Tuesday, March 1, 2011

New Soul

     It’s hard to believe that we have lived here for almost two weeks! We have pretty much gotten into a routine, which was nice since we don’t have much structure in our lives at the moment. Structure, as in regular work hours, hobbies, the gym, television shows, or family to build our time around. We have woken up anywhere between 6:30 and 8:00, made coffee, and eaten breakfast, which always includes a fried egg. It’s funny to watch P get so mad if his yolk breaks- he interprets it as a personal failure. Then we read or get on the internet for a while. Occasionally a workman comes over to tinker on the house; this appointment is what we plan our whole day around sometimes. Around lunchtime we usually cook something, or we eat out while we are doing errands. In the evenings, we have either sautéed, stir-fried, or grilled something on the braai (charcoal grill). Then, more reading or puzzling while listening to music on our lap tops.
     This week, P will start to spend more time in his office (once he has internet up and running), leaving me at home more. I’m not sure how this is going to go for me without television and having to monitor how much time I spend on the internet. I also know NO ONE here and can’t make a lunch date, etc. In the states, I could probably figure out how to meet people, but here, I don’t know where those places are. I have never been very good at making friends; I can make good friends, but I can be shy and over think interactions with new people. I don’t feel instantly comfortable with people, like some people I know, so I don’t typically start conversations with total strangers. At school or through my job is how I have met people in the past, and right now, neither of those things are in my life. I hope they are soon. Any thoughts on how I can make friends in a strange, beautiful new land?
     Saying all this, I have not necessarily felt lonely but I don’t have much to occupy myself with, now that P is working. If I have felt lonely, it’s because I’m missing all of you back home and wish I could talk to you. Skype has a telephone feature that lets us call people from our computer to any cell or land line in the States for only 2.3 cents a minute. You might be getting some call from a weird “520” number, and it might just be us calling you (so save it in your phones when we call)! We tried it out this morning with my sister-in-law and niece and it worked well, better than using Skype (even when just using vocals and no video) because the other person does not have to be at a computer. This was the first time we have gotten to talk to anyone from back home. We are 9, nine, NINE!  hours ahead here, so it can be quite difficult to figure out the telephone thing; think about a time that works for you (and us) and let us know so that we can dial you up!

 

These are the elegant flowers from a tree right outside our front door. 
They smell delicious too! Does anybody recognize them?

 I will be trying to post pictures of our house soon, the images seem to take forever to upload.

Love, M.


Song of the days: New Soul by Yael Naim. Listen and watch here.

3 comments:

Yvette said...

Hey, those flowers are plumerias. They are gorgeous. I was watching the Bachelor the other day, and they were is South Africa. I was so excited and can't wait to visit. Miss you tons.

Lovely Light said...

I miss you tons too! I was told that they are frangipani...I looked it up and it's another word for plumeria! Did the Bachelor come to Cape Town? Did they make it look beautiful?

Yvette said...

I think that they did go to cape town, but I'm not sure. It did look beautiful.