things i'm thankful for

well, its thanksgiving day in the U.S., normally a big family (and football) affair, but this year i'll spend what i believe to be my first thanksgiving away from any kind of immediate family. nevertheless, i'm with them in spirit and i'll be there in a couple weeks anyway, so not feeling too bad about it :P i thought i'd dedicate a post to the things i'm thankful for, in the name of thanksgiving.

anyone who scoured this blog a bit ago would've probably noticed that i tended to complain about a lot of things that didn't go as planned (banking, phone contract, car, electricity, work...). and even in one of my first blogs, i attempted to write about my likes and dislikes so far and, although completely unintended, my dislikes list ended up far greater than my likes (in number tho, not necessarily in magnitude). its now been almost a year since i've been in south africa and i will attempt to do a similar thing as i list what im most thankful for. Now, of course, there are times when i still get frustrated (tho i try not to dwell on those times), but thank god i have people in my life to remind me by asking "does it raise the price of bread in my home?" or tell me "welcome to africa". leave it to my dad the other day to remind me as he very often (and in perfect timing does): "Don't stress yourself with work and never loose your focus". thanks paps. ok, on to my thankful items, in no particular order.

1. The weather, especially the sun. i'll be the first to admit that im not a huge fan of hot hot weather. but the weather here is not intensely hot yet (its getting there i think). for most of the year tho, its been absolutely beautiful weather. sometimes i just sit outside in the cool, breezy evenings and think if i came to south africa for nothing else, this would be it! now, as much as i love the weather and the sun (when its not too hot), i wish someone would do something about the sun rising at 5AM. i tend to wake up with the sun and its no fun having my body force me to wake up at this crazy hour!

2. Melodous (south) african music. i like all sorts of music, but traditional south african music is probably the most beautiful sound you have ever heard. it incorporates all the sorts of tones, languages, pitches, etc etc. and the dancing! one day i will learn proper traditional dancing. its lovely.

3. uncle obama's victory! ok, i couldn't help it; i had to put that one in. after following the rise of this man for 4 years diligently (like every day, 4 times a day...), im glad its over. or at least the campaigning side. and glad it ended up in a resounding victory for obama. and a resounding victory for the civil rights movement. and a resounding victory for good thinking and progressive americans.

4. getting a chance to go to uganda and meet some really awesome people, pray with random people (tho not strangers), and see awesome things and get to milk an awesome cow...

5. back to sa. the scenery. mountains, deserts, game... try to tell me that that's not beautiful!

6. palm trees in cape town.

7. learning words like "yoh" and "sharp" (or "chap") and "china" (no not the country, and pronounced "chauna") and "boet" and "dumeleng" and "eta" and "howzzit" and "just now" and "chap chap" and the list goes on and on.. also realising that say many of them all wrong.

8. guava juice. i used to love these guava fruit as a child and then i think i forgot about it until now. along the same lines is fanta orange (also buy it all the time). yes, fanta is in the states, but oh, my young padawan, its not the same thing.

9. MAngos! ive been in mango withdrawal for a months now bcuz theyve been out of season, but now theyre coming back as its getting warmer. plus i think i might just go back to the scary "adams family" guy to get them. theres just something about that voice and look that says i will devour you limb by limb that u just cant stay away from...

10. mugg and bean muffins. they are close to matching up to starbucks in my book. tho instead of having muffins and coffee from mugg and bean every other day, ive cut it down to every saturday (or at least i try; sometimes i go through withdrawals during the week and i just cant help myself).

11. realising that i live in a country with 11 official languages! a source of frustration at times (much harder to pick anything up than in a monolingual society). but more often a source of amazement and awe.

12. friends. really good friends. some who make me realize that im not such a good friend at times, but thats a good lesson to learn. some who challenge me in words, actions and thoughts. i had little expectations coming here, but ive been pleasantly surprised by the quality of friendships that ive been able to develop. these guys and gals are like family to me here. which brings me to my next point.

13. family. my family in the us never let me forget that theyre still there, even when i go MIA for some time. calls, emails, skypes, etc. my (indirect) family in sa never letting me forget theyre still there, even when i go MIA for some time!

14. god. indescribable. uncontainable. untameable. incomparable. unchangeable. amazing. you see the depths of my heart and u love me the same...ok i stole that from a chris tomlin song, but all the same. amazing.

There's so much more to be thankful for, but i'll stop here. maybe pick up another day. btw, in case anyone is interested, more pics at this site: link.

Happy Turkey Day!