There are better pictures of the henna on my hands but I like this picture which just shows my hands in a normal activity.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
my hands on my way to Oman
There are better pictures of the henna on my hands but I like this picture which just shows my hands in a normal activity.
"Adrift on the Nile" by Naguib Mahfouz
Here is another book for Melissa's book challenge. The advantage of this one is that it is also one of the book on my "99 books that capture the Spirit of Africa" list.Naguib Mahfouz is a fabulous writer, or is this too obvious since he is a winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature"?
He writes stories which could nearly be taken to be simple. As you read his work though you cannot help but know that everything is a metaphor, everything is a parable but you cannot tell for sure what the message is, if there is one really and if what you read in it tells you more about yourself or about Naguib Mahfouz. His writing is loaded with morals, messages, typically unspoken truisms about human nature and philosophical thoughts. "Adrift on the Nile" is no different that way. It is the story of few friends who have respectable and even successful lives in day time but meet in the evening on a houseboat on the Nile to smoke kif (obviously a drug from the story, a mildly hallucigenic possibly, but honestly I do not know). Anis Zaki lives on the house boat. He is the "master of ceremonies" and all the other characters just drop by. From the start you get the sense that these friends have been meeting regularly for a long time and even though small things in their meetings may change their friendship has been the same for a long time and is both shallow and solid at the same time. One day one of them brings a young woman, self proclaimed "serious woman". She is a journalist who dreams to write plays and does not share the water pipe with them. From that point on things change slightly, enough for them to decide one evening to take a road trip instead of staying at the boathouse. During this trip an accident happens and their friendship and lives are changed. I really don't want to say too much and spoil the book for you.
Maybe on another day I would describe the book as a story showing the struggle of people between futility and seriousness, or is it between absurdity and meaning, right and wrong, hope and despair, sadness and principles (I know a weird juxtaposition here)?
What can I say it is a book by Naguib Mahfouz and you have to read it so you can decide what it is for you. Truth is there is no story, or none that you need to remember, there are only situations and feelings, relations and reactions, basically people getting together every night and being friends.
Here is a passage... I guess I should say that one of the character who is a known womanizer possibly fell in love with the "Serious young woman" and is asked if he would contemplate marriage...here it is:
" He paused a moment before saying: "No." His hesitation made a deep impression on everyone. Why don't I put the brazier out on the balcony and have my own fire festival? Its blaze is immortal, unlike that of false stars. But women are like the dust, known not only by their rich scent but by the way they seep and settle into you. Cleopatra, for all her amours, never divulged the secret of her heart. The love of a woman is like political theater: there is no doubt about the loftiness of its goals, but you wonder about the integrity of it. No one benefits from this houseboat like the rats and the cockroaches and the geckos. And nothing bursts in unannounced through your door like grief. And yesterday the dawn said to me when it broke that really it had no name."
Friday, February 27, 2009
Oops seven posts on Ethiopia
Oops, seven blog posts about Ethiopia all in a couple of hours...too many maybe.
But they have photos!
But they have photos!
Ethiopia: Markets outside Addis
I was in Ethiopia for such a short time (5 days only) and since I didn't want to rush around and drive all the time, instead most everyday I rented a car (with a driver in this case which is totally unusual for me) and we did day trips with lots of stopping and not so much driving.
Here is one of the markets we saw...and yes this is where I got fleas from the donkeys, but I hold no grudges.
It was just shear luck that we drove through on market day. Absolutely no planning went into it. It was a busy place. I loved it.
You could barely see a village around this. It seemed to me that it was mostly a market.
While walking through it people definitely looked at me, we were far away from the anyway practically none existent tourist path and on top of it at one stand while the owner was not looking a goat started eating her goods so I shouted at the goat and shooed him away. The women around me laughed, called the owner to let her know I had defended her goods and a brief completely funny little moment ensued where everybody had something to say...but I will never know what they said though the owner seemed pleased that the goat had not eaten too much.
What a great scene.
Here is a closer look at it.
This one is form another side by the side of the road. The side of the road was full of women saling goods. I just asked if I could take her pictures, so here she is.
Here is one of the markets we saw...and yes this is where I got fleas from the donkeys, but I hold no grudges.
It was just shear luck that we drove through on market day. Absolutely no planning went into it. It was a busy place. I loved it.
