fun and frustration

i don't think i've ever had a span of 4 or 5 days filled with so much fun and frustration like i did this long easter weekend (we, in sa, got fri and monday off, because apparently the people here are christians and like holidays). i'll start with the frustrating partS:

car issues #1: after being in the shop for 3+ weeks, hakuna matata (my car's name for now, thanks to my boy biede) came home. you would think that being away for so long, they had to have fixed the problems, right? wrong. the funny noises were still there. the air conditioning still didnt work properly. so what did they do? i'm completely convinced that they gave the car to one of the workers/technicians and he took it on vacation to botswana or zim or china, drove up the mileage (majorly) and then returned it back and boom, it was "fixed".

car issues #2: exhibit #2 that someone had taken the car for a fun ride and brought it back "fixed", i noticed the engine was very week; in fact, i had to sit in the dealer's office when i got it back while i waited for him to charge it up. this was wed. thurs,it felt even weaker. friday, it refused to start. luckily i was staying over with a friend who had jumper cables (a bit more about that later). sat, it refused to start. by now i figure the battery's not weak; it's dead. luckily i had just enough (barely) airtime to call a friend and we drove to an auto shop in just enough time (they were 5 minutes from closing) to buy a new battery. btw, u can call me mr mechanic bcuz my friend and i fixed the battery ourselves (amid sparks flying and instructions in the handbook that simply said "to replace the battery take your vehicle to the nearest audi dealership")

car issues #3: ok, this is not really an issue, but easter sunday i take it to church, get home and realize that the right front light was hanging down. apparently, i think i scraped it in the new, hill-y, and pot hole filled church car park (some easter present, huh). so i put on my handyman cap again and tried my best to push the light in and screw on the peace of the bumper that was also hanging down.

cell-phone issues: vodacom, one of the big cellphone companies here, is now the devil to me. theyve been successful at giving me hell in trying to set up a monthly contract with them. so i finally decided i want none of it; call them; demanded cancellation; told them i would not pay the cancellation fee, as the phone never was fully activated and certainly never used; and demanded a full refund of all the money i'd paid so far. after about 4 calls TODAY (including finally to corporate), they have told me that part of the refund is on its way. i now have to keep fighting for the rest of it.

ok, the negatives of this weekend may seem overwhelming, but it didnt really bother me too much, because the positives were immensely better. i had more fun this weekend than i have in a while here. the low-down:

thur: i ventured to the east rand (that's east of jo-burg...seemed like another country!) for the first time. a friend of mine (that i met through another friend) finally had enough of sa and was shipping it to the UK, so she had a farewell party. i found out at work that day that the east rand has a "special" reputation. apparently even english south africans dont hang out much there, as it is mostly an afrikaans area (tho this girl's family was scottish). turns out it wasn't that bad at all. still very white, of course, but not too bad. i met a lot of very friendly people (lots). party-ed all night there; spent the night at the girls brother's place (who luckily had the jumper cables); and left on friday morning.

fri: had lunch with some work colleagues. it was more of a brunch/lunch/dinner, cuz we spent a lot of time at the restaurant. it was good to just hang out and chill tho. sat: after fixing the battery in my car, i was ready for some good chicken; so we had some. a lot actually. the night was extremely good too. went to 2 clubs here in jo-burg. one was very mmts, mmts, mmts (they reallllly like the techno, house, trance-type music here). could only stand so much of that, so we continued to a much more freindlier atmosphere of hip hip. i'm not one for clubs but this place is now probly one of my favorite. they played both new hip hop and a lot of old school stuff and the dj really mixed it up all night. it was nice, met lots more nice people, and actually danced all night (thats right i danced!)...until my feet could barely move. sun and mon were spent going to church, having lunch with friends, and running away from the police twice (ok, maybe it wasn't that serious/cool, but thats my story and im sticking to it). but overall, one of the best weekends i've had in a while. i took no pictures, but i can't guarantee that some will not be popping up on facebook.

im taking this friday off (so reallly short wk for me) to go hiking in Drakensburg, so i'll def have pictures up for my next post, for you textually-challenged group!