h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This internet cafe is comparatively cheap. 1 hour costs R10. There is another internet cafe down by Checkers (that's the place where i heard Robert throwing up into Lynda's fountain a few years ago) and it's the one which I was thinking about when I said "I know an internet cafe in town". But they charge R5 for 10 minutes. Go figure. How do they stay open, I wonder. This one is comparatively new, according to Sandile.

Anyway the electrician came and has gone away to get the parts. He will be back at 10am tomorrow to do the job. He will finish the job tomorrow, which means that Gerry can come down straight away and paint the place out. I spoke with Gerry this morning just as I had finished breakfast at "Cafe Nouveau".

I didn't sleep very well last night, because it was so cold in my flat. I woke up at 3.30 and slept only fitfully after that. So I'm rather tired now. The good news is that I've now got a new oil filled radiator in the flat, so I can get a good night's sleep tonight. Tomorrow the bed is coming. So the bed and the electrician are coming on the same day.

I haven't heard from the car people. They said that they would sort out some car insurance quotes for me yesterday afternoon, but that didn't happen. I have fitted back into being cellphone-active again. Mobile phones are a wonderful invention.

Had a lunch of soup and a cheese sandwich at Mugg & Bean. Some things don't change...

I have also lapsed back into South African speak. I have started saying "ja", "is it" for are you?, have they?, didn't she?, etc. That is bad, because otherwise I have an English accent so it presumably sounds wrong. But the idioms of South African English are so delightful and I picked them up with such alacrity during my stays here in the past, that i just fall back into them without even thinking about it. "When the big black guy with the hat comes in looking for me, tell him I'm coming now now". I said that a while ago to the waitress at Mugg & Bean. You can guess what that means, can't you? "When they bring my bed tomorrow, tell them they must also bring the large brown desk". That is a thoroughly South African usage of the modal verb "must". Gerry was great on the phone this morning. He even said "we can make a plan". That is a South African saying which comes from the Afrikaans "'n plan maak" as in the phrase 'n Boer maak 'n plan, a Boer makes a plan, in other words, he will get round a difficult situation by coming up with a good idea to make things work.

I wish I weren't so tired as it spoils my enjoyment of the day. It is a quarter to four and I don't know what else to do with the day as I am waiting for my wheels so that I can do the next thing that needs doing, namely to get to Green Point and renew my driving licence.

Deon just phoned from the car dealership. They are looking to deliver my car tomorrow. That will be great. I hope everything works out well and they can deliver it then. It rather depends on Francois at the attorney's office. He's the husband of my attorney Elsje. He is also an attorney and he is dealing with the transfer of funds to the car people while Elsje is away in Canada. I don't like using my capital to buy a car which will depreciate so much, but there is no alternative in this case. Anyway I hope Francois gets it together and pays the people at the car dealership. Then I can be mobile tomorrow - just as long as I can get some insurance.

I got back from my long day's missioning yesterday to find Monica and the kids at my flat. Monica was straightening the children's hair using some rather noxious straightening cream. They have braids woven into the hair. The straightening cream stops it from becoming an Afro. It seems the straightening cream hurts the scalp. The price to pay for beauty! Monica gave me a Xhosa lesson - we were practising the clicks c, nc, ngc, ch, x, xh, ngx, and a very difficult one spelt nkc which I just couldn't do. I am looking forward to my formal Xhosa lessons starting in August, because I have real live Xhosa friends to try it all out on and who will help me learn.

We waited for several hours for Sandile and when he hadn't come by about a quarter to nine, I suggested we go to town for something to eat. Town is within walking distance from my flat, it is very good, it means I will get plenty of exercise while I'm living here. (I just wish the flat wasn't so damned damp. Still, it will be nice and cool in the very hot Boland summer). Anyway we went to a South African place specialising in African food and I spilt chakalaka on my trousers. I took them home and cleaned them with shampoo. I hope that the detergent in the shampoo will remove the stain. Chakalaka? Google for it! It's mighty fine.

