The Six Month Hiatus of Sarah

Meh...Yes, it's been that long.  Not intentional.  Life just gets in the way sometimes...  You know, things like work, family, friends, love, yoga, moving, traveling, reading, sleeping, eating, dating, studying, facebooking, shopping, volunteering, chasing dreams, and simply living.

Frankly, this blogging thing is difficult for me.  Not that I don't have anything to say or to talk about (Dear Lord, that's never a problem!). Writing for me is tough - never my strong subject in school.  I liked Math.  Finite things.  Things I could get results & definitive answers from.  I was terrified to start this blog a year & a half ago before I went on my journey to travel the world.  It was the very last thing I did before I walked out the door to the airport.  I pushed it off to the last possible second - so afraid how it would be perceived.  Then my friends & family began asking for more.  I was flattered, but even as I traveled, there were long bouts of silence because the thought of sitting at a computer for hours, making sure my posts were perfect, was torturous.  I even bought a netbook on my travels so that I would always have a notepad on hand; but I still fell behind, and then got shit from my travel buddies (That would be you, Erika & Charity! ;)) that my nose was stuck in my computer trying to "catch up" while we should have been relaxing on the beach.  They were right. This should be easier for me.  It should just flow - whatever is on my mind.  Unfortunately, for me, it's still easier said than done...

A friend of mine recently started a blog and it got me thinking.  What about my blog?  I still have so much to talk about.  Over the last 2 years I have had the most amazing adventures that I've learned and grown so much from.  I have a list in the back of my journal of subjects I still want to write about - Self Realization, Speaking English, Sanskrit, Spirituality, Strength, Second Chance, Spain, Saints, etc., etc....  Some are more personal than others - those of which will probably never make my blog, but maybe my memoir someday - which at my rate, will take a lifetime..

Over the past 6 months, people have asked if I will continue to post, but the guilt of being so far behind has deterred me.  The blog HAS been on my mind.  And then 2 days ago I sent a letter to a friend, whom I respect a ton.  I received positive feedback of how well of a writer I was.  Really?  Little did they know I had spent two hours reading, re-reading, formatting, deleting, copying, and pasting until it was just right.  I guess that's just that little bit of Type A left in me... But I think I just needed that little spark of encouragement.  Get over my fear of writing.  I'm a talker.  I have things to share.  Who cares if someone wants to critique it - in my opinion, then they shouldn't be reading it.  There are plenty of other blogs out there to enjoy.  I may not have the best grammar, or be the best speller.  I probably have a lot of run-on sentences, and use way too many commas (I heart commas, big time!).  But it's me.  It's raw.  It should be as if it were coming straight out of my mouth, right?

So here I am.  Ready to re-commit.  Maybe as a challenge for myself, I will set a timer.  Every time I post, I will aim for a minute shorter.  Starting with my next post, of course...

The Stick Shift of Sarah

Or “Manual”, as they call it here in South Africa (and most other parts of the world)…

After being in Cape Town for a week, I quickly realized how much a car would be beneficial. I found that an automatic car costs twice as much money to rent than a manual car and it has always been something I’ve wanted to learn.  I looked into driving lessons and said “Sign me up!”

Prior to my first lesson, I understood the concept of driving stick.  I got that the clutch needs to be pressed down when changing gears.  I’ve heard the phrase, “If you can’t find it, grind it”.  I knew there was a chance I could “kill the car”.  I understood the car would roll backwards if the parking break wasn’t on.  I had actually tried to drive stick a few times many years ago, but my “teacher” was easily frustrated and gave up on me…

Just a few minor differences when driving stick shift in Cape Town…

They drive on the left side of the road and sit on the right side of the car, which means the stick is on the left.  Completely opposite to everything we do in Chicago!  The roads aren’t exactly flat here.  I live on one side of a pretty decent size mountain and have to go up and over the mountain to get anywhere, which equals lots of hills!  Not to mention, the people here tend to drive a little crazy and there aren’t many “rules of the road”. 

Now I have driven an automatic on the left side of the road on the right side of the car when I was in Australia and New Zealand, which was a challenge in and of itself; so as you can imagine, I was terrified for my first lesson.  I kept trying to tell myself that so many people learn to do it, but for some reason, I didn’t have any confidence in myself.  I had this feeling I would never pick it up. 

Thankfully my instructor, Riyone, took me out of Camps Bay into town, where there is much less traffic and the roads are a bit more flat.  During my first 2 hour session, I was sweating bullets.  I didn’t take long for me to realize that I probably shouldn’t have worn flip flops for my first lesson because the bottom of the flop kept getting caught on the mat… And it took me a few times to realize what Riyone was referring to when he would tell me to turn at the Robot (the traffic light).  Who knows where they came up with that term because the things don’t have arms and legs…But, this is Africa!

I felt like I was 15 again.  Not only was I learning manual, but I was getting a refresh on drivers education, as a few of the bad driving habits I picked up over the years kept slipping out.  For example, not leaving enough space between me and the car in front of me, not slowing down soon enough before the traffic lights, and taking my turns a bit too fast.   Oopsy!  But apparently completely stopping at a stop sign is not required in South Africa.  My teacher even said so.  I didn't ask questions… ;) 

It took a few lessons to build up my ankle strength (lots of pedal pushing going on).  After 6 hours of lessons and practice over the last couple of weeks, I’m not doing too bad…I’m still killing the car once in awhile and have a little bit of trouble knowing when to down shift…The roundabouts are not my favorite b/c I don’t like slowing down once I have momentum…and my professional Chicago parallel parking skills aren’t so professional in Cape Town…

Needless to say, I can get myself from point A to point B, and it may just take a little bit of time before I can drink my coffee, put my lipstick on in the mirror, and text on my phone, all while driving manual… ;)  Kidding!  

