Ok, well, my name is Stuart, I have been……well may things, I have seen, done, adventured and breathed in the air of many a country but one thing I have not done, is be very good at contact with you beautiful people!! HHAHAAAAhaa.. No honestly, I am not sure where the lack of contact in from, infact I try not too look into it too deeply, a busy life here building exactly that, a life. I think when I am out there travelling as I have done so many times I find myself with fresh exciting stories and thinking of home as it is fresh in my mind so I write back home, this time, living in a new place, Calling Cape Town home, when you settle somewhere you look at it from a different approach, there is less of an excitement in the place (which of course is still very much there) and more concentration on setting yourself up, getting the job, getting the flat, making money, buying rice and all that jazz! This is not a feeble attempt to excuse my crapness with communicating with my homeland and big ass family (that includes you), this is me bringing you to where I am…to my world as it is now, for me, aged 25, very soon 26 (aargh), I don’t know why I said that, I feel young, and no paranoia about age, isn’t it funny how society and learning’s make us say things at times and we find ourselves wondering why we said it but going with it because it is a language that everyone understands..interesting….. I have such a great life, there are struggles but the good times definitely out-weigh the bad, infact I wouldn’t go as far as to call any of my ‘times’ ‘bad’! I would just like to say for the record, I am not drunk, stoned or anything while writing this mail, I am infact just out of my bed from a 14 hour day yesterday, working one bar through the day and one all night and I feel great, I got woken by the voice of my beautiful lady, Miss Willow who phoned me from Johannesburg as she visiting her family. She has been gone 3 days and I miss her like crazy, she is my best friend!! I know its sad, whatever, I don’t care, heheee!! :op
Well where was I, urm…. Right, I’m not stoned or anything like that, infact I don’t smoke anymore, I have cut off my dreads, that was last Sunday night (23-March-2008). This was because in South Africa there is a ‘stigma’ with dreads that I knew would exist but not to the extent, I had been warned by the beautiful people in my life from this incredible country but I couldn’t understand it fully, something not known is something not understood! So here, there is an awesome camaraderie with black people, you are assumed to be a ‘brother’ they accept you immediately and it has allowed me to be in some places and do some things that no ‘whitey’ with straight hair would be able or dare to do! So that was cool an everything but everyone decides who you are before you open your mouth. You listen to reggae, you smoke weed, you don’t work, you praise Jah and hail Salasie. One of the black guys who works with me said to me when I had them cut off ‘I find it hard to talk with you without your ‘rastas’, you look so serious and ‘white’ now’. And there it is ladies and gentleman, so off they went, I have a strong connection with black people, I am still learning Xhosa out here (which is much easier than tryin to learn it in Scotland!!! Believe me!!) which is going well and it has also helped me in some situations, being able to understand someone when they standing by you calling you a stupid white man because you forgot to put a dash of lime in their drink you can tune them back and the fear of god comes across their face, that sounds terrible, it is a beautiful tool to be able to communicate with people here, the native people and they are so nice and friendly, most of them!
Wow this has to be the longest introduction for an e-mail ever, we could be here a while folks, brace yourselves… Ok well I haven’t planned what I am going to write here so I am kinda bearing my soul here cos I am letting it flow, whatever makes its way down to my fingers and gets hammered out onto here is coming through me from some higher plain man, like from the gods yeah. He he, jokes, no really I haven’t planned this so let’s see where we end up, hoe exciting, isn’t this fun, so glad you’re here to adventure with me……
Ok so…I don’t know where my last e-mail got to…..I don’t have a copy here so what we’ll do is I’ll just talk about what I am up to an we’ll deal with the memories as they come to me, ok, cool? Sweet, let’s go…
Ok so I am living in Woodstock which for those of you who know or have heard is right beside the renound Observatory (area) and my house is HUGE!! The rent I pay is high but rent here is rising generally and its NOT relative to wages. They have a system out here that whatever job you take you don’t get paid for training and they usually want you to do 4 or 5 shifts for training, so you work for a week for free and there is still a chance they will say ‘ádios’ or you might not enjoy it, one thing it does do it makes sure you work hard and find a job that is for you, which, for now, I have successfully done!! AAhh my CD is skipping, hold on….that’s so rude hey, damn cd’s! Such a cool CD, its by the Easy Dub All Stars, they do reggae re-mixes of various things the one I am listening to is a remix of the whole of ‘The Wall’ by Pink Floyd, it is beautiful and very well done, they have done Radiohead – OK Computer as well, check em out (http://www.easystar.com/). Ok, so, work, is cool, I am living in Woodstock which is a cool area, earthy, you see some shiat going down here but not much, nothing really scary. I have made friends with the neighbours, they are coloured families (for those of you that don’t know out here there are, whites, blacks and coloureds, lots of other cultures but these are the ‘natives’) the coloureds are the blacks that had babies with whites many a moon ago they are a mixture of black and white. The people that live across form me are coloured and they are cool, one of the girls that lives there works on the boats that I was taking people out sailing (I’ll tell you about that in a sec) so I have met her family of about 15 who all live in this one house but they all happy and love each other, the gran, granddad, mum, dad, kids cousins, madness but cool! Their house is old ‘Van Dutch’ style, so the style that was introduced at the times of when Jan van Riebeeck when he came to Cape Town and built a big ass fort as a strategic and economic ‘tool’ on April 6th 1652. It’s the style of a lot of buildings here, the Dutch/African style. Very pretty.
