I have such motivation to write an entry now since people commented! And I just realized that I actually had a lot of comments on other entries...I just didn't have it set up that I get an email when I get a comment--oopsie! Fixed now though!
Today I got my money from working at the hotel--30 pounds! And they also said I can't work there since I don't have a work permit...bummer! I watched the Michael Jackson funeral thing on TV...I actually cried! But I feel like everyone was all anti-Michael Jackson calling him a pedafile and stuff until he died now the whole world loves him. I think he was innocent and I think he's really great and everything but it seems a little bit fake that all of a sudden everyone loves him sooo much. His daughter is really pretty. It was so sad when she spoke at the end.
I forgot to mention last weekend the Lions beat the Springboks but I think it's because we didn't go watch the game. I think I am the good luck charm for South Africa...LOL.
Me and Donovan played Rummy tonight and watched some British show about aliens coming and taking over little kids making them all stop and stare and say in unison "We are coming....we are coming..." British people are so wierd!
Donovan's Aunt Carol was really nice. She is actually Ouma's niece which makes her Donovan's cousin but she is 50 with kids so she's like an aunt.
I put an ad up for babysitting on some website and I got a message to babysit an hour away so I said no it's too far...and then the person asked me if I wanted to model for an adult spanking magazine....HAHAHHA...needless to say I did not reply.
Donovan's shoulder popped out of it's socket worse than ever! I put some icy hot stuff on it but it hurts him so much! I feel so bad for him!
In addition, yesterday was me and Donovan's one year anniversary! One year since the day we met. Oh, that fateful last day of the Twisted Tea tour at Miller's Tavern <3 Who ever said you can't find true love at a bar?!
I'm gonna go take a hot bath and get to bed. Good night!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Ouma is here!
Hi everyone...sorry I haven't written in over a week! Please leave comments if you read this because sometimes I feel like no one reads it so I have no motivation to keep writing LOL. Anyway, this week we went to this delicious sushi restaurant called YO! Sushi. It was so cool! You sit around this revolving strip and all different Japanese dishes pass you by. They have different colored bowls which tell you the price according to the color and at the end they count how many of each color you had.
Here is the revolving sushi:
Here is us at YO! Sushi:
I worked on Saturday night at the King's Hotel. It is a very posh hotel that is right next door to our village. It was a beautiful wedding and I was just helping behind the bar and with the catering. After my shift was over, I apparently had passed their test and they gave me papers to fill out to be a new hire...unfortunately those papers include my National Insurance Number, copy of my Visa, etc....which I don't have! So tomorrow I will probably get a phone call that I can not work there but at least I had one more night of work! It was pretty fun but definitely hard work! The bride and groom also got married at the hotel and I saw the bride right before she walked down the aisle trying to talk the flower girl out of crying! I felt so horrible for her...she was like "Please Mya...please....daddy has a chocolate for you...at the end of the aisle." And of course, once Mya entered down the aisle...all you heard was crying!
This morning we picked Ouma up at the airport. Ouma is Africaans for grandmother. What a lovely lady! I have found I have a lot in common with Ouma. She is from Jersey. I am from New Jersey. And we both love garage sales and bargains! In fact, today we went to the "boot sale" (British huge flea market/garage/yard sale thing) and got tons of bargains! We watched the Wimbeldon final...what a nail biter!!! I am so upset Roddick lost! And we had a lovely dinner at the Mowchak (you know that Indian restaurant that screwed up our doggy bag last time...). Well this time we were sure to ask for "take away" not "doggy bag", just reinforcing that WE will eat it...not our dog. At the end of our meal we got a complimentary drink...I couldn't help but wonder if he remembered us! After dinner we went for a drive through the Chilterns which is the area around us full of beautiful farms, countryside and gorgeous old homes, many of which are heritage homes...meaning they are protected and cannot be knocked down or added on to.
Here is Donovan and Ouma:
And one of Ouma's dreams is to have a house with a white picket fence...I told her my mom had the same dream. And she gave me beautiful beads made from a South African bush. They are very hip these days and thankfully, I'm ahead of the trend now... Here is me and Ouma and my beads!
I ran 5 miles 4 days this week! That was an accomplishment and hopefully I can keep that up! The weather has been absolutely gorgeous! Oh, and on Tuesday I worked a few hours at the pub and met a girl from Mountain Lakes, NJ!!!! Well, she moved there when she was 10 years old and lived for a while. Also met some nice guys who had been to New York City and one who was apparently born in Arkansas but was definitely 100% Welsh because I could not understand a WORD he said...especially when he kept referring to Syracuse! Seriously ask a Welsh person to pronounce that word---it's impossible!
This week me and Nat finalized our Eurotrip (well, minus our hostels in Rome). Nat will arrive on July 28th from Dublin and we will do London. Then we will go to Paris for a few days...then Rome...then Venice...then I will go back to Munich with Nat and spend a few days and then back here! I should definitely have a few interesting blog entries from that trip...to say the least! We are flying everywhere but we have one night train from Venice to Munich.