You could barely see a village around this. It seemed to me that it was mostly a market.
While walking through it people definitely looked at me, we were far away from the anyway practically none existent tourist path and on top of it at one stand while the owner was not looking a goat started eating her goods so I shouted at the goat and shooed him away. The women around me laughed, called the owner to let her know I had defended her goods and a brief completely funny little moment ensued where everybody had something to say...but I will never know what they said though the owner seemed pleased that the goat had not eaten too much.
What a great scene.
Here is a closer look at it.
This one is form another side by the side of the road. The side of the road was full of women saling goods. I just asked if I could take her pictures, so here she is.
Ethiopia: Markets in Addis
I keep on saying how much I liked Addis, but let's be fair the countryside of Ethiopia is even nicer.
Just to make a point: here are the stands and markets in Addis. Next I'll do the markets in the countryside.
I
Just to make a point: here are the stands and markets in Addis. Next I'll do the markets in the countryside.
I 
Some houses in Addis along the "Chinese Road"
This is "the Chinese Road" (as it was described to me)apparently the Chinese are building a very big highway which goes from Addis to ??? . Sorry I never asked. I don't even know if it is the Chinese governement or a private Chinese company. OK I am a useless traveler!
I generally don't like taking pictures of people or places to show the rest of the world how poor some people are so I have no pictures of the huge areas with the shacks I was referring too but here is a sense of what it may be like. Remember this is the good looking areas, if you turn that corner into the gravel road you see in the second picture it goes for a long way with houses getting quite small and quite poor.
Ethiopia Lion of Judah
And then of course you have the Ethiopia's Lion of Judah.
Somehow in "real Life" the sculpture is quite charismatic.
Somehow in "real Life" the sculpture is quite charismatic.
More street scenes of Addis Ababa
Again there is no particular message here, these are just random photos.
Addis Ababa random street photos
There is no particular message in this. I just want to show scenes of Addis Ababa. But maybe you can understand from them why I liked Addis.
Ethiopia land of eucalyptus
Yes, I know eucalyptus are not native of Ethiopia but apparently since the 1920s they have been planted in mass in Ethiopia because they grow relatively fast. In fact flying over Ethiopia before landing I noticed how about half the forest had a silver colour while the rest was clearly evergreens and I wondered what the "silver tree" was.
In the hills around Addis Ababa there are forests of eucalyptus and many women make a living going into the hills, cutting wood and walking back down in the afternoon to sale the wood in town.
People mostly still live in small shacks even in Addis. I don't want to misrepresent Addis and make it sound like a huge slum but in addition to very western looking buildings the majority of people live in small shacks and they cook on fires. As a result you can usually smell wood smoke and in the early morning you can see it in the air. I remember waking up in Addis wondering where I was, listening to the roosters and smelling the wood smoke and I remember thinking "I must be in Africa" before waking up fully and feeling happy that I was in Ethiopia. That very same morning I took a picture to show the air full of smoke hoping it would remind me of the feel and the smell in the air...and it does.
Here is another shot from my hotel room at a completely different time just to show what Addis is made of.
You see the edge of the Hilton tennis court and the houses with goats right behind. This is in the centre of Addis Ababa and the houses are quite nice. You can see that they have electricity and eucalyptus trees even here.
The hills around Addis are of course now in part naked because Addis is a BIG city and regardless of how fast eucalyptus grow the daily house fires of Addis are burning them faster than they can grow. This is a view of Addis in the distance taken from one of the hills the women go to to collect wood. there must be some rules on where the wood is cut because some parts of the hills were totally naked while others seemed practically untouched, as you can see in this picture.
The women walking down are loaded with huge bundles of wood.
Their only chance to rest is when they get at little walls by the side of the road so they can rest they load without having to pick it up off the ground again.
Women and donkeys go uphill "empty" and downhill loaded beyond belief. I never saw a man loaded with wood.
In the hills around Addis Ababa there are forests of eucalyptus and many women make a living going into the hills, cutting wood and walking back down in the afternoon to sale the wood in town.
People mostly still live in small shacks even in Addis. I don't want to misrepresent Addis and make it sound like a huge slum but in addition to very western looking buildings the majority of people live in small shacks and they cook on fires. As a result you can usually smell wood smoke and in the early morning you can see it in the air. I remember waking up in Addis wondering where I was, listening to the roosters and smelling the wood smoke and I remember thinking "I must be in Africa" before waking up fully and feeling happy that I was in Ethiopia. That very same morning I took a picture to show the air full of smoke hoping it would remind me of the feel and the smell in the air...and it does.
