Around and About!
What a weekend it has been? A weekend filled with laughter, pain & suffering, imagination and almost about everything possible. Well, the weekend started off pretty hectic with the local african traffic....what a fuckup?
On Friday I decided to leave the office around mid day CAT + 1:00. It stands for Central African Time + 1hour for those of you who don't know that africa is busy copying the rest of the world and most probably the Yanks.....man, why? So, as I entered the most amazing part of DAR and probably Africa, the taxi ranks, I found out that I had to go and find some spares for my plant at a local dealer and probably the only dealer in East Africa by the looks of things. I walk into the shop, looked at this guy's pressure gauges and saw the are almost everything except the one that I'm looking for. The best of this particular fascinating story is that it is all used spares that was collected at some auction and not a fuck calibrated. The guy told me that he can order some for me from India and that would take most probably 3-4 weeks. I mean, what the fuck, bru. Who in the world would fucking trust Indian engineering and then the first thought came to mind that I do not even trust them with my money/life.....Sorry Nachi, but you know how this sort of thing goes. Anyway, I can not find the guages and I will leave it up to my buddy Dirk to sort this shit out.
Friday night went quite OK. We got our local portion of our salary and people, in my first month I became a half millionaire. Who in the world wants to marry me? I have a lot of Tanzanian Shillings...hehehehe. So, Dirk took the boys out for a drink after work as part of team building and his responsibility as an OK chief in charge. That turned out to be 2,3 & then 4 beers when he decided that he needed to go home or else he will sleep outside.... I decided that I would go and chat up some friends on the net and around 10pm I went out to go and explore the Peninsula's night life...These fucking beers come in 500ml bottles and CASTLE is available. I went to QBar and again some locals found me very interesting. (Not that I can say the same) This one girl came up dancing to me and tune's me, HOWZIT....She started talking and the conversation came totally from her side and all pinpointed on my availibility and after about an hour I decided to tell this chick that I'm going home to my wife and as I said that, she disapeared like mist in the sun.....So, I got my lazy half drunk ass together and went to another joint called Garden Bistro.....Lekker place but at 11:30pm, actually still not pumping the way I would prefer. I started off with a beer and so on and soon realised that now I'm actually drunk and I was busy chatting up some gals...I think they were around the 20/21 age and decided that I should go home before I become jailbait. Got home around 01:00 and went straight to bed.
The next morning, It was diving. My first open water dive started around 10 and my tank held me just 37min.....It was quite freightning for a first dive, but I really enjoyed it. I met up with some South African boytjies that have been around in DAR for quite some time. The second dive went quite well and around 6pm I was done....The true sense of the word, DONE. Got home and found out that Dirk and the family was envited to a BRAAi with some of their friends.
I decided to rather explore the night on the net then to be attacked by local blood sucking biatches who really wants a rough ride...hehehehe I got to chat with Anne for a while and then for some strange reason my ex-girl from Cape Town SKYPED me, Megan. Whas that conversation really great and it brought back just so many good and amazing memories. Well, it was great chatting with her and there was absolutely no delays on the net. I got to bed around 12 and I have to say at this point in time I was fucked. OK, it was not the bed, but the sofa in front of the TV that I probably whatched for only five minutes.
I got a wake up call from Dirk's wife around 3am just as they came back. With my head still halfway asleep, I heard some story about their night, but it was not untill the next morning when Rieta thankfully woke me up to tell me that I will be late for my dive and I did miss it by the way. Dylon, Dirk's 5 year old son came into my bedroom(or rather their spare bedroom) and told me that his dad was sick, because he ate a bad prawn. I didn't catch it at first and then everything became clear. Dirk had a real rough nite, lost his mobile after calling me 15times around 01:45 and then he ate a bad prawn. Yeah right, incredible excuse but I think it's just so amazing hearing it from his boy.
So, I went on diving again and missing my first dive, I was so shocked, because there was only 2 dives planned for sunday and I can not dive during the week and I really wanted to be certified before I leave on Thursday. Luckily, some people were also late and after begging and blackmailing the owner, we got another dive at 15:00 and that was such a freightning experiance for my open water dive number 4. So, got home around 19:30 and I was just so fucking wasted and I look like a tomatoe. Spending the past 2 weekends the whole day in the sun is not what I would recomend for people very close to the equator. And then I chatted with Anne, Uma and Timo for quite some time on the net. Timo informed me of his new photoblog, so guys, check it out.
