A Week on the Commune

02 October 2010

Sandwiched between a week in Durban and a week in Lesotho, Joe and I are wrapping up one hectic (but fun) week at home.

We’re leaving again tomorrow morning and I have no time to write a proper account of this week’s events. Here is a brief synopsis.

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Lots of Luck

08 September 2010

I still have more to say about Lesotho, but I’ve been home for almost a week and I want to share a couple of stories from the home front.

First, a word on furniture. Our house is filled with Joe’s furniture because, as you know, I brought almost nothing with me. I’ve been trying to accumulate as little as possible since I arrived; I just worked hard to divest myself of things and I’m not quite ready to start investing again.

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Mexicho's Revenge

27 August 2010

UPDATE (OCTOBER 2017): Alas, Café Mexicho has closed down. It had a good run though. Fortunately there are several good alternatives around town – read here.

I’m kind of sick today. I won’t go into detail but it seems that Café Mexicho hasn’t finished with me just yet. I’m subsisting on small quantities of bland food, rooibos tea, and Energade – a South African energy drink that I find much more palatable than Gatorade.

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Welcome to the Lucky 5 Star

16 August 2010

We’ve christened the house with a name: the Lucky 5 Star. Thanks to Lucky, living here is like staying in a five-star hotel.

Lucky in the garden, in front of his favorite fern tree.

Lucky, whose name is actually Mashudu in his native language of Venda, had a birthday two days before I arrived. He’s 33. He has been living and working here for a decade as an employee of Horst, our landlord. Lucky’s father also worked for Horst, which is how Lucky got this job after moving to Joburg from his family’s home near the Zimbabwe border.

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Home

11 August 2010

I’ve gotten ahead of myself. I should say a few words about this place where I’m living.

Johannesburg (Joburg, Jo’burg, Jozi, JHB) is the largest city in South Africa and the fourth-largest in Africa. Interestingly, South Africa has three official capital cities but Johannesburg is not one of them.

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