How Much Does It Cost?
November 29, 2005
Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November. That means that tomorrow is payday! I love payday, even if there is nothing to spend money on here. I’ll pay my bills; the market, the club, Visa, and Mohammed. After that, the money is ours.
It’s almost like a dream that we get to live in this awesome house and pay nothing for the privilege. No water bill, no electric bill, no internet bill, no car insurance, I don’t even have to pay for petrol (that’s South African for gas). Does that rock or what?
It sure beats the hell out of New York. Rent was more then my paycheck, taxes were crazy, and car insurance was even worse. We drained savings just to buy food. All that and we still had to do our own dishes and laundry. Why did we live there again?
Friday the Niebancks arrive. We’ll pick them up at the airport in In Sha Allah and bring them back to our house. They get to see where we live! I am excited. It will be really fun to show this place to someone from our own world. I especially want to see their reaction when they see all these things for the first time. Their presence will help to drive this whole experience home. We have arranged a braai on the escarpment on Sunday (a first for us) and are working on getting up to the big hole on Saturday. We will go to the village, cruise the mall, and have a beer at Collie’s Place. We can swim at the pool, dinner at the club, and toodle around the neighborhood.
They are also bringing things from the States. Christmas gifts and various sundry items we cannot otherwise find here (like an oven thermometer and a carrot peeler). The best gifts they will bring are familiarity and conversation. Conversation with real live Americans! It’s hard to believe we have only been gone three months.
Perhaps we can convince them to put in a guest appearance on the blog so that we can hear about their experiences first hand. In case that doesn’t work I’ll take lots of pictures.
MJR
Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November. That means that tomorrow is payday! I love payday, even if there is nothing to spend money on here. I’ll pay my bills; the market, the club, Visa, and Mohammed. After that, the money is ours.
It’s almost like a dream that we get to live in this awesome house and pay nothing for the privilege. No water bill, no electric bill, no internet bill, no car insurance, I don’t even have to pay for petrol (that’s South African for gas). Does that rock or what?
It sure beats the hell out of New York. Rent was more then my paycheck, taxes were crazy, and car insurance was even worse. We drained savings just to buy food. All that and we still had to do our own dishes and laundry. Why did we live there again?
Friday the Niebancks arrive. We’ll pick them up at the airport in In Sha Allah and bring them back to our house. They get to see where we live! I am excited. It will be really fun to show this place to someone from our own world. I especially want to see their reaction when they see all these things for the first time. Their presence will help to drive this whole experience home. We have arranged a braai on the escarpment on Sunday (a first for us) and are working on getting up to the big hole on Saturday. We will go to the village, cruise the mall, and have a beer at Collie’s Place. We can swim at the pool, dinner at the club, and toodle around the neighborhood.
They are also bringing things from the States. Christmas gifts and various sundry items we cannot otherwise find here (like an oven thermometer and a carrot peeler). The best gifts they will bring are familiarity and conversation. Conversation with real live Americans! It’s hard to believe we have only been gone three months.
Perhaps we can convince them to put in a guest appearance on the blog so that we can hear about their experiences first hand. In case that doesn’t work I’ll take lots of pictures.
MJR
posted by Bronx to Timbuktu at 5:25 PM
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