Fake shopping

Yesterday, we went to All Nations church for Sunday service and then went to Meruea Mall (I hope I spelled that right). We looked around in all the clothing shops for a bit (they were looking for a certain coat). I enjoyed the clothing selection very much and have decided to not even try to buy anything else until we get here. The styles are quite similar to what's happening in the US fashion-wise but there seems to actually be a better selection of more modest clothing; my kind of modest, anyway. Like, I saw a really cute sweater that I would have been happy to purchase, were I in need of sweater. And it was somewhere around $200 Namibian, which is almost $30 US. That's a fair price for a nice sweater, I think.

Also, I've been in several grocery stores and pharmacies now. I walked the aisles and fake-shopped, as if I were going to make some of our favorite meals. I found that, at least here in the capital city, the only thing I couldn't find was real maple syrup. We had a moment's pause when the first grocery store didn't have oregano but then the second one did. So, really, eating here isn't going to be much of an adjustment. In fact, there were products here that I'm able to get back in Newfoundland that are difficult to find in the US, like Cadbury Dairy Milk bars ... yum! That's my favorite milk chocolate. Mom and I used to eat Dairy Milk bars together when I lived at home so it has particularly pleasant associations for me.I always buy it when I get back to Canada for any reason. And I got a picture of a display of Dairy Milk products that I've never even seen before. I bought a 'Turkish delight' Dairy Milk that I'm kind of excited to try. The only reason that I haven't yet is that Rachel has been making yummy desserts and so a chocolate bar on top of those seems like overkill. She made a great carrot cake on Saturday and a chocolate cream pie yesterday, for Mother's Day.

So, I was pleased to find that while the cost of living isn't cheaper than the US, it will probably be comparable shopping for me, if not even easier, in some ways.

We've had braai twice since I've been here, once beef, once chicken. Very tasty. And it rained yesterday and the night before, contrary to typical winter weather here. I've been very comfortable, temperature-wise, having to put on a sweater in the evenings but otherwise running around in shirt-sleeves. It's overcast out there this morning but that seems to burn off by noon, then return in the evenings.

They have a dog named Pippin. We've gotten used to each other now.

Today will be my first day at the office visiting the Khoekhoegowab translating team. Looking forward to it, me. I'll be going to shower soon, get moderately gussied up so I can make a decent first impression. I do have wireless internet here at the Boylans' but it's been running slow for the last day and pages are taking a long time to load. So no Skypeing for me, though I must admit that I tried. I've been blogging into a text doc and copy/pasting when the blog page finally loads.