Tomorrow we drive Ouma to Auntie Carol's house which is about 2 hours away...looking forward to meeting more of Donovan's family! All of Ouma's siblings are still in Jersey and she will be spending 3 weeks there. She hasn't been there in 19 years! Her family is so excited for her visit! After her time in Jersey, she will stay with us another night or two before returning to South Africa.
And thinking of differences in culture from here to the States...in the States, when you walk down the street you either have people beeping at you or Mexicans saying "Heyyy Mommyyyy" and here you still have beeping but the cat calls are more like "Afternoon!"
Oh and the ice cream man comes around everyday and one day I got a "Nobbly Bobbly" which is my new favorite ice cream! I have no idea what it is but it's delicious!
We also saw "Ice Age III" which was AMAZING! And I've never even seen the first two!
Hope everyone had a Happy 4th of July! The only thing they had here was some British guy on saturday morning cartoons making fun of Americans...not so much fun!
No more random thoughts at the moment and I've been up since 5:30am so I'm going to bed...cheers!
Here is the revolving sushi:
Here is us at YO! Sushi:
I worked on Saturday night at the King's Hotel. It is a very posh hotel that is right next door to our village. It was a beautiful wedding and I was just helping behind the bar and with the catering. After my shift was over, I apparently had passed their test and they gave me papers to fill out to be a new hire...unfortunately those papers include my National Insurance Number, copy of my Visa, etc....which I don't have! So tomorrow I will probably get a phone call that I can not work there but at least I had one more night of work! It was pretty fun but definitely hard work! The bride and groom also got married at the hotel and I saw the bride right before she walked down the aisle trying to talk the flower girl out of crying! I felt so horrible for her...she was like "Please Mya...please....daddy has a chocolate for you...at the end of the aisle." And of course, once Mya entered down the aisle...all you heard was crying!
This morning we picked Ouma up at the airport. Ouma is Africaans for grandmother. What a lovely lady! I have found I have a lot in common with Ouma. She is from Jersey. I am from New Jersey. And we both love garage sales and bargains! In fact, today we went to the "boot sale" (British huge flea market/garage/yard sale thing) and got tons of bargains! We watched the Wimbeldon final...what a nail biter!!! I am so upset Roddick lost! And we had a lovely dinner at the Mowchak (you know that Indian restaurant that screwed up our doggy bag last time...). Well this time we were sure to ask for "take away" not "doggy bag", just reinforcing that WE will eat it...not our dog. At the end of our meal we got a complimentary drink...I couldn't help but wonder if he remembered us! After dinner we went for a drive through the Chilterns which is the area around us full of beautiful farms, countryside and gorgeous old homes, many of which are heritage homes...meaning they are protected and cannot be knocked down or added on to.
Here is Donovan and Ouma:
And one of Ouma's dreams is to have a house with a white picket fence...I told her my mom had the same dream. And she gave me beautiful beads made from a South African bush. They are very hip these days and thankfully, I'm ahead of the trend now... Here is me and Ouma and my beads!
I ran 5 miles 4 days this week! That was an accomplishment and hopefully I can keep that up! The weather has been absolutely gorgeous! Oh, and on Tuesday I worked a few hours at the pub and met a girl from Mountain Lakes, NJ!!!! Well, she moved there when she was 10 years old and lived for a while. Also met some nice guys who had been to New York City and one who was apparently born in Arkansas but was definitely 100% Welsh because I could not understand a WORD he said...especially when he kept referring to Syracuse! Seriously ask a Welsh person to pronounce that word---it's impossible!
This week me and Nat finalized our Eurotrip (well, minus our hostels in Rome). Nat will arrive on July 28th from Dublin and we will do London. Then we will go to Paris for a few days...then Rome...then Venice...then I will go back to Munich with Nat and spend a few days and then back here! I should definitely have a few interesting blog entries from that trip...to say the least! We are flying everywhere but we have one night train from Venice to Munich.
Tomorrow we drive Ouma to Auntie Carol's house which is about 2 hours away...looking forward to meeting more of Donovan's family! All of Ouma's siblings are still in Jersey and she will be spending 3 weeks there. She hasn't been there in 19 years! Her family is so excited for her visit! After her time in Jersey, she will stay with us another night or two before returning to South Africa.
And thinking of differences in culture from here to the States...in the States, when you walk down the street you either have people beeping at you or Mexicans saying "Heyyy Mommyyyy" and here you still have beeping but the cat calls are more like "Afternoon!"
Oh and the ice cream man comes around everyday and one day I got a "Nobbly Bobbly" which is my new favorite ice cream! I have no idea what it is but it's delicious!
We also saw "Ice Age III" which was AMAZING! And I've never even seen the first two!
Hope everyone had a Happy 4th of July! The only thing they had here was some British guy on saturday morning cartoons making fun of Americans...not so much fun!
No more random thoughts at the moment and I've been up since 5:30am so I'm going to bed...cheers!
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
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!
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!
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 ;-)
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 ;-)
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