It's a Christmas Miracle!!

OK. So I haven't written in a while. Thank you, to those of you who care, and check on me. -And thank you, to those of you who care enough to nag me about it. I promised Chip that I would start writing blog entries again today, and so I will. Lots of things have happened since July, when last I wrote. We had visitors stay at our apartment every weekend (except four) this summer, and it was great. (I will post some of the summer highlights, as they come up.) We had a pretty great fall. Both Sebastien and I were super busy. I took a beginner's French class, signed up for singing classes (but didn't finish them), got back into spin classes, and worked with Seb and Sarah on an architecture competition (it is ongoing), designing an internet and computer education center in Kenya ( http://www.openarchitecturenetwork.org/challenge ).

About a month ago, I started working on a new project at work that is also a competition. This one is designing a hospital in Victoria, BC. We were shortlisted, which means there are only two other teams working on it too. It is pretty interesting, because the project deals with what is called a "P3," a "Public Private Partnership." This sort of situation has become very popular in Canada for the construction of hospitals. What it means is that a development team, and their financiers work with the architects and the hospital groups (doctors, nurses, maintenance, etc.) to design a building that the government leases from the investors for 30 years. If it sounds confusing, it is. Basically, the government can't afford to do so many big projects, so private owners build the buildings, and run the businesses for a given amount of time. After that time has passed, the government takes over the lease, and once again owns the hospitals. I can't tell you about our specific competition entry, because it is a competitive market, and I have been sworn to secrecy. After working as much as I have, however, on this project (about 60 hours per week), I was ready for a vacation.



SO, for the past 6 years or more (give or take a year), I housesat every Christmas, for Todd and Tamara, my wonderful friends who lived in Portland. Many things happened in that house. I had some really wonderful times at their house (Sarah Schreiber's wedding, watching Pride and Prejudice with T&T, snuggling with Tiger and Roberta, leaving for various trips from their house, and my first Christmas with Sebastien, to name a few), as well as some difficult times (breaking my wrist, for one, and Tiger getting very mad at me and deciding to poo in the center of the dining room table, for another). For years, on Christmas Day, I have talked to Todd and Tamara on the phone, at their house in Portland, and every year they say, "You should definitely come to the ranch in Colorado sometime for Christmas!" Well, this past year, around the same time that we moved to South Africa, they moved to Colorado. That made it a lot harder to see them on a regular basis, and so I said, "we would love to!" Sebastien and I took a direct flight from Vancouver to Denver a few days ago, and met Jonas at the airport (he flew Eugene-Portland-Denver), and there, at the Denver airport, were Todd and Tamara waiting to pick us up. It was that easy! We stayed in Boulder (at their new house) for the first night, and then drove to a tiny town called "Rye" the next next morning at 7:am, to come to the ranch. More on that tomorrow (I need to go to bed). Here are some pictures though:

Vancouver, Still!

I know; I know.... I HAVE been living in the SAME place for over two months (almost three now) - crazy. It is still great. I still really love it. I hate it when I take so long to get back on the writing horse - I was doing so well there for a while. Let's see....
We have a great "garden" now. Sebastien found two window boxes in our alley that are perfect for the window sills outside the living room and bedroom of our apartment. The day he found them, I rushed out and bought two kinds of basil, chives, dill, parsley, and some foxglove, just for "fun." We put the foxglove in with the Calla Lily that Sebastien got me for my birthday, and everything is doing really well, except the Lily (frown). I can't figure out what is wrong with it - the leaves are mostly green, but the tips are yellowing, and the flowers drooping. Oh well. I am going to try transplanting it, into a bigger pot, but beyond that, I am not sure what to do. Since then, though, our sill has gotten a little more full. I am sure by the end of the summer we will have far too many plants out there. I bought a tiny rose bush the other day, with about seven open blooms, and five or so buds yet to open. Although I seem to have a poisonous thumb, as far as plants are concerned (usually), I seem to be alright having roses. Hopefully that will continue to be the case!

RHUBARBculous!

OK. I know that I am way over due in writing, but.... it is rhubard season. I mean, you know? How can I possibly write with so many tasty treats growing outside? I am kidding of course, but Sebastien is in the kitchen right now cooking up a storm, making a strawberry rhubarb pie and now (I am the idea driver in this case) I just suggested a rhubard custard that he started on. I love it. I will definitely take a picture, but I am sure it will be great! Anyway, what I am writing about really is this website: http://www.rhubarbinfo.com/ I just found it online, and it is AMAZING how many things rhubarb it has on it. Check it out.

