Our Camera is Back!
We dropped our camera off at Cameraland in Cape Town last Monday, hoping that we'd finally found a place that could repair it. One week and $200 later we got it back, good as new! It was definitely worth it, it's great to have it back. Appartently we got sand in it which messed up the whole lens alignment--it's all Michael's fault actually!! We promise to get some pictures up soon.
But let me go back a bit now to our 26 hour 3rd class train ride from Pretoria to Worcester...
We thought we might be stuck on wooden benches with chickens and goats, so we were pleasantly surprised to find regular, decent seats and no animals in sight. Once we hit Jo'burg though (only about 2 hours in) the crowds appeared. People were passing their stuff through the windows in order to claim seats, they seemed to know that there would not be enough for everyone. Sure enough, people spent the day and into the night sitting and sleeping on the ground between train cars, in the toilets, and one guy even climbed into the luggage rack above us to get some sleep. There were no trash recepticles anywhere, and with all the empty beer and soda bottles lying around (not to mention hot smelly bodies, including ours!) the place quickly became a smelly pit. We had some interesting conversations though and sat across from a cute little baby. We didn't really start to mind until about hour 8 when we realized we still had 18 more hours to go!
We did manage to get some sleep though and made it to Worcester around noon the next day. My cousin Kyle picked us up and drove us to his and Victor's guesthouse in Rawsonville. They've done an amazing job renovating the place--it's absolutely beautiful and it became our little paradise for a week. For seven straight days we basically did nothing but gorge ourselves on food and alcohol, stay up late, sleep late and lounge around the pool. We celebrated a fun and rather quiet New Year's with Kyle, Victor, their friends Caroline, Roger, and Max, as well as Max's family visiting from Switzerland (Oh, and I can't forget Kyle and Victor's 5 cute dogs: Nemo, Muffin, Scruffy, Skipper, and Cosmos!).
On Friday Caroline drove us to Franschhoek, where we stayed with Sally, Alex and Flossy, friends of June's (from Monfreville in France, our first stop of the trip). It's so amazing to meet people who are actually complete strangers, but be welcomed into their home and feel like family within minutes! We had a lovely dinner with them that evening, saw the beautiful new home that they are building, and played a few competitive rounds of UNO. The next day we borrowed their bikes and toured around the cute little town, stopping at 2 vineyards to do some wine tasting. We cycled back a little tipsy after having tasted every single wine at the second place.
That night "friends" of Alex and Sally stopped by at around 10:30. Turns out the only reason they came by was that they were hoping to use Sally as a way to meet Margaret Thatcher. Sally didn't want anything to do with them and wanted Alex to tell them that she was very ill. She had me dress up in some of her clothes to pretend to be a buddhist monk there to take care of her... Some how this all made a lot more sense and seemed a bit more normal that night...
Alex drove us to Cape Town the next morning, where we've been staying at the Cat & Moose hostel on lively Long Street. We'll have to write a bit more about Cape Town another time, as I'm now getting internet overload.
Today we're headed back to Rawsonville, partly because we just couldn't leave the place for good yet, and partly to finally get some pictures. Hopefully we'll also be able to get some good ones of the landscape around there, it's so beautiful--gorgeous mountains and vineyards.
That's all for now--bye!
P.S. Be sure to check out the one new picture Michael just put up--it explains how I could pass as a monk!
Well, hair washing has certainly been simplified for a while! I know from personal experience that Michael is capable of diabolical things with computers and photos, but I suspect that is not the answer this time. Wait until Grandma sees this one! Love, Papa.
HOLY SHIT!! I’m a bit in shock. I shaved my head in college, so I guess its works. I remember people’s reaction were quite strong, a lot of “what the fuck” types of comments, now I see what they were talking about. I hope it was not for some medical reasons like a rash, lice, ticks, dandruff or mental insanity.
Good news on the camera, glad to hear that Mike was the cause and not some sand. Can’t wait for more pix.
-Moose
Ein bisserl ungewohnt, steht euch aber gut!!! (Bin ich froh, dass nur der erste Teil des Rituals erforderlich war, als ich dort war.)
Bussi, Henni
HO my god!! I really thought you were wearing one of those rubber wigs-Well it's a good way to stay cool in the heat..and you look so darn cute!
Glad to see your camera is back up and running. Can't wait to see what you are to post next!
Miss you guys.
~Sarah
Wow Megan! You have a nice head. Many people could not get away with that, and I bet it is quite liberating! If not now, then when?
Love you guys!
I love the bald heads! Plus when they get fuzzy, they're fun to rub. Miss you guys!
Marni
WOW!! My reation was the same as moose's and I think Henni's too but i'm not sure since I dont read German but there are a lot of !!!!! and ?????? in her message so I think I got the point. Looks good though! How much were you drinking again? I mean.....looks good. In your honor I also shaved my head and Dawns. Dawn was asleep at the time but she's onboard with it now. We both miss you guys (no pun intended) and hope you stay safe and happy on the rest of your trip. Love Dave
P.S. Seriously you look good with the hair cuts
YIKES! Where'd the hair go? We've lost our "Mike is in a devious mood" indicator! We're doomed.
But seriously, both of you look great. And congrats on getting the camera fixed :) See you soon!
You guys are crazy! Hey, if you'd waited until you got to Australia, your shaved heads could have raised money for cancer. It was a fundraising event that was going on when I first arrived there -- either shave your head or dye your hair pink! Maybe you can do the latter when you get to Oz!
Check it out:
http://www.actcancer.org/fund.htm#Me_No_Hair
I realize it's been said already, but you two really do have beautiful heads! I'm not sure I'll ever be brave enough to chop it all off like that- probably just because of the trauma of a previously butchered haircut... yes meg, you know what I'm talking about, and so does mama, the unfortnate mullet at four years old. I love you both so much, lexa
P.S. what did you do with your hair? a nice little pillow maybe?
can I wax that shit?
HEY!!! Awesome - I think I may have to do the same very soon (I did this once before - while travelling Europe - Mike you were at my farewell party in Cohasset (when I still lived on the East Coast and it was much easier to hang... :) - Anyhow... I noticed the quote on the wall in the house where the scene of the crime occured (the shaving of the heads)...
"People who look for symbolic meanings fail to grasp the inherent poetry and mystery of the image. No doubt they sense this mystery, but they wish to get rid of it. They are afraid. By asking 'what does this mean?' they express a wish that everything be understandable. But if one does not reject the mystery, one has quite a different response. One asks other things."
- Rene Magritte
So, first of all I want to say I love this quote - I wish I had memorized this back in College so I could have had a smart ass answer for all my professors when they asked "what does it mean...."
Secondly, is this quote - subtlely placed in the background of the picture of the baldies as an explanation of the act of shaving ones head (yours and Megans) - if it was clearly by accident, I still think it works - for when people ask "you shaved your head... what does it mean?..." you can respond with the previously stated Magritte quote... works!
Explore away!!!!
Greg