Saturday, June 27, 2009

Springboks defeat the Lions once again...and Donovan is famous!

On Friday night I bartended at a going away party for a girl named Jen who was moving to South Africa to be with her boyfriend! This is me:






On Saturday we went into London to The Puzzle to watch South Africa kick some British butt (again)! It was actually a really exciting game. At the end it was tied and then South Africa kicked some kind of goal thing and won!

This is us listening to an Ipod on the train on the way to the game:



And check this out! The tubes in London get SO busy during rush hour that they actually have a sign posted that says: "Peak hours may necessitate that you let people sit on your lap". And here's a picture to prove it! Donovan says he has had people sit on this lap before! Luckily they weren't pretty girls though...



At all these South African bars there is this free newspaper that is published weekly called "The South African". I grabbed a copy and guess who I saw while I was flipping through?! You guessed it--Donovan! Here is a picture of the page:



That's a photo from last week's rugby game. This week the bar was a bit smaller and PACKED. It was literally like a suana in there! I drank a pitcher of Pimms and had a skewer of prawns. Yummy! Here is a pic:


Here is the winning kick:



Oh and I met that lady for babysitting last night and she offerred me 5 pounds an hour so I said payceeeeeeeeee

Friday, June 26, 2009

Braaing and Babysitting

Last night we went to Donovan's friend Anton's house for a braai. A braai (pronounced "bri" like you would call someone named Brian for short) is a south african barbecue. Anton and Ingrid (his wife) were very nice and we ended up staying until 11pm! For dinner we had chicken, ribs, salad and garlic bread. And for desert some grilled pinapple with vanilla ice cream and homemade caramel sauce...oh and of course a cappachino! I also had my new favorite drink of all time--Pimms! It's what British people drink during Wimbledon especially but also just during the summer months. You mix Pimms (which only 6 people in the world know what it's made of) with lemonade, a slice of cucumber and a mint leaf! It's SOOOO good...I wonder if they sell Pimms in the US? Someone should look into that!

Today I have a meet/greet with this family for a possible babysitting job. The kids are 2, 4 and 7. I'm FREAKING OUT. After that I'm working at the pub 6-11. Have a great weekend everyone!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Victory tastes a lot like brandy...

I have now arrived back from the primitive times. I went to Antarctica, you ask? The deep jungles of the Amazon? No. I have been without Internet connection since Thursday. We have just finally gotten it back so now I can get back to the blogosphere! Phew!

So where did we leave off? Oh yes, on Saturday we went into London to watch the Rugby game at the Clapham Grand. And after three too many Springbok shots and six too many “Klippies & Cokes” (that’s made with a South African brandy called Klipdrift), I found hidden deep inside, my undeniable love of rugby! And of course, South Africa won the game. No surprise there! The video below will give you an indication of how everyone reacts when something good happens in the game. Now don’t ask me what the something good is. We all know that I would often cheer at basketball games and I didn’t even know who won the game at the end, let alone what it was called when something “good” happened. But anyway, here are some South Africans really excited about something:




And here are some pics:











It was cool meeting some of Donovan’s friends. One of his best friends, Chris, was moving out of his flat so he couldn’t come and watch the game but he stopped by the bar on his bike to meet me. Everyone else joined us inside for the game. We also ate delicious Droevors (some kind of beef jerky thing but I hate beef jerky and I like this!) and Borewors Rolls (kind of like an upper class hot dog).

This is me eating Droevors:




And I’m not sure why there was a skinny bald man in a tight army booty costume…but there was! And here are some pics and videos of him:







After the South African victory, we made our way back to High Wycombe. After I snoozed off my Klippies & Coke on the train, we went to Nandos for dinner, a delicious Portuguese chicken place! They have this delicious spicy cajun salt stuff for the chips (french fries, remember?).

On Sunday, I had my first day of work. And of course it wasn’t your usual waitress or bartending gig. No---that would be far too normal. I was a bartender at a Nepalese Feast and Classical Charity Music Concert. It was kind of a relief because all anyone could order was red wine, white wine, rose wine, lemonade, orange juice, water, or beer! And I had a crew of about 5 Nepalese army guys to help me serve. I was most nervous for someone to order the rose wine because I can’t open wine bottles with corks and guess what, that was the only thing that no one ever ordered! (I know Jess is shaking her head right now LOL…lucky bitch….). And everything was either 2 pounds 50 or 3 pounds or 1 pound so it was easy to give change and stuff. Here are some videos from the day:




So I helped clean up and stuff afterward and clocked out around 6:30pm. I had a J2O at the pub afterward (that’s like Five Alive). I am getting paid next week sometime and have no clue what I’m actually earning but hey, it’s pounds right ;-).

