Ali's adventures in wonderful lands: indulgence

Friday, 1 April 2011

April Fools

Friday at last ...

After the adrenalin rush of the triathlon, Monday hit hard. By mid-day I was virtually crashing out in the classroom and decided I would have a week of total rest and pampering myself! My hair is now chocolate brown again and my feet are neatly pedicured. One of my favourite indulgences here is having the massage lady come to my house and work out all of the knots in my back. What could be better than being able to go for a nap straight afterwards? The only exercise I have done all week is a few leisurely laps at the club on Wednesday (actually I have to admit that the OCD did take over a little at this point and I didn't manage to stop until I did 40!)

Galaxy chocolate is currently on sale all over town. It's a little melted but still lovely and creamy and smooth. Caramel is best! I (almost) hope it disappears off the shelves as quickly as it appeared so that I don't develop a serious chocolate habit!

This morning was my class assembly. As soon as I saw the rota, I knew I was in for trouble having it on April Fool's Day. I think the joke was well and truly on me. A middle of the night power cut meant that my alarm failed to go off. I woke up with a start at 7.15am and had to get ready at lightning speed. If I don't have half an hour's quiet time in the morning, it puts me out of synch for the entire day. The kids performed and did a great job ... considering that one little diva decided to improvise and confused the rest of the class. I sat and watched with a bemused look on my face, but they held it together pretty well. The day ended with a Ugandan staff member in a fankle because an owl landed on the administration building which is apparently an omen of death here. And there was me thinking that the wise old owl had landed on the school building to impart his knowledge!

Friday, 14 January 2011

Light meals and an abundance of wine

It's been a while since I have written about food, so I think I can be excused for bringing it up again!
Secondly, food and wine certainly featured largely in the trip, so it would be rude not to mention it!

The first thing you should know about South African cuisine is that when you see 'Light Meals' on the menu it means nothing of the sort. I'm not sure what the difference between a 'Light Meal' and a standard meal is, as they both tend to come on plates the size of dustbin lids, except that there is perhaps a little more lettuce in the lighter option! I'm not quite sure why we never seemed to grasp this fact and spent most of the holiday feeling stuffed full, albeit of good, rich food.

Just a starter before the main feature!

Many of my friends here talk about how they miss McDonalds, but since the nearest 'Golden Arches' are over 3000 km away in Cairo, it's just a distant dream. As a veggy, I don't have these cravings, but that is not to say that I don't miss a few Western treats. My first port of call in Cape Town was not Table Mountain or Cape Point, but the Haagen-Dazs cafe at the Waterfront!

We all enjoyed more than our fair share of South African wine, sampling them along the way. I even enjoyed the day I was designated driver as this still did not stop me from drinking in the stunning mountainous scenery around Stellenbosch and Franschoek.