LIVE LIFE, BE ZANY AND EXPERIENCE THE UTMOST

One reason why I started this Blog was to share with you my experiences, in particular the zany, funny ones. As I write about them, I realize that my life has been such fun and I am grateful for all that I have experienced. At the time they happened, the experiences were sometimes painful and my confidence and ego would suffer a battering. But I survived! Being able to look back, relive these experiences and just laugh out loud about them, makes me feel good. I am sure that you, too, would have experienced some zany, funny situations. In this post I would like to share with you more of my funny, zany experiences.

A TRISHAW RIDE LIKE NO OTHER

When I was a post-graduate student many years ago, I did not have much money. As part of the research that I undertook for my thesis, I had to interview a number of people. Some lived in towns and cities while others were in rural areas. Hence, I had to travel around to interview these people and collect data. On one such occasion I had to visit a rural area. I took a bus to the town. At the bus station, I recruited a trishaw to take me to the place I would be staying. When I gave the trishaw rider the name of the place, he looked at me quizzically. Later I realised that this was because it was a distance away from the bus station. I got into the trishaw and put my small case on the front of the trishaw. And off we went!

He pedalled and pedalled! After a long while I started to worry. There was hardly any traffic on the road! Where was he taking me? Soon we arrived at a hill. The road looked fairly steep and the trishaw rider would have to pedal up this incline. And guess what happened? At the foot of the hill the trishaw rider stopped pedalling and asked me to get down from the trishaw. He then started to push the trishaw up the hill. I had to walk up the hill along the trishaw! Picture the scene! What a blow to my ego!

THE HOSTEL THAT WAS NOT A HOSTEL

The trishaw rider took me to a place that I had located from a directory. The directory described it as a youth hostel and it was reasonably inexpensive. I signed the register and was given my key and shown to my room. It was late afternoon and I stayed in the room reading my notes. By early evening I came out and went to the front of the hostel. I saw some women and men sitting around talking and drinking. After a while I realized that this was no youth hostel. The women were ladies of the night! I practically ran back to my room, locked the door and pushed a chair and table against it. I could not sleep that night and each time I heard a sound I started to have palpitations! At 6 the next morning I was up and dressed. As soon as there was someone at the front, I checked out and made my way to the bus stop to catch a bus to the town.

MY BOOTS

As an undergraduate at University, I wanted to create an image of myself as zany and bohemian!It was the time of the hippies and the Beetles. I loved wearing green and pink stockings and bright coloured clothes. I do not think I have changed as I still dress in bright colours and am truly zany! In my last year at the University I stayed in a hostel on campus. I purchased a pair of white boots which had big green and orange squares on the sides. I put them on and thought I looked just fabulous! They looked great with my short dress.

I made my way to the Library which was a focal point for the students. The students liked to sit outside the Library on the floor, chatting with each other. As I walked past a group of law students, one of them pointed to my legs and said, “EEE! EEE! Hairy Legs!” I was only 20 and not the confident woman who I am today! Shame flooded my body! Embarrassed, I did not know what to do or say! I turned around and ran back to the hostel. I took off my boots and carried them to the room of a final year law student. I knocked on her door. When she opened it, I gave her the boots and asked her to give them to her younger sister. I never saw the boots again. But I could not forget the incident. That student was right..my legs were hairy! At the time I had not thought of removing the hair from my legs. Today, when I think of the incident I tell myself that I should have looked him in the eye and said to him, “Oh Yes, Hairy Legs! Just Like Yours! Very Natural!”

RACLETTE

Many years ago I went to a Swiss restaurant for dinner with three other people. I ordered the Swiss dish. Raclette. I love cheese and potatoes and the menu stated that this was what you would get with the dish. None of us had eaten Raclette before. My friends ordered the usual main courses. They were served their main courses on the usual sized dinner plates. I received my food on a small plate. On the plate was a small amount or lump of melted cheese, some new potatoes, pickled onions and gherkins.

As there was just a small amount of food I ate it slowly. I thought that I should drag it out so I could keep pace with the others at my table! The waiter would come up to me from time to time to take my plate away but I would not let him. I felt sorry for myself that I had such a small amount to eat, particularly as it tasted so good. It was only much later when my friends had finished their meal that the waiter informed me that I could have more of the same. Did I feel stupid!

Raclette is served in small amounts and you can eat as much as you like. The cheese is melted on a Raclette grill and as it should be eaten as soon as it is melted, only small quantities are served at a time. Raclette comes from the French word, “Racler” which means to scrape..the melted cheese!

The Swiss have much to share with the world and Raclette is definitely one such interesting item!