Today I worked at the pub from 11am-4pm...bartending a funeral. Definitely a wierd experience...serving wine and beer to people who are crying. The woman who died apparently always went to this pub and the daughter was sitting in her mother's "favorite seat" just crying saying she was having a drink with her mother. She desperately wanted us to play Irish music and then The Corrs was the closest thing we could find...she sought her friend who could sing Irish music to her...

Luckily it was time for me to leave before I could get coaxed into singing an Irish song...I thought at restaurants you were only supposed to have to sing silly birthday songs? Anyway it is now almost 5pm and I'm going back to work at 6pm. It gets really busy there at night so I'm kind of nervous.

Write again soon...cheers!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Norwich




On Friday we took a nice drive to Norwich and had a visit with Donovan's friend from South Africa, Garreth. You know how I've said that everything in England is in vans? Well we also passed by a Barber van! I didn't get a picture unfortunately. But here are some pics from the journey:


Me and Gareth:



Me and Donovan:


Buddies (Gareth and Donovan):







Today we are off to London for the rugby game (South Africa vs. the British Lions). Apparently only South Africans are allowed but they can "bring a friend" HAHA. I guess I'm that friend!

I went into the pub where I will be working last night. It is really nice and the owner is super super nice but I can't really understand a word he says...Nepalese and British combined...he calls me "Mareesha". I start tomorrow (Sunday) but I still need to get comfy black shoes. I'm nervous!

Cheers everyone! Have a GREAT weekend! Hope the sun comes out for you all!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

London City, Ireland and Greece!

On Tuesday night we picked Paul up at the airport and went to a late dinner at The Royal Oak which is a lovely little pub that is 1 min walking distance from our flat and serves delicious Nepalese food. The next day we went into London city for the first time! We took the train from Acton Town to Covent Garden and walked around Apple Market. We saw performers by St. Paul's Church and had a delicious Irish lunch at Waxy O'Connor's which has a tree growing from the center of the restaurant!

Also Tuesday shout-out to Audra and Donovan's Mom--Happy Birthday!!!

London was beautiful and I can't wait to go back! Here are some pics:

On the train...





At the Irish restaurant:

(don't feel bad if you don't get this...I didn't get it until Donovan explained! It's because in winter it gets dark so early that its considered dinner...not lunch). The following pics are from the Irish restaurant:








And now London!


The following two pictures are where all UK movie premieres happen. They lay out the red carpet and the celebs strut on in. There were already men setting up gates and people waiting around to see Sacha Baren Cohen. It was the premiere of Bruno! Good thing it wasn't the premiere of Sex & The City or something or else Donovan would have been in a bit of trouble! :-)



"The Sussex"...so close...yet soooo far...















During our time in London, Paul was taking Donovan's car in for a service when the mechanic ended up finding an oil leak out of the head gasket! The mechanic needs to keep the car for a few days so Paul bought Donovan another car in the mean time and once the other car is fixed, I get to drive it! Only problem is...I can't drive stick...and apparently Americans drive on the WRONG side of the road so I can't be insured unless I go take my driver's test...ughh I feel like I'm 16 again! I know learning stick will be a great life skill but I just need to look into how much it will cost to take the test and stuff.

Today we ate at a Greek restaurant in Acton Town. The chef was from Yugaslavia and was known to all the others as "The Village Idiot". But he made a damn good cappachino and food! I got hummus and pita for lunch and Donovan had a roasted lamb. He said it was in the top 10 meals he's ever had!



Best coffee and cappachinos EVER:







And today I got another job! The Royal Oak (that pub we ate at on Tuesday night) called and gave me 7 shifts...not sure if I will be waitressing or bartending or what but it's money! :-)

And me and Nat (my cousin for those who don't know) are planning our Euro trip for late July...more to come on that.

Tomorrow we are off to Norwich! I can't believe it's Friday already...must be exciting for you people who work ;-)