Week Two (Snakes & Thunderstorms)

ok, i promised i was going to enact a new policy of "if something exciting happens, wait a day or two before writing about it". i was thinking i needed to sleep on stories and see if i still thought they were so amazing the next day before sitting down and writing 10 pages about it. this was inspired by my experience with getting a haircut. looking back, it was weird but not worth writing about. the point to gather is that i'm constantly sticking out like a sore thumb because i don't understand policy over here that's totally the norm. people look at you like you're crazy when your hairstylist offers you a drink or tea and you say, "no thanks, i'm getting a haircut right now. i think i'm busy". i also didn't expect a 10 minute scalp massage. i'm sure steve experienced similar in malaysia but at least he had coworkers and family to guide him through it.

i'm sitting down to write about finding my first frog in my place. something jumped out from behind the trash and i thought it was just a gecko, but it was a very colorful frog. the part of the story i want to relate is that when i went to get the landlord and ask him what to do (the question seemed more appropriate in my head), he said that frogs are a good sign. it means there aren't too many snakes around. brown (non-poisonous but biting) snakes are very common around here. yesterday's headline was 'house overun by snakes'. there are newspaper salesman on each corner (you get to know them by name eventually and practice your zulu or whatever language with them) and you can read the headlines while waiting for the robot (traffic light) to change. ian, my ride to work, explained, "it must be a good day in the world when that's the headline". the main paper for kwazulu-natal province buries it's foreign stories deep. angelina jolie's baby, however, counts as a local story. madonna too.
moving along, ian had read the story that morning and told me that the woman with the infested house believes someone cast a curse on her. she said it earnestly and it was reported with all seriousness. ian says a very considerable portion of the population really believes in that stuff.

let's break the rule i just made two more times. i know it sounds cliche but i'm also not fitting in

whoah, power just went out. did i mention i'm in the middle of a crazy thunderstorm? i just heard a lightning strike that sounded like it belonged in a george lucas film. hell, i feel like i'm in a movie theater right now because the lightning here is a constant flickering. i've gotta find my camera to video this scene. i just bought matches for my candles after work today. well, seeing as battery life is limited, i'll wait until tomorrow to talk about the woman named 'fortunate' that cleans for 70 rand (10 dollars) a day for richard and priscilla (and starting next week, me). the story of putting my wine from soquel vineyards that i brought for bruce 3 months ago up against a wine brought by bruce's son in law. and a young black coworker virgilio.

until next time,

jonah