I was working on a beautiful catamaran down at the V&A Waterfront (a scary place where tourists go to pay 3 or 4 times the amount that we locals pay for anything, go on boats, go on helicopters yet another shopping mall but this one of super-dooper standing, scary as hell!!) So I the pleasure of going there everyday but I got to walk straight through it all past the craziness and board this beautiful vessel ‘Tigresse’. We would run 1 ½ hour trips out to see Cape Town from the sea and jus get away from it all, see dolphins, penguins, which generally I would be the only one getting really excited about, cant believe how people react to seeing these things, most want their champagne and to relax, which, hey, lets face it is fair enough!! Watching the dolphins swim between the hulls lyin on the trampoline between them water rushing past at 30 knots, awesome, awesome, AWESOME!!! It was a great job, I was taught how to sail her, hot to read the winds, the weather, everything, it was sweet. It was a ‘life style’ job, not to make money, no chance!! Unless you own the boat or skipper her you do it for the love of it and unfortunately right now as I explained earlier I am settling here for a bit so I can ill afford the time and money to do it, maybe later down the line when things are a bit more sorted…..awesome experience!! I have pics which I am sorting through bit by bit and gonna attempt to make a ‘blog’ with all my travels pics on it for you all to check out!
Cool so I got short hair, I worked on a catamaran taking people sailing, I like in Woodstock with cool neighbors, I’m learning Xhosa, urm….not bad so far, ok, lets see…
My room in the flat is comprises of 3 rooms, one big one in the middle, it is attached to the house but separate, the big one in the middle is bout 16 meters square and is my ‘lounge’ I have 2 sofas, 3 chairs a table and enough space to swing a cat, the room to the left is 2 meters square and that has become my studio, for those of you that don’t know, I am studying Photography, Illustration, printmaking and creative drawing out here part time! So I have a studio set up where I go to cover myself in ink or pastel or paint or wrap myself up in negatives, many an hour has been spent in that room, I have a big stereo in there so I go in, I close the door and create, pretty cool huh!
The other room opposite it is 3 meters square and yup, you guessed it that’s the zen room, where I take my victims and cleanse their souls, not really, well kind, only one soul tho and I think all might guess who she is!! This room is my bedroom, I have a double bed, a set of shelves for myself and one for the beautiful Syd who stays often (which I am VERY happy about!!) and it is cool, I can hear my stereo from there, it is light and airy and had great sunlight! That’s enough about my bedroom don’t wat you all getting excited an distracted now do we!
My Spanish flatmate Virginia jus walked in she wants to say ‘hi’ to everyone. She is so much fun, crazy girl, party animal, there have been a couple of nights where we have sat up and chatted chowed some food and topped a number of beers and tequilas, spontaneous nights are such good fun!!
Ok So flatmates, I live with Virginia, Greg who is of French descent but is South African, he is a sound engineer and produces Hip Hop with his group who are about to release their debut album, how exciting, he is a dude, bit of a hermit and a total ‘Wiggah!’ (a white black man, hip hop yo, they all talk like, hey yo, dat pahty was flippin yo, that cats rhymes were trippin my yolk yo!) amusing to listen to. My other flatmate, well housemate is Carolin, she is from Germany and is also very cool , she is a rally nice girl, who you know you can trust and will always be there. So I got a Spanish girl who works in tourism management, A Wiggah from France and a German who works with social development. Makes for some interesting discussions! Our house is beautiful and there is lots of space for us all!