A Long Story, Longer (or, "How to Make Gyoza out of Nothing at All")

I just made homemade potstickers for dinner (insert pat on my own back *here*), and they were pretty good. Food is a lot more expensive than it was in South Africa (insert "duh" face *here*), but not too bad. Since we haven't started working yet, we have been eating lots of rice and beans, but..... (insert BACK STORY *here*)

Two days ago, Sebastien and I were talking about the differences in our personalities, organization-wise. I said (insert sloppy mis-quotes *here*): "I really actually like to randomly find stuff every once in a while, so I like things to be organized, but I don't necessarily want them to be TOO organized - a place for everything, and NOT necessarily EVERYthing in its place!" (or something like that).

And Seb said (because I already know that this is NOT how he works): "I think everything should have a place, and it should always be there, so that it is always there when you look for it! That way it is nice to have it where you thought it was!"

So I said: "Well, take for example, money; sometimes it is so GREAT to reach into your pocket and pull out an unknown fiver! I love it when that happens!"

And he says: "Wouldn't it have been better if you had KNOWN where that 5 bucks was, when you needed it?"

So then me: "I don't know.... Usually stuff shows up right when you need it. An old photograph when you need to smile. 5 bucks when you need coffee!"

And Seb, "Hmmmmmmn. Let's have a place for everything, and don't worry about it TOO much, but then we can try to organize every once in a while."

Hope: "Good Compromise."

SO - This IS leading somewhere. Yesterday, I opened an old wooded box that Sarah Schreiber gave me when we were younger, covered in pictures, etc. I use it to hold my old foreign coins and a broken pocket watch. I started looking through the coins, and started taking the folded bills out of the side that they were tucked in, so that I could look at the coins easier. Then I was looking at the pocket watch, and then - wait - wait - folded BILLS? And yes, I did say folded bills. In fact, I have somehow been sitting on 800 Danish Kroner (about 145 US Dollars!), 10 British Pounds (20 USD), and 23 Canadian Dollars (although when will I EVER use those?!)!!! I could not believe it! If there was EVER a time when I was thankful that I found my own money (that I never knew I was missing!), it was then. I exchanged part of it today, and of course it is already mostly gone (starting up a new apartment is expensive), but I got to go grocery shopping, and now we have a fairly stocked kitchen at least. Seb is going to make cookies tomorrow for us to take to work, and there are two meals left of gyoza. I think for a while I am going to really get to know tuna casserole, and I am going to love it. We are also going to start making our own bread to save a little money, plus it is so darned good! Next - JAM.

Vancouver, at Last!

We are finally here, and we are getting settled.
We drove up to Vancouver last Monday from Portland, and everything went smoothly at the border. No fuss. No trouble. We were a little nervous because we drove up in a UHaul, basically not sure that we would be allowed to work in Canada (I know - crazy, eh?), but everything was fine. We got to the apartment building at 5:pm on Monday, and thankfully, our landlord allowed us to unload all of our stuff a day early, because the apartment was empty; he was just finishing the floors. We moved the entire truckload of house-stuff in before 7:pm, and then, starving, met Sarah to go get dinner, and went to stay at Ted's apartment because we weren't officially in our apartment yet. Work starts on Monday for both of us, and we would like to be as organized as possible, before then, so we don't have to rush home from work to hang clothes and unpack boxes. Suffice it to say, we are THRILLED with our little apartment, and in the picture that appears to be looking out a window, yes that IS the mountain range in the distance! Yippee!
This week has been tiring for sure. You can tell from the photos of Sebastien. Poor guy has also been SICK on top of all the moving....

Exciting Things A'Happening!

(Please cue up the song, "Changes" by David Bowie)

So, yes.... it HAS been a long, long time.
Many things have happened, since last I wrote. I am no longer in South Africa (obvious, if you read the last post), and I am quickly losing my tan. That is sad. I am missing the sun of Cape Town, and I am very very much missing all our wonderful friends (refer to my last entry). I am looking forward to seeing them all in VANCOUVER, BC though!
I think I just ruined any surprises that I could have saved for later on in this entry. But, I am not there yet.

I have been up to no good, since we returned. The first week back, I immediately flew to California, to stay with Sarah Schreiber and her husband Josh, in Placerville. If Sarah had been wanting a beautiful lawn and flowers to take care of, she has succeeded. Their home makes me very jealous, with so much greenery. Kathryn Ward and her fiance Jonathan, came out on Monday to stay for the week, and then Carrie Centeno came on Thursday.


