Sims and Diffs

There are many similarities to the US and some big differences as well. Overall the move here was not all that jarring. It is much more developed than other countries I’ve spent time in and I can easily get whatever I need. 

There are some Kroger type grocery shops in Grahamstown and the food is very reasonably priced. The South African Rand (ZAR) is about R13.75 to 1 USD, so that R312 grocery bill was about $23. Cheese was the most expensive item in this run. Considering I got clean and clear face soap and dove body wash it's pretty amazing that I also got any food at all! On that note I can get just about any cosmetic product or at least a substitute of anything I would need. I have noted that anything that is pre-prepared is meant to be eaten asap (a bag of spring greens I got went bad overnight). So I have pretty much quit buying anything along those lines because as one person I end up wasting a big part of it. My house does have a compost pile though so I can at least compost it as opposed to the landfill. I also clearly still have a Monster addiction.

Things are very affordable

My first grocery run

I've been now to four different restaurants. Relish, Saints, Fraisers, and of course the Rat and Parrot. The food is pretty standard fare. There aren't any dishes I've come across yet that strike me as especially African or South African. It's very affordable to have a couple meals out a week. I think my bill even with a drink has never been over R100 or about $7.50 a meal. The portions are appropriate, not so big you have tomorrows lunch as well, and everything I've had has been pretty good. Relish is my favorite for lunch so far and the Rat has great pizza. 

Cultural differences are the biggest change. There are several languages spoken here Afrikaans, Xhosa, and Zulu are the most common after English. I've learned a lot of new words that are basically the slang used here, or sometimes a word in one of the other languages. Some examples: howzit = Hello, eish = apparently means anything-excitement, anger, shock, horror, lekker = awesome, mooi = awesome, cozy = swimsuit, oak = older man? maybe but not 100% sure, hectic = too much or crazy, and shame = means shame but they say it for EVERYTHING 

Me:I left my coat at home
Friend: Oh shame
Me: My experiment isn't working
Friend: Oh shame man
There are also lots of exclamations that are just onomotopoeia too such as yessis and sho. 

Chilling on the farm before a nice Friday night braai

They also have a braai instead of a bbq. It's quite different and to me combines the basics of a bbq with the fire of camping. A braai pit is lit and everyone chills while the fire gets to an appropriate level for cooking. Then you make the food and eat and drink while sitting around the remainder of the fire. They happen all the time from what I can tell. Tuesday night? Perfect for a braai. Leave work early Friday? Perfect braai time. I'm not sure that they'll be as popular when winter hits, but I'll keep you posted.

So. Much. Meat

There are so many birds here and some animals are free to wander in the streets. Loads of new insects are buzzing around as well. I have seen zebra, elephants, giraffe, tortoises, and monkeys just driving down the road. Haven't managed to photo any of the big ones yet, but I'll be planning a trip to a reserve sometime soon to get this ticked off the bucket list.

Donkeys own the streets.
They don't seem to belong to anyone
or be taken care of.

Hadeda Ibis. These guys make some ridiculous noise
but I kind of love them

Another important thing to note is the struggle with infrastructure. The potholes in the road can eat a small vehicle. The electric is provided by a single company and has scheduled shut downs called load shedding. They mostly happen at times I don't care about like 3-5am or 11-1pm when I'm at work. The lab has a generator so this doesn't affect us. The annoying ones are when it's around 7am or 7pm. Our water pumps run on electricity so it also means no showering or dish washing. Water itself is the biggest problem. There has been a serious drought occurring throughout much of South Africa for the last coupe years. Grahamstown has been severely affected and there are many people who have had to go days without running water in their homes. The place I rent has a bore hole, basically a well, and rain tanks for drinking water, so I haven't struggled too much at home. At work however, I have struggled to get enough water for experiments. Working on invasive water plants sort of necessitates water. and has been one of a few sources of frustration. All in all it hasn't been too bad especially compared to Senegal where I had no electricity or indoor plumbing.