Ok this story is getting boring, back to it, ok so I am going to finish soon and the next part will be when it is, I know this story is far from finished but so id mine, I aint goin nowhere so hang around kids and more shall be revealed!
I am working at Zulas check it out (www.zula.co.za) The main live music venue in Cape Town, anything from Reggae to Hip hop to guitars to African to Jungle, it’s a cool place. I starting DJing there next week, SWEET!!!!
Right, last thing check out my site, it is under construction but I developing my photography and getting pictures, bear with me I am editing photos a lot an putting them up but this takes time and I am lazy, ha-ha, no its getting there so have a look an please tell me what you think, honestly, this is potentially an big thing for me so it would mean a lot to me to have your comments!
Cool guys so check it out at www.wildlightphotography.blogspot.com thanx…
Love ya all millions, you rock my world, knowing you all are out there – the memories in my in my minds eye, you are all there in one scenario or another and I love you for that, thanx dudes and duetttes, rock on and keep smiling yo,
Hey feel free to reply to this mail, its not rhetorical……hehe
Peace
Stu xx
Saturday, March 29, 2008
South Africa - 11 December 2007
Well, its now Dec 11th 2007 and it seems that Christmas is almost here. Shouldn’t snow be falling? Children playing, having fun..!? Well there certainly ain't any snow! Quite a few children playing having fun, mostly black kids because the white ones are in their BMWs with their parents on the way to the mall! Johannesburg (which I shall call Joburg from now on, cos I’m so cool an down with the lingo, yo!) is the city of shopping malls. Young people from 17 to whatever drive fancy cars which I was a little disgusted at but after being in ‘Joburg’ :o) for a while I realize that without a car, independence is a non-reality really, unless you take the taxis, which no-one does except black people, Syd an me! The malls (shopping centers, for those of you who need to get with the lingo, yo) are crazy and a BIG culture here. Depending on which area you are in, be it English, Jewish, Zulu, Afrikaans, the centre will vary. For example in the Jewish malls, not a hint of Christmas, which is expected obviously as they do not celebrate Christmas. Then heading into most other malls and you are confronted with a barrage of middle aged white women walking quickly from one end of the mall (with their black maid trailing behind carrying all the Gucci and Calvin Klein bags) to the other rushing not to be late for the manicure, then the haircut and don’t forget shiatsu massage. I am being unfair, its not quite that bad, but it is hard to convey the level of it without seeing it. There is still very much a divide between whites and blacks, there are an increasing number of black people in the ‘middle classes’, but the majority are still oppressed, living in shacks 10 Kilometers walk from where they walk or living on the roof of the building where there ‘madam’ has them in a 6 square meter shack with their 5 children and no food but pap (porridge like cous-cous stuff, yummy – well yummy to me who eats it by choice and not for every meal!). I could talk about it all day, people say it is getting better but I ask you, when did you last see a white person living in a township, or even visiting?
Anyway, malls, so you meet this throng of people madly dashing about, the Matrics have just finished school (just finished high school and off to college/uni) so you are also met by skateboarders, your classic nerds, girls which so much make-up on you swear they look bullet-proof, and the rest. Christmas music plays over the P.A, all the greats, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra – you know the ones but they have all been remixed either into a poppy, boy/girl band style or an electrifying punk/rock version that leave the original rather like how a puppy leaves your favorite teddy after a rampant chewing session! So you stroll about looking at all the deals that are on (which are not all that good) and in the corner Santa’s Grotto, oh man how exciting, much to my dismay Syd won’t let me go and sit on his knee, so after a small huff and a chocolate ice cream, I decide to take a look and Santa is a black man! He he, with a huge belly rumbling, toothless laughter he welcomes the children to his chubby knee and warm heart, handing out gifts to children that are smiling, listing what they want for Christmas or looking petrified at this enormous man with sausages for fingers wrapped around their waist as he hands them a rectangular box, wrapped in spider-man or Barbie paper. With the combination of all these things, it looks like Christmas, I can barely hear the Christmassy-ness form the music above me but it doesn’t feel like Christmas. It is about 25-30 degrees today, I am sitting here in my shorts and t-shirt and I am hot. I have been talking with Syd’s parents (Penny & Donald) about the Christmas meal and they talk of having a braai (BBQ, check me an ma lingo) for Christmas meal, it seems so funny. They don’t really celebrate it, they are Jewish, well kinda, not staunch but they are of Jewish origins. So we’ll see I am used to going all out as you all know, the turkey, the tree spewing with prezzies, but I am really looking forward to doing it a different way. I find it incredible to watch other people/cultures doing celebrations like this, it can really open your eyes, see things from a different perspective. I believe the more perspectives you can see more things from the better you will understand its whole shape. So that’s whats going on here at the moment. I have been enjoying having Syd and my little house all to myself each day, I have been doing some work for Penny (Syd’s ma) around the cottage, fixing steps, sinks, toilets, hanging mirrors and my favorite project so far was restoring an