It was SO wonderful to be with such wonderful friends from my childhood again, and know that although we have all changed a ton, our friendships remain intact. I laughed more than I have in a very long time, and my stomach hurt severely sereral times while we were together! I am very much looking forward to the next time we meet up. We hiked at Lake Tahoe, went to a Nevada casino, gardened, met some of Sarah's California friends, and ate a ton (we also found a candy shop downtown, and I drooled but did not touch). All in all, it was stupendous.

A few days after my return to Oregon, Sebastien and I stole his parents' Prius to drive up to Vancouver. On the way up, we stopped to see his sister, Vanessa, her husband, Dennis, and their soon-to-be-born baby, as of now named "Baby." Although it was a short visit, because we got to their house so late, we were able to celebrate Dennis's birthday with his family and have time for a nice chat. We stayed there for a night, and then got on the road the next morning, to Vancouver, to look for jobs.
Caitlin, Sarah, Joy and Ted, whom I know from grad school, all live in Vancouver. It makes me so happy that I am moving to somewhere that I can be close to this wonderful crew. We got together quite a bit during the week we were there, and I remembered how awesome these guys are, and I am so excited to see them more. I went to the petting zoo with Joy, played frisbee in the park with Seb, Ted and Sarah, and went to Caitlin's sweet little apartment for a wine and cheese party, getting re-acquainted with them all. They all have been helping us so much in this move, and I don't know how we will ever thank them.
In terms of getting stuff done, it was a challenging week, looking for employment and a place to live. Mostly we pounded the pavement, going from firm to firm, dropping off cover letters and resumes, like no one's business. We got our resumes in order, and printed (and reprinted) our portfolios. We were constantly calling firms, while keeping our eyes open for good neighborhoods. Every day (except the weekend), it rained, and when we weren't wet from head to toe as we walked into firms, it was a miracle. Probably the majority of firms just didn't want to hire the wet rats that came into their offices. I guess I can't blame them. Despite the "wet rat" thing, we found jobs. Both of us. It was becoming a sad scene for a while, and it was easy to pessimistic about finding positions with people we could respect. In the end, though, the hard work payed off. I got a couple of job offers, and Sebastien got one at a firm he really likes. We found an apartment that we really like, and we are moving in on Monday or Tuesday of next week. Check out the link at the top (click the title, NOW) to see our neighborhood. Please come visit!

3.....2.....1......BLASTOFF!!

Well, our time here in Cape Town has come to a close. We are at home right now, waiting for our housemate to pick us up to head to the airport for our departure. We are headed to Eugene (via Portland) for the next couple of weeks, and then.... drum-roll please..... we are moving to Vancouver, BC (assuming jobs and a place to sleep work out). I have compiled a list of things we will miss, and things we are psyched about, in moving.

Things we will miss:
1. Our wonderful digsmates.
2. The amazing friends that we met. Some have been through work, and most through diving, but they all are SO great.
3. Braais - an American BBQ just isn't quite the same.
4. The WEATHER. It is beautiful! And it is SUMMER here.
5. Beaches. I think this almost goes along with the weather, but also includes having the sea within a 10 minute drive.
6. Table Mountain and Lion's Head. Both stunning, and both can be viewed from our house!
7. Being able to go out, have a raucous night, and an excellent dinner, and come home, having spent only $15. I think things will change in Vancouver.
8. The accent.
9. Kalk Bay. On the False Bay side of the peninsula, Kalk Bay has not only beautiful beaches, but also has warm (ok - warmer) water. On the Atlantic Side, the water is frequently about 50'F, which - just FYI - is really really cold to swim in).
10. The mix of cultures and religions surrounding us. And most people here are SO nice!


Things we are SUPER excited about:
1. Being much much closer to family. Vanessa's (Seb's sister's) baby is on the way!! We've seen pictures, and it is such an huge event to look forward to! -And in my family, the kids are all growing up way too quickly to be further than a phone call away!
2. Friends!! Our friends here are so, so wonderful, but it just hasn't been the same without our friends back home! We have been missing you so! It will be so nice to catch up.
3. New beginnings. Even though our plan is to move to a new country (Canada), we are still excited about the prospect of moving to a place that is at least very familiar to home.
4. The mountains. I LOVE, Love, love the mountains of the Northwest!
5. Winter! Although people are going to tell me not to complain (and I am not, mind you), THREE summers in a row is going to make me look for winter even more. I look forward so much to a little snowboarding.
6. The internet. We hesitate to include this among a list of friends and natural phenomena, but seriously..... it is super expensive for us to have it at home, and even then it is through our phone, which means that it charges per data transfer, and that is not cool.
7. Better drivers. I swear to anyone who will listen that drivers here are CRAZY! Forget about Massholes..... South Africans definitely have them beat.
8. Napoleon (Sebastien's dog)!!!

