Things one cant pack into a suitcase......

So - here's what I miss that I can't pack into a suitcase... :)

1) I MISS FRIENDS and FAMILY
Damn I miss you all - I miss the crazy talk, the random braai's, the MBABT, irritating my brother - you know the normal stuff...

BUT - having said that - I have new friends here - and we have COFFEE DATES!!! :) never did that back in RSA - so sorry peeps.. this is WAY better... :) and there is SOOO many choices other than the Wimpy... ;)

2) I MISS my LAPA
All of you who had the pleasure in a wee little "Kueirtjie" in my lapa "KNOW what I'm talking about" (said with a African American Ghetto accent)
DAMN I miss it - this villa is just not made for outside entertainment - never mind half the year you cant go outside anyways... :)
But now that the weather is cooler (its winter you see - ie its down to the low / middle 20's!!!) now that its STUNNING outside - I WANT MY LAPA!!!!
Damn - the only pic I could find of the lapa is one where it is a TOTAL MESS... :)
(well one that keeps everyone anonymous... Am sure you dont want your faces plastered all over the net... :)



2) I MISS the Table Mountain Range

I miss having those mountains that are GREEN!!! although at this time of year back in Cape Town - I guess they could be up in flames soon? :(
We have mountains here - and I haven't been out to Jebel Akhdar - "The Green Mountain" which is apparently stunning and very green (hence the name) - but the mountains that are around Muscat are desert coloured... SAD...

3) I MISS South African Taxi's


YES people I miss 'em..., I miss 'em BAD! I can hear you all screaming WHY!!!! :)
have you seen the driving over here??? IT SUCKS... At least with the South African TAXI's one knew what to expect, one could actually work out what their next move would be, that they wouldn't stop at a Red Robot (IT's a ROBOT not a Traffic Light!), that they would drive in the yellow line - you KNEW what was gonna happen.

Here - wow - you need to have 10 sets of eyes to keep your wits about you when you drive. They tailgate, they dont use indicators, they DO NOT stick to speed limits, they have NO COOKING CLUE what the white lines painted on the road are for - well they certainly cant be for lanes could they? - DONT even get me started on circles (IT's CIRCLES not ROUNDABOUTS) and let me tell you this place out strips the UK for circles - GEEZ these guys have NO idea what lane to pick "to match" which exit they are gonna be taking - in fact if they stick to their lane you've found a good driver.

Now according to RUMOUR (ie I heard this on a Social Networking site) - apparently this person was going for a drivers licence and her so called instructor told her the following :-
- You can answer your cellphone whilst driving
- There is no need for a gap between cars on the freeway
- There is no need to look whilst entering a circle
(not verbatim - in my own words)
so as you can see - driving is kinda weird over here.... :)

AND on top of that - it is an ARRESTABLE OFFENCE (yes you can get arrested) for giving someone the middle finger - it makes me sad - do you know how many times I gave the middle finger before I learnt that law :) OPPS
Now I just merrily go about screaming some choice africaans swear words (making sure that a) Kid's ears are blocked b) the music is up really loud and c) the windows are wound up... :)

4) Mr A C Kermans or Ms P.E Pstores
DAMN - I miss being able to dash down to the cheapy stores and get my kid some clothes - he is growing out of his clothes so darn quickly and I have yet to find a store here that allows me to go through clothing this quick at a good price. Who wants to pay a fortune for clothing that will only get worn for around 2 months before its declared too small... :( UNLESS I just stop feeding fatty??? :)


5) I MISS Mixing my Languages.. :)
All I seem to do at the moment is think about what I am gonna say next - NOW YOU ALL KNOW that's hard for me to do - think and talk!!!
But here I am aware that I am not always talking to other Saffers.. I'm talking to a lot of other nationalities - so I have to choose my words carefully - also bear in mind that not only are there "The Queen's English" speakers there is also the American English speakers - so you gotta watch out what you say in English also...
Here's a few random words that I keep on saying and keep on having to correct myself on...
Firstly the Queen vs Obama (is that PC?) you know the standard words
- Circle = Roundabout
- Robot = Traffic Lights
- Flat = Apartment
- Pavement = Sidewalk
Then you get the africaans ones - I find it difficult to keep these words out of my vocabulary - I mean they are now part of my MAKE UP... and the "other" english words just DONT make it sound as good... :)
- Vrot = rotten
- Bakkie = Pickup / UTE (depending where you come from) - this one irritates me the most.. :)
- Jol = P.A.R.T.Y
- Braai = B.B.Q / Barbie (depending where you come from)
- Chips = Crisps
- Slap Chips = French Fries
- Dof = Stupid
- EINA = Ouch - OH come on WHICH IS BETTER??? EINA or OUCH! :)
- Sis = yuck
- Skinner = Gossip - DO you KNOW - I always have to triple think the english word here - seems that I have totally lost my brit roots on this one... But then again Skinner is SOOO much more descriptive then Gossip!
- Ne (with a cappie on) = hey!!! :)
- Slip Slops / Floppies = Thongs or slip on's = MY word it's the STANDARD SHOE over here - how can people not know you just gonna go get your slipslops on!!! grrrrr...
- Woes = Agressive / Angry

Jislaaik it mense, is it so hard to invite Tjommies over for a braai, so you can skinner about the Tannies in their slipslops? whilst part-taking in a few Klippies (AVAILABLE HERE PEEPS!) and Slap chips?? Or shall I say I get Woes when people think I am Dof cause I can praat the taal. It's a hard life ne... But I think I will get it all together now now...

DAMN that above paragraph might not make sense to some of you - but it sure feels good to say it...


There are many many more things I miss that cant be packed in a suitcase - but these are the ones that I can think of right now...

I think its time I let you know about the things I LOVE about Oman - else all I end up doing is complaining....

Anyways till then
xx