old antique cupboard made from African Oak and Oregon. I had to find the same wood, treat it all, build the whole thing from scratch really as a lot of it was very rotten. Fitting the door and mounting a big mirror into the door, carving elaborate designs into the wood and restoring its old but funky charm, it has been fun. Syd and I head down to Cape Town on the 27th of Dec, which is very very exciting, so amped (excited, yo) to see Fish, miss that boy, and be beside the sea again, miss the smell of the salt and the gentle rustling of Lewis’s beard in the wind! Penny has begun trusting me with her car so I have been driving around Joburg, get that, me, Stuart, finally driving! Woohoo! Been very exciting, driving here is a bit of a trip, the taxis are like VW camper vans and stop anywhere, and I mean ANYWHERE. On the highway they’ll stop in the road and pick people up, people do hand signals to tell the driver where they want to go and he will reply with the corresponding hand signal to tell them if he is going there (for example to go to ‘Fourways’ where I am living, you hold up 4 fingers) so they cut in front of you and go through red lights and its crazy, good fun, I think it is a good first experience of driving in a city because I must be very aware. I just read that back and I made it sound very dangerous, for those ladies out there that are panicking about my safety, fear not fair maidens, its not that bad!
Syd’s family have two dogs, the guard dog, Tai, who is enormous and reminds me of Sweepy, big black dog that lives outside and smells. I think the smell is a good deterrent for burglars, never mind her rows of shiny razor-like teeth. The other is Luella, or Lu-Lu as she is affectionately called, she is a spaniel – something cross and bless her was born without a brain. She is SO cute, she loves attention and falls asleep the second you put her on your lap. When I am in the cottage all day painting and drawing she will come down to say hello and cover me in saliva. She will jump up on my lap and crash there for an hour or two before waking, stretching, giving me a quick look and hopping off to the next adventure, leaving me in a cloud of green and I’m pretty sure poisonous bodily gasses! They are great fun, and there is good ol’ Mr Black who is a tough ass black cat. Mr Black has gashes (and I mean gashes) on his legs and…well…other legs. He goes away fro weeks at a time then comes home ripped to shreds looking very proud of himself and screams for a bowl of milk and a scratch behind the ear. All the animals seem to get on well, including the family!
I went to the Kruger National Park a few weeks ago and saw lots of Buk (Impala, Kudu, etc) I saw giraffes, elephants and all that jazz, very beautiful and very hot. It has been a dream of mine to go to Mpumulanga (name of the area where Kruger is) for many years and I made it! I have played with a Mamba, when I say ‘I played’ I mean I was at the other side of the room while Gavin (aka The Beast) handled it, it was incredible to see, even from my slightly distant but very safe view point!
I am looking forward to heading out on adventures with Syd Willow, she has been and is working so hard, I’m very proud of her, incredible, determined girl, but we all know that! She finishes her job this Friday so hopefully we can get Penny’s car and head off to some cool places for a chill, more sights and sounds out there calling me to them, looking forward very much!
Well I think that is all for now, I’m heading off now back to ma hoosie to finish off this cupboard, (I’ll take photos), and make some coffee for Penny and I.
Hey, guess what, I have been accepted to Art School out here. Ruth Prowse school of art in Cape Town, I start at the end of January. I am having a bit of a nightmare sorting out the fees though which is a bit painful. I can’t take a student loan here cos I’m not South African, I can’t take one in Scotland because I’m not spending it in Scotland and if I take a loan its impossible because I have to pay it back straight away and you cant earn money out here. It is another challenge and I am enjoying all these challenges I am being faced with. This place is incredible people, I urge you to come out here, forget what you have heard, forget what you think you know, unless you have been here you cannot pass judgment and I promise when you do , you will have nothing but love for the place. It gets under your skin, the people are beautiful and always smiling. Of course you’ll find the things that you here and you may see some things but if you go to the surrounding areas of Glasgow you’ll see it there too, Dundee has the highest pregnancy rate for under 18s in the world, Scotland has one of the highest heroin problems and Glasgow is renound for its stabbings, all these things that we hide from and think we are protected from are closer to your door step than you think, the point is that there is no need to hide from it, it is very real and there are so many who can’t hide from it, to do so is ignorant, selfish and predominantly white! So come, see this beautiful place where the sun is plentiful, the people want nothing other than to help and laugh with you. Sizwe, the gardener, is awesome, we listen to reggae together while he cuts the grass and I saw wood for my cupboard or build a wall. He lives in a shack that has not roof at the moment and has little money for food and he is one of the rich ones. He comes every day with a big smile, he greets me but tapping his heart, shacking my hand in an elaborate way that took a while to learn and smiles that big smiley grin full of milky white teeth and giggle s as we talk and share a coffee, nothing but smiles and giggles and that is everywhere, impressive hey. I don’t mean to preach but I think it is a shame for you all not to see this country because of what the media has shown you, since when did you believe all you read in a newspaper!??!?!
