Driving on the wrong side of the road.....

I need to download some pictures, but I figured I would update you on the happenings of the past few days.....

Work is, of course, busy. But, it turns out, the client celebrates the end of each work week with a braai in the courtyard of the offices, complete with beverages and their award-winning sausages. We missed our first braai last week, but we managed to drag ourselves out of the office Friday afternoon to join our new friends for the festivities and made a few new friends to boot. We might make this a weekly event. In fact, I think the IT department has responsibility for serving in a few weeks, so Dan and I have already volunteered to help. As long as no one tries to order in Afrikaans, we should be OK. Or, they will just get what we serve them. LOL.

Saturday, I decided to try driving in Africa for the first time. Since we got here, Dan has pretty much been the designated driver, but I figured that was not really fair. That, and the fact that he is taking off next weekend with some friends that are coming into town and if I do not want to be stranded, I better figure out how to drive on the wrong, I mean *left* side of the road. It went pretty well, actually, especially when you consider that a) I have not driven a standard transmission in several years, b) they drive on the wrong, I mean LEFT, and c) you also sit on the *right* side of the car and shift with your *left* hand. It took me about an hour to figure out the friction point in our little VW, but I think I have that down straight. The bigger issue is that my hand seems to want to pull to the right and I keep shifting from 1st to 4th instead of into 2nd! I am working on it and I am happy to say I have recovered quickly and there have been no stalls or near death experiences.

So on our driving tour on Saturday we went back to Chapman's Peak and, since Dan was the passenger this time, he could really enjoy the beautiful views. We also drove down to Cape Point, which is one of the most southern points in Africa. On the drive into the National Park, we came across a group of baboons right next to the road. Since I was driving, the pics are all on Dan's camera, so I will get them and post them later this week. We took a tram up to the top of the mountain and then climbed the rest of the way up where there is a pretty cool lighthouse. The wind could just about knock you over. But the views were great - again, more pictures later in the week.

We are hoping to finally secure long-term accommodations this week, so we will let you know how that goes. So far, we have been pleasantly surprised by the inexpensive cost of food here. It is only marred by some strange shortages of key food items. At the top of the list is Diet Coke (referred to in SA as Coke Light). There seems to be some issue with CO2 supplies and as a result, the local stores are literally OUT of Coke Light. I am seriously hoping this is resolved soon, or I may be asking for care packages. Perhaps the local bottling company could benefit from the services of a fabulous supply chain management software? The other odd shortage seems to be whenever we order a dish with tuna - two separate places over the past week have been out of tuna. Not sure what the story is there.

Lastly (and then I am going to bed), there seems to be some concern that my buddy Dan is doing nothing but drinking down here. Here is the reply I sent in response to one such pointed question earlier this week:

"Rest assured that I am trying to keep up with Dan as best I can, but since I am (strategically) behind the camera (and it’s *my* blog), the incriminating pictures will pretty much only reflect my drinking buddies. However, we are taking the “work hard, play hard” ethic very seriously. We only drink after we have billed 40 hours for the week (whether that occurs on Wednesday night or Friday night will be up for review)."

Since we have to start over on our 40-hour cycle bright and early tomorrow morning, I will say good night. Check in later in the week from some more pics.