April 23, 2008

"When people agree with me I always feel that I must be wrong."
Oscar Wilde


I have never seen such a diverse culture as there is here. There are not only large numbers of Blacks and Dutch, but Indian, Asian and expatriate U.K ers.
They have what we would consider "quirks" in South Africa at which we laugh when we are victims.
For instance: people here do not wish to disappoint so they will not say no or that they do not have or understand what we are looking for; such as driving directions. We will ask someone for directions and we will discover after ten minutes of following them that we are heading in the wrong direction.
Donna asked for clothespins in a department store and it was obvious that the clerk had no idea what she was asking for, but after pondering a moment decisively said "aisle 16". Aisle 16 is gardening supplies and there were definitely no clothespins, but we did find the clothes"pegs" in aisle 3.

Today we were walking along the beach path and crossed the road at a crosswalk the only car coming was at a safe distance away, but appeared to speed up when he saw us and "hooted" at us. Donna's reflexes were good enough to give him the universal sign of communication, (the flip off) and some surfers who were standing there told her "well done". A frequent response to any type of input is "brilliant"! It may not be true, but is certainly good for self-esteem.

The people here are very good looking. I refer to the women as "models" and depending on their age: 1-13 future models, 14-35 models and over 35 former models. Unless they have small children, models are not out in the early mornings (I think they must get their beauty sleep) but we do start seeing them around noon time. The kids are great although it is somewhat disconcerting, but charming, when I ask some 4 year old "how you doin kid"? and they respond in very proper English "very well, thank you so much for asking".
At the restaurant the waiter always asks, "Are you done nibbling?" At home we are used to "Are you still working on that?" Nibbling just sounds so much better.

Last night we went to watch the sunset at a beach restaurant and we ordered a beer and a pizza. The Za was huge so we asked a German gentleman who was sitting alone at the next table to join us. It turns out he is an engineering consultant working on the electric problems for the government. Johanne works for Siemens Corporation and has consulted in Vietnam, India, Singapore and South America. Nice guy; we spent a very nice hour with him and hope to see him again.

Our UK friend Peter Smith, who we met on safari, is also consulting and is back in this country. We are making plans to meet for dinner again after which he flies out but is coming back on the day we are scheduled to launch.

Oh yes, the boat. It is coming along well in a sudden surge and things seem to be on track for a May 6th launch, (Although next week there are 3 public holidays. Workers Day, (Monday) Freedom Day (Thursday) and Friday an extra thrown in for a long weekend)! We are keeping all of our body parts crossed, but the permits are in place and the boat is progressing quickly now. Some changes in the navigation station and a new type TV, ceiling mounted as a drop down unit is being installed. We had some lines led back to the electric winch (after all Donna is getting older and can not crank as fast as I would like) and the people at Admiral have been great in helping us with everything (including the Documentation application) and getting us a good deal on a life raft. (which Donna wanted me to add but I am sure we will not need for the crossing)
As we were driving to the factory the other day a convoy of police and several other cars with flashing lights, and a truck in the middle with a 23 foot wide catamaran straddling the trailer, was moving at 70 kph toward us and taking up the entire road. As I pulled over and recognized the type of boat, I was thinking; that will be us in two weeks only our boat will be a foot wider, yikes! I am going to try and get some good pictures of the boat on the move.

We are having a great time while "stuck" here, and have had wonderful beach weather. Next time I hope to be able to verify our launch date. If we do go in on the 6th, we could be out of here in a week with a good weather window and that means Donna can go with me. If that is the case maybe I can get a rebate on the electric winch.