Hello, hello!
I have been in the depths of paper writing, but wanted to take a moment to share a few updates.
Firstly, after my last post I had what felt like an explosion of job offers! Currently, I am still only working at Bella. I had another serving job offer at what sounded like a great place, but am sticking to Bella, which is still going wonderfully. I also randomly responded to an ad looking for music teachers for woodwind lessons and ended up getting the job! I will try to write about that in more detail soon. It's for a non-profit music school in Hout Bay that began in 2007. I met the woman who runs it and she is really a cool person. I'll be starting with them in July. Lastly, the Learning Network finally got back to me and, as I write this, I am in their office. I began volunteering this week and then an official posting for an assistant position will go up soon. I've been encouraged to apply, so hopefully that means I'm pretty much in if I want it. We'll see!
Thomas will be home this weekend and we'll be celebrating his birthday, which is on Monday. Hooray!
Finally, I hand in my dreaded paper tomorrow and am SO excited it's almost finished! I don't even care about the grade that much any more, I just want the semester to be done!
I believe that's all the new for now. I'll try to write more soon. Love!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Because Heather Said I Had To
Why hello there everyone! I recently tried to update, but was thwarted by blogspot's website being down. However, thanks to my friend Heather, I was reminded that I still needed a new entry.
When we last left our heroine, she was learning to drive, anticipating May homework, and complacently settling for her job.
Well, I am still learning to drive, though honestly am feeling less optimistic about it. I experienced what I'm pretty sure was an actual panic attack during an attempt to drive to the Waterfront with Thomas and have been very turned off by even the thought of driving since. I did have another lesson last week where I drove to Hout Bay and back. It was a relaxed ride, kinda what I needed to "get back on the horse," but I've neglected to schedule another lesson yet. I can't remember the last time I felt so much anxiety about something!
In happier news, I have a new serving job! I was getting more and more disasatisfied with my previous job--it was dead almost every night, staff were treated horribly, and I was having more and more shifts with this terrible manager. On Friday, I went to have a haircut with the fabulous Natalie. While she was making my hair look amazing (seriously), I vented to her about my job. When I told her where I was working she was like, "I'm sorry but that place is a DIVE," and I had to agree! After telling her about my horrible manager, she was really encouraging to get myself out of there. She told me about a few restaurants in the area where she knew the owners took care of their staff and suggested I go drop off my CV.
I left early for work so that I could stop into a few places. Well, as it turned out, the very first place I walked into had just placed an ad in the paper for a part time waitress and after the owners spoke with me for a few minutes, they hired me on the spot! It is basically an Italian restaurant, pastas and pizza, and closer to me than my previous job. I had eaten there before I knew the food was good, they got steady business, and it is a nice atmosphere (not at all a "dive"). Went to work that night and told them it would be my last evening. Hooray!
I was glad I got to say good bye to a waitress I'm friends with there, although I know I'll see her again soon (we're planning to go out one night). Just a few things about her. She is from Zimbabwe originally, but now has been living in Cape Town with her boyfriend for a year or so. Before that, they were long distance with him in Zim and they did not see each other for TWO YEARS. They are very close and when I asked her about if they wanted to get married, she said that they did, but that he did not save enough yet to pay the bride price (I'm not sure of the word used in Zimbabwe) to her family. I felt so bad for her--she expressed frustration that they were bound to that tradition even though it was not important to her or her partner, but because of her family's expectations. Their families don't even know they live together in Cape Town! However, there is a happy ending. Her partner recently got a new job where he has been making better money and she told me a couple of weeks ago that they were going to be able to get married before the end of the year! So glad for her. I can't imagine how relieved she must feel.
Anyway, back to the new job. I began training today and, while it's still just a serving job, so far it has proved to be SO MUCH better than the last place! Staff are treated kindly and with respect--each shift that you work you get a free meal and drink. The owners are a married couple, the woman being Italian South African and the man being from Italy, I believe. The woman, Carla, was there with me for most of today and she was very pleasant and helpful. You can also tell that she takes a lot of pride in the restaurant which is really refreshing. I worked with her husband a little bit before my shift ended and he was also quite pleasant. Overall, I'm very happy with the change.
