Doritos Roulette

Sunday night I only watched the first half of the Euro Cup Championship.  People are allowed to smoke in bars and restaurants here and in certain places it gets very smoky, particularly the Kimberly Hotel bar.  South Africa is currently voting on a smoking ban in most of these places, which I 100% support (of course I have no say in the matter).  They want to totally ban indoor smoking and even make it illegal to smoke in open spaces such as beaches, stadiums, parks, outdoor eateries, and zoos.  In 2007 they successfully passed regulations that banned smoking in shopping malls.  If the legislation passes South Africa will be the first African country to go smoke-free.  By the time the first half of the match was over, I was ready to leave and get out of the disgusting air.  Also one guy in the bar who was an ex-cop was intoxicated and would not stop talking to Rebekah and I, no matter how many times we turned away or ignored him. 

I bought the craziest chips ever last week: Doritos Roulette.  “Doritos Roulette has a hot chip in every handful of cheesy chips.  So play with fire if you dare to get burned.  It’s a gamble in every bite.”  Emma, Rebekah, and I played – of course my first chip was one of the really hot ones.  Not sure I will be making that purchase again, but I couldn’t resist.

Four of us went to the Fat Cactus to celebrate the fourth of July with the best Tex-Mex food you can find in Cape Town.  Only Rebekah and I were Americans, as Milou is from Holland and Leila is South African.  I had made the reservations online, but it turned out that I made them for July 7 instead of July 4 (not really sure what I was thinking).  They happened to have a table available so it worked out in the end.  One of the tragedies I faced is that they do not make queso dip here; however, that is definitely a first world problem and something I can learn to live without.

As of July 1, electricity prices increased in the Cape Town area.  We used to pay 100 Rand and get 95 credits on our meter.  Now we pay 100 Rand and get 65 credits on our meter.  South African electricity used to be ranked number 1 for the cheapest electricity a few years ago, but now it has slipped to number 11.  This is very sad for me and my electricity bills.

I finished reading a book called 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa by Stephanie Nolen.  It was very good and definitely taught me more about how HIV affects daily lives, the process of discovery that you have the illness, disclosure to family and friends, and obtaining treatment and medication.  At work I have been analyzing data about our Expert Patient program to see if Expert Patients are helping prevent children from defaulting on their medications and appointments. I also am looking at the follow up rates for those children who do miss appointments to see how our clinics are working to get them back on track and on their medications.  One of our main funders, the One to One Children’s Fund, provides the monetary support for this program so they want to see what impact their money is making.

Acronyms I know very well now:

•  PMTCT = prevention of mother to child transmission
• ARV = antiretroviral
• ART = antiretroviral therapy
• HAART = highly active antiretroviral therapy
• MoH = Ministry of Health

Tonight our new roommate finally arrives!  We were told she would be here July 1 (which didn’t happen).  Then we were told July 4 (still didn’t happen). Now we have been told tonight so we will find out if she makes it or not.  Supposedly her flights were delayed due to storms and bad weather which is apparently hitting parts of the USA.  I wouldn’t really know because it is cold and rainy here mostly so I try not to look at how sunny and hot it is back home.

I am spending this upcoming Friday-Monday on the Garden Route! Feel free to Google it to see what exciting activities I have in my future.  Hint:  One stop is at the Garden Route Game Lodge for a Big 5 safari!!!