The Weekend

Whoops, sort of fell out of sync for a few days… heehee. No worries, I’ll give y’all a quick update now. So here goes…

Friday’s highlights…
1) YAY! I learned how to drive on the other side of the road!! I am SO PRO now! Heehee…
2) Had dinner at Napolitana’s (yummy Italian restaurant in Swakop) with Garth’s cousin Donna-Lee & her husband, Michael. It was actually a coincidence that we met up. The two live in Windhoek and were just visiting for the weekend and we just happened to bump into them at the restaurant. It was certainly a nice surprise rendez-vous… good food and good friends.

The weekend was all about Windhoek…

Garth had to work Saturday morning so we only started driving out past 1pm. When filling Garth’s mini-mobile (dubbed Vasbyt – pronounced “fas-bait” – aka “You can do it!”… haha) at the gas station in Quisebmund, I bumped into some Mascatos inside the shop! Chakalaka, Tula, Fennie, Mervin, Gladwyn, Ernet, and some newbies were eager to greet me. Oh it felt so great to see all of them again as well! Such joy! My my… I can’t wait to reunite with the entire clan! Anyway, greetings aside, Joel & Megan rented a car and Doller & Romano accompanied them to navigate the way to Windhoek. And so we all made our 5-hour drive out to Windhoek. Phew… it was a HOT trip! Side note: I saw a baboon run across the highway! But Joel’s groupie got to see not only baboons, but also warthogs and giraffes chilling by the roadside. BOO… unfair! Oh well, whatevs.

Thanks to Garth’s speeding tendencies, Vasbyt won the race to Windhoek. While waiting for the others to arrive, Garth and I went around visiting relative of whom included Garth’s infamous brother, Jerome. Haha… I’ve heard a lot about this guy ‘cause Garth and him are really tight, so it was real cool to finally get to meet him. Jerome seemed like a really sociable character who liked to laugh. I liked him.

When the others arrived, we all went out for dinner at Cattle Barons in Maerua Mall. Wow… this place had HUGE portions for next to nothing in moola. For example, the Afroshine guys all ordered the rib & chicken combo which was HONKIN’ in size, for only N$78 – that’s about $10 Canadian!!! Can you believe that?! No where can we find that back home, that’s fo’ sho! The portions was SO LARGE that Garth & I didn’t even finish our meals, and that says a lot because we’re both foodaholics. Anyway, good place. I highly recommend chowing down at this joint if you happen to be visiting Windhoek.

Later that night, we all retired back at Arebusch Lodge, where Kokopelli stayed at last year. We booked two budget rooms for the six of us, which meant no in-suite washrooms and heaters and two single beds in each room. Doller & Romano shared one room and the couples slept in the other. Haha… it was definitely interesting trying to fit two of us to a bed, but we managed. I was quite amused by Joel & Megan’s bickering about their discomfort with sleeping so close together. Apparently they both have space issues. Warning: Megan is a blanket hog. Good thing… at least we all stayed warm throughout the night.

All the guys got up early the next day to practice some tunes before the rehearsal with Afrodisiac. It was such a beautiful sunshiny morning. Megan enjoyed a booked while I basked in the sunlight surrounded by sounds of Afroshine & Joel. They were doing a mighty fine job might I add. Later on that morning, Megan & I left the guys at the Warehouse to jam with Afrodisiac. From what we heard so far, we think the show will be bang on for next week. They already sound really pumpin’… should be great.

First stop, breakfast! Megan and I chillaxed at this very organic café above a craft market. She had a pineapple health shake and fruit salad, while I drank a glass of orange mango freshly squeezed juice. Our pleasant breakfast was suddenly made even more interesting when we were serenaded by a very young primary school choir from below. Megan and I suspect they were from South Africa. I recognized both the tunes that they sang. Mascato also sang them before. Oy, these kids sure seemed to struggle with two part harmony and movement coordination. Haha… I think Megan caught a couple clips on her camera. Still, I gave them an ‘E’ for effort.

Now here in Africa, almost nothing is opened on weekends. So after breakfast, Megan and I ended up strolling around a pretty deserted city. We visited some street vendors selling gizmos & gadnets and all sorts of crafts. Then we checked out the few shops that were open in the Wernhill Mall. Megan bought a pair of wooden salad spoons. It was really purdy and Africano. Then we went about killing time again.

Alas, the guys finished their practice early and met up with us. The whole clan then paid a visit to Kristian Palone, Afroshine’s producer. He was a very eccentric kind of guy who was obviously VERY French. Joel recently composed a song for Afroshine called “Morning.” So the guys just played around with the song for a while. Kristian shared some pretty good advice and suggestions and said that the song had potential. Way to go, Joel! I think the guys are wanting to record the song sometime soon. We’ll see…

Anyway, this post is getting long. I best be cutting it here. Haha… nothing more happened that day really except another 5-hour drive home to Swakopmund and Walvis Bay. What a full weekend! Woot!