Take care. We look forward to talking with you!!!!

We are on the plane NOW!

Giddyup

We have also started to take riding lessons in Haut Bay, at a stable called The Riding Center. It works well for us that we are in a developing country, because lessons are so affordable. I haven't ridden since I was a child. Growing up, my best friend had two horses (Misty and Daisy), and although she didn't really like to ride (she thought it was boring) - I made her take me out sometimes. Later I took a class through Girl Scouts at El Rancho de Paz, in Owego. It wasn't much, but it was enough of an introduction to keep me excited about horses since. Sebastien took riding lessons a couple of years ago (he is the star pupil in our class) when he was living in France. It has been wonderful. Challenging, but wonderful.
This past week, I rode Peanut, so far my favorite of the horses. I am bringing carrots on Saturday, for sure.

Remedial Diving

I started taking scuba diving lessons a couple of months ago. Sebastien was in the routine of going quite regularly for a while, and I would go with the group just to hang out on the boat, but then everyone was coming back from being underwater elated, just raving about how amazing the sea life is. They also explore shipwrecks along the coast. I think I made up my mind to take scuba lessons when we took the boat out to "Daikker Island" that is filled with, literally, THOUSANDS of seals. No joke. They were exploring under the boat, and playfully swimming near the divers, and when I saw the pictures (our friend Barry has an underwater camera), I nearly melted. They look like big wet puppies, looking for attention, and I am a sucker for that stuff.
So, I started classes, but... I am very afraid of drowning. And this isn't good. The most important thing they say every class is "stay relaxed - keep breathing," but I get tense and then I forget to breath. Which is bad.
Thankfully, the class is really well organized, so that we have time to learn practical diving information from a book before we ever get into the water. Even then, we dive our first two dives in a swimming pool (that is ideal - I have had FIVE pool dives so far), before we even go to the ocean. Well, all that is fine: I do well on all the book information, and I am certainly getting better at the pool dives (practice makes perfect I guess). About three weeks ago, I had a full week of it. I started completely over - even though I had already passed the knowledge tests, I went to those classes again. So far I have started with three different dive classes, and although many of the people I am with finish the course in a week, I have been at it for much, much longer. So, like I was saying, I completely started over, and I was feeling really good about things. I understood the information in the book, and I figured out how to calculate recommended dive times, and I was even feeling good about getting into the pool again. My instructor thought it would be a good idea to do a full day of diving. I left the house at 6:30am for our pool sessions. We did the pool dives, and even when I started to panic, I was able to control it, continue breathing, and move on. Well, we finished the pool dives (only swimming about 6 feet below the surface), and then went to the sea to do our shore dives (to about 12-15 feet below the surface). Well, I made it (all day, mind you, except lunch break - 8:am to 7:pm, no kidding), until FOUR minutes before the end of my LAST shore dive (so we were about 3-4 meters in the ocean) when I couldn't clear my ears and my mask was filling with water, and I drank some sea water, and flipped out thinking I was going to drown, and basically just went to the surface, which means I need to do it again. Luckily, the instructors keep teaching you until you are comfortable, but I was SO upset about being so flustered that I couldn't finish the dive. Next time will be better, I am positive. Now, it is a challenge. I MUST finish.

....A Little Behind....

Please don't worry because of this total lack-of-blog. We are happy and healthy and safe and sound here in Cape Town. We got back into town last week from a (wonderful) holiday with Sebastien's parents. Sebastien was sick when we got back, and I was afraid of getting sick too, and so honestly we did nothing last week but sit around the house, reading "The Mind of South Africa," by Allister Sparks - a great book. The author was has been a writer and editor since way before I was born, and now corresponds for the Washington Post and the Observer. At any rate, he was asked near the end of Apartheid to write a book that was as objective as possible, regarding the history of South Africa until 1990 (when this book was published), to "de-mythologise" history that was written before. Oh, politics. So basically, that is what I have been doing. Reading and sleeping.
I started work again this past Tuesday, and it has been difficult to be back after such a great (and long) break. I am happy though. Once it gets going again, it will be great! My office completely gutted out the space where we work over break, and has (started to) put it all back together quite nicely. It isn't quite done yet. We are all having spotty internet and phone service, and the past two days there has been a man outside my window banging on the window frames (5th floor). The first day was just annoying, because it was so loud, and because no matter how much you clear your desk of dust, there is more there 3 minutes later!! Yesterday was much quieter, and I was able to work a bit more, but.... I kept forgetting he was out there, and then I would look up, and instead of the mountain (I will have to load a picture of my office, and my view - it is ridiculous), a MAN would be looking in at me! I jumped a little the first two or three times, but then realized that MY jumping might scare him, so I was more aware the rest of the day, and although I was still a little startled, I tried to stay still.
I am sorry these are all out of order. I am going to write about our trip, but haven't gotten to it yet. Signing out. Take care. -Hope

