=1&l=76349c77e7

Past Weekend

This weekend was full. I woke up Friday and just missed Seattle. I can’t explain it, but there are days that I just wake up and miss people and this was one of them. When I got to work, Andrew my co-worker who I share an office with just looked at me and said you are off today…aren’t you. I just nodded and he said yeah, I can tell. Not sure if that meant you look like CRAP…or what…but yes I was having an off day. I opened my emails to get a response from my old boss in Seattle who told me the gender of her baby, which is so exciting! We then had an hour meeting/training and listened to a video that corporate had created and I recognized the voice as Michael who I worked with at orientations quite a bit over the last 2 years…didn’t help my homesickness at all. What topped it off was in the middle, they posted a picture of my friend Ebony as she works on this project/training that we are going through. Ebony was in my small group this past year and have gotten to know her and love her more and more. When her picture came up, my eyes got all teary and I was ready to cry. Lord, next time I wake up with this feeling, could you warn me that I am going to have reminders about how much I miss people, because it was kind of cruel..not that it was the Lords fault, but I do love and miss my people in Seattle and that was an intense morning. I have been trying to connect with this small group in my area and they told me that they were meeting at a beach on Friday night. I wanted to go, but couldn’t figure out a way to get off work in time and make it to the beach as I would have to take several mini buses or pay for a metered cab, which I am too cheap to pay for. I decided I wasn’t going to go but then Andrew told me right before I left that he would take me. He has been such a blessing to shuttle me around and take me home when it is pouring rain. He dropped me off at the beach where they said they were going to meet. I was not prepared for the beach as I was in long jeans and a long shirt…because I didn’t think I was going. I got to the bottom of Clifton Beach #4 and tried calling the group, but no one picked up the phone. I sat there and took some pictures as it is absolutely gorgeous. Walked the sand a bit, as this was my first time at the beach beach in Cape Town. I have driven around, walked the rocky Atlantic, but not walked on the beach. The group called back and told me that they had moved the event to a pizza place at Camps Bay. I was like okay….I will figure out how to get there. I hung up the phone, walked up the stairs and started walking. I was thinking I would catch a mini taxi, but none of them drove by, so I kept walking and taking this opportunity to soak up the African sun, take pictures of the beautiful scenery and laugh at how this went down. When I first tried to meet a group of people in Seattle, there were some minor communication issues, and here I am in Cape Town with the same thing. The walk wasn’t far at all, maybe 30 minutes but I made it to the pizza place and had to play who and where is this small group. I got up to the place and looked around and couldn’t figure out who this group might be. I called but no one picked up. The waitress asked I needed help and I told her that I was waiting on a call. The group didn’t call in 5 minutes so I walked around the restaurant trying to guess but I couldn’t. The waitress came back and I told her I was meeting people. She asked what they looked like and I said that was part of the problem. I don’t know what they look like; it is like a blind date. She goes ohh...nice, another awkward moment and eye rolling session of Jesus could you please make meeting people easier. So, I took all my extravertedness that I had left in me and walked around the tables asking, “anyone in this group named ***, ****, etc” until one of the tables said I am this name. Hahahaha. Now I can laugh about it, but at the time, I was hot, sweaty, probably really pink and unattractive, and embarrassed. Thankfully and sadly, no hot men at this event. I met this wonderful woman named Lauren that I do look forward to getting to know. She was kind enough to take me home at the end of the night and we had a really good, honest conversation. It was a sweet ending to an emotional Friday.





Saturday I went to the bank to try to get a loan. I have been wanting to get a car, but don’t have all the cash with me. It would be easier to bargain if I had cash, so I was thinking of different ways I could get the money. I didn’t think I could get a loan as prior events with South African Bank gave me little hope and also people at work were saying the same thing. I went in and decided it wouldn’t hurt to try, and within 30 minutes I had gotten approved for a loan and the money transferred into my account! I couldn’t believe it; God’s favor for sure was on this as I forgot my proof of address but got the same lady who helped me set up my bank account. I then had a wonderful breakfast at the grocery store I loved when I lived in the hotel and then took the mini taxi to meet up with Emily at the Biscuit Mill. Emily is from Seattle and was in my small group off and on last year. She is staying in Cape Town for 4 months working, before traveling around to Ukraine and Europe. It was amazing to see a familiar face and to hear the stories she has from being here the last 3 days. We had a wonderful day of catching up, seeing Cape Town, and sharing experiences and memories. We met this man on the street named Musa (Moses) who sold me this craft item that he made. I love meeting people on the streets, hearing their stories, and laughing with them. I took Emily on a mini bus experience and her grin from ear to ear tells it all. We got on this mini bus that had a British flag painted on the front and the driver was low ball driving and had the music blaring. Emily was like, I love this song, and he would turn it up more. The people next to me were laughing as they were as entertained as I was watching Emily on her first experience on something I dearly love. We walked the Waterfront, chatted, and headed to her flat before dinner at Mama Africa. Her place has a beautiful view of the city and is close to my work. Sushi buddy…I think so! We sat at Mama Africa for 3 hours, talking to people, eating, and learning musical instruments. When the band came, they grabbed Emily to go play the bongos and she loved it. I then got pulled into it…and I got no rhythm, but if I watched the guy, I could follow him…that was the key for me. We also learned how to play the kashaka which is this instrument with a string and a ball on each end. You hold the string between your first and middle finger and have one ball in your palm. You then swing the other ball round your thumb to hit the ball in your palm and then swing it the other way around your pinky and catch it. It was difficult, but the guys enjoyed watching us. I love South African people, they are amazing! It was an amazing Saturday with Emily and I look forward to seeing her over the next several months and hearing all that she gets to see and experience.