Here is another shot from my hotel room at a completely different time just to show what Addis is made of.
You see the edge of the Hilton tennis court and the houses with goats right behind. This is in the centre of Addis Ababa and the houses are quite nice. You can see that they have electricity and eucalyptus trees even here.The hills around Addis are of course now in part naked because Addis is a BIG city and regardless of how fast eucalyptus grow the daily house fires of Addis are burning them faster than they can grow. This is a view of Addis in the distance taken from one of the hills the women go to to collect wood. there must be some rules on where the wood is cut because some parts of the hills were totally naked while others seemed practically untouched, as you can see in this picture.
The women walking down are loaded with huge bundles of wood.
Their only chance to rest is when they get at little walls by the side of the road so they can rest they load without having to pick it up off the ground again.
Women and donkeys go uphill "empty" and downhill loaded beyond belief. I never saw a man loaded with wood.
Addis Ababa's museum
I guess I never really showed pictures of Ethiopia.
Here are some from the museum in Addis Ababa. Pretty interesting museum and you could even take some pictures.
Of course I had to go and see Lucy. I think that the sign pinned on the plywood over the entrance way gives you a good sense of the general style of the museum.
And here Lucy, but honestly I think it was a cast. I think the actual skeleton is traveling somewhere but I am not sure.
And here is the sign with it. I think one of the visitor when I was there was an paleoanthropolgy student or scholar of some sort, he was ecstatic. It was fun to watch him.
Lots of painting too in this museum here is one I liked which shows well the typical style of painting you see in Ethiopia. (note the coffee pot)
Here are some from the museum in Addis Ababa. Pretty interesting museum and you could even take some pictures.
Of course I had to go and see Lucy. I think that the sign pinned on the plywood over the entrance way gives you a good sense of the general style of the museum.
And here Lucy, but honestly I think it was a cast. I think the actual skeleton is traveling somewhere but I am not sure.
And here is the sign with it. I think one of the visitor when I was there was an paleoanthropolgy student or scholar of some sort, he was ecstatic. It was fun to watch him.
Lots of painting too in this museum here is one I liked which shows well the typical style of painting you see in Ethiopia. (note the coffee pot)
Even in bad weather there is always frankincense
Its is funny how the body can get use to nearly anything.
When I was working in northern Canada regardless of the temperature I would walk to camp for lunch. This would typically mean anything from half a kilometre up to three kilometres and temperature would quite often be around -30C. But I would bundle up and walk to lunch.
Now I haven't lived in a proper Canadian winter in a few years and I am just back from a South African summer, mind you not a particularly warm one as this year is rainy and Johannesburg where I am is 1900 metres above sea level, and I am having a hard time with present day temperature in Calgary.
The last three days the temperatures stayed between -24C and -15C. I would have found this cold but still reasonable not that long ago. But now I don't anymore and I am spending most of my time indoor, though I made an effort and walked to the library (a 20 minute walk) two days ago, and to the post office (only 10 minutes) and to the grocery store (another 5 minutes) yesterday.
This morning I read the weather forecast and things are supposed to improve slowly, by Tuesday the temperature should be above zero..... I'm leaving Wednesday!!!
Anyway as a treat today as I am making my typical morning cup of coffee from the stove-top coffee maker I put two small lumps of frankincense under the stove burner and the house smells wonderful! I love the smell of frankincense and the smell of frankincense mixed with the smell of coffee reminds me of Ethiopia.
When I was working in northern Canada regardless of the temperature I would walk to camp for lunch. This would typically mean anything from half a kilometre up to three kilometres and temperature would quite often be around -30C. But I would bundle up and walk to lunch.
Now I haven't lived in a proper Canadian winter in a few years and I am just back from a South African summer, mind you not a particularly warm one as this year is rainy and Johannesburg where I am is 1900 metres above sea level, and I am having a hard time with present day temperature in Calgary.
The last three days the temperatures stayed between -24C and -15C. I would have found this cold but still reasonable not that long ago. But now I don't anymore and I am spending most of my time indoor, though I made an effort and walked to the library (a 20 minute walk) two days ago, and to the post office (only 10 minutes) and to the grocery store (another 5 minutes) yesterday.