I need to get a map of town so that I can find people's addresses when I need to get somewhere. I will try CNA. I wish I weren't so tired. but I will sleep better tonight I'm sure.

Just googled Chakalaka, dagesh and learned that: "You [sic] tongue will never be the same again after eating this hot and rich sauce". I might have guessed that it would be something spicy, if you like it!

Hi Dagesh,

I found a recipe for Chakalaka and I can believe that my tongue would never be the same again after eating this hot and rich sauce. Hot curry, raw chilies and peri-peri sounds a bit (lot) too much for me. Praps I'll make a toned down variety and just have the baked beans on toast.

Hope the car and bed arrive as arranged.

I'm loving your guided tour of SA so keep up the postings.

Polly

Hi Dagesh

glad to hear you're getting lots of stuff sorted - I'm impressed at the speed with which you're getting organised.

Hope the car arrives safely tomorrow - and the bed. Hopefully that'll mean you sleep better,

hebe

Hello Richard! I was so pleased to find your journal again, and have just been catching-up on past entries.

I'm glad that you've arrived safely in South Africa, and that the weather is reasonably mild. Hopefully it won't be too long before your flat can be made nice & homely ~ & warm! I'm very sorry to hear about Sandile's problems, & hope that something can be done for him.

Now I've found your journal I shall make a point of reading it daily! I'm sorry I can't find the emoticons ~ I don't really like typing messages "deadpan" as it were!
***<<<{8~D
'Bye for now,
~~Misty~~

Sandile and Monica and the kids came round last night with fish and chips. I also had a bottle of wine that was given to me by my property agents and so I went upstairs and found a neighbour in who very kindly supplied me with three wine glasses and a corkscrew. We had a good meal of snoek, chips and Portuguese rolls. The wine, a Cabernet Sauvignon from the Orange River, was lovely. I have to say I'm very well taken care of as far as alcohol is concerned here. Yippee!

I went to bed early as there was nothing to do after they left. The heater I bought yesterday worked very well and I was warm in my room. But at 11.00pm Sandile and co. returned. They couldn't get rid of some workers in their office and they wanted to sleep with me in my flat. Only one room has heating at the moment so we all piled into my one small bedroom.

If they want to make a habit of sleeping at my place, then it looks as though I will be sleeping on the floor for the foreseeable future. Why? Because Pickfords are coming with the bed this morning, and it is my bed, a double bed. It would be churlish of me to expect Sandile and Monica to sleep on the floor on a single sponge mattress while I luxuriate on a double bed. So it seems I am going to have to continue to sleep on the floor if they want to continue sleeping at my flat. Secretly I am hoping they will return to their previous accommodation, because I really value my privacy. But I cannot find it in me to turn them down.

It is sunny out, but rather chilly. Hopefully the air will warm up somewhat as the day progresses. Yesterday was chillier than it has been.

The flat is damp damp and I will have to get an extractor fan in the bathroom as everything gets condensation on it after you've had a bath and your towel never gets dry. I remember this from last time I was here in 93.

What's on the agenda for today? Well, I have to go back home in a while to wait for the electrician and for Pickfords to deliver some stuff. Then what? Well, they say that the car will be ready today. All I have to do, therefore, is to get some car insurance. Let's hope the premiums won't be too high. If I can get the car and the insurance today, I might head out of town for a few days.

"Kan ek nog 'n koffie kry?" - can I have another coffee ... I just asked the lady behind the desk. it's good coffee and it's free here! it's nice to speak the indigenous languages. I even spoke some Xhosa with Sandile this morning. Very basic, though, my Xhosa is, still. I'm going for lessons in August. And I have Xhosa friends, intelligent people who understand about translation and phonology etc. But I still have to find some Afrikaner friends so that I can practise listening comprehension. An Afrikaans gf would be the answer really I suppose.

Hebe - I know how this country works. I have everything you need to get sorted out because I have spent 5 years here already. So I have an ID book and a bank account and a friendly lawyer (called an "attorney" here) and all that jazz. I also know the rhythms of the country. So it is easy for me to get things done here.