story of my life

so.. these days, i seem to be courting a lot of nonsense my way.
1. i overslept, and woke up at 11. making it a bit too late to head north to polokwane. and so, spent another (quite a nice) day in tuksdorp chilling in the guys house.
2. i conclude that grasscutters in africa are rather smart. first, they cut non-existent grass on paved walkways, second, they make sure they cut grass early on saturday mornings (this is africa, NO ONE WORKS on the weekends!), third, they spend 1 full hour cutting the BARE grass outside my window. (its less than an inch tall seriously). i say they're smart because, if the cutter is on, it makes a heck lot of noise, and mr&mrs smith (yes,they're really smith-s) will think he's hard at work, and secondly, if he irritates the right people enough, they'll pay him to GO AWAY. i was very very tempted to shove a R20 note at him & tell him to go away this morning... but i didnt.

and a lot more random stuff today, like talking to hector over skype. HAH. stupid dog. but he's smart in the sense that he knows my brother is up to something (i.e. dropping him off at xin's). i think he knows cuz my brother says he's been a very moody dog for the past few days. which.. is quite amusing & sad for him. no more doggy neighbours, no more owners. but now, he'll have socks to play with & people to spam him with attention.

africa is, quite honestly speaking, starting to get on my nerves. not all of it for sure. but its an indicator that i've been here long enough. its the people, the work ethic, and more people. some people just leave a very bad aftertaste when you meet them.. and while its true that these people are everywhere. it seems to me that in Gauteng (i'm told its only in this region),  the number of strangers who leave this bitter taste has been quite high. from the directness of street beggars who really dont want a change in lifestyle but who'd rather pester passerbys, to the directness of acquaintances who unashamedly think that, because you're nice to them, you're a cash cow.

i'm not really concerned about money. i've been blessed with sufficiency and i see it as something that you use. but when such acquaintances try to derive every sort of benefit they can from you, its frustrating, and annoying. and, from my experience here, something not uncommon amongst the black males here. there are some awesome people that i've met here. they're male and they're african. and they're just so nice that you cannot not love them. but then, at the risk of stereotyping everyone, there is the former category as well.

honestly, i dont know how this is impacting my outlook and thinking in general, and even how i should be reacting to them because God says to love the unlovable. (something to think about over my getaway) but for now, they leave a very bad aftertaste. maybe its a city-atmosphere, maybe its the african-culture, or maybe its just these individuals that i meet.

but. anyhow. i am going to attempt to get to nelspruit tomorrow. when i say attempt, its because it is dependent on 1. me waking up early enough to catch a bus/taxi. 2. the AVAILABILITY of taxis/buses because its a sunday. 3. the routes that the taxis have, i.e. no taxi to durban/pietermaritzburg, so ? taxi to nelspruit? haha. but well, its an adventure nonetheless. i could always just come back to tuksdorp and try again on monday. my housemate's expression was quite priceless when i saw her at 3pm today after she just woke up from her nap. and she says i confuse her. but, i confuse myself too.. so... (:

nelspruit/polokwane/pietermaritzburg, here i come!
either tomorrow or monday...