Of Two Minds

General Conversation, Getting Around rand >> south african unit of commercial exchange R8 >> $1 cheers >> bye petrol >> gas ..., hey? >> ..., amirite? minibus >> minivans and the informal form of transit most people take. surprisingly safe, affordable, and reliable. the fare taker may attempt swindling you out of some rand, though. Food chips >> fries spinach >> swiss chard english spinach >> spinach sweet potato >> something that looks in shape/texture like a sweet potato, but has red skin and white flesh. apparently they also have orange sweet potatoes and white sweet potatoes. I have not yet spotted a white sweet potato. The red version is cooks up softer than orange ones like we have. yam >> yuca, maybe? i have never seen a vegetable like this in person before.  roughed up, almost pineapple-like brown skin, white interior. kale, unfortunately, does not exist here. peanut butter, strangely, does, making

Winter finally arrived in Cape Town, and with a vengeance. The weather today is blustery as all get out with heavy rains and winds and a few spots of light drizzling and cold gusts. At the moment it is positively pouring. A great day for nesting. Fortunately, I moved into my new abode today. Most likely, I will be staying here until the end of July. It should work out just fine, provided I can figure out the function of that weird red light that blinks in the corner of this room. The house is in Obs in a residential area near the main strip. It's a riverside walk away from work and not too far from the city center, either. It operates as a venue once a month for poets and musicians and has been dubbed The House of Joy. It has a nice kitchen and a large dining room. The couple from whom I'm letting are very kind. After getting settled, I went across the bridge to Lower Main Road for lunch at Hello Sailor . On the way home, I was able to stock up on spices and oils at the

Cape Town is beautiful. The weather is beautiful. The hostel is ... bearable. My classmates are fantastic. So far, I've been alternating between nervous and excited which is usually a good sign. I'm pretty disoriented still and I have no idea what to expect and I won't even really now what's happening until Tuesday or Wednesday I bet. Some thoughts On Internet: While the hostel has it, my computer refuses to recognize it, and those who are able to connect are regularly kicked off. However, at this cafe, it's totally good. I don't think it's a Cape Town problem, I think it's a hostel problem. On Race: I have already heard three people make comments ... actually, less comments and more whispered points in conversation about how dangerous black people are, one older white woman, one man from Botswana (east asian? i think that gets classified as "Indian" here, regardless), and one black man from Zimbabwe. I... am not thinking clearly enoug