A Vicious Cycle

I don’t blog because there’s too much to blog about, and there’s too much to blog about because I don’t blog – it’s a vicious cycle.

But now I’m really going to do it.

When I last left you I had just sung in a concert with the University of Pretoria Youth Choir. That was less than two weeks ago, but it seriously feels like a month. I won’t try to give a day by day update, because there’s no way I can remember, so I’ll just give highlights that I do remember.

Highlight #1: Afroshine Concert!

So the show went really well. The guys did great with lots of energy, and they really got the crowd into it (and I managed not to screw up, for my part). The problem though, was that there wasn’t really much of a crowd there. There was basically no promotion done for the show whatsoever – most people who came to the show didn’t even know that Afroshine was performing! However, the venue has since asked the boys back, promising that it will be different this time and there will be promotion done and their costs will be covered (which didn’t happen by a LOT this time) and whatnot. There’s also been some talk that we could get a couple small gigs around town with just the boys singing and me playing guitar – could be fun.

Highlight #2: Walvis Bay Performance and Megan’s Departure ☹

Monday morning was a bit of a gong show. After the Afroshine concert we had to drive back to Swakop. Even though you’re not supposed to drive on the highways at night, Garth had to get to work and Mascato had a performance early in the morning in Walvis Bay, so we had to choice. So after about three hours of sleep we were up again to go to this performance (I should mention that Scott was really sick and was unable to drive us, meaning that I was driving! Still better than Scott, poor fella). Speaking of poor fellas, keep in mind that Megan had to have all her things packed because her flight left right after the performance! So, we got there, sang the national anthem and the AU anthem and we were done. Well, at least Megan and I were done – the choir sang a few more songs later in the morning, but we had to go into town. Megan’s camera screen had broken the day before and we were going to see if we could get it fixed on replaced and we needed to leave plenty of time to catch the plane. Unfortunately. Megan ended up having to buy a new camera for the second time this trip! (Her first camera stopped working after it got sand in it). After a quick bite to eat, we headed off to the Airport. FYI, Megan is spending the rest of the summer as a nanny in Spain (in case you’re wondering why she’s nowhere to be found in Edmonton).

Highlight #3: Jazz Choir!

Monday before last we started a jazz choir! We’ve been singing “If It Could Be”, “Lady Madonna”, and “Even the Pain”. Apart from Linus, Sandra, Marcelino, and I no one has sung in a jazz choir before, but it’s sounding really great so far. Scott and I have both been very impressed with their progress. Also, the group will be performing at a festival at the end of September (unfortunately I’ll be gone by then. boo!). This weekend we’ll probably start some new tunes – “Time After Time” and “Kiss by a Rose” (just imagine Romano singing the solo on that one!).

Highlight #4: Geocaching Excursion #1

Tuesday before last was Canada Day! With nothing to do, Scott and I decided to do some geocaching! There was one cache in Walvis Bay that Scott **gasp** HADN’T FOUND YET!!!! It was hidden out by the Walvis Bay lighthouse out on a sandy peninsula next to a seal colony. Since we were headed to out to Walvis, we stopped by Garth’s place in Narraville to pick up Michelle. Before we headed out on our adventure we stopped for lunch at this cool looking restaurant on stilts over the water. The food wasn’t great, but it was a cool spot – we saw tons of jellyfish out the window, and even some dolphins! After lunch our adventure began. And it really was an adventure. “Road” would be a huge overstatement for what we were driving on. It’s a good thing Scott’s truck has 4-wheel drive. It should also mention that it was extremely foggy which just added to the ambience. Although we almost got stuck in the sand a couple times, we made it out to the lighthouse and found the cache! On the way back we were able to drive right along the ocean and see seals flopping around in the water.

Highlight #5: Nigel’s Arrival

Nigel arrived in Swakop last Friday. Since he’s been here we’ve had some really great game nights. We found a toy store the other day – Scott bought a game called Puerto Rico and Nigel bought Lego. Puerto Rico is a really fun game – the best I’ve done so far is second place with 43 points, but it’s actually fun even when you lose. It’s a pretty complicated game though, so it takes a while to get into it. We’ve also played some Dutch Blitz, and I’m proud to say that the last time we played I beat Scott, Nigel, and Linus twice in a row! Nigel claims he’s out of practice, which I’m guessing is true because he has a reputation as a Dutch Blitz master.

Highlight #6: Quadding Round #2

If you’ve read my previous entries you know that our first quadding experience was a little disappointing because we were having to constantly stop and wait for one very slow woman. Ever since then we’d been feeling a need for speed and were itching to go quadding again. Unfortunately Michelle couldn’t make it this time, and Megan’s in Spain so we took Nigel and Marcelino instead. Also we took the fancy semi-automatic bikes this time so that we could go super fast (oh, and no slow people holding us up!). It was really fun – we pretty much were going full speed for two hours. It was definitely worth doing for a second time.

Highlight #7: Geocaching Excursion #2

On Monday there was a power outage all over Swakopmund for about an hour. When the light came back on though, our internet was out (and it stayed that way until we had someone in to fix it on Wednesday). So, lazy Tuesday + no internet + Linus talking like a gangster = Geocaching! Ok, so this one Scott had already found twice before, but it was still a cool spot. It was out north of Swakop in what looking like a huge pile of rocks. It was fun to see a bit of what’s outside of town. Swakopmund is a very isolated place and it’s easy to get into the mindset that if you take this one highway for 30 minutes you’ll get to Walvis Bay and if you take this other highway for 4 hours you’ll get to Windhoek, and that’s it. But actually there’s a whole bunch of other cool stuff in the area if you take to time to look. Case in point, tomorrow we're taking a day trip out to Spitzkoppe, which I won’t try to describe before I see it. Apparently it’s very beautiful though – I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures.

Speaking of pictures . . .

Marcy needed an XL helmet so that his dreads would fit


Quadding!


Linus showing the Oil some love


Heading back to the truck after finding the cache