Mexican dinner

Earlier this week, I got to go out for Mexican dinner with my co-workers. This was the first time I had Mexican here and it was delicious. We went to the Observatory which is where the University is at. It is full of college kids and is a little on the dodgy side. We parked in a parking lot, which was the first parking lot I have seen in Cape Town besides at the mall. Random observation. The Chicken Flautas was wonderful, and the 2 glasses of strawberry margaritas were so yummy. Strong, but it was good. When I got to work the next day, the co-workers were making fun of me, as I was slightly tipsy. I normally wouldn’t share this…but I know that someone reading this may need a laugh…so here it goes. They told me that on the way out, I saw that one of my co-workers hadn’t finished her glass, so I took and drank it. I then told her that she couldn’t ever do that again otherwise I would have to call the margarita police! Hahaha. When they told me this…I totally remember saying that, and we busted up laughing in the office. Laughing is good for the soul, and I enjoyed my margaritas and then some!

Random Taxi rides

I have taken the crazy taxis many more times since my first time and each time I always walk out with a story. I enjoy these rides so much. Maybe part of it is the adrenaline and the high of knowing you could die each time you get on one…but when your trust is in the Lord and belief that He will give you discernment and wisdom on when to skip certain drivers, it allows you to just enjoy the experiences that are in front of you. There was one ride in which I jumped in at the last minute as I was rushing to get errands done and had to run to the mall. I jump in and no more than ½ mile, we get pulled over by the cops. I looked in the bus and it was packed at capacity, but I didn’t realize or see that there were several children on their mother’s laps and therefore we were over. I can’t decide if it was more funny to be pulled over or watching the driver hand over the forms without a care in the world. They make so much money in a day that a ticket and the likelihood of being pulled over again are slim to none. Another trip included where there was no rearview mirror. I debated on jumping ship, but decided not to. We get to the freeway exit ramp to my destination and guess what happens, the driver just pulls over, pulls over on the exit ramp where there are cars speeding through and tells all of us to get out. I couldn’t help but laugh. There was another bus that pulled up a minute later and picked us up. I guess the drivers work as a team and do favors for each other. I think the driver that ditched us had to drive somewhere else for the one that finally picked us up. I commented to the lovely lady next to me…at least this one has a rearview mirror and she laughed. On a different bus, there was this little boy who was about 4 years old, and he was walking around the bus, saying “give me your coins” as if he was the man who normally collects the money. It was absolutely adorable!
On another adventure, I was working the late shift at work, and had to run to the mall to pay for my couch in order for them to deliver it. I ended up having to get the couch at the same place that I had the bed drama as it was the best price for what I was looking for. The sales associate told me that she was going to try to give me free delivery but had to do some research and didn’t want me to pay until she could guarantee the item. The lady then called and said they could deliver it at the end of the week, but I had to physically go and pay. Without a car, going places does take longer. Anyways, back to the mini bus. So I get on to head to town to go to work and I was able to get in a packed bus which I didn’t care as I needed to run. Right before I get on, another driver comes over and tells the bus you must leave, you are packed, and makes the bus leave. Apparently this driver wanted my money and was going to get it…I had no choice but to go with him. The problem was, I was the first person in his bus, and they do not leave the site until it is full…so the driver talked, and talked, and talked about blessings, and Jesus, and no need for money, and……NOT getting people on his bus. So I am sitting in the back and took action into my own hands. I stuck my head out the window and was shouting, “anyone coming to Cape Town…come here, Are you going to Cape Town? Cape Town here…” I sat in the bus for 30 minutes waiting for the bus to fill, and listening to the driver. At least I was able to use my recruiting skills, or I may have sat there longer. Please know, I do love Jesus with all my heart, but I feel there is a time, place, and way to do it…and this was not one of them. He drove soooo slow all the way over and was talking about no need for money. That bus on that day was deemed the Gospel Bus…and everyone in the bus was feeling my pain.