Okay the secret is out!! My next big adventure on this side of the world entails a 2 week vacation up in Egypt!!!! Ilya and I leave this Thursday (2 days from now) for 2 weeks of hectic Egyptian adventuring! It's a totally last minute plan and we are not doing much more than grabbing a copy of Lonely Planet and working the details out as we go along. We're hitting up Cairo for a few days, where we will check out Giza and the Great Pyramids, Sphinx, etc. Then we're off to Aswan and Luxor and the Valley of the Kings. We're taking a couple day cruise up the Nile and maybe some snorkelling along the way too. Should be awesome and I hope to have amazing pics to show. We're going during Ramadan, so that will make the trip interesting. Apparently it's going to be impossible to get anything to eat during the day, but every night it's a big party.
Also, this should hopefully cure me once and for all of my fear of flying since I will be facing my arch nemesis, Egyptair. It's the airline that has always terrified me and that I vowed to myself that I would never fly on because it scares me so much. But I'm doing it, so I'll pop some pills and cross my fingers and hope for the best! Wish me luck!!
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Still A Princess...
For those of you who have been hoping that somehow living in Africa would shed me of my princess ways, I'm sorry to tell you that you will be very disappointed!! Although I have taken to cooking the odd meal, driving myself around (when I absolutely HAVE to), and washing dishes by hand (GASP!), I have still managed to stay true to my princess roots while living in South Africa. I still put on full makeup and do my hair before I step a foot out of the house, I still don't eat leftovers (no one gets that here), I still won't drink from a bottle of wine that hasn't been opened that same evening, and one of my happiest days in Hout Bay was discovering a spa that is a 5 minute walk from my house! Now although I attribute growing up in Canadian suburbia for my pampered ways, part of this is to blame on the fact that Cape Town (and specifically, Hout Bay, where I live) is where many a pampered individual has chosen to dwell. It's a place where women go to the gym in jeans and makeup (sorry if any of you do that out there), it's a place where people drink fine wine at little coffee shops in the middle of the day, it's a place where everybody gets their laundry cleaned for them and where everyone has someone come clean their house for them. In short, my kinda place! And so, I may be coming back as more of a princess than ever!
In other news, we have recently been experiencing power outtages here in Hout Bay, which I honestly thought would have happened more often by now, considering there are constantly electricity warnings on the television stations. When the power went out in eastern Canada and northeastern US a few years back, I was working in downtown Toronto and I remember the entire city being absolutely paralyzed by the outtage. People were franctic and everybody was worried about how much money they were losing and how much of their food would go to waste, not to mention how they could keep on working and doing business. When the power went out here a couple of weeks ago, it was an entirely different scene - people just relaxed. People left work, went to local cafes and just sipped their lattes (or whatever food/drink could be prepared without electricity) and chilled out. I think most people were actually sad when the lights came back on and I don't think many people rushed back to work. A recent Economist article mentioned that one major factor holding the continent of Africa back economically is lack of power. At night from space, the continent is almost completely in the dark. The other night the power went out just in our house for several hours (this time we didn't forget to put credits on our electricity meter) and it was actually really nice. With no TV or internet to divert our attention, we were forced to light candles and just sit in peace, talking or writing or just thinking. Too bad the power doesn't go off more often back in North America because at least it forces people to stop the chaotic pace of daily life and enjoy the peace of good company and personal reflection.
Lastly, I have been asked many times about what driving is like here for some reason, so I thought I would take a brief moment to make some notes about that. So of course everyone drives on the left side of the road here, almost all cars are standard (except those that belong to foreigners like me who don't know how to drive standard), almost all cars are small cars and the size of lanes on the road and parking spaces reflect this. Speaking of parking, there are barely any parking lots, which means LOTS of parallel parking, as well as parking up on curbs, lawns or wherever one can fit a car (note: I suck at parking in this manner and usually have to find a helpful guy to do this for me). To help people with parking, most places have parking attendants (often random people who want to make a buck or two) who wave you into the most impossibly small spots and then watch your car for you. Many robots (stoplights) have been replaced by roundabouts. Driving on most roads is an obstacle course of dodging people on bikes (again, very small lanes so this is tough to do), crazy kombi (minibus taxi) drivers, and random pedestrians. I have no idea how much gas costs because it isn't posted at any gas station...occasionally the national rate is mentioned on the news or in the paper, but I do know that we put diesel in our car which is strange to me. Highways are similar to North America, but in better condition and often with pretty landscaping in the median. Speed limits on most roads is 60km/hr. Most highways in and around the city are 100km/h. Cameras enforce the speed limits. Most people have adopted an "I'll get there when I get there philosophy", which is refreshing. And finally, people seem to do a LOT of honking.
