Oh, yet another weekend has passed (and another is due soon! Time is passing so quickly...) since I last updated. I'm feeling a bit under the weather, so I'll try to keep this post brief.

I spent the whole weekend at the beach, which was wonderful, as the weather's really been getting nice. We went to Muizenberg on Saturday but never got around to surfing (the waves were too small to bother), so we just wandered the town a bit. It's a bit of a dying holiday spot, Muizenberg -- used to be very popular with Victorians, I guess, but now the only people who bother are amateur surfers and their families. We didn't stay too long, but it was good to get out of Obs for a bit.

Then on Sunday, Marietta, Erin H., and I took the train down to Long Beach in Simon's Town for our first seabound scuba lesson. Sean didn't need us for awhile, so we laid out on this really soft sand beach and sunned for like, an hour before kitting up. The dive was really awesome -- a lot less skills, and everything came a lot more naturally. We just walked into the ocean and saw a school of fish and starfish and these adorable giant sea snails. Plus, I remembered to pack a lunch this time, so I didn't get so grumpy about the weight or the cold. I learned that my ears are less sensitive to pressure change than a lot of people, and I figured out how to clear my mask of water more successfully. After two half-hour dives, we cleaned up, dried off, and headed to a nearby bar called the Red Herring with a bunch of the Obzside crew. So fun -- and such a tasty seafood pizza!

Work has been the same. Everyone's a bit frustrated at not starting any production jobs yet. A couple have been floating around and went by the wayside: an Axe viral commercial, a flower ad, an M&Ms ad, the travel agency one... Most likely right now, we'll be doing the commercial for Jaffa Cakes -- which I recently figured out is the Irish term for Pim's! How lucky is that? My favorite cookie, one you can't find in S.A., and we might be doing an ad for it! I was quite pleased.

Some random stuff: Saw signs in the train station that politely asked that you NOT take the windows with you when departing the train. (And a warning sign that mimed that you should leave through the doors, NOT the tiny train windows.)

Tried bunny chow at the halaal deli across the street the other day. Bunny chow, for those who don't know, is an adorable nickname for curry served in a hollowed-out loaf of white bread. Just R15 for a huge meal, but it was a bit too spicy for my tastes. Still, an exciting meal option!

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Whoops.

I forgot to hit enter on this entry, which I started on Thursday afternoon! It's now Sunday, and another weekend has practically passed. I'm feeling much better now, thanks, and I'm enjoying this particularly lazy morning. I'm currently at Cocoa Cha Chi, which is our favorite little "buy a drink, get two hours (or 40 MBs) free WiFi" spot. The staff is super nice, the food is good -- it's just the perfect place to chill with your laptop and listen to ambient music with a hazelnut latte.

After yesterday's amazing first-day-of-summer-in-Cape-Town weather, today is bit of an Oregon throwback, with grey skies and a chilly breeze. I'm so happy I bought myself a keffiyah -- it's been keeping me warm and toasty through this spring-to-summer transition. But I didn't need it yesterday, as the sun was out in full force and it was probably in the mid-80s all afternoon. I'm actually pretty burned (for me), but it should clear up into a golden tan in the next few days.

The burn came from spending the prime daylight hours of Saturday at Hout Bay, diving in the morning and hanging on the boat all afternoon. I was supposed to do two dives, but my first one was a bit of a bust -- was having a half time equalizing my right ear, a hard time ascending, a hard time seeing anything (the visibility was much worse than we'd expected). But the site itself was awesome! I need to go back once I'm certified and check it out: the wreck of Bos 400, a colossal floating crane barge that crashed into the rocks in 1995 and sunk halfway into the bay. So cool! (Sorry, environment.)

So yeah, I wimped out on the second dive, which was okay because it gave me more time to dry off, eat a sandwich, and cruise around on the bay. Sean's boat is one of those inflated speed boat things (I have no idea what they're really called), and I have to say, while I'm not prone to fantasy, it was hard not to sit there on the edge of the boat, all cool in a black wetsuit, the wind whipping through my hair as we raced by breaching whales and over pods of white-bellied dolphins, and not feel a little like a Bond girl off on a secret mission. Very, very cool. Afterwards, we crawled through summer traffic to get to a beachside club swarming with locals called La Med, where we had a few Castles and shared a very subpar margherita pizza (nothing will EVER surpass that amazing seafood pizza from last week!). Went back home, whereupon I showered, got dressed, and headed back out to Scrumpy Jack's (worst bar name ever) to hang out with the Obzside crew. Turned in early, as I didn't want to go dancing at Tiger Tiger (and would probably get turned away anyway, as I forgot to bring/buy any heels), and now I'm here, sunburned and typing.

Think I'll go to Long Street after this and see if I can find any tees or shoes. Oh, and I need to look for a good deal on some leather sandals I found at Waterfront! I bet I can find them at another market for cheaper, and they were sooo fabulous.

Okay, that's all. Hope all is well with all of you! And I keep forgetting: my address here is:

89 Station Road

Observatory

Cape Town 7925

South Africa

Mail delivery is somewhat dodgy here, but feel free to give it a try. And send me your addresses if you'll be wanting postcards!