Jobbie Job Job

I finally got one. I had a temporary position, working for Sebastien's firm. I mostly pulled together AutoCAD drawings and worked on 3D virtual models of an office. Not grand in scope, but this allowed me to (sort of) set my own work days, ideally approaching companies on my days off to find a job. The woman I worked for (Seb's boss) is great. --Not "great" in the sense that Thia is great (my first boss), because Thia isn't even to be compared, but "great" in the sense that she is fun and flexible and let me work for her office, giving me nice experience. So, long and boring story short, I applied to quite a few firms, got interest from many of them (lots of building being done here), worked two days conditionally at an office, got offers at two which I turned down, and finally got a job that I am very excited about. I am working for a firm called ARG Design, which specializes in sustainable architecture, urban planning, and landscape architecture. This is rare here in South Africa. They are, in fact, the only firm I found in Cape Town that even considers environmental design a viable option. I asked every firm I talked to how much they considered the environment in their design process, and every other firm said that clients won't pay for it (which sadly is usually true). However, and I am so happy about this, ARG is committed to educating clients about human and environmental impacts of design. It is so refreshing. In fact, my second day, I was asked to do research on new water systems that are ideal in New Urbanist communities (of course the client is now fighting for a mall, instead of mixed-use streets with a neighborhood center, but....)! At any rate: so far, so good. They are an entirely Mac-based office, so if anyone has any ArchiCAD hints, I would love to hear them (I am not doing any drafting right now, but it would just be good to know).

Biking....to the End of the WORLD

So, we have started to pack as much physical activity into each weekend as possible. A few weeks ago, we went on a bike tour, which was the perfect beginning to our activity regimen. We were picked up at our house by Louis, the tour coordinator, in a van trailed by about twenty bicycles. We were the first ones picked up, so as we drove around town, picking up about seven other tourists from all over the globe, Louis told Sebastien and I about himself, and places we should go while we are here. He was from Zimbabwe, or "Zim" as everyone here calls it, and like many others I have met, as soon as he moved here, he knew he was home. At any rate, we drove the van around the city, and then past all the popular, touristy beaches, and then kept going to Chapman's Peak Drive, which winds around the Peninsula. On one side of us is a rock wall, and on the other side is a large, imposing cliff and then the rocky coast of the Atlantic Ocean. We drove through towns we had been through before with our roommate, Ryan, like Noordhoek and Haut Bay (in Dutch, "haut" mean's wood), and then drove on to Simon's Town, South Africa's premier naval base town. We got out of the van and went through a park, down to a beach that has a penguin colony of about 3,000. It seems that 20 of these little guys just decided, in the 1980's, that they too needed a change of pace, swam hundreds of miles from islands off the South African coast. They are one of only two mainland penguin colonies in the world. The townspeople think they are pests, and the fences around the beach where they live is as much to protect them from predators, as they are to keep them out of the town. We sadly saw one in the gutter on our way to the beach, who made the sewer his home. We had heard that these penguins are fondly called "Jackass" penguins, because of the sound they make, and when we saw them, it was unbelievable that something so small and cute could produce such a noise. We met back at the van, and within a matter of minutes, Louis had stopped so we could watch a whale off the coast. It was going much faster than he expected it should, this time of year, and we had to start and stop the van a few times to catch up with it. When we finally caught up with it in the bay, it stayed to feed, so we were able to watch for quite a few minutes. Mostly what we saw was its back above the water, and spurts of water coming up from the surface, but it was amazing. They are huge, and to be this close was really wonderful.
We continued along the road until the Cape Peninsula National Park. Here is where the story gets crazy with baboons ("don't feed them"). Baboons on the road, baboons jumping on cars, baboons trying to get into windows to eat a sandwich. Don't feed them. They get angry. They are awesome, and very much like people in ways, but they are quick, and they are hungry, and they get what they want. So, shortly after seeing all the baboons along the roadway, Louis let us out of the van, gave us each a bike, warned us again not to feed the baboons, and off we went, on a narrow road, with small shrubs and protea on both sides of us, and the possibility of seeing animals. We unfortunately didn't see any, but the smells were intoxicating, and the landscape was gorgeous and vast. As I rode, I was amazed that everything smelled like honey. On thinking about this now, I think I was mostly just hungry. After lunch we re-boarded our bicycles and cycled along the same road to a path that leads to the Lighthouse of Good Hope (I made that name up, actually, but I like it). There was one pretty steep point in the road, but it did me some good, and besides - how can you argue with the ocean to look at the entire way? We hiked up to the lighthouse, which is now defunct because it wasn't bright enough, and then over to the new and improved lighthouse, seeing many black lizards on the path as we went. When we met with our tour leader again, he showed us the trail to the actual Cape of Good Hope - the one you used to read about in 6th grade geography - and it was beautiful. We walked on a path of wooden planks, and I worried about people slipping when it is rainy (we were there on a gorgeous day). The planks keep you from tromping over the landscape, and, as I am sure over a million people go there every year, and it is a crucial place, Earth-wise (fact: the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve IS classified as one of the Earth's few ecosystems), I didn't stray from the planks. It is like the moon. Boulders and sparse plants were all that was there besides the lizards. I am sure there were plenty of animals there too, but unfortunately (or probably fortunately), they were in bed under the boulders in the middle of the day.
On the trip back, we saw springboks playing in a field near the Cape, and zebras and water buffalo up the street from our house (at the nature reserve). So, all-in-all, it was a very eventful day, full of lots of animals, and thankfully, some exercise.

