adrian is rad

This is a follow up to the last post. As I mentioned because there was a full day between leaving San Francisco and arriving in Cape Town, they are separate events in my mind.

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It was rainy and chilly and generally miserable that Wednesday morning when I landed a year ago. I’d like to say things quickly got better but they didn’t. It stayed rainy and cold and I stayed alone. But things got better gradually.

Living in South Africa, in Cape Town, was something I seriously considered—by which I mean, I told friends I was going to do—since 2004. Could it live up to five years of build up?

Cape Town, as expected, is a magnificent city. I may have thought the beauty of it would get old but every time I see Table Mountain and the peaks that surround it, I’m still a little stunned. There are many things I love about Cape Town: great food, generally nice people, cool things to do and people doing cool things, beautiful beaches, great and accessible surround areas, and good-enough weather.

A year on, I’ve made friends. I’ve covered much on the country on bike, on foot, by car, by plane or by boat. I’ve witnessed an amazing World Cup; I saw the US America’s best and possiblemost important game; I’ve gotten other people to start using “US America“. I’ve found my favorite bar and my favorite restaurant. I’ve become an informal tour guide for friends and friends-of-friends. I’ve become friends with my parents’ friends. I’ve hiked up the three major peaks in Cape Town. I’ve taken thousands of photos and tried to show what I’ve been experiencing to people back home. I’ve had to carry my water up the hill. I went to a wedding on a rugby field in rural Zimbabwe. I’ve flown with a handwritten boarding pass to a city that I wasn’t told we were going to. I rode a pony called POWER in Lesotho; I’ve named my car Super Force after a minibus taxi in the rural Free State.

I can answer two questions. Has it been what I expected? No. Has it been good? Yes.