Visiting an aquarium is one of those touristy activities that I don’t normally seek out. I grew up in Baltimore, home of the National Aquarium, and I think I subconsciously believed that my home aquarium is the best in the world and there is no point in visiting any others.

A few months ago, my friend Ang at JOZI.REDISCOVERED asked me to partner with her on a blogging project. It would be called #TheGodProject, and the two of us would go around Joburg exploring different places of worship. Ang would interview the various religious leaders and write about the services, and I would take photos.

Several weeks before that, when I was still living in Washington, Jon had emailed me some photos of a house for rent in Melville. From the few things I’d seen and read, I already knew that Melville was the Jozi suburb where I wanted to live. And the moment I saw these photos, I knew that this Melville house was the house I would move into.

This is a quick speed-blog to let you all know that the Mzansi Gallery, a quirky art gallery on 7th Street in Melville, is getting ready to close for several weeks while it transitions to a new space. Before closing its doors on Friday, Mzansi is doing a two-day mini exhibition of two art works, one of which is mine.

Three weeks ago, I was on a beach in Zanzibar. It was nice.

Sunset on a beach in Zanzibar.

My friend Michelle and I stayed on the northern end of the island, near a village called Nungwi, at a hotel called Sazani Beach Lodge.

From the Melville Cat:

It’s been many months since my last post. I’ve grown tired of blogging and prefer to pass the time sleeping, or eating, or pacing around the house meowing mournfully in the night.

Last weekend I discovered a couple of new places in Cyrildene, Johannesburg’s “new” Chinatown. (Cyrildene is in Joburg’s eastern suburbs. The “old” Chinatown in downtown Joburg still exists, but most of the Chinese businesses moved to Cyrildene over the last two decades. Read more on old Chinatown vs. new Chinatown.)

This weekend I went to the Turbine Art Fair, at the historic Turbine Hall in downtown Joburg. This is the Turbine Art Fair’s third year, but I was out of town the last two years so this was my first time going.