Our Corner

Our neighborhood isn't like anywhere I have ever lived. We live about two streets away from "Main Road," where all the businesses are. This neighborhood was historically a place for people in the textile and furniture industries, and there is a brewery (a beautiful one, from what we have seen from up the hill, on this side of the tracks) that we haven't visited yet. This was one of the first neighborhoods that started outside of the city center, and is also one of the closest on the east side. It has always been a very working-class neighborhood, which surprisingly had quite a mix of social groups. There are many Muslim convenience and food stores, Christian churches, and the only Greek Orthodox Church in the whole Western Cape. Simply because of the businesses that were established here, it was a mixed-race neighborhood before Apartheid. When the Group Areas Act was put into place, forcing people out of homes and neighborhoods into areas where they were grouped solely based on race, this neighborhood was deemed for "coloureds." An interesting thing about this neighborhood, though, was that many people just refused to leave. After a while the government kind of left it alone a little, although it did force many people out along the way. A long-time community member and priest was talking about how difficult it was at that time, because family friends would lie to one another about their placement within a race. Say you are born to Malaysian parents, and have mostly "coloured" friends because of it. Suddenly, the government tells your family that you are now "honorarily white," and that you are supposed to leave your neighborhood, no longer associating with long-time friends. Even if you want to keep the friendship up, your friends no longer will associate with you. -So many people just didn't tell anyone about their changes of status, and either moved, but continued to come to community events here, as though they hadn't, OR they evaded the government's attempts to move them. It sounds awful.
Anyway, that is a little glimpse into the history of our neighborhood. It is still a mixed place, but now there are other forces at work. It is a very architecturally nice neighborhood, and it is very close to the city, and housing prices in this neighborhood are CHEAP. So, as logic would follow, people like myself and Sebastien are buying homes here. The neighborhood (at least "Upper" Woodstock, located above Main Road) is quickly gentrifying, and this makes people mad (the fact that people are still being kicked out of the homes they live in also makes them mad). At any rate, this is one of the reasons I don't go out at night, except in the car. It isn't unsafe here after dark, necessarily, but it isn't necessarily "safe" either. Pretty much all the businesses on Main Road close after 6:pm anyway, so it isn't like we are clamoring to get down there past work-hours. What I AM itching to do though is go for a walk, after working at a desk all day, or go for a bike ride, or do SOMETHING slightly active. Almost everyone I know here (and I will say this honestly, because race is such a HUGE issue here: they are all white) goes to the gym. Our roommates go to the gym fairly religiously, before 6:am - I know - I ALWAYS wake up as they are leaving. This is one thing that absolutely drives me batty - I LOVE the outdoors, and want to wander, and sometimes even, want to wander by myself. But (alas) I can't see that happening here. Honestly it would be a dumb idea.

Dude, Pass Me that Roach.