This morning I read the weather forecast and things are supposed to improve slowly, by Tuesday the temperature should be above zero..... I'm leaving Wednesday!!!
Anyway as a treat today as I am making my typical morning cup of coffee from the stove-top coffee maker I put two small lumps of frankincense under the stove burner and the house smells wonderful! I love the smell of frankincense and the smell of frankincense mixed with the smell of coffee reminds me of Ethiopia.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
“Doctor Fischer of Geneva or the Bomb Party” by Graham Greene
I thought I would use this book as my first book in Melissa's Book Challenge because it has “Geneva” in the title. In truth I do not think that it really capture the intended spirit of the challenge, but just in case, here it is.
This rather thin book describes one small part of the life of a toothpaste millionaire who lives in Geneva and who is a pretty cold and weird character. His wife died after he ruined the life of the man she was seeing secretly so she could listen to music, and during the book his daughter dies but he does not go to her funeral because she reminds him too much of his wife. Most of all this man “entertains” himself by having parties to which he invites a small group of faithful acquaintances - he refuses to call them friends. And these parties are designed as experiments to see how far the greed of rich people will take them.
I like Graham Greene. Here is a small extract of “Doctor Fischer of Geneva….”
“..But how does one describe happiness? Unhappiness we can so easily describe – I was unhappy, we say, because…. We remember this and that, giving good reasons, but happiness is like one of those islands far out in the Pacific which has been reported by sailors when it emerges from the haze where no cartographer has ever marked it. The island disappears again for a generation, but no navigator can be quite certain that it only existed in the imagination of some long-dead lookout.”
Isn’t he right? It is so hard to describe happiness, and so easy to describe unhappiness.
This rather thin book describes one small part of the life of a toothpaste millionaire who lives in Geneva and who is a pretty cold and weird character. His wife died after he ruined the life of the man she was seeing secretly so she could listen to music, and during the book his daughter dies but he does not go to her funeral because she reminds him too much of his wife. Most of all this man “entertains” himself by having parties to which he invites a small group of faithful acquaintances - he refuses to call them friends. And these parties are designed as experiments to see how far the greed of rich people will take them.
I like Graham Greene. Here is a small extract of “Doctor Fischer of Geneva….”
“..But how does one describe happiness? Unhappiness we can so easily describe – I was unhappy, we say, because…. We remember this and that, giving good reasons, but happiness is like one of those islands far out in the Pacific which has been reported by sailors when it emerges from the haze where no cartographer has ever marked it. The island disappears again for a generation, but no navigator can be quite certain that it only existed in the imagination of some long-dead lookout.”
Isn’t he right? It is so hard to describe happiness, and so easy to describe unhappiness.
Posted a bit late, but here is Xmas
I can't remember but I must have said something about spending Xmas at the rig.
I just found what I wrote at the time intending to post it here. SO here is it a bit late but ....
Even though I had plans for Christmas and everybody knew about them, on December 22nd at 4:30pm as I was leaving the office I was told that the next morning, very early, I would have to go to the rig because my back-to-back thought that the next part of the operation would be too much work for him. I was quite angry about it, but I went. When I arrived at the rig I remembered why I like working rigs. Everybody said “Welcome back” and the working atmosphere was great. Ultimately it was great to go back to the offshore rig that I would have never seen again if it hadn’t been for my incredibly lazy and selfish back-to back.
All this was last minute and I had nearly finished with “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen so I took with me “the Light that Failed” by Rudyard Kipling, thinking that it was going to be a simple, light, probably written for kids, book. I should say that even the cover gives that impression. Now I know “Do not judge a book by its cover”, but cannot you trust a book by its author? I say this because it turned out to be quite a dark little book. I wanted to finish it and I did, but it had none of the qualities I was hoping for when I bought it. I am a great fan of “the just so stories” and particularly the story about the elephant child. In fact the story of the elephant child is the reason why my first trip in South Africa was to see the Limpopo. This book was totally different. I don’t want to say too much in case you want to read it but in general terms it is the story of a man who was an orphan and now is an artist who became famous after his illustrations of the war in get published in a London newspaper. Already the character himself is pretty dark, as his preferred subject matter suggests, but from once in London a succession of terrible circumstances make him even darker….and that is all I am going to say! About “Pride and Prejudice” so much as been written that I really do not think I need to add anything, so all I will say is:While reading “Pride and Prejudice” I wanted to write and speak in perfect English. She writes beautifully!
