africa blog: CAPE TOWN ACCLIMATION PROJECT JULY 2014

GETTING SETTLED IN SOUTH AFRICA

well, i am out of kenya and getting acclimated to south africa...or "south of africa" as some say. this is my 3rd time to SA this year and that NYE's i spent at betty's bay 2012 where COTW was born, so i'm not exactly a stranger here. but there's a big difference between visiting a place and moving there full stop. visiting before i stayed with dear friends paula & flippie at their incredible house with amazing views. and their neighbours ria & andre were the other couple i had met on my holy land tour in 2013. i met these 2 couples on that trip and that instigated the thought 8 months later in Jan of this year that maybe i could live in SA. they all live up the hill in Raithby.

my work permit was due for renewal in May in Kenya and nothing was justifying my staying in East Africa. those doors had closed or never opened. and conversely it felt to me that doors were opening in cape town for me. too many instances to list, but QUITE a few presented themselves. i did a rekky here in feb which yielded a 6 month rental at Papyrus Lodge starting july 1, and online post production on the turtle doco in march solidified the vibe that CTSA was for me.

then i hired NWI - New World Immigration to handle my work visa for me and we were denied this month. my goal is Permanent Residency, and to be able to work here in TV & Film, acting, doing voiceover, narration, direct, teach, even do a photo gallery, but i need that work visa to be legit. so, not getting it was pretty devastating. i was gutted. but NWI sez they have never lost an appeal and not to worry. so...i appealed the rejection on tuesday and fingers are crossed. they decide in 4-6 weeks. it could be a game changer. or maybe not. IDK, what does it change? i want to live in western cape, i can come and go every 90 days on a tourist visa, isn't that good enough? i suppose so, but i have to move in january into a more permanent place hopefully and that may require buying furniture and having a bigger footprint here. as if buying a car and motorbike wasn't an over investment as it was! but those i can sell quickly if need be. all part of being an expat.

the main thing is i'd like to settle here and shoving off every 90 days isn't that conducive to having a home and being in a relationship. so something has to give. still, i believe the divine plan is opening doors for me to be here, so where is my faith to believe He can sort out a simple little work visa???? geesh. IDK, seems like i go from choosing one thing to obsess and be anxious about until a better one comes along! i need to chill and believe!

some good news on the turtle doco...Off The Fence was keen to send it to the London office acquisition team back in april, then crickets. nada. radio silence. all hope was lost. then this week they reached out and said they lost my last email dated april 23 in their Junk Mail folder. so...maybe we're back on track. they take a lot % wise, but they are global and it could add up. i'd be happy to be with them. even festivaling this thing isn't as easy i had thought. i'll keep ya posted. so far, i'm still waiting for our first Official Selection. stay tuned turtle lovers!

acclimating is really about building community at the end of the day. my Raithby friends are awesome and are my bedrock. but they all are busy with their lives and paula & flippie are off to south sudan for 2 months. the motorbike trip down from east london was great, but at the same time, added to my feeling of isolation in a new land. easy to meet folks, harder to build your posse. but slowly day by day and week by week, i'm building my inner and outer circle of friends and acquaintances. i live in a remote place on a farm, and am not involved with much, so hanging out with peeps is infrequent and appreciated when it happens. i knew this would be a tough transition building a whole new network of friends. but it's coming. and you never know who you're going to meet.

tuesday i bought a second-hand juicer on Gumtree from a girl who, go figure, she was in casting. she hooked me up with the Homeland TV series casting office and with a top agent to meet next week. her boyfriend is in production, owns Triplane, and his sound guy may have a rare Mac Pro tower i've been searching for. so lots of little connections, orchestrated in advance for me walk into.

been looking around the WC for my next move, lots of options! but i'll find the right place. and i may go to Chad to see a friend from kenya for my next "leave the country every 90 days trip".

had some little issues pop up from past Kenyan dealings, one required money to fix, but overall, kenya is drifting farther and farther away each day from my shores. i miss my students and few friends dearly, and LoJay and her family and Paka paka, but time changes everything. and being fresh in a new land, new things are always on the horizon, and the things behind you drift farther and further...by distance and degree...slowly out of sight.

so that's the state of affairs at the minute. for what it's worth, i really had the sense movie here that CT would be "home" for me. i've been drifting all my life and something about SA and WC the Western Cape just felt like home. then last sunday i randomly attend Hillsong church and there is a huge sign: WELCOME HOME. then the TV series Homeland has been on my radar since i arrived and i broke it down yesterday...HOME LAND. so my spider-sensors are going crazy. is this the place? will all my visas come through? will i settle here? marry here? find Home here? all in due time. stay tuned!

now for some pics!