Or rather DON'T pass it, I mean to say.... We have cockroaches. I wasn't going to say anything before, because I didn't want to jinx our house or upset anyone, but they are here. Every couple of weeks, we come home from somewhere fun (thank goodness we are always in a good mood when it happens), and out of the corner of my eye, I see a jerky scurry across the corner of the room, and when I go to look, it has grown from a small blur into a two inch long armored ball of legs and antennae. Gross. AND, I have realized that even if insects don't mate for life, these little guys certainly travel in packs, or at least in pairs. Now, it is a joke around the house that we brought them with us from the States, even though I keep protesting that I have never even seen one in the US; only in our hotel in Peru. Last night there were three. One had been sent to scope out our bedroom, and the other two were making themselves quite at home in the kitchen. Sebastien and Ryan were "in charge" of the kitchen roaches, and I was calming my stomach as I picked up the Seb-squashed bedroom roach. One of the kitchen roaches disappeared, and the other went down the drain, where we thought he was going to join Davie Jones, in his locker. Pretty much as soon as he crawled down there, Ryan took off for bed (avoidance, I think), and Seb came into the living room to do some work. So, I went into the kitchen to wash a few dishes, and as I started scrubbing a pot, two very sudsy, wet antennae started twirling around to the right of my hand. The poor guy was nearly dead (I am assuming now, since I flushed him, he really IS with Davie Jones). When I jumped and screamed what was, I am sure, a very girly screech, his buddy who was formerly in hiding came running out from underneath the dish drain (I know - it IS gross - I agree) to take a quick look, and then run under the top of the counter on top of the washer, to wait for his revenge on his friends' lives. I really believe this. We haven't seen the last of them.

Things I Have, Still, To Write About

I am a bit behind I think. I still haven't written all I want about Paris, and how wonderful it was to spend an evening with my pen pal, Julien, seated on the edge of the Trocadero, while the Eiffel Tower strutted its stuff, glittering its jewel lights for 15 minutes, on the top of every hour. Julien, Sebastien and I sat on the very edge of the battalion, daring the wind to knock one of us off (ok, so we weren't THAT close to the edge) as we drank wine from plastic cups and compared American and French politics. I haven't written about that. I will.
I also still haven't written about how wonderful it was to be in Berlin, with Sebastien's best friend in the world, Nick. To see them together is wonderful. They really love one another. I love watching them together, riffing off one another, singing "Remain in Light" by the Talking Heads and getting totally, completely, and almost annoyingly silly in the kitchen as they make dinner. Being with Nick made me feel on one hand warm, and like home, because he is such a great friend to Sebastien, but on the other hand it made me miss my own friends that much more. We walked around his neighborhood, and - you know how every once in a great while you walk into a store, or past a house, or go to a city, and everything there just seems as though it has always belonged to you and that simultaneously you also subconsciously designed it? well - and I risk sounding quite materialistic now - I found that *something* in Berlin. The city felt wonderful. The people were friendly, but not TOO friendly either. And, well, here it REALLY is: as we walked around Nick's neighborhood, we went into a courtyard to explore, and firstly, there was a lovely cafe that smelled delicious, and I think a record store, and then I saw there was a woolen hat shop. Now, you could blame it on the rain and the cold of Berlin in October, but something happened when I entered that shop. I am honestly glad that Sebastien and Nick stayed outside, or else the same thing might have happened to them. As I stepped across the threshold of the store, my hand uncontrollably shot out from my side, grabbed a hat, and placed it perfectly upon my head. I really had no choice in the matter. This hat was the most amazing and beautiful thing I have seen in a very very long time. It was at the same time very elegant, and quite full of personality. It had the lines and style of a 1920's ladies hat, perfectly covering most of my (then) recently chopped hair, leaving only the sides by the ears to peek out from underneath. As soon as I put it on, I felt quite like someone who could stop buggy traffic in town with a nod, and Seb and Nick both got very quiet, and confirmed this thought. When I took the hat off, and looked at its price tag, I realized that a hand-felted beaver-fleece hat was, of course, much much more expensive than I could ever afford, and that this spell had to be broken quickly, or I risked myself (and my bank account) being broken. I almost threw the hat back onto the rack (it was all I could have done to not just walk out of the store with it on), and when the saleswoman told me that I should own that hat, and that it should belong to me, because it was so perfect, she didn't think I would notice the evil glint in her eye, but believe me; I did see it. If the hat was a spell, then that woman was a sorcerous.

WANTED:

Three days after we got here, we were exploring the neighborhood closest to our house. We had just been talking about ideal work situations, so when we saw a sign for an architect, we rang the bell, and went in to ask for jobs (why not?). Both Sebastien and I had an interview the following Thursday, and Sebastien got a job four days per week, which I would say is a great omen in many ways. I am working in the same office, until I find something that is more full-time. The architect and her father where he got work are quite kindly recommending me to their friends, who seem to be hiring. I am crossing my fingers, but it would be wonderful to get my hands into local building design. I will be working in her office helping with an office remodel for the time-being.

