Settling in

It's hard to believe we've now been in Cape Town for over two weeks!  I have been very slow to recover from jet lag.  Probably because my sleeping patterns were erratic to begin with.  Hopefully I am finally adjusted though, after crashing sleeping for 12 hrs almost straight through on Saturday night.  I don't think I've done that since college.

Cape Town is truly a unique city.  Since the last blog, I have explored a fair amount while Rebecca has been going to her classes.  The streets here are hilly with slanted and uneven sidewalks.  Intersections are absolutely no fun for me in a wheelchair.  The first week, especially, I got pretty down about how difficult it was.  Rebecca and I both are having a hard time adjusting to how very different it is to be here with my disability.  When we visited 2 years ago, we walked all over town to explore, hiked up the side of Table Mountain, and even repelled off the top of the same mountain a couple days later.  This time, if I want to go anywhere, I have to take time to consider the logistics.  And I certainly won't be hiking any mountains or repelling any time soon.  A lot of people run and bike here on a beautiful, scenic oceanfront path.  It's not dissimilar from the lakefront path in Chicago, except that it's on the Atlantic ocean.  For now, its only use to me is as a way to avoid the terrible intersections on my way to the store, which is kind of a waste and frustrating.

Here is an example of something not uncommon.  I had worked my way up a fairly large hill early last week to view a potential apartment.  A block away from the apartment, I encounter this.  There is only a busy street next to me and tons of debris in front.  Instead of going back downhill two blocks to a POSSIBLE crossing and trekking back uphill, I decided to jump off the curb into the street and hide behind this van until traffic stopped for a minute, then hurried uphill.  Once I passed this mess, if you can barely see, the curb on the following street had no ramp/entry point.  So I was stuck yet again.  I had to go down the side street until I was able to cross in the middle of the street using garage exit ramps.  Not a fun day for me!  And it kind of ruined this apartment for me, too haha...

Here's another more typical example of what I encounter here.  The streets are REALLY old and not maintained that well.  The result is that the sides of the street slope down into the curb.  The sidewalk also slopes down into the street, which is somewhat dangerous for me.  So not only is this street cross very difficult for me, but if you look, the other side of the street has no exit.  So I'd be stuck in the street if I tried to cross, anyway.  Luckily my wheelchair skills are pretty decent at this point and I can drop down off curbs and jump over small curbs and whatnot.

I had to take a picture of the reason why outside of the US, when I say I'm from Kentucky, everybody knows what I'm talking about.  They don't know where it is, but they know about KFC!  Kentucky Fried Chicken is hugely successful worldwide, mainly because fried chicken was already eaten by nearly every culture on earth.  

 Okay so it's not sounding so good so far for me, right?  That's what I thought.  I was getting pretty depressed about my situation here, frankly.  I hadn't realized that the area of our hotel - Cape Town City Centre - is not a residential area at all.  It's kind of like the loop in Chicago and dies after happy hour is over, except worse.  Restaurants all close by about 7pm or so downtown.  I started thinking, "Why did we move here???"

Rebecca said she found an apartment in Sea Point that was the best option so far for me.  She cautioned that it was on the side of a hill, though.  So I decided to go check it out.  The side entrance wasn't the best, but when I got into the apartment, I wanted to sign the lease immediately!  The views are ridiculous.  We negotiated and moved in a few days later.  We can see parts of the mountain and the city from the bedroom.  From the study (yes, a study), and living room, we have incredible views of the Atlantic Ocean.  There is even a little sitting area with a big window that opens up over the ocean... on the 24th floor!  Very cool.

This is the view from the sitting area overlooking the ocean.

Looking down out of that same window, you can people watch the (very nice) public pools.  Fully-maintained by the city.  Not bad at all.  I'm about to try to go swimming over there after I post this.

This is our kitchen.  Complete with washer and dryer and dishwasher.  The dryer and dishwasher, particularly, are luxuries.  Not a bad sunset to watch while you cook.

Crazy that we found this place, and at a price similar to things of much lesser quality with not nearly the view.

In addition to the cool apartment (there is a separate entrance for wheelchairs... nice for me), the street behind us has several restaurants and a coffee shop that is bound to turn into my hangout.  They have unlimited free wifi (many places give you 100 MB, very strange for an American), great food including breakfast until noon, and also serve beer and wine.  I was really bummed when the bathroom required the manager to hoist me up a 12" step.  Then I figured out a path to the shop that wasn't wheelchair accessible but that I could walk.  So I'm hoping it will just motivate me to walk more.  The pool, as well, isn't wheelchair-friendly (yet - that part is under construction), which will force me to walk there to swim.  The restaurants, as well, are in walking distance.  So I think I'll just try and walk a lot since it is strangely easier than using the wheelchair, thanks to the steep hills and unpredictable intersections.  Click here if you want to check out the coffee shop.

Last thing I'll say about getting around here - I haven't tried the buses which are supposed to be nice.  But Uber is big here and works great for me.  They are kind and help me with my crutches and the best part - as in Chicago - is that they pick me up where I happen to be standing.  I love that.  Also here you can go most places for a few bucks.  Awesome.

This is a random picture I had to take at a local grocery called Pick N Pay.  They are apparently obsessed with Snickers here.  Either that or the Mars rep has his way with things.  This MASSIVE display was in the middle of the store, which wasn't big to begin with.  Then there were multiple other displays, by vegetables, in the fridge next to pizzas, everywhere.  I don't get it.

 Other than that, we are enjoying the incredibly cheap food and drink here.  In the US there is a huge cost difference between cooking at home and going out to eat.  Not so much here.  It also adds the incentive for me to just pick up food from a restaurant instead of buying groceries.  It's a difference of a couple bucks.  We also love that all the good South African wine averages about $4/bottle!  Crazy.

I'll stop there before I create a novel.  More to come.

Dear Lord, please keep me positive.  Like the coffee shop, let a challenge turn into an opportunity.  Let us focus on the things we can do instead of the things we can't.  Let us trade in our expectations for gratitude.  Guide us in all we do.  Help me find work here so that I can be productive and feel like I'm truly contributing.  Thanks for the incredible apartment.  Thanks for the view of your great creation so that I think about You every morning, noon, and night.  Be with all our family and friends back home who we really miss right now.  In Your name, Amen.  

Off to the pool!  Enjoy the cold weather back home.

Chip