The Red Hat Ladies....companionship in America...

During our trip round San Diego with the Jarvis, we came across a group of women who are part of the Red Hat society.. Thy had decided to head down to San Diego for a day trip and we picked them up in Old Town (the so called Spanish old town when the Spanish first set up shop in San Diego).

It started in 2001 when a woman called Sue Ellen Cooper decided to buy herself a red fedora hat. She then read a poem called Warning and related to the poem so much that she decided to buy a deep purple dress as outlined in the poem. She then bought a few friends red hats and over time women in the fifties wearing red hats grew in number. This is what the founder has to say:

"The Red Hat Society began as a result of a few women deciding to greet middle age with verve, humor and elan. We believe silliness is the comedy relief of life, and since we are all in it together, we might as well join red-gloved hands and go for the gusto together. Underneath the frivolity, we share a bond of affection, forged by common life experiences and a genuine enthusiasm for wherever life takes us next."

- Sue Ellen Cooper, Queen Mother

Given that life is constrained by rules, the Red Hat Society does not have any rules.. in fact it forbids them.. The rule it does have however is that if you are under 50 and want to join in, you have to wear a pink hat until you read your birthday (50) at which point you can don the red hats and purple outfits... Versace take a tip or two, there is a whole new market you can target..

Nothing like some unknown tidbits for you to start your day....

Queen Bea arrives in San Deigo

We have a new fan or should I say that Don Don (John) has a new fan and an ever growing ego. Queen Bea came to visit and it
wonderful to have her company (and that of her parents) for the weekend..

We ate lots, went to places (old favorites - Tartine and new discoveries -missions) and got to hang out with Queen Bea. She is getting so cute and turning from a baby that still clutches onto my breast to one that has developed an excellent method of ordering Don Don around to the point that he does whatever she says - I wish I could do that.. Now Bea all you need to learn by the next visit is "Don Don, clean up please" and "Don Don, computer games are a time suck"

Thanks to the Jarvis we headed out to visit our first mission and this mission is the first mission built north of the Border. Known as San Diego De Alcala, it was founded on July 16th, 1769 and is located in area that is now aptly referred to as Mission Valley - to fellow San Diegans, note that this not just the place where the shopping mall is!!


As you can see Beatrice and John hung out alot. He taught her how to play computer games, stick her fingers in her nose, wear his shoes, and she taught him her game of "Don, sit"


These two had a lot of fun together. I have no idea what makes John so interesting... it must be all the toys that he has... We both still mimic BiBi's (as she refers to herself) facial expressions when she says no... and hot... What is also great to see is the heathly appetite that Beatrice has. She loves fruit and vegetables and olives and blueberries... she is so easy to cook for..

Sarah and I did manage to sneak out for a bit on the Saturday to head to Nordstroms to check our wedding dresses. Sarah is great at convincing old saleswomen to allow us to try on dresses without an appointment.. We did try on a few and I realised that I need to lose all the weight I have put on (6kg as of today) since arriving in the US in order to look remotely decent in one of these dresses... liposuction and spanx here we come!

Brett & Amira come to Visit

At least a month ago (my blogging is abysmal), we had Brett & Amira Clarence visit us. Brett and I know each other from UCT - from the days of Smuts Hall and Fuller Hall - student residences on Upper Campus. Brett married Amira about 2 years ago - they live in Atlanta and Amira is from Khazakstan... see I am not the only South African who ventured out to super sized America.

I missed Brett's wedding and I was super glad to hear that he was heading over to California to travel on vacation and enjoy Yosemite and the beautiful coastline that California has to offer. The last time I saw Brett was in London when he was over for business and this was my first meeting of his wife, so I was super excited. We took them around and our first stop was Torrey Pines Nature Reserve.. Below is the view from Highway 101 as we approach Torrey Pines. I use this as a good advertisement to get all our friends to come visit us.. The nature beuaty on this end of the world is enticing.. andwe have summer all year round - really we do...

Torrey Pines at this point in time was a busy spot as the US Open (Golf) was starting within a week and there were many tourists who had already arrived. Trying to spot Mr Woods however was more difficult than trying to sight a tiger in the Indian Jungle. (very corny, I know)

We did however manage to get a photo of the four of us, thanks to modern technology. Brett, I will be sending you and Amira some photos in the mail shortly. It was good to spend the weekend catching up with old friends, discussing the election (note only one of us has the right to vote in this crowd) and getting updates about old friends. As part of parcel of our tourist routine, I did take them to La Jolla on the Sunday..

Now we all know that Brett (especially the UCT crowd) that Brett tends to be the crazy one amongst us. so he dons a pair of swimming trunks and heads down to swim from La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores, in freezing water, after having swum for an hour in the PAC pool... Thankfully Amira is the sane one and hung out with me reading the newspaper and catching up on our past lifes.

We hope you guys come again... soon!!!

It's all about NINE

This weekend marked my 9 month living in the USA. how quickly time has flown.. Well, in the past nine months, I have put on 18 pounds (8.1kgs)(9*2), devalued my earnings by close to 9% (dollar depreciation against the GBP combined with increasing inflation). I have been declined 9 times for some form of bank or credit card due to no credit history and taken 27 (9*3)flights out of San Diego airport to some other part of the US, Europe or Brazil. On the bright side of things, I have made nine investments in the renewable energy space, ranging from solar to ethanol (the non-food type), had nine visitors come to San Diego including Michael B, Brett, Markus and Sarah, discovered 18 new places to take visitors too and spent close to 27 days not in America.. Within the USA, I have been nine new places - Death Valley, Mammoth Mountain, Santa Barbara - CA, Spokane - WA, Seattle - WA, Daly City - CA, Broomfield- CO, Miami - FL and Dallas, -TX. I spend on average 90 minutes a day surfing the internet for international news (things are very localised in the US) - thank God for the BBC and following the elections.. its like reality TV on steriods.. I have not enjoyed living here. I still miss London terribly but more importantly, I have realised how good we have it outside the US - from access to the international world, friends & family, affordable healthcare, liberal views of women in the workplace and good cuisine.. America is not the land of opportunity anymore, it is now a land in full recession.. However, I believe in the promise of hope and "change we can believe in".. and as a result, I look forward to what the next few months will bring (including a reduction in body size....:) ).

