5 MONTHS IN AMERICA: 5 best memories(+meeting my dream guy)

So i've been living in the place famously referred to as "The free world" for  5 months now. 5 months...wow feels like time has flown away on a rocket. It wasn't long ago when i was putting my bags into my uncle's wife's car before we were headed for OR Tambo international airport and i had a tearful goodbye with my mother, sister and my uncle's wife. Its been an incredible time spent so far in the US. Learning how to live as "an African"(coz when in America, don't do as the Americans do ..seriously,don't do it kids!😀😆) in a foreign land has its challenges, people in different parts of the world have different ways of doing, seeing and saying things. Its a learning curve for me as an individual on how to embrace other people's way of living without necessarily abandoning or seeing my South African/Venda heritage as inferior. I also had a lot of presumptions before i came to America, largely due to the representations i saw in Pop music, movies and magazines but in the last 5 months i've come to learn that the American way of life involves more than just Hollywood, Biebers, Burgers, diet pills and tripple lattes. Its so much more. I've developed a love-hate relationship with this beautiful country and its people(who are way nicer than most Cape Town residents BTW).
In the last 5 months i've been here i've gotten to do a lot of things, most of which ends up with either a bruise on a part of my body or gets me exhausted but i wouldn't trade the memories for anything. I miss South Africa so much on a daily but i am thankful to God for the opportunity to live here at this point in my life. 

The 5 best memories that i will cherish for a long time(For the sake of not repeating things from previous blogs i'll exclude New York and Miami memories on this list of memories);

1. Seeing The Avett brothers live. A dream come true!
(especially Seth Avett aka My dream guy!hahahaha....i kid of course)

This is the only picture i have from the concert. This was few seconds before The Avett brothers came on stage. I was too star struck during the concert to even care about taking pics.

Yah i saw Adam Levine and the rest of the Maroon 5 members(that no one knows a lot about) in concert too, i went to time square and at the time thought that was the highlight of my stay in the US, then went to Settle and thought what could be better than that....little did i know that The Avett brothers concert would be so much more memorable(i knew already i just didn't want to expect too much in case i found them disappointing in real life).
For those who know me personally or have been in the same car with me know i'm an Avett brother's virtual groupie(i say virtual because if i had enough rands to follow them around the world on tour i would do that, sadly i have to rely on YouTube and other websites). I have been a fan of their music since 2015 or before. I stumbled on this incredible band while watching the pilot episode of 'Man at work' sitcom..the few final minutes in the episode their song "I and love and you" was played, i immediately ran to google the lyrics and the rest was history. I've read too many articles about the band, listened to too many of their songs(all of them are my favourite, i kid you not), watched full concerts videos and as if i was not obsessed already...seeing them play in real life heightened my FANISM.
They are 100 times better live than on their albums-voices, lyrics,ec, they are nice to their fans, they are humble about fame(unlike many singers who think they deserve to be famous and liked, The Avett brothers seem like they were never looking to be famous, it sort of just happened). Ok enough about my obsession but this is one night i will cherish for a while. Thanks Katy&Daniel for hooking this African girl up!

2. Hanging out in Hollywood

Sooooo its not exactly how it looks on TV, no celebrities running around avoiding paparazzi, no random red carpets with Leonardo DiCaprio or Chadwick Boseman ...What a scam! hahaha. It was nice being on this part of Los Angeles culture is literally virtual and performing arts. I noted that every other building in the city is either a theater, recording studio, a film set or a dance school. I was tempted for a second to  revive my long lost desire to be a film-maker.

I also attended an Improv theater show for the first time ever in my life which was the highlight of my stay in LA. An Improv show is where the actors make up the story line as they go. Its fun, different and engaging. I'd definitely do it again.

4. Hiking and Outdoor

THIS WAS A NERVOUS SMILE AFTER REALIZING I MIGHT POTENTIALLY GET EATEN BY WILDLIFE WHICH WOULD MAKE A SAD BUT HILARIOUS WAY TO GO TO MY ETERNAL HOME. Imagine what the captions of the newspaper headlines would be "AFRICAN MISTAKEN FOR A SNACK BY AMERICAN BEARS"

"People here always assure me there are no bears or any dangerous animals in this state but would i want to be the first person through whom that theory is disproved?" these are just some of the thoughts i have before going to these wild beautiful trails but that makes it even more fun i guess. Living life on the edge 

I lived in Port Elizabeth for 7 years and it was raining and windy most of the time which forced me to hibernate in my room most of the time....Although i was comfortable with being an indoorsy and pale person as a result of that, Being in this country has given me a new deep appreciation for Nature and Outdoors. I've taken a liking to hiking and camping(although the first time i camped i had a rough time because of not being able to shower for few days but after that i wanted to go camping all the time). Washington state gives one urges to be outdoors in nature because it is painfully beautiful. Lots of hiking trails, lots of camping sites which is lots of fun.
If you are anything like me(an extreme cheapskate) then this is a good way to have fun without opening your wallet.

 3. Being at the Seattle space needle

 I always saw a spinet of the Seattle space needle from Grey's anatomy episodes and never thought in a million years i'd be able to see go there one day. It was so cool to see it in person. I didn't even know you could go inside the needle and view the whole city of Seattle from there. The coolest thing about travelling to all these places is not because they are the best in the world(not trying to diss America again as i've been accused of doing😃), but because these are places i've seen in films, music videos and read about in books. At some point it was all imaginary but seeing them come to life has been a huge blessing.

THE VIEW OF SEATTLE FROM THE SPACE NEEDLE

5. Eating Cornbread

 This bread changed my life. I have never eaten anything so scrumptious 'n finger licking. Before i got introduced to this succulent piece of food i used to crave South African steamed bread. This is like that steam bread on crack. Maybe the ones i been eating had some crack in it(why is it so tasty tho?), describing the taste will not do it justice. This is my favorite American(if it is authentically American) food. This bread makes every bread i've eaten in my life taste like cupboard and sponges.
Before i met cornbread i was in a long steady relationship with Bacon but now my life is all about the cornbread. I know these are from two different families of food but when it comes to grub i am a picky eater because i don't like most foods but when i do find a food item i enjoy i go all in.

So far my stay in America has been great for the most part. There are times when i want to burst into tears because i'm missing South Africa so much and all the things i mentioned above don't curb the home sickness(Except for the cornbread of course!), i love my country but then i am reminded of what a great opportunity this is to be somewhere else and immerse myself in another culture which is helping me develop in many areas as an individual.