The Space of Sarah

My new space in South Africa is starting to feel like home.  When Juli told me the cottage was in a great location in Camps Bay, I had no clue how great it would really be.  I am within 2 blocks walking distance to the ocean in Camps Bay.  I wasn't really familiar with this area because we didn't spend much time at the beach when I was here before.  It's one of the nicest areas of Cape Town with unbelievably beautiful houses overlooking the water and great shops and restaurants looking straight out to the beach.  I'm actually sitting at a cafe typing this as I look straight out into the beautiful blue ocean.  The weather is sunny, warm, and perfect everyday.  Not too humid (most of the time) with a nice breeze during the day.  It can get quite cool at night -carrying a jersey (sweater) or scarf is a must - as the wind is ferocious and cools the temperature down quite a bit.  I have moved from one windy city to the next.  Most days before I head to class, I wake up and go for a run along the water or study my yoga on the beach and stop at the cafe for my morning coffee on the way back; or head home to grab my computer to sit at the cafe, catching up on emails, people watching, and studying my poses.  Camps bay is quite the tourist attraction, so there are always people out and about.  Last week I even got to see camera crews filming a movie on the beach.

The cottage I'm staying in is quite old.  I had been warned, but really had no idea.  Unfortunately, maintaining the place is not really a priority for the owner and things are slowly falling apart.  I have managed to spruce it up a bit and have quickly gotten used to it.  After living out of boxes and suitcases for the last year, I was ready to have a "home" and tried to decorate my bedroom as cozy as I could.  Again, this place is all about location, location, location and the rent I pay is peanuts compared to what I would be spending in Chicago!

This beautiful picturesque place new to me is just another new reason why I love Cape Town!

The Simon of Sarah

No, it's not a typo. I meant Simon...

My first job after graduation was with Simon Marketing.  It was my dream job -  working on promotions for Kraft and McDonald's (How many people get to say they work on Happy Meal Toys!?).  We worked in the coolest office with crazy artwork, toys and games everywhere.  We had catered-in lunches, we got free Happy Meal Collectible Toys, we went to all sorts of fun work outings in the city. But most importantly, we worked with some of the greatest people I've ever met, many of who I still keep in touch with (and even work with) to this day, almost 11 years later.  

There were 5 of us girls that started that summer in 2000.  We were the pions, the new kids on the block.  We stuck together, trying to figure out what this so called "real world" was all about.  We looked up to our colleagues, wondering if we would ever get to where they were in life.  From their knowledge and experience on the job, to seeing them get married and have babies.  It's amazing how quickly a year and a half can go by and how much we seemed to learn.  And not too long after that year and a half went by, we also learned what it was like to be laid off - all because of one rogue employee who decided to be greedy and steal the winning Monopoly game pieces - McDonald's fired Simon Marketing, which meant the end of us... And a few weeks later, September 11th happened.  Where would we go?  What would we do next?  Our lives seemed over at the ripe old age of 22.  

I went to dinner with those 4 girls last night.  GNO (girls night out) is what we call it.  A tradition we have kept up monthly (or so) since that dreadful day we were laid off in September 2001.  Yes, 10 years later, we are still passing around the excel spreadsheet once a month with each of our availability, shading in the days we CANNOT make it (something that we have all tried to instill with other groups of friends, but for some reason no one else gets it...).  We always rotate locations of restaurants and try to get together in each other's neighborhoods.  

The tradition is we go around the table and each of us takes turns giving updates on what's new in our lives.  Over the years, we have pretty much seen it all - loss of jobs, graduation, interviewing, new jobs, broken hearts, death, marriage, divorce, illnesses, babies.  You name it.  Last night I sat back and looked at these 4 amazing women and realized how incredibly different we all are, yet we all pretty much started out as that same scared young girl right out of college.   

Today:

Christy is a Lawyer and lives with her boyfriend in the burbs.  

Angela is married and is a working mother of two.  

Vanessa is married and is a stay-at-home mother of 1.  

Jen is working and married to her husband of 6 years.

And Me.  I'm the single one, traveling the world (yet I was the only one who had a boyfriend when we all first met).

It's funny how things change.  I'm so proud to say that we can still come together and learn and grow from each other's heartaches and happiness.  We all take turns and have our ups and downs each month.  We are all honest (I mean 100% honest) with each other.  We respect each other and each other's opinions and decisions in life.  And it all comes full circle.  We will continue to change and grow and learn and support one another for another 10 years.  And I can't wait to see where it takes us...

And I can't help but add that sometimes it's even the silly things that come full circle.  One of the first times we all went out for a work lunch together back in 2000, the team took us to sushi - something we at 21 had never done.  For some reason Vanessa decided to scoop a large hunk of wasabi into her mouth, claiming she thought it was Guacamole (Guacamole at  Sushi restaurant??  Oh, Vanessa!).  Needless to say, Vanessa learned quickly that day and was eating sushi like a pro last night.  :)

Our days at Simon Marketing were short lived, but we learned that life does go on, up, down,  and even sideways sometimes.  

I wish I could say I had some older pictures to compare this new one to, but I don't think they made digital cameras back in 2000, did they girls??? ;)  The only one I could find below  was from a couple of years ago...Personally, I think we look the same as we did when we were 21!!