That we reached the end of another month also means I have officially broken a couple of funny records. Amongst them: the longest time I have been away from home and the longest period of uninterrupted sunny days I was able to enjoy. That last one makes most South Africans laugh with disbelief.
But this milestone is not one that just marks good events. I think it also heralds the most difficult period in the living abroad cycle (just to give it a name). That is based on what I have heard of and seen happening to a lot of expats. The first 3-4 months everything is new and exciting. You spend a lot of time finding stuff out, sorting out paperwork and practicalities. And all that takes up a lot of time and effort. Tiring and sometimes frustrating, yes, but it gives you something to do. Now that most of those things are sorted out, you are left with even more time on your hands but still not enough things to do to fill it up naturally. That might sound a bit hard to believe, especially if you are in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, with good weather and ample outdoor activities to do, but it is true. Because no matter what you do, you end up doing it on your own with a couple of nice strangers for company at best. So once you lose your personal drive to go out and explore, there is a real danger of just sitting on your ass. Next to that there are hardly any social events like birthday parties or family visits to attend, no old friends you can give a call to go and do something. So you end up spending a lot of time on your own. Fortunately I am reasonably good at being on my own, but I like to have a busy agenda and meeting a lot of people too.
I am not announcing my first depression, if that is what you think. I was merely sharing the idea that I think the toughest part is yet to come.
Now to create some more happy vibes, some random positive news: I bought a nice big dining table, I bought a powerful laptop, I am now a PADI certified scuba diver, I do not have HIV, I got a haircut, ... And because I now have a good laptop, I am able to upload some more pictures. It takes ridiculously long though (2h45 min so far for 50 photos), so please please enjoy the pictures a lot !
Yesterday, when I went to bed I was not alone in my room. Much to my surprise a brown African bird awaited me there. Usually I don’t mind a goodlooking bird in my bedroom, but this one actually had wings and a beak. It was a pigeon that flew through the open window and decided to sleep there. As you can see on the picture it must have been there for some time. I caught the creature and then
A) broke its neck for shitting on my shoes and threw it out of the window
B) tied a rope around it’s leg and flew it like a kite
C) clipped its wings and stuffed it’s cloaca so it wouldn’t shit anymore and kept it as a pet
D) all of the above
the answer was C)
African wildlife in my own room, how cool is that?
A thought I ll keep in mind when cleaning up it's ehm legacy.
I uploaded some pictures on the area I live in, and on a wine tasting trip I did. to see the pictures, click on the link (picture) at the bottom of this page.
All the best,
W.
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