Happy Birthday Madiba!

To turn 90 is a feat in itself but to have lived the life of Nelson Mandela and turn 90, is definitely worth paying tribute too. for those of you not in the know, the person responsible for changing South Africa will turn 90 on July 18th. To kick of this event, a celebration with other dignatories was held in his honor in London. This was followed by a concert in Hyde Park to raise funds for his charity "46664" - his AIDS charity. 46664 is the number that Mandela wore on his shirt while in prison on Robben Island.

Nelson Manadela should always be honored - what he has done for my country, has not been matched by any other African or third world developing nation. Its just a pity that those that have tried to continue his legacy have done such a poor job.

In 1994, Mandela was freed from prison after 27 years. He was elected president in South Africa's first multiracial elections in 1994, ushering in an era of optimism and reconciliation after years of international isolation and internal brutality. I clearly remember the mood in South Africa at the time of of the elections. There were those that bought 100's of cans of canned food, candles and batteries, thinking that civil war would take place at the end of aparthied and there were those that partied in the street.

On the night of the 26th of April 1994, friends of mine at the University of Cape Town ushered in the new South Africa with a party with an old/new south africa theme.. After a good dinner at one of our friedns homes, we all drove to the Parlimentary Buildings in Cape Town and waited to count down the minutes to enter the new South Africa. Some of us were interviewed by CNN - we were one of few multi-racial groups - we were all filled with a deep sense of optimism.. for a country that was isolated from the rest of the world for close to 30 years.

I am glad that Mandela was honored in London. The outdoor show in London's Hyde Park, hosted by actor Will Smith comes 20 years after a 70th birthday concert at London's Wembley Stadium helped press South Africa's apartheid authorities for his freedom.

Happy birthday Madiba, I wish we could still have you as President of South Africa - if only we could have someone like you lead our country into the first world, help alleviate the deepening racial tension and narrow the gap between the haves and have nots.

Santa Barbara - a weekend with the Jarvis

(Sarah and John trading junk food secrets)

Finally, we got our act together and headed out to Santa Barbara to see Zack, Sarah and Queen Bea.. It was truly wonderful to hang out with good old friends for the weekend.. We left on a Friday evening around 8pm and arrived in Santa Barbara around 11.30pm -which included an hour stop to buy some wine and flowers and eat some good Indian at a decent Indian restaurant in West Hollywood, next to the WholeFoods, where said flowers and wine were purchased.. As you can see we try to eat Indian food outside San Diego whenever we get the opportunity.

The Jarvis live in a beautiful part of California..It reminded me of Spain, as you head from Malaga to Grenada and from Bilbao to San Sebastian.. Santa Barbara has excellent olive oils - more impressive than the wines that come from the region. We toured a few wine areas, but my highlight was hanging out with Queen Bea, who is getting more interactive by the day. It was the weekend of Cinco de Mayo, which is a Mexican celebration of the Mexican victory over French forces. The date is now observed as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride.. The above photo of the Jarvis family was taken at the Longoria wine store in Los Olivos - one of the small towns we visited on our wine routing expedition.

As you can see John has a new fan.. all blond little girls like John.. dont ask me why, but even Lara of the Lara/Nina Gush twin duo likes to hang with the John.. They must be attracted to the Latvian heritage that John has..

You have to love this photo of Beatrice.. so determined on carrying this big rock... soon Queen Bea, pretty soon. We hope that they do come visit us in San Diego pretty soon..

My first Baseball Game

A few weeks ago some friends of John where in San Diego for a conference - this town is the conference capital of California.. The big plus is that we get to see more friends this way and it actually got us to finally head to a baseball game..

In South Africa non-white schools during apartheid (which is when I grew up), we had 4 sports that we could play in our weekly 90 minutes of physical education per week - netball which was compulsory (and where I broke the fingers on my left hand when Margie tackled me); athletics; softball (as girls were not allowed to play cricket) and volleyball (you played if you wanted to meet tall Indian men!!). So for me going to a baseball game reminded me of those days when we would spend 45 minutes out of class (usually around midday) under the hot, boiling South African sun...bliss!

Baseball is similar to cricket only less complicated. More innings and much easier to get out - strikes and you are out.. The games was between the Padres (local SD team) and the Dodgers (LA Team). It was a 3 day match weekend (think if it as 3 one-day matches taking place consecutively over a weekend).

By the 6th innings (an innings ends when someone is out), I was bored.. but amazed at the same time by how much people spend (and eat!!!) on an outing to a game.. This is serious business with drinks costing north of $7 each and a hotdog close to $10. Not to mention the baseball caps, shirts, banners and calendars that are all up for sale.. Top tier entry tickets at $65 each.

The US is definitely a consumption driven nation, more so than any other country I have lived and worked in - well maybe not as bad as Kuwait as there is nothing else to do there than to shop and eat.

Will I go to a game again? Probably not.. Have I ever been to a cricket game? yes, but the last one was the world cup in South Africa in 2003, when India played against South Africa... which is always an exciting game to watch..

I did enjoy the mascot though and the impressive stadium that we were in.. If only the city of San Diego would invest the same amount of capital (estimated to be $500mn) on its roads..