In between the hospitalizations, the doctor’s appointments, and recuperating, I have managed to have a great deal of fun. Aside from a handful of days, I have felt quite good and more than able to explore and take advantage of being in South Africa.
For those of you not familiar with this part of the world, it appears to be very much like the States. In Pretoria, the lawns are manicured, the roads are paved, the water is drinkable, and electricity is for the most part a constant. There are shopping malls with high-end retailers, cinemas that show new releases (not the bootlegged versions), and yes, even McDonald’s. The primary difference is that everything (and I mean everything) is garnished with loops of barbed constantino wire--crime is such a huge problem here.
So…you may wonder what I’ve been doing for the last 29 days and counting. Here’s a quick summary:
1) Shopped Brooklyn, Hatfield, and Menlyn malls
For those of you not familiar with this part of the world, it appears to be very much like the States. In Pretoria, the lawns are manicured, the roads are paved, the water is drinkable, and electricity is for the most part a constant. There are shopping malls with high-end retailers, cinemas that show new releases (not the bootlegged versions), and yes, even McDonald’s. The primary difference is that everything (and I mean everything) is garnished with loops of barbed constantino wire--crime is such a huge problem here.
So…you may wonder what I’ve been doing for the last 29 days and counting. Here’s a quick summary:
1) Shopped Brooklyn, Hatfield, and Menlyn malls
2) Enrolled in the ‘frequent flier” program at the cinema and have seen the following 11 flicks
a. Juno
b. Step It Up 2-the Streets
c. The Nanny Diaries
d. Rambo (the new one)
e. Street Kings
f. Dan in Real Life
g. Made of Honour
h. Nim’s Island
i. Mad Money
j. I Could Never Be Your Woman
k. The Other Boleyn Girl
3) Eaten as much white meat chicken as I can consume (it’s such a beautiful thing to see packages of already butchered, plucked, hormone-injected chicken. I’m in heaven!)
4) Roamed the weekly arts/craft fair at Hatfield Plaza
5) Played putt-putt golf on a course where the greens were so long we had to send out reconnaissance to find the hole
6) Spent an afternoon curled up with a stack of books/magazines and a yummy coffee at Exclusive Books (as close to Barnes and Nobles as I’ve been in 7 months)
7) Participated in a scrapbooking class
8) Uploaded hundreds of pictures to snapfish from the comfort of my own room on FREE, WIRELESS, HIGH SPEED INTERNET!
9) Had my hair highlighted…purely frivolous, but what the heck
10) Listened to bagpipers at an Irish Pub
11) Sipped on a carmelatte from Gloria Jean’s
12) Went on Safari—stay tuned for more about that!
13) Managed to have my credit card stolen…which has drastically curbed my shopping!
WHEW! I figure it will be a long time before I have the opportunity to enjoy many of these luxuries again so I’m packing as much in as possible. For the sake of my bank account, however, this little excursion needs to come to an end…soon!
Putt-putting with Angie and Jeremy.
One of the many scrumptious meals I’ve consumed. Look at that beautiful white meat chicken!!!
yes, I most certainly had a Big Mac.
