Signal Hill caught fire again, but this time even worse than the other time. If you look closely, you can see a helicopter dumping water on the fire just above and to the left of it. It was fun but sad to watch from the balcony.


This is not chronological. Sorry.
About a week before Lena left, she took us to the Rhodes Memorial on the side of Devil's Peak. Russell really enjoyed the structure while I found it to be a bit too much.

Burn Mothercity, Burn

Meghan is away today at Stellenbosch in her official capacity as Canadian Intern, UWC Law Center. Fortunately, she left me the keys to the blog.

Today I witnessed - from the balcony of our apartment - a fire on signal hill. Here is a picture of the firemen dousing the flames. If you look in the lower right-hand corner, you'll see one of the many mosques that adorn the surrounding neighbourhood.

Coincidence...? I think not.




It is difficult to make out exactly what is going on, so I have zoomed in for your convenience. I love how there are all these expensive homes in the background.


Enough of the drama. The real reason for this post is twofold. One, to wish Meghan's wonderful sister Ariel a sincere Happy Birthday! Meghan and I hope you are having a great day, and send you tons of love and hugs.

Second, to discuss the abysmal state of beer in South Africa. In the many bars, restaurants, and liquor stores that surround us, you can have any beer you like so long as it is one of the following five lagers:

1. Carling Black Label
2. Heineken
3. Windhoek (which is Afrikaans for "farty beer")
4. Castle Lager
5. Miller Genuine Draft

As a Canadian, it's an absolute hoot (which, by the way, is the verb they use here instead of honk) that Carling Black Label is so popular. I read the Wikipedia entry on Carling to try to figure out what the deal is; a recommended read for those of you who are interested in the history of beer.

My kingdom for an ale. When the British packed up and left, I guess they took their beer home with them.