Two Months in Johannesburg...

For the past two months I have been living in Johannesburg, or perhaps I should say Sandton, since this neighbourhood appears to exist in its own little bubble. Why have I chosen the purported `world`s most dangerous city` as my temporary home, you are likely asking yourself. Well, mostly because we are on break from uni and I was offered a fantastic job by a mining company carrying out some corporate communications work. They have generously put me up in a lovely hotel for two months (having a maid is awesome, but I miss my friends in CT, must say) to undertake a number of projects. I love the CEO and many of the great people I have met here, but am finding the lack of professionalism and work ethic amongst a select few of my coworkers a bit of a shocker. Also, the weather in Cape Town is horrible this time of year and winter in Johannesburg is characterized by cloudless blue skies and decent temperatures. The only downside is the dryness of the air - no amount of moisturizer can make my poor Canadian skin feel human. Put it this way - I feel, and look, like Ashy Larry from the Chappelle Show.

My time in Johannesburg has not been short on adventures, though it has been a little drama (and tequila…and wine…and champagne) packed for my taste. I think the laid back Canadian in me has difficulty with some of the cultural and mind set adjustments required when living here. One thing I do find endlessly amusing is the men – they seem to thrive on the drama almost more than the women do.

As with my life in Vancouver, I have brought along my knack for meeting the most random people to RSA. No Pauly Shore or Richard Branson run ins thus far (though I did sit behind Mandela`s grandson at lunch not long ago) but nonetheless...so far I have managed to end up mid-afternoon sauced at a polo club (and was more than a little unimpressed with myself when I woke up to find a British polo playing banker in my bed the next morning – damn you tequila!), at a pig farm in the middle of nowhere with two massive identical twin professional rugby players, fly fishing in the middle of the South African mountains with a random dachshund who decided to charge me from a cabin and much, much more. I also went to Polokwane once again, this time for my friend`s birthday which was another booze fueled weekend of bush and debauchery. The only downside was that some seriously pathetic South African girl was making snide remarks about Canadians at dinner the very first night (apparently we`re all stupid…interesting observation from a country party planner whose face looked like...a pig actually).

Excepting the above's rudeness, it’s actually a pretty good deal being a Canadian here. I have to say, I meet so, so many people because of my accent and pale skin. Sounds strange to say seeing as personally, I think we have one of the worst accents going, but genuinely I am perplexed at how many people want to hear me say certain words and listen to me talk. I suppose I have a bad track record of falling for men`s accents, so that`s probably the root of my paranoia. It seems like my name here is in fact “Canada”. At least that is what everyone calls me. I even went on a date with one guy who insisted on taking me to his friend’s family’s house because they wanted to see ‘a foreigner’. I suppose it keeps life interesting.

I am really excited for next week. I’m reverting to the life of the great unwashed traveler, heading for Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania and Zanzibar, which has always been one of my dream holidays. I can’t wait to snorkel with dolphins again, and am beyond excited for the photo opportunities presented by Stone Town and the spice plantations!

I`ve realized that I`m definitely not ready to settle down for the next couple of years at least. In fact, my travel bug is raging out of control. Maybe it's strange that someone my age doesn`t mind not bathing for days, and living out of a back pack…but it seems like as long as I have a camera and a laptop I`m pretty content for now. I`m still fairly bent on ruling the world at some point down the road, but am actually thinking I may take a different route then initially planned. I have decided that I am going to write and publish a book. Ideally I would like to pull together my photos and musings on my travels, though I know that may not prove interesting to anyone outside of my friend circle. If anyone has any good ideas for subject matter – let me know! In the meantime, the wanderer in me is already getting antsy and I need to FOCUS since I really do need to stay in Cape Town for a couple more years.

Next stop: Tanzania.