Getting There

To get around there are few options. Probably the most interesting of these are the "Black Cabs," white vans that serve as unofficial taxis. This is the option we pretty much always take now. If you are walking along the main road, within 2 minutes - as long as you are out between 7:am and 6:pm - a van will drive by, whistling and yelling something like "Newlandsclaremontwynlands!!!!!" (three neighborhoods along our normal route) or "Kyleishaphillape!" (two of the townships on the outskirts of the city). They are wonderful. I love them. We saw our very first empty cab today, and it was a strange sight. Normally the vans have between 11-17 people in them, but the other day we were in one that had 20 people, including ourselves. Keep in mind that these are standard-sized vans -- no super-sizing here. If they are full of people, they speed around and get you where you want to go FAST. When they are empty though, you'd better watch your watch; the entire trip you are driving right next to the sidewalk, whistling and yelling to get more customers, and stopping about once a block to harass potential riders. Like I said though, it is definitely interesting.

To Troyes and Beyond

Two days after we returned from Poitiers we headed off from Gare de l'Est on a train to visit Sebastien's grandmother in Troyes. The trip was breathtaking, going through wonderful countryside, over rivers, by the nuclear power plant.... It really was quite beautiful. Seb's grandmother is, of course, SO sweet and lovely. She is very warm and pleasant, and she told me all about her grandchildren, whose pictures are on the wall by the door. Like I said, I wish so much that I spoke French, but some things you can just understand, without knowing what is being said. We walked into town and explored, as per usual during our travels, ancient cathedrals, street cafes, and H&M. Troyes is an amazingly well preserved town. Medieval buildings stock the streets, in government-subsided renovations of historical houses. Although I heard rumors that Troyes is a dying town, I had to question them, because the streets were so alive with young and old. There are about 700 cathedrals (and I am hardly exaggerating), and construction going on everywhere you look. We walked up and down the streets, used the bathroom in the museum basement (don't tell the museum guard - I think he is still looking for us), and finally met Sebastien's "evil twin" cousin, Olivier in the afternoon (he's not really evil - or his twin for that matter, but he IS his cousin). It turns out that three of Olivier's best friends just, this past year, opened up their own bars. We picked one, Dixi, where they would surely all be hanging out, and went for drinks. It was a great night of hanging out, trying on the few French phrases I know, and being the only gal in an (almost) all guy crowd. I made the mistake of asking the bartender where the name "Dixi" was from, and apparently it is from a gambling dice game (no allusion to the deep South), where shots of alcohol are associated with each different roll outcome. Hmmm...... So what if you roll a 7? You can drink an "Eight Bastards," with tobasco, pastice, and rum (on fire, of course). I know; I drank one. Everyone thought that was SO amusing that the bartender started pouring away - that's a good one: get the Americans drunk. I am sure it was fairly amusing, because we had been drinking beers previously. Now I will admit to these being moments of bad decision-making. I considered this a little late though, when we were on our way back to meet Sebastien's dear, sweet grandma for dinner.

Ah, the Splendor

The topography of this city is some of the most amazing I've ever seen. Cape Town is obviously named because it is the southern-most "cape" of Africa, at the top of the Cape Peninsula. The Peninsula is defined by Table Mountain, an amazing blast of rock, visible from nearly every part of the Peninsula, with a beautiful, simple silhouette. The mountain is visible from our living room, but amazingly huge from either street perpendicular to ours. Tonight we saw what people call the "Table Mountain Table Cloth," where fog covers the mountain but barely creeps over the edges. Tomorrow we are going to the top.

Safely Sound

Sebastien and I officially arrived at our destination of Cape Town, South Africa yesterday afternoon(alright, alright - I am a little slow in posting). Our new housemate, Ryan, came to the airport to pick us up and drove us around the entire peninsula, showing us some pretty amazing vistas (photos to follow). He showed us the "lang kir" (very cool) places to hang out along the coast, and showed us where we can get fresh seafood while sitting on a rock, with waves lapping onto our feet. That does sound lang kir to me. We came home, unpacked a bit, showered, and headed out again to have beers aboard a yacht and then sushi with quite an interesting crew. It was Ryan's father's birthday, and his friends held an impromptu party on this beautiful little (hah!) yacht, with everything covered in bubble wrap, cardboard and tape. The next morning the crew of three men sailed off for Florida to sell the boat. A pretty crazy first day. We both slept soundly, let me tell you.