Oooh you're changing your heart, Oooh you know who you are

First things first, my heart goes out to my friend Emily who's friend was murdered back in Toledo. I've been thinking about it all day and I feel so, so grateful for the life I'm living right now. I guess we never really know what's coming next for us, so I'm just trying to appreciate what I have.

Anyway, on to less heartbreaking subjects. The last few days have been pretty busy. A recap by day:

Sunday
We went to Rosebank Market with HandJ and their friend Carlos. This market was HUGE and definitely bustling. I bought a pretty baller pair of shoes for Ava that were made in Kenya. I don't want to say too much about them because I want my family to be surprised when they see them. Honestly, I'm so excited about these shoes that I feel like they made the entire trip worth it. Ava's going to be the most fashionable kid in the entire state of Virginia.

Carlos told us that it is ok to haggle with the Africans and that they expect it. It is not kosher, however, to haggle with the Afrikaaners. They find it offensive.

After the market, we had lunch in one of the neighboring cities, Mellville. Carlos also told us about how most of the time in Pretoria the person taking your order will be white while the rest of the staff is not. I keep forgetting that Apartheid was so recent. You can definitely see the effects it's had on the city and the way folks socialize. Jill and I are supposed to go the Apartheid museum in Joburg next week. I'm interested to read more about it.

After lunch, we headed over to the Ambassador's house for some sand volleyball with some of HandJ's friends. I don't play volleyball anymore because I bruise like an oldster. We brought Kent, though, and there were some other dogs, including Johnny's dog Barney. Barney is probably my soulmate. He's a dachsund/lab mix and basically has the body of a dachsund and the head of a lab. He's also out of his mind. I completely love him and would like to take him home with me.

I suppose I should say more about the Ambassador's house. To get in, you have to show your American passport. The actual house is off limits but the grounds are open to the public. And what grounds they are. It was very lovely and very well maintained. It seems like a great place to chill with a couple friends.

Monday

Monday was a relaxed day for Jill and me. We hung out at the house in the morning and just read. I'm reading Shogun, which is pretty excellent. I need to finish it before we leave SA, though, because it weights about 400 pounds and takes up most of the space in my backpack. Anyway, HandJ came and picked us up for lunch. We ate at this great little French restaurant a few blocks from their house. I had a panini and it was excellent. James and Hannah had to go back to work but Jill and I stayed around the restaurant and had a look at the other shops. There was a pretty fantastic garden store that supplied all kinds of plants and animals. They sell chickens, guinea pigs (which apparently people eat here), all kinds of birds, a boatload of coy and miscellaneous fish. After that, we went to the grocery store and stocked up on fruit and whatnot. Unfortunately, Jill is having tooth problems (she's actually at the dentist right now and I'm just hanging with Kent by myself) so we stopped into an apothecary to see if they would have something to numb her tooth. They did not. They did carry sex coffee, though. The box claims the coffee is an aphrodesiac but I have my doubts. All coffee has ever done for me is make me have to go to the bathroom at really inconvenient times. Maybe I'm not drinking it right, though.

When HandJ got home from work, we went to the mall. It basically looked like any other mall but had a great outdoor area filled with restaurants. I've noticed a lot of the women are tall here - close to my height - and that they wear medium sized heels. It's hard to find an attractive/funky pair of low heels back home so I might try and buy a pair while we're here.

We stopped in and grabbed a drink at this posh little cafe. I felt very hipster. When we got back to the house, the four of us puttered around the house. Hannah and I watched green porno (a series Isabella Rosselini does which is really funny and interesting. I recommend watching a few of them if you haven't seen them before) and stalking people on facebook. You can take the girl out of Ohio, but you can't take the Ohio out of the girl, it would seem.

Tuesday

Tuesday was a big day for us. Jill and I got up with HandJ and they dropped us off at the Nature Reserve. They dropped us at the gate but apparently we were supposed to have a car to drive from the gate to the actual park entrance. The guard ended up throwing us in a car with someone else (essentially, we hitch hiked but my parents read this blog and I don't want them thinking I'm doing all kinds of crazy stuff in Africa). I'm actually thankful we got in the car with this guy, though, because we didn't have a map and he told us what trails we should do to see the ZEBRAS and GIRAFFES. I basically did a double take when he said that. So, basically, this park was gangster. We were just tra la la'ing along when we spotted some zebras across the way. I mean, we knew there were animals all around because we were dodging piles of poop left and right, but there's something very surreal about seeing zebras in their natural habitat. That's not something you can do stateside.

As most of you probably know, I am a gigantic wussbag about everything, so when we saw an ostrich not too far away my thought was, "EFF that ostrich is going to come and poke my face off. Run away from him!" But, he didn't. He actually kind of trailed us for a while. I think he was super lazy because he was staying on the trails for people most of the time. He did this silly little walk where he would stick his wings out (for balance, I think) and sort of tiptoe through the trail. It was rocky so his prehistoric, crazyass feet must have been sore or something. Ostriches are insane. Sadly, we saw no giraffes.

The park itself was pretty interesting. The terrain changed quite a bit as we circled through. The vegetation was pretty different throughout the whole area. I think we clocked somewhere between 7-8 miles. It was a solid hike, too. Some of it was really flat and easy and the some of it was steep and rocky. The altitude change here has been pretty hard for me so I was thankful for the varying degrees of difficulty.