In a totally different style here are two photos of things which look beautiful to me. I took these during my December time at the rig.
I just found what I wrote at the time intending to post it here. SO here is it a bit late but ....
Even though I had plans for Christmas and everybody knew about them, on December 22nd at 4:30pm as I was leaving the office I was told that the next morning, very early, I would have to go to the rig because my back-to-back thought that the next part of the operation would be too much work for him. I was quite angry about it, but I went. When I arrived at the rig I remembered why I like working rigs. Everybody said “Welcome back” and the working atmosphere was great. Ultimately it was great to go back to the offshore rig that I would have never seen again if it hadn’t been for my incredibly lazy and selfish back-to back.
All this was last minute and I had nearly finished with “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen so I took with me “the Light that Failed” by Rudyard Kipling, thinking that it was going to be a simple, light, probably written for kids, book. I should say that even the cover gives that impression. Now I know “Do not judge a book by its cover”, but cannot you trust a book by its author? I say this because it turned out to be quite a dark little book. I wanted to finish it and I did, but it had none of the qualities I was hoping for when I bought it. I am a great fan of “the just so stories” and particularly the story about the elephant child. In fact the story of the elephant child is the reason why my first trip in South Africa was to see the Limpopo. This book was totally different. I don’t want to say too much in case you want to read it but in general terms it is the story of a man who was an orphan and now is an artist who became famous after his illustrations of the war in get published in a London newspaper. Already the character himself is pretty dark, as his preferred subject matter suggests, but from once in London a succession of terrible circumstances make him even darker….and that is all I am going to say! About “Pride and Prejudice” so much as been written that I really do not think I need to add anything, so all I will say is:While reading “Pride and Prejudice” I wanted to write and speak in perfect English. She writes beautifully!
In a totally different style here are two photos of things which look beautiful to me. I took these during my December time at the rig.
Lying about his age
Mugabe is NOT turning 85, he is turning 87 this year. For some unclear reasons he turned 82 three years in a row. Who cares how old he is? I don't understand the lie.
Bob, we know you are 87!!!
So ignore BBC's article on his birthday.
Bob, we know you are 87!!!
So ignore BBC's article on his birthday.
Lentil soup, new pot and metal animals
I am never home and my fridge looks like a "bachelor's fridge" with lots of condiments. But there is one difference between my fridge and the typical bachelor's fridge, it is that in my fridge what was original designed as a vegetable drawer is full of East Indian spices, lentils and beans. Today I woke up to -10C and since I am just back from a southern African summer I am finding it a bit rough so I decided to make myself some sort of lentil soup to warm up.
I have put ual dall, black ural dall, white ural dall, massor dall and moong dall with some regular split peas to soak and now I have a few hours to decide if I should go the "fenugreg", "cumin and tumeric or "tomatoes and shitake" way. Though I may try something totally different and let the Lentil and lime soup receipe from Nami-Nami inspire me into a different flavour.
I love fenugreg it reminds me of Yemen. "Tumeric and cumin" is maybe too obvious and "Tomato and shitake" is too wintery I think so I ill probably try some version of a spicy lime soup today.
The black pot I included in the photo is a new small pot I bought in South Africa.
I found a woman who makes pots. The photo does not show well but there is an interesting but simple design around the rim. I think I will go and see her buy more pots and ask her to make some more for me. This one is one of the medium size one she had. She also make small round pots which fit exactly into cups hands. The trouble of course is always to bring them back without breaking them. I travel with a big duffel bag which I seldom fill and whenever I carry pottery or anything fragile, as I did coming back from Ethiopia, I just buy one or two plastic buckets, put everything in with clothes as packing material and I close them with shrink wrap. So far nearly everything has survived the trips. A few coffee cups did break coming back from Ethiopia. In this case the bucket was actually more expensive than the pot. I also threw in a few metal animals made of recycled cans.
Here is a better picture of the pot with some of the metal animals. I particularly like the lion. The guys who make those have such a fabulous sense of 3D!
