My dad and his girlfriend are coming in 10 minutes to take me to the airport. They’re late, but fortunately I’ve built in a sizable time cushion. I don’t mess around when it comes to international flights. I once trusted the SuperShuttle to get me to the airport for a flight to Africa and wound up checking in with two minutes to spare. Never again.
I like my posts to be witty and light-hearted but I don’t think I can do that today. The last 48 hours have been so emotional and surreal. I’ll be relieved to get this protracted goodbye process over with, so I can sit on the plane and do nothing for 18 hours. (By the way, severe thunderstorms predicted for this evening. Ugh.)
A quick aside: I had a very lovely last evening in DC. It involved pizza, prosecco, lemon-vanilla whoopie pies, and quality time with some of my closest friends. I don’t want to get too sappy but I am really fortunate to have some of the best friends on earth. I’ll miss them.
I’m trying to think of something momentous to say. I’m leaving my entire life behind and starting over on a new continent. How often does one do that? But…words are failing me.
Peace out, Washington. See you in three months.
How have I never blogged about 44 Stanley Avenue, the coolest shopping and dining complex in Joburg, which is only five minutes from my house?
I guess it’s wrong to say I’ve never blogged about 44 Stanley; I’ve mentioned it countless times over the years (see here and here) when writing about specific restaurants or shops that are there. But I’ve never written a dedicated post about 44 Stanley as a destination and it’s about time I did – especially now, with the holidays upon us.
I’ve been dreadfully uninspired lately, struggling to think of anything I want to blog about despite having a long list of great ideas (many of which you, my readers, provided in September). I’m finding it hard to feel positive about life at the moment. But on Saturday Thorsten and I got the chance to visit Indwe Park, an indigenous garden and sculpture park in Braamfontein, and I knew I had my topic for today.
In 2020, I published a blog post with tips for Americans living in South Africa who wanted to vote in the U.S. presidential election. I thought about simply resharing that post this year. But then I realized: 1) I want to write a U.S. election post that will be fun and informative for everyone, not just other Americans; and 2) Believe it or not, the U.S. presidential election stakes are even higher in 2024 than they were in 2020. So I’m introducing you to some really cool Americans in Joburg – one who I’ve known forever and two who I just met – and tell you a bit about who they are, why they live here, and why they vote.
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It makes me smile, when I see it.