Hannah and Johnny came and picked us up around 1:00, so we were out in the park for about 4 hours. They dropped us off at the zoo. The zoo was crazy nice. I have never been to a zoo like this before. Not only was it huge (we probably walked another 2 miles or so) but all of the animals were really active. The enclosures were all huge and you could get really close to the animals (without feeling unsafe, this place was maintained really, really well).

We actually got to see the lions feed, which was really cool. The workers just chucked huge slabs of meat over the edge of the enclosure (which was really big) and the lions went crazy. There was one male and 3 females. They were roaring and running around which was also really cool to see. All in all, I was more interested in the females. They seemed really fit compared to the male. They were also kind of affectionate with each other. Female solidarity, I guess.

There was also a gorgeous tiger. His coat was really orange and his eyes were a very piercing yellow. All I could think when I looked at him was that there was nothing domesticated about him. He would tear you apart without any problem. I guess it's rare to be so close to something so wild. Granted, he was in an enclosure, but you could feel how powerful he is. Jill and I were really captivated by him.

We spent about 4 hours in the zoo. There was so much to see! Haha, we also spent a lot of time watching the flamingos. Those things are IDIOTS and they look it.

One last thing about the zoo. When it was close to closing time, the employees all changed clothes and started playing soccer. What a fun job that must be! You get to hang out in this gorgeous space and then play soccer at the end of the day. Sign me up, yo.

When HandJ picked us up, we drove through a less white washed part of town. Again, you could really see the effects of Apartheid. Not only were the houses less maintained but there were significantly more pedestrians. We have driven almost everywhere because it isn't safe to walk so it was kind of shocking to see so many people walking around. We also saw people lighting fires just off the side walk. I dunno. Anytime I see poverty like that, I remember why I'm consistently drawn to the nonprofit sector. There's so much work to be done and I honestly feel the need to help in some way.

There's no rest for the wicked, though. We came back to the house, ate a little and then got cleaned up so we could head out to karaoke at a bar called Springbok. I'm not exactly a wallflower, but I was a little nervous to sing karaoke in a foreign country. As it turns out, karaoke is the same everywhere you go. Some people had really great voices and took it really seriously and others (the ones I related to the most) couldn't sing their way out of a paper bag but were clearly having a good time. What's funny, though, is a lot of the Afrikaaners sang Afrikaan ballads. Not my style musically, but it was cool to see the words on the screen and get a better handle on the phonetics.

A huge group of youngish girls came through. They were all wearing matching outfits so I thought they were part of a sports team. It turns out that they were freshmen in college and classes had just started. Apparently dorms give you a uniform, hence the outfits. They were a hoot and a half. I generally appreciate huge groups of girls because I think they up the ante for ridiculousness. They did not disappoint. In fact, I committed one of my own personal party fouls. I got up on the benches and danced. Normally, I find that incredibly obnoxious and I really hate that kind of behavior. In my defense, though, most of the bar was doing it - including our friends. Carlos pretty much ran the catwalk on our bench which means he will forever be dear to my heart. Actually, their friend Alex did the funniest dance on our table so I have mad respect for him, too. Stefan, the Danish guy from LeeAnn's party, made an appearance, too. He described a traditional Danish Christmas meal for us. Sounds pretty awesome, actually, though I can't really remember all the details. Something about ham and some special drink. Also, our waiter from our first South African meal was at the falafel place we stopped. Naturally, I was a huge creep and went up and said hello. He remembered what we ordered, though, so I felt better about my decision to say hi.

Wednesday

Today was another relaxed day. I woke up early and started watching Finding Nemo. It was immediately apparent that I was going to need a nap, though, because I started crying when Coral and all the fish eggs get eaten by that eel. Disney movies are so sad. I mean, the premise of that movie is a father has everything taken from him except his son. And then his freaking son is taken, too. COME ON! That is horrifying. I suppose the upside would be the power of love and the resiliency of the fish spirit but that s is saaaad.

Jill and I walked to a restaurant on the corner called Boston. I ordered a butternut squash soup. It was easily the best butternut soup I have ever had. I think it's the number one contender for best dish I've eaten on this trip.

I'm realizing how little time I take to relax in my daily life. Obviously, I'm on vacation so it's much easier to forget my cares here. But, when I get back home, I plan on working on relaxation. I definitely don't take the time to clear my head and I think that's why it was so easy for me to leave DC. I was constantly on the move and carrying around a lot of tension. I'm also realizing the importance of keeping a journal, which I've picked back up here. For most of my life, I've kept some sort of diary. I stopped doing that after I graduated and I regret that. I think there's something very important about logging your thoughts. For one thing, it's cathartic. The main thing, though, is that it gives me a sense of validation. I value my thoughts and my daily life enough to commit them to paper. Sure, my journal is probably boring as hell to the rest of the world, but for me it's a way of acknowledging to myself that my life is meaningful and of worth. So, there you have it. I'm a narcissist to the core and proud of it.

Anyway, tomorrow we head to Capetown for 5 days. I'm pretty excited. A number of HandJ's friends will be there - Johnny, Lauren and Carlos - so it's basically guaranteed to be a good time.

PS
If you're curious about the title of the post, I'm listening to Feist and can't get 1234 out of my head. Also, I do not know how to use the word "who" properly. Somebody please correct my use of who's up above.