Timo's Link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tiomoMy Link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gvdheeverSo, this week will be the week that I will reunite with my life for the past 1.5 years. I'm not that incredibly excited, but I'm very glad that I will get to see Uma and my german buddies once again and to be on the beach, at buddah, phoenix, my site, mine frites avec poulet and 555. I will also go and try to catch a dive back on the island and I will spend a total of 8 days on the island. I think no one is as crazy as Anne just to fly 16 hours to spend 4 days in Mauritius....But that's my buddy...what we all will do for love, right? So, guys, see you in exactly4 days.....
Miss y'all
PS: Patrick, happy birthday boy. Ek het regtig nie vergeet nie, maar telefoon oproepe hier is fokken duur. Boytjie, ons raak nou oud. Ons sal moet begin vrou soek of ons sit alleen vir die volgende 65 jaar. Ek hoop jy het jou dag geniet en ek het aan jou gedink. Cheers boet.
Being Buried under Someone's Thumb!
I sometimes wonder where I'm going in the world. This happens more often lately, because of being so unsecure about every thing in my life right now. No, I'm not saying this because I'm sad, not at all. I just wonder because everything is just so new to me. New in a sense of my working conditions, my friends(not that I have much here at the moment except for Dirk, his wife and their cute little boy whom I called Engelsman - rather I hope so) and purely everything around me has just changed so much and so fast than expected.
One thing my dad always told my is when you believe in something and you really want it to work, you just drop your head and you hit it head on and tackle the bull by the horns. Not that I'm missing head butting, but accepting every opportunity with hands wide opened. I'm still busy figuring out if I like this place. One thing is for certain that I am not depressed the way I use to be within the first 3 months of Mauritius and there are actually nothing I could complain about except for the fucking electricity and my hard matress. Otherwise everything is OK. I also know that I do not want to live here forever. I've seen last night a documentary about CHINA preparing for the Oympics 2008 in Beijing and I just thought how nice it would be to be part of something so expensive, but basically a country that takes pride into their work proving to the world that they can & will try to do everything better. Man, I just wish where I come from people will take the same attitude about life.
They are spending $24billion in upgrading Beijing and trying to blend the historcial OLD City with the new technology that is currently available in the world. So, Iguess the next project that I want to do will need to be definately in China. It is really unbelievable to think what these guys are doing just to uplift the status and perception of their country in the public eye of the civilised first world countries. Definately they focus on what is important to them and not like the Yanks or European countries fucking bubling around politics and bullshitting the rest of the world. Not that I'm from a problem free country and basically I think we can definately go and take note of them. Man, what is life all about?.....Fucking bullshit, money, politics and war. No, it's about waking up in the morning, saying good morning to your wife and kids, have food available on your table, have clean drinking water as well as sanitation. But purely it's about waking up every morning and taking that first breath. That's what's scorring browny points!
I do not want to sound philosophical, but you need to understand that you need to live everday as if there will not be a new tomorrow. What do you think will happen when we all know upfront that there will be no tomorrow? You will spend the last days with your love ones or trying to do everything that you never would have before. Why do you want to do it then? Why don't you do it now? Of course everyone has responsibilities, but you can try to live your life the way you can be happy both sides. You need too. Why on earth did the big Man on top give us the opprtunity to breath? Basically because I think each and everyone are special in his own kind of way. It doesn't matter to me the level of speciality, but at least as long as you believe in yourself and believe that everything is possible if you put your mind to it. 'Cause to me, everything in life has a purpose and we need to respect that and live our life the way we know that we can be happy.
Lately I have been doing a lot of thinking. Thought about the past and where I'm standing right now and I have to feel very proud of myself for what I have achieved and for who I am. I was so sad the past couple of weeks, but actually I am very lucky and happy to be here. It means that someone out there believes in me and in my work. That means actually shit load to me. It doesn't matter if you do not always get the acknowledgments from your senior staff, because actions speak louder than words and you have to believe what you are doing are good. Yes, it is hard and sad most of the times, but you do this because you believe in it and get quite respectable money as well. It is easier to walk away and never look back, than to face everyday accepting every responsibilty that comes your way. If I do the easy way out, who will I be then and what will I know?