My adventures go on, where to next, we’ll see. Bren your stories are incredible and warm my heart when it is chilly here like the brandy you guys shared at base camp. I love that you are out there doing this, I think it is so admirable and strong of you. Love you man. As for the rest of you, I love you, I don’t miss you (which is a good thing) not to the level where I am scared, I want to be here and I don’t doubt that for one second. Have fun, keep smiling and remember no matter where you are in the world, even if it is boring old home you can still have adventures, people do there every day! Don’t forget to put that into your life now and again, Roo is a good one to talk about that! I love you all….peace. Stu xx
Anyway, malls, so you meet this throng of people madly dashing about, the Matrics have just finished school (just finished high school and off to college/uni) so you are also met by skateboarders, your classic nerds, girls which so much make-up on you swear they look bullet-proof, and the rest. Christmas music plays over the P.A, all the greats, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra – you know the ones but they have all been remixed either into a poppy, boy/girl band style or an electrifying punk/rock version that leave the original rather like how a puppy leaves your favorite teddy after a rampant chewing session! So you stroll about looking at all the deals that are on (which are not all that good) and in the corner Santa’s Grotto, oh man how exciting, much to my dismay Syd won’t let me go and sit on his knee, so after a small huff and a chocolate ice cream, I decide to take a look and Santa is a black man! He he, with a huge belly rumbling, toothless laughter he welcomes the children to his chubby knee and warm heart, handing out gifts to children that are smiling, listing what they want for Christmas or looking petrified at this enormous man with sausages for fingers wrapped around their waist as he hands them a rectangular box, wrapped in spider-man or Barbie paper. With the combination of all these things, it looks like Christmas, I can barely hear the Christmassy-ness form the music above me but it doesn’t feel like Christmas. It is about 25-30 degrees today, I am sitting here in my shorts and t-shirt and I am hot. I have been talking with Syd’s parents (Penny & Donald) about the Christmas meal and they talk of having a braai (BBQ, check me an ma lingo) for Christmas meal, it seems so funny. They don’t really celebrate it, they are Jewish, well kinda, not staunch but they are of Jewish origins. So we’ll see I am used to going all out as you all know, the turkey, the tree spewing with prezzies, but I am really looking forward to doing it a different way. I find it incredible to watch other people/cultures doing celebrations like this, it can really open your eyes, see things from a different perspective. I believe the more perspectives you can see more things from the better you will understand its whole shape. So that’s whats going on here at the moment. I have been enjoying having Syd and my little house all to myself each day, I have been doing some work for Penny (Syd’s ma) around the cottage, fixing steps, sinks, toilets, hanging mirrors and my favorite project so far was restoring an old antique cupboard made from African Oak and Oregon. I had to find the same wood, treat it all, build the whole thing from scratch really as a lot of it was very rotten. Fitting the door and mounting a big mirror into the door, carving elaborate designs into the wood and restoring its old but funky charm, it has been fun. Syd and I head down to Cape Town on the 27th of Dec, which is very very exciting, so amped (excited, yo) to see Fish, miss that boy, and be beside the sea again, miss the smell of the salt and the gentle rustling of Lewis’s beard in the wind! Penny has begun trusting me with her car so I have been driving around Joburg, get that, me, Stuart, finally driving! Woohoo! Been very exciting, driving here is a bit of a trip, the taxis are like VW camper vans and stop anywhere, and I mean ANYWHERE. On the highway they’ll stop in the road and pick people up, people do hand signals to tell the driver where they want to go and he will reply with the corresponding hand signal to tell them if he is going there (for example to go to ‘Fourways’ where I am living, you hold up 4 fingers) so they cut in front of you and go through red lights and its crazy, good fun, I think it is a good first experience of driving in a city because I must be very aware. I just read that back and I made it sound very dangerous, for those ladies out there that are panicking about my safety, fear not fair maidens, its not that bad!
