Yes, in an effort to be more positive about this place where I find myself living, here is an initial list.
1. Good juice [Almost all juice, even the very cheapest, is 100% juice. Yesterday I bought a blend of blackberry, cherry, strawberry, and white grape. It was about $1.30. State-side you all can get a good South African juice brand called Ceres.]
2. My garden [Because where else but in South Africa would I have a garden, because where else but in South Africa would I have a gardener? See previous photos.]
3. Wine with dinner [Yes, for the first time in my life I can afford to buy a good glass of wine with dinner out. Generally it’s between 2 and 4 dollars. In fact, the first time I tried to order wine at a restaurant here, I thought the price was for a glass; they brought a whole bottle. This is my favorite of late.]
4. Cold, cold air conditioning [I love to be cold in my bedroom, I hate humidity, I don’t pay my own electricity bill, and yes, I’m evil enough that I don’t care what it does to the planet.]
5. Sodastream [Anyone reading this who loves seltzer water and does not know about the wonder that is sodastream should investigate. In the US, you have to pay crazy shipping/handling to get new CO2 delivered, and it’s not a lot cheaper than buying sparkling water. But here, I can take my cartridge to any grocery store and get a new, filled one handed to me for about $7. Makes about 60L of carbonated water. Bubbly water mixed with good juice makes awesome fruity soda.]
6. Matching furniture [Our house looks like grownups live here. Almost all the furniture matches, and we have things like “sofas” and “dining room tables” and even smaller but equally impressive touches like sugar bowls and tea cups with saucers. Can I take them with me?]
7. A large modern kitchen [I’ve seen some of the kitchens in other gov-provided homes, and we lucked out in this department. It’s by far the single most pleasing thing about this huge house we live in. The second most pleasing is our shower.]
8. Fry’s vegetarian “meat” [This is a recent discovery P. made, after I pouted about the lack of good tofu and seitan for quite a while. I resisted liking their stuff, but I’m coming around. It’s really quite good.]
9. Virgin Active [Yes, this is part of the mega-company Virgin of Richard Branson. It’s a very nice gym though, and it’s been almost solely responsible for my sanity since moving here. Plus, I can use the Virgin Actives in other cities around SA when we travel.]
10. Sophie, who irons [I do not and never have ironed. But Sophie does, and she makes everything look so perfect. I will miss her; she just got a great new job working for ABSA, a South African bank.]
…
Of course, the list of Things I Don’t Like about South Africa is still a bit longer. In case you’re curious, highlights include bad customer service, power outages, racism, expensive and inconsistent internet, alarms, street beggars, voltage transformers, weak coffee, and everything about the language of Afrikaans.