A lot has been said and I needed to get this off my chest for such a long time and I need to move on and see a new tomorrow. Who knows what tomorrow will hold for you? At this point in time, I'm just so happy my friend got her internet on again and that I will see my friends back on the island soon. I have to admit that I have been really lucky to have met all the great people back on the island. If I have to look back now, I know what was the reason for going to Mauritius and I know more or less what is expected from me right now. But I always have to say why is everything that is so good in your life, so difficult to let go? But there will be a new tomorrow and I will see my friends soon. My plans for visiting Germany are in the progress and I will see mauritius pretty soon as well. I just miss my other buddies in Yankee country just as much and I promise to see you guys before the end of next year.
I love y'all
Duck & Dive!
What a day this has been? Last night, I was lying on the couch in front of the TV until 3am when the local mozzys' decided that it was time for me to go to bed. Luckily in the bedroom there were mozquito nets to prevent that sleezy bastard to suck these well poluted beer vanes of mine.....
Anyway, this morning I was up and about around 7am for my first day of SCUBA diving. I always believed that if God wanted me to be a fish, He would have made me one, but boy, was I wrong? The day didn't really start off that well because I soon realised that I forgot to pack my swimming shorts yesterday when I left in a hurry from my house in Mlandizi. So this morning I rushed to all the shops to try and find shorts for me to wear to the beach, but I have to admit that my luck was on a short rope today. I eventually decided that I will go to the diving shop expressing my concern that my belief was that they will supply a wetsuit for the duration of the certification. Man, should I have been an Indian and I owe my grateful bargaining tactics to one little Gujrati speaking bloke back on the island. I wonder if I spelled that correctly by the way. Anyway, as I walked into the diving centre I was greeted by a fierce looking lady and I thought that she was angry because I was about 15minutes late (because of the traffic or rather slow fucking drivers). Oh god, I miss Mauritius’s drive style!
So, I got all the administration shit out of the way and they showed me the way to the TV where I was suppose to get ready for a PADI presentation. To my misbelieve, I found out that the fierce looking lady was actually also a newly registered apprentice for the course. Normally, I could not keep my mouth quiet, but because I was the guilty person of being late I decided that it was a really good plan to shut the fuck up. The 2 ladies next to me started chatting and they wanted to find out where I'm from and what I was doing here....Halloooo, duh....I'm doing a the PADI course. Why would I be here in front of the DVD presentation? Actually, they were only interested in my presence in Dar...Ooops! So, but I soon realised that they were only Americans and 85years old.....Or I think so. So, who are they? Jess, sorry, but no offence! To make a very long day just a little bit shorter....
It turns out that there is actually a shit load South Africans around here. Every second bastard speaks Afrikaans. What the fuck? Small J'oburg in Dar, come on.......really! I'm not going to complain at all. Maybe I can find some HOT Afrikaans speaking chick or maybe some diamond driller's wife here....NO, NEVER. NOT ME! I do not do shit like that ever! Come on, I need one of you guys to back me up right now...... So, halfway through the movie I told these guys I need to go for a smoke break when this fucking old American chick turns around and say to me that divers do not smoke.... I thought by myself...."F....ing B...ch, if I'm going to get hold of you I will personally f...ing bash your f....ing ugly face to the f....ing ground....you sick freak" but I turned around and reply very gently that I also drink like a fucking freak!
So, eventually we got through the 5 sections and 3 hours later with all my smoke breaks involved and decided that we should go for lunch because it was 1pm already. Man, $10 for a hamburger and a beer...anyway. So now it was time for us to go and practice what we saw on the DVD’s in the pool. So I thought. The little Mototo of a local decided according to the rules and regulations of PADI, that every newly registered applicant should fist do 200meters of swimming and then 10minutes of surviving techniques as floating in the pool. Normally that would have been easy, but since I'm a heavily smoker and drinker with a hamburger and a draught beer behind me, I really thought today will be the day that I will die in a very shallow swimming pool. But I will survive! Jess, this song is for you, remember on Nachi's Bday? So, after finishing with the Olympic attempt, we eventually got to the tank, B.C.D, regulator and so forth. man, this guy was only repeating what the movie said. Like always I was in front of the cue with my hand up asking the teacher to ask me that question type of thing. Comprendre? The instructor eventually ask me if I ever dived before and the old chicks thought that I'm a genius....Hey guys, just watch the fucking movie and a little bit of logic is all needed for survival! So, to be quite fair to those old ladies....fuckoff and die.....you stupid sons/daughters of bitches.
