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Taking Up With The House of Joy

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 near by grocery store. A moment to talk about food:

Eating within bounds has been pretty easy here, although I have been cheating on dairy, and my legs have broken out just a little. The grocery store, much to my surprise, has _______-free desserts, xylitol for cheap (though, i didn't check... it's likely from corn),  and juices and jerkeys with simple ingredients. For every extra limited allergen foodstuff, though, there's something else stuffed with corn starch but, in general, it has been very easy to eat without grains or beans/pulses.

I've had a great day unpacking and putting away all my bags, setting up pictures, and removing the plastic wrap from my new spices. After spending a week in a loud hostel, it's so nice to have a quiet room and some space to myself. The room is the largest bedroom I've had... ever, actually AND it has a fire place which, though it's chilly, I probably won't use. The kitchen is shared with only three other adults and a two-month-old who is, in fact, both gorgeous and quiet, as advertised.

Internet here is slow but works lovely thus far, so I should have an easier time of getting in contact with folks. For now, I'm going to continue to do nest-y things and, in a few days, i'll tell you things that are more interesting and exotic.

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