Jonathan Field - Maker of Random Stuff

I’ve got no Red Vines, no Mr. Pibb, and no Chronic (…les of anything), but that’s not going to stop me from chilling out.

I’m up by 8:30, and I manage to stay at the backpackers reading and writing until almost 2PM. During that time I get a few days of my handwritten journal into the computer, I read more junk online than I should, I exercise and I have my usual breakfast.

A couple of older British ladies arrive at the backpackers’ today. I’m a little embarrassed as when they walk in and we do our introductions as I’m sitting in nothing but a pair of shorts. I also haven’t shaved in a few days so I look pretty scruffy. I’m sure I look exactly like the kind of thing they were hoping not to be sharing a flat with.

I eventually head out with a short list of things to get, but not too surprisingly Stok’s Systems and the pharmacy are both closed. So is the little cafe that I keep meaning to dine at. So I go to Wimpy’s again. Wimpy’s isn’t bad, it’s just so… normal!

In an effort to be at least slightly healthy, I order a Sweet Chili Chicken wrap. When it arrives I take a bite and — oh my: that must be the most mayonnaise I’ve ever had in a single mouthful! It’s also got a ton of feta cheese, but its a very soft variety and blends with the mayo so I can’t even tell where one ends and the other begins. I am a lover of mayo and a lover of cheese. I have never had a sandwich with “too much” of either before, but I must admit this is indeed too much.

Aside from that, the thing actually tastes pretty good. And here is one of the many advantages to traveling to faraway lands: at home I would immediately think “Ugh! Way too much mayo! Awful!” but here I think “Aha! So this is how they do a wrap in South Africa! What an interesting experience!”.

I finish it off anyway, and I figure that later I’ll order it again without any mayo. Hopefully that will get it more in line with my tastes. And hopefully they they don’t just double the feta cheese to be nice.

I also have a cappuccino, which is better than what I’d expect for a cappuccino at a similar level restaurant in the US. While I drink I read a bit of my book, and write in my journal, even though I have a computer back at home. I write until the pen runs out of ink. Then I go buy some new pens and write a bit more.

Finally I head over to Alan & Donna’s to say “hi”. They’re about to have dinner, and I sit with them and nurse a beer while they eat and we chat. There’s nobody left at the school except for them, so the place is strikingly quiet. After dinner we sneak over to the playroom and watch the news in Zulu and then about 20 minutes of “Snakes on a Plane” before I head home.

That’s right: Snakes.

On a plane.