My Neighbor!

Ok I wrote this little bit a longgg time ago and never posted it but I think it will be a good intro to my neighbor! So: I live in this strange little area of houses right behind a nice hotel on the outskirts of town. They’re literally nestled between cliffs on the back and the ocean on the front. It creates a bit of an isolated feel since there aren’t that many houses, no one ever seems to be in the houses, and the cliffs and ocean are both extremely imposing. That, added to the fact that this is actually the first time I’ve ever lived by myself [way to start out!], and that the wind rattles every part of my house, has left me creeped out on occasion now that I’m all alone. Anyway, because no one is ever around, I have to find ways to entertain myself. So, the other day while I was cleaning my kitchen thoroughly, I started singing quite loudly to my country mix on my ipod to keep myself company. I was singing so loudly in fact, that I didn’t hear my neighbor calling my name the first few times from my front door. First, how does everyone know my name?!?!

Second, now this guy probably thinks I’m crazy because he heard my not-so-dulcet tones singing to Taylor Swift – if it had been a windy day like standard Luderitz weather no one would have noticed. He is super nice nonetheless, and I found out he’s from SA and has a daughter my age [who is also a teacher], and works with the crayfish company in association with SeaFlower, a fish factory in Luda. I also found out he lives right behind me, and after our visit concluded and he walked back I could hear him quite clearly speaking to someone in his front yard… meaning he also heard all of my prior singing the past hour. Shoot. 

So that was the way I met Douglas, and since our initial meeting, we’ve become like family! As I mentioned, he literally lives about 20 feet from my house behind me. This is his first time in a way long time living alone, since his wife and daughter are both back in Capetown. He also didn’t know anyone when he got here, so I started going over to his house for dinner about once a week, and have been trying some lekker fish each time! I also introduced him to improvised Mexican food yum. I have learned SO much about the crayfish industry now, and have gotten to visit the factory with him a couple of times. Little tidbit: apparently a lot of the crayfish fishermen catch here get sent to Southeast Asia.

Crayfish tanks at the factory!

Yummmm crayfish!

Anyway, Douglas happens to leave for work at the same time I do, and the factories are in the same direction as the location, so now I get driven to work too! This is SO nice to not show up to work covered in sweat from my trek! This weekend Douglas made a tasty breakfast for us and then we went out to Diaz Point for the first time. I finally saw seals, and a huge group of them at that! They were feeding in the water. Next time I head out there I’ll definitely take pictures. Following that, we saw one of the people who does repairs for the factory catching crayfish on his own, so we got him to give us some, and had a feast in the afternoon! It’s so nice to have my own little family here, with my host mom and sisters, and now I totally have a South African dad, I’m so lucky!! I’m going to be so sad when he goes home to Capetown for a few months in May since crayfish season is ending!