School is going well. I handed in my first big paper of the month last week and felt really good about it. I'm currently working on my last paper of the semester, which is by far the most difficult. It's for the same course that I had to write the history paper. I have to discuss the causes/risk factors for homicide in South Africa and El Salvador (I chose the countries and topic) and then design public health interventions for each countries in what is essentially a fifteen page paper. Oh my. I go back and forth between feeling confident and feeling like it is next to impossible, but pretty much everyone in our class is feeling the same way. I think this might be one of the hardest courses that I take, so I'm very much looking forward to it simply being over!
No news on the thesis stuff. The Learning Network is still and option, but not set in stone. I'm putting my search on the shelf for a little bit. I also officially handed in the paperwork to be in the Health Systems track last week.
That's all of my news for now. Surely I'll be looking to do a little more procrastinating in a week or so and will write again then.
Love to the States!
When we last left our heroine, she was learning to drive, anticipating May homework, and complacently settling for her job.
Well, I am still learning to drive, though honestly am feeling less optimistic about it. I experienced what I'm pretty sure was an actual panic attack during an attempt to drive to the Waterfront with Thomas and have been very turned off by even the thought of driving since. I did have another lesson last week where I drove to Hout Bay and back. It was a relaxed ride, kinda what I needed to "get back on the horse," but I've neglected to schedule another lesson yet. I can't remember the last time I felt so much anxiety about something!
In happier news, I have a new serving job! I was getting more and more disasatisfied with my previous job--it was dead almost every night, staff were treated horribly, and I was having more and more shifts with this terrible manager. On Friday, I went to have a haircut with the fabulous Natalie. While she was making my hair look amazing (seriously), I vented to her about my job. When I told her where I was working she was like, "I'm sorry but that place is a DIVE," and I had to agree! After telling her about my horrible manager, she was really encouraging to get myself out of there. She told me about a few restaurants in the area where she knew the owners took care of their staff and suggested I go drop off my CV.
I left early for work so that I could stop into a few places. Well, as it turned out, the very first place I walked into had just placed an ad in the paper for a part time waitress and after the owners spoke with me for a few minutes, they hired me on the spot! It is basically an Italian restaurant, pastas and pizza, and closer to me than my previous job. I had eaten there before I knew the food was good, they got steady business, and it is a nice atmosphere (not at all a "dive"). Went to work that night and told them it would be my last evening. Hooray!
I was glad I got to say good bye to a waitress I'm friends with there, although I know I'll see her again soon (we're planning to go out one night). Just a few things about her. She is from Zimbabwe originally, but now has been living in Cape Town with her boyfriend for a year or so. Before that, they were long distance with him in Zim and they did not see each other for TWO YEARS. They are very close and when I asked her about if they wanted to get married, she said that they did, but that he did not save enough yet to pay the bride price (I'm not sure of the word used in Zimbabwe) to her family. I felt so bad for her--she expressed frustration that they were bound to that tradition even though it was not important to her or her partner, but because of her family's expectations. Their families don't even know they live together in Cape Town! However, there is a happy ending. Her partner recently got a new job where he has been making better money and she told me a couple of weeks ago that they were going to be able to get married before the end of the year! So glad for her. I can't imagine how relieved she must feel.
Anyway, back to the new job. I began training today and, while it's still just a serving job, so far it has proved to be SO MUCH better than the last place! Staff are treated kindly and with respect--each shift that you work you get a free meal and drink. The owners are a married couple, the woman being Italian South African and the man being from Italy, I believe. The woman, Carla, was there with me for most of today and she was very pleasant and helpful. You can also tell that she takes a lot of pride in the restaurant which is really refreshing. I worked with her husband a little bit before my shift ended and he was also quite pleasant. Overall, I'm very happy with the change.
School is going well. I handed in my first big paper of the month last week and felt really good about it. I'm currently working on my last paper of the semester, which is by far the most difficult. It's for the same course that I had to write the history paper. I have to discuss the causes/risk factors for homicide in South Africa and El Salvador (I chose the countries and topic) and then design public health interventions for each countries in what is essentially a fifteen page paper. Oh my. I go back and forth between feeling confident and feeling like it is next to impossible, but pretty much everyone in our class is feeling the same way. I think this might be one of the hardest courses that I take, so I'm very much looking forward to it simply being over!
No news on the thesis stuff. The Learning Network is still and option, but not set in stone. I'm putting my search on the shelf for a little bit. I also officially handed in the paperwork to be in the Health Systems track last week.
That's all of my news for now. Surely I'll be looking to do a little more procrastinating in a week or so and will write again then.
Love to the States!
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