I have put ual dall, black ural dall, white ural dall, massor dall and moong dall with some regular split peas to soak and now I have a few hours to decide if I should go the "fenugreg", "cumin and tumeric or "tomatoes and shitake" way. Though I may try something totally different and let the Lentil and lime soup receipe from Nami-Nami inspire me into a different flavour.
I love fenugreg it reminds me of Yemen. "Tumeric and cumin" is maybe too obvious and "Tomato and shitake" is too wintery I think so I ill probably try some version of a spicy lime soup today.
The black pot I included in the photo is a new small pot I bought in South Africa.I found a woman who makes pots. The photo does not show well but there is an interesting but simple design around the rim. I think I will go and see her buy more pots and ask her to make some more for me. This one is one of the medium size one she had. She also make small round pots which fit exactly into cups hands. The trouble of course is always to bring them back without breaking them. I travel with a big duffel bag which I seldom fill and whenever I carry pottery or anything fragile, as I did coming back from Ethiopia, I just buy one or two plastic buckets, put everything in with clothes as packing material and I close them with shrink wrap. So far nearly everything has survived the trips. A few coffee cups did break coming back from Ethiopia. In this case the bucket was actually more expensive than the pot. I also threw in a few metal animals made of recycled cans.
Here is a better picture of the pot with some of the metal animals. I particularly like the lion. The guys who make those have such a fabulous sense of 3D!
Bananas
I just thought I would pass on to you a really interesting article about bananas.
I have to admit that "interesting" and "bananas" may not be two words you expect to see in the same sentence, but just give it a try.
I have to admit that "interesting" and "bananas" may not be two words you expect to see in the same sentence, but just give it a try.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
I am moving to Johannesburg for the next six months.
I keep on saying that "work is crazy busy" and I really thought that it was a phase...mind you a long phase...but I have come to realize that this is not a phase: It will remain busy this way always.
I am at home right now and will be going back to Johannesburg in about 10 days. The big difference is that I am going on a six months contract to live in Johannesburg and work in the office. I have rented myself a house and I am planning to work seriously on having a decent life style when I am in Johannesburg. I have long ago figured the way to be happy by always traveling and now I am going to try a little bit of "how to be happy with a nine-to-five" life...of course "nine-to-five" in this case is more a "six-to-six" but I am trying to improve this and cut the hours down to eleven hours per day. It might be wishful thinking on my part but after all I am one of the few, if not the only one, working such long hours. It comes from my rig background. When I work I find it normal to work until I have to stop to eat / sleep or do anything basic life things.
I had found an absolutely wonderful house to rent but the day after I visited it it was sold. I was very disappointed. It was such a wonderful house. I found another house to rent (though the first 10 days I will be in a bed and breakfast) for the same rent it is not half as nice but it is OK. Had I not seen the other house I may have found this house quite nice. Either way, the deal is made, the lease is signed, the deposit has been deposited and it is happening. I'll post photos once I move in.
It has 2 bedrooms each with its en-suite bathroom so if people want to visit here is your chance...I am not holding my breath I know that money is not flowing the way it used to and South Africa is a long way away and a fairly expensive ticket...anyway, the invitation is out.
Here are the photos from the real estate agent:
This is the master bedroom with a gas fireplace which I imagine that I will have to use in winter. the entire wall on the garden side is just glass...and yep, there is a tiny swimming pool! If you had ever asked me if I would ever have a house with a swimming pool I would have answered no without a second of hesitation.
This is the kitchen as seen from the entrance. This window looks onto the street side but you cannot see the street and nobody can see inside from the street. Houses in Johannesburg are often build like little bunkers. Inside it is all airy and open but there is a wall all around the house. There is also an alarm with all kind of motion detectors etc... This is Johannesburg after all.
This is the living room, also with a gas fireplace, as seen from the glass door to the garden. You can see the kitchen far at the end....and the light feature over the dining room will have to go!! What is it with me getting houses with hideous light features?
Living room from the kitchen...you can use the light feature from the 70s as point of reference...
The bathroom. There are three bathrooms I can't remember which one it is. The photo doesn't show its best feature. The tree is in a pot in a tiny little "atrium" a walled in small space opened to the outside and most of all day light. So you get day light and you never need curtains. It is a very South African thing to do. I visited another house, which was just too big for me, with several of those. One of the "atrium" was between the kitchen and the living room. They are great you can open the window and get fresh air...and relatively cool air since the sun does not hit the walls, and get extra windows with day light. In areas where it snows this is probably not a great idea, but what a great feature otherwise.