We have another week-long holiday from school next week and I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing, though I have a couple of really cool ideas, so I will post when I know what I'm doing and hopefully it will be something exciting and adventurous! It is "flower season" here right now and after a very wet winter, there are fields and fields of beautifully coloured flowers everywhere, so I will try to post pictures soon. And for all the flower lovers out there who pay close to $10 per callalily, you will be bitterly jealous to know that callalilies grow wildly all over the place here.
In other news, we have recently been experiencing power outtages here in Hout Bay, which I honestly thought would have happened more often by now, considering there are constantly electricity warnings on the television stations. When the power went out in eastern Canada and northeastern US a few years back, I was working in downtown Toronto and I remember the entire city being absolutely paralyzed by the outtage. People were franctic and everybody was worried about how much money they were losing and how much of their food would go to waste, not to mention how they could keep on working and doing business. When the power went out here a couple of weeks ago, it was an entirely different scene - people just relaxed. People left work, went to local cafes and just sipped their lattes (or whatever food/drink could be prepared without electricity) and chilled out. I think most people were actually sad when the lights came back on and I don't think many people rushed back to work. A recent Economist article mentioned that one major factor holding the continent of Africa back economically is lack of power. At night from space, the continent is almost completely in the dark. The other night the power went out just in our house for several hours (this time we didn't forget to put credits on our electricity meter) and it was actually really nice. With no TV or internet to divert our attention, we were forced to light candles and just sit in peace, talking or writing or just thinking. Too bad the power doesn't go off more often back in North America because at least it forces people to stop the chaotic pace of daily life and enjoy the peace of good company and personal reflection.
Lastly, I have been asked many times about what driving is like here for some reason, so I thought I would take a brief moment to make some notes about that. So of course everyone drives on the left side of the road here, almost all cars are standard (except those that belong to foreigners like me who don't know how to drive standard), almost all cars are small cars and the size of lanes on the road and parking spaces reflect this. Speaking of parking, there are barely any parking lots, which means LOTS of parallel parking, as well as parking up on curbs, lawns or wherever one can fit a car (note: I suck at parking in this manner and usually have to find a helpful guy to do this for me). To help people with parking, most places have parking attendants (often random people who want to make a buck or two) who wave you into the most impossibly small spots and then watch your car for you. Many robots (stoplights) have been replaced by roundabouts. Driving on most roads is an obstacle course of dodging people on bikes (again, very small lanes so this is tough to do), crazy kombi (minibus taxi) drivers, and random pedestrians. I have no idea how much gas costs because it isn't posted at any gas station...occasionally the national rate is mentioned on the news or in the paper, but I do know that we put diesel in our car which is strange to me. Highways are similar to North America, but in better condition and often with pretty landscaping in the median. Speed limits on most roads is 60km/hr. Most highways in and around the city are 100km/h. Cameras enforce the speed limits. Most people have adopted an "I'll get there when I get there philosophy", which is refreshing. And finally, people seem to do a LOT of honking.
We have another week-long holiday from school next week and I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing, though I have a couple of really cool ideas, so I will post when I know what I'm doing and hopefully it will be something exciting and adventurous! It is "flower season" here right now and after a very wet winter, there are fields and fields of beautifully coloured flowers everywhere, so I will try to post pictures soon. And for all the flower lovers out there who pay close to $10 per callalily, you will be bitterly jealous to know that callalilies grow wildly all over the place here.
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