Anyway, we got through the first pool session as well as all the movies today, so I thought the chicks will give tomorrow a miss and let me finish on my own with my own fast pace. No, they will attend tomorrow's session as well, but luckily only to mid day. Yippeeee! So, by tomorrow I will be finish with the swimming pool sessions and I will go for my 4 dives next weekend with that fucking exam shit going on....Ach Sheiße....but hey, after that I can go SCUBA with Uma, Anne and my German Buddies. Timo, I do not know if you can scuba.
So that was my beautiful Saturday and just got worst when my beloved Blue Bulls lost the Currie Cup. Dirk, no fucking a word from you, comprendre? So, I will update again soon on my latest happening and there might be just something interesting to tell you guys by tomorrow evening.
Enjoy your evening! Küsse Sich!
A New Tomorrow!
God, I've lost a whole posting that took me more or less and hour and half to complete. I'm not really in the mood now to do this one, but I believe it is necessary to complete it as I promised to you guys that I would.
Basically what was written in the previous posting(the one that I've lost) is that in this week there was not anything spectacular to comment on. It was work, work and just more work for me....although I did a lot of thinking as well. i thought of everyone and their situations in their respective countries.
Something that I have experianced the past week was that when we are dealing with tough situations/pain, we would like to run home. The problem that I have is where is that so called home?....for me....it's been a while since I could call South Africa my home and to this day it is not part of my life anymore. My home is that place where I felt really comfortable and at ease with myself. The place where all the people are that I've trusted and respected for so long and they for me. I do not miss Mauritius really that much anymore and when I think back, I can only remember those times where I just felt so happy to be around certain people. That is what I miss!
The past week was a really tough one to deal with, but it's over and another couple of weeks are on the way. But I decided to only live the moment. Make everyday a memorable day for me. I've decided to take up SCUBA diving and my first class will start tomorrow morning at 9am. The reason for this decision is to relive the one episode that I've never completed back on the island. And it's another way to meet people here. I will start to explore what Tanzania has to offer me...On & Off land shortly. I'm thinking of bying a motorbike and that thought will rationalise hopefully within the next 2 weeks before I will leave for my final journey within 17months to Mauritius.
I do not have much expectations of the island, except for having a good time the way I know best and what was taken away from me so fiercely. I will be able to go to Buddah Bar, knowing I'm alone (like before March 2005) and my mind will be just so free of everything that bothered me on that island. I think it will be just so fabulous to be the person I use to be and live on the island for 9days as a holiday go'er. No stress, No physical connections, No priorities except for the consumption of just so much PHOENIX as possible.....That will be definately a lot. The last time I just wanted to get off (because it seemed on that stage I will never leave) and did not realise exactly how much I will be missing there. My friends, my life, my house & just so much good memories that revolved around my 2004/05 year of living.
Being independant and alone is not always that bad. I really think it is an advantage to discover who you really are and connect with people in a way that you never could have before. I'm talking about flirting with girls and see what is the maximum (and be able to go for it) you can get out of it without hurting that person. I'm thinking of Uma's theory of "friends with benefits'". Not that I have a crush on anyone at all, but you can not resist an opportunity like this ever. On the island, with that hot sweating weather and with foreigners all around.....God....Heaven....with PHOENIX....Just talking a lot of shit right now.
Anyway, I'm glad that I will meet up with everyone and relive in a very short period my life the way I was suppose too. To be honest, I think I've neglected a lot of good things of my life just because I was just so involved with myself and my problems. Sometimes you need to let things go to see if they will ever come back and if they don't, you can considder yourself lucky to not have forced the issue. I'm just so excited about my trip and I hope I could go diving with Uma and my German buddies.
I love you all and you guys are always on my mind. Have an absolutely great weekend and will like to read about it on your blogs next week.
Karibo Asana Mzungu!