Syd’s family have two dogs, the guard dog, Tai, who is enormous and reminds me of Sweepy, big black dog that lives outside and smells. I think the smell is a good deterrent for burglars, never mind her rows of shiny razor-like teeth. The other is Luella, or Lu-Lu as she is affectionately called, she is a spaniel – something cross and bless her was born without a brain. She is SO cute, she loves attention and falls asleep the second you put her on your lap. When I am in the cottage all day painting and drawing she will come down to say hello and cover me in saliva. She will jump up on my lap and crash there for an hour or two before waking, stretching, giving me a quick look and hopping off to the next adventure, leaving me in a cloud of green and I’m pretty sure poisonous bodily gasses! They are great fun, and there is good ol’ Mr Black who is a tough ass black cat. Mr Black has gashes (and I mean gashes) on his legs and…well…other legs. He goes away fro weeks at a time then comes home ripped to shreds looking very proud of himself and screams for a bowl of milk and a scratch behind the ear. All the animals seem to get on well, including the family!
I went to the Kruger National Park a few weeks ago and saw lots of Buk (Impala, Kudu, etc) I saw giraffes, elephants and all that jazz, very beautiful and very hot. It has been a dream of mine to go to Mpumulanga (name of the area where Kruger is) for many years and I made it! I have played with a Mamba, when I say ‘I played’ I mean I was at the other side of the room while Gavin (aka The Beast) handled it, it was incredible to see, even from my slightly distant but very safe view point!
I am looking forward to heading out on adventures with Syd Willow, she has been and is working so hard, I’m very proud of her, incredible, determined girl, but we all know that! She finishes her job this Friday so hopefully we can get Penny’s car and head off to some cool places for a chill, more sights and sounds out there calling me to them, looking forward very much!
Well I think that is all for now, I’m heading off now back to ma hoosie to finish off this cupboard, (I’ll take photos), and make some coffee for Penny and I.
Hey, guess what, I have been accepted to Art School out here. Ruth Prowse school of art in Cape Town, I start at the end of January. I am having a bit of a nightmare sorting out the fees though which is a bit painful. I can’t take a student loan here cos I’m not South African, I can’t take one in Scotland because I’m not spending it in Scotland and if I take a loan its impossible because I have to pay it back straight away and you cant earn money out here. It is another challenge and I am enjoying all these challenges I am being faced with. This place is incredible people, I urge you to come out here, forget what you have heard, forget what you think you know, unless you have been here you cannot pass judgment and I promise when you do , you will have nothing but love for the place. It gets under your skin, the people are beautiful and always smiling. Of course you’ll find the things that you here and you may see some things but if you go to the surrounding areas of Glasgow you’ll see it there too, Dundee has the highest pregnancy rate for under 18s in the world, Scotland has one of the highest heroin problems and Glasgow is renound for its stabbings, all these things that we hide from and think we are protected from are closer to your door step than you think, the point is that there is no need to hide from it, it is very real and there are so many who can’t hide from it, to do so is ignorant, selfish and predominantly white! So come, see this beautiful place where the sun is plentiful, the people want nothing other than to help and laugh with you. Sizwe, the gardener, is awesome, we listen to reggae together while he cuts the grass and I saw wood for my cupboard or build a wall. He lives in a shack that has not roof at the moment and has little money for food and he is one of the rich ones. He comes every day with a big smile, he greets me but tapping his heart, shacking my hand in an elaborate way that took a while to learn and smiles that big smiley grin full of milky white teeth and giggle s as we talk and share a coffee, nothing but smiles and giggles and that is everywhere, impressive hey. I don’t mean to preach but I think it is a shame for you all not to see this country because of what the media has shown you, since when did you believe all you read in a newspaper!??!?!
My adventures go on, where to next, we’ll see. Bren your stories are incredible and warm my heart when it is chilly here like the brandy you guys shared at base camp. I love that you are out there doing this, I think it is so admirable and strong of you. Love you man. As for the rest of you, I love you, I don’t miss you (which is a good thing) not to the level where I am scared, I want to be here and I don’t doubt that for one second. Have fun, keep smiling and remember no matter where you are in the world, even if it is boring old home you can still have adventures, people do there every day! Don’t forget to put that into your life now and again, Roo is a good one to talk about that! I love you all….peace. Stu xx
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