So, is anybody going to come and visit?
This house in a area of Jo'burg called Parkhurst. Very trendy area with art galleries, lots of restaurants and a secondhand bookstore. Which brings to mind: in the area where my Canadian house is (Kensington) there used to be 4 secondhand bookstores and they are now all gone!!! Crap!!!! Now I have to go quite a ways to get to a secondhand bookstore!
I am at home right now and will be going back to Johannesburg in about 10 days. The big difference is that I am going on a six months contract to live in Johannesburg and work in the office. I have rented myself a house and I am planning to work seriously on having a decent life style when I am in Johannesburg. I have long ago figured the way to be happy by always traveling and now I am going to try a little bit of "how to be happy with a nine-to-five" life...of course "nine-to-five" in this case is more a "six-to-six" but I am trying to improve this and cut the hours down to eleven hours per day. It might be wishful thinking on my part but after all I am one of the few, if not the only one, working such long hours. It comes from my rig background. When I work I find it normal to work until I have to stop to eat / sleep or do anything basic life things.
I had found an absolutely wonderful house to rent but the day after I visited it it was sold. I was very disappointed. It was such a wonderful house. I found another house to rent (though the first 10 days I will be in a bed and breakfast) for the same rent it is not half as nice but it is OK. Had I not seen the other house I may have found this house quite nice. Either way, the deal is made, the lease is signed, the deposit has been deposited and it is happening. I'll post photos once I move in.
It has 2 bedrooms each with its en-suite bathroom so if people want to visit here is your chance...I am not holding my breath I know that money is not flowing the way it used to and South Africa is a long way away and a fairly expensive ticket...anyway, the invitation is out.
Here are the photos from the real estate agent:
This is the master bedroom with a gas fireplace which I imagine that I will have to use in winter. the entire wall on the garden side is just glass...and yep, there is a tiny swimming pool! If you had ever asked me if I would ever have a house with a swimming pool I would have answered no without a second of hesitation.
This is the kitchen as seen from the entrance. This window looks onto the street side but you cannot see the street and nobody can see inside from the street. Houses in Johannesburg are often build like little bunkers. Inside it is all airy and open but there is a wall all around the house. There is also an alarm with all kind of motion detectors etc... This is Johannesburg after all.
This is the living room, also with a gas fireplace, as seen from the glass door to the garden. You can see the kitchen far at the end....and the light feature over the dining room will have to go!! What is it with me getting houses with hideous light features?
Living room from the kitchen...you can use the light feature from the 70s as point of reference...
The bathroom. There are three bathrooms I can't remember which one it is. The photo doesn't show its best feature. The tree is in a pot in a tiny little "atrium" a walled in small space opened to the outside and most of all day light. So you get day light and you never need curtains. It is a very South African thing to do. I visited another house, which was just too big for me, with several of those. One of the "atrium" was between the kitchen and the living room. They are great you can open the window and get fresh air...and relatively cool air since the sun does not hit the walls, and get extra windows with day light. In areas where it snows this is probably not a great idea, but what a great feature otherwise.
So, is anybody going to come and visit?This house in a area of Jo'burg called Parkhurst. Very trendy area with art galleries, lots of restaurants and a secondhand bookstore. Which brings to mind: in the area where my Canadian house is (Kensington) there used to be 4 secondhand bookstores and they are now all gone!!! Crap!!!! Now I have to go quite a ways to get to a secondhand bookstore!
Monday, February 02, 2009
a little bit of news
I have been pretty bad with this blog. Truth is work is completely crazy. I am cutting down and trying to work between eleven and a half and twelve hours a day...in the office!!!
I just want to post a piece of news:
I am going to work in the office for the next six months in Johannesburg (starting in March) and will be renting my own house etc.
I am really looking forward to the house part. I have already chosen which neighborhood I want to live in...and this is a very important decision in Johannesburg. Tomorrow I am going to visit a few places to for rent. Wish me luck.
I just want to post a piece of news:
I am going to work in the office for the next six months in Johannesburg (starting in March) and will be renting my own house etc.
I am really looking forward to the house part. I have already chosen which neighborhood I want to live in...and this is a very important decision in Johannesburg. Tomorrow I am going to visit a few places to for rent. Wish me luck.
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