Get that dirt off your shoulders!

Howzit howzit everyone

Day in the Life, May 15 photos are up now on my picasa site. Thanks to Alyssa Sokolski who sent me a part of her day!! Alyssa's photos are also up in the "Day in the Life" gallery. I've also added some photos to the "General photos" and "Rotary Photos, general" section. Check them out at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lynseemelchi

So it's round about 4 months for me here in Pretoria, SA. I just wanted to sort of go thru what has happened to me so far, what I've achieved, etc. Here's 25 random things off the top...

1. Radio producer for college radio station: Tuks FM. Have now had 3-ish ads aired on the radio to around about 50,000 listeners in the Pretoria area.

2. Been to Cape Town, Durban, St Lucia Wetland Reserve, Warm Baths, and Joburg

3. Been on a date

4. Had potjie (said:poy-key), a traditional South African/Afrikaans meal that's cooked in a cast iron pot over a campfire

5. Had bunny chow, a very KwaZulu Natal dish that is basically a simple curry served in a hollowed out breadloaf.

6. Had biltong...a super South African food. Basically the same as beef jerky/dried meat...but goes well beyond that. These people take their biltong seriously! It's like a national obsession. There's a biltong shop in every mall!

7. Met people from: Namibia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Germany, Mozambique, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Switzerland, Nigeria, Kenya, England, Swaziland, Brazil, Eritrea, New Zealand, and probably more places...

8. Been burglarized

9. Learned swear words in Afrikaans...and some nice words

10. Learned my new cell phone number

11. Turned 26

12. Seen DJ Krush in Joburg

13. Watched the first Vodacom Super 14 Rugby finals ever hosted in South Africa in the Super 14's history

14. Spoken at 2 Rotary Clubs, been to 3 Rotary Clubs, attending my first Rotary Convention next weekend. Also attended 1 International Dinner for the Pretoria W Club and 1 GSE Dinner hosted by Pretoria E, Waterkloof, and Silverton Rotary Clubs.

15. Called the USA 4x at a pay phone, been called from the USA 3x (thanks Helen, Dad, and Ben), and used skype.com 2x to call home.

16. Met up w/old friends/acquaintances: Tongai, Kumbi, Gary, Cliff, Charlie, Chido, Jon Warner, Colin, Niall, Tozi, Robert, and Nolu. Have yet to see Gaby, Majo, Chambers, Mas, Roisin, Vicki, and Philile.

17. Have seen: hippo, crocodiles, all kinds of snakes, all kinds of geckos/lizards, chameleons, waterbuck, genet, reedbuck, warthogs, bushpigs, kudu, gray duiker, dung beetles, weaver birds, hammerkop (a bird)...and probably more. No! I didn't see any of these in anyone's backyard or just roaming the streets!!! Okay except when I was staying w/Jon Warner in St Lucia park...but that's another story all together.

18. Been out to a dancing club where I was the only white person there.

19. Broken 2 pairs of sandals

20. Quit smoking for 2 months...but just started again this past week.

21. Played a practical joke

22. Taken 6 tests that are printed in English and Afrikaans and taken 1 oral test. Gotten As on all of them (73% was my lowest score)

23. Slept over at 9 people's houses (4 Rotarians, 5 friends)

24. Bought 2 pairs of pants, 4 skirts, 2 pairs of sandals, 4 pairs of socks, 2 blouses, 1 shirt, 1 jacket, 2 tank tops, and 1 dress...still have nothing to wear!

25. Been to 1 house party

So this weekend I went on a date. It's a miracle...I know! I pretty much never get attention from guys...I think I scare the crap out of them. But maybe that's not true and I'm overreacting. All I know is that I just don't get much play on any continent! I met this Afrikaans dude called Jean (a lot of people have French names here, but they don't pronounce them properly) at a party a month or so back and we have been sms-ing (text messaging on cell phones) each other since then. He's 28 and is a manager at a security systems business. It's been hard to meet up because I don't have a car, his car is being borrowed by his sister (who has been staying in a town about 4 hours away), we live really far apart from one another in Pretoria, and he's not a student (so he's not around campus). Something was always coming up with him when we were supposed to meet up. I don't think he was being shady...things just happen sometimes, ya know?

So we finally met up this weekend. We went on a double date to Tings and Times, a local bar that I think I've mentioned before. It's basically a really chilled out place with a nice atmosphere. Everything was going pretty good...good stuff to talk about, etc. So good that I agreed to hang out w/him on Saturday as well to watch the rugby game. His family was having a potjie party and watching the rugby in a suburb of Pretoria. It was really fun! The potjie cooks almost all day in a cast iron pot. The pot is almost like a Dutch oven which is interesting because the Afrikaans people here are Dutch descendants. I wonder how those two ideas sort of fit together. Cooking potjie's a really slow process since it takes place on a campfire. Potjie (said: poy-key) is a pretty hard core Afrikaans tradition that I think is a cultural legacy from way back in the voortrekker days (pioneer days). The guy cooking made a curry potjie and a general stew thing w/tons of veggies and meat. Also they made pap...which is a super Southern African thing. They may also have it in other parts of Africa too. Each country/culture calls it something else (pap=SA, sadza=Zimbabwe), but it's all basically the same thing. It's made from super-refined corn meal and I've heard it's really similar to grits. But I've never had grits so I don't know if it's true or not. I kind think of it as super stiff cream of wheat. And of course, cos this is SA and sports were involved...there was much drinking to be had. The whole day was really fun and I didn't get made fun of *too* much for being an American.

Everything was going decent. His sister was like "no, this guy really likes you cos you're smart, etc. He's told me lots and lots about you," and such. That's good vibes...but then it went wrong. He started talking to another girl at the party and ultimately ended up kissing her in front of all of us (including me!). D'oh! and wtf. Red flags and flashing lights are revolving all around this situation. So that was pretty uncool and when I confronted him about it the next day he sort of didn't really do much (apologies were slow coming) and then he blamed it on too much to drink. Lame. But at least this behavior came out now and not after I had too much invested into anything. I can't really be too mad about the whole thing cos it's not like I've got much claim to him, but it still hurt and made me confused. I'd still like to be friends with him cos I think we get along good and I haven't met too many folks outside the radio station...I just need to keep my lips to myself ;)

But...I'm feeling good despite that situation going down. See, I'm not a revenge person at all. Mostly cos the person I would usually be going up against is my mom and brother. My mom is far more persistent on the revenge tip and always wins...no matter what. It's just the way it goes. I'm not into revenge enough to be in it for the long haul. If you are going to be a revenge-r...you really gotta be married to the revenge. I just don't have the hate in me. Also I don't do revenge because I'm just not clever in an evil way. It's really not my forte. Being mature and moving on is a very cool way of dealing with things...well I think so. But yesterday I had a plan. Thanks to my friends at the radio station, a very special edition of a daily entertainment program aired Monday on TuksFM with a very special message to this dude Jean...I hope he hears it! Don't mess w/those of us that dabble in the airwaves. Just don't do it ;)

The whole situation (including the slight revenge) is actually making me feel really good and positive about myself. I'm a smart, funny, nice girl that doesn't need to deal w/crap like that from guys. Even if they are really cute and have very nice blue eyes...I just don't need that. I deserve someone that is going to treat me proper! Right?!!?!

Hope you are all well and getting that dirt off your shoulders! I know I've dusted off my shoulder and feeling good!

Much Love
Lynsee