What I love most about living in South Africa is that it has taught me, more than any other place I’ve ever lived, to step out of my comfort zone.
You might not believe this, but I’m really not all that adventurous. I love to hang out in my suburban bubble. I most love the days when I don’t have to leave the house.
Which is why getting me out the door to do something a) new, b) not interesting at first glance, and perhaps even c) strenuous is actually quite the feat. Kudos to my friend Bing who succeeded on both fronts last week when inviting me to come along with her on a guided tour to see street art and graffiti in the Braamfontein and Newtown areas of Johannesburg. We were having coffee in the morning (the promise of a cappuccino is the one thing I always gladly leave my house for) and I was going to spend the rest of the day catching up on the gazillion things a blogger does every day (and a husband typically has absolutely no understanding of), but then she tempted me with the prospect of spending the rest of the day with her, and, I admit, an opportunity for cool pictures for my blog. Although honestly, more blogging material is the last thing I need at the moment, what with three hundred plus leopard pictures to sort and a history of Botswana to write.

Scroll down to the bottom of this post for the entire graffiti album
My curiosity won. And the fact that with the kids still in Germany I had no good excuse whatsoever to have to return home.
So you could have found me yesterday traipsing through downtown Joburg for three hours, carefully avoiding the crumbling asphalt and crazy traffic, at one point barely arresting my foot in midair before disappearing into a wide open manhole, blisters rapidly growing in shoes that were totally inappropriate for that kind of a hike (but very appropriate for sipping a cup of coffee).
