Week 3!

So, life has gotten MUCH better here on the farm. I have really been getting into things here and im just loving every minute now! Alot of guests have been arriving and they have been so sweet. I hosted my first wine tasting... just random people kept showing up and it ended up being about 15 people! 2 people who live in NYC on the block i used to live on in Chelsea... small small world i tell you. I had no idea what i was doing when i was hosting but but they just had a great time chatting and drinking. I got a personal lesson yesterday from the assistant wine maker. We tasted the 2007 wines and made some blends. We are also getting ready for the Xmas in Winter festival this weekend in Tulbagh... Montpellier is hosting a lunch, wine tastings, horse back riding and quad bike riding... today i had to drive around on the quad bike to bring the gardener to cut some flowers. It was AWESOME. I decided that when im not working with the guests, i want to spend as much time as possible on the quad bikes and learning about wine. Sorry if this is a boring blog... i went out for dinner last night with a peach and plum farmer friend and had too much red wine and i need a nap... zzzzzz.....

Bday in CT (not connecticut)

Week 2. I finally made it out of the farm and into the city. My birthday celebration was top notch (did you expect anything less?)... went for dinner and drinks with 4 people i just met, who didnt really know eachother either. Ian, my coworker buddy, Brian (a friend of a friend from the states), Jamie, a friend of Brians and Colin, a guy who i met in Tulbagh... my point is, no matter where in the world you are you can always find people to celebrate with. Capetown is an amazing city. Surrounded by mountains (Table Mountain, Lions head and Signal hill are the main ones), beaches, palm trees with all the city life staples (bars, clubs, restaurants, theater, etc...). It really has it ALL.
The farm has been ok. Im really just trying to find my place here. I was bored earlier and felt as though i wanted to leave but then some really amazing guests arrived today and i remembered just why i want to be here... to meet cool people, learn about hospitality and have a great time! There are alot of politics and problems on the farm that need to be fixed and to be honest, im glad im only here for 3 months because its a job i really dont want to be too involved with. Ill stick to what im good at... entertaining.
I am going to try to plan a few weekend trips.. a few places i have in mind are: Kruger National park, Namibia, Swaziland, Durban, Victoria Falls, and possibly a bungee jumping adventure from the highest jump in the world... yikes!
Friday evening and the weekend in Tulbagh begins... lets see, which of the 2 bars should i go to? decisions, decisions.

To be or not to be...

South Africa. I can hardly believe im here either... to be honest I feel like im on candid camera. Any minute a camera crew is going to jump out and be like... JUST KIDDING! City girl gone country. Yikes!
I arrived exactly a week ago and was denied entry into the country. My passport is full... the pages I thought were empty are actually NOT valid and cannot be used for stamping. They told me I would have to sleep in the airport until Sunday (it was thursday when i arrived) until the next flight back to Argentina or the USA flew out. Anyways, I played ignorant, which I sort of was, and put a sweet smile on my face. After speaking to the police and airport workers they told me they would let me in and that i was a VERY lucky girl. Well, im safe and sound now but i must say, that was quite a scare. Upon my arrival at the airport I met Ian, another person hired to come work on the vineyard. He is 46 and recently got divorced after a 18 year marriage (to a woman) and decided to come to terms that he was batting for the other team, if you know what i mean. So we have been partners in crime this past week just figuring out our place on the estate. We will be working together on a daily, hourly, minutely and secondly basis. One of our big jobs here is to get the place ready for August, when a TV show will be filming here for a month. Im sure you all heard of or watched Americas Next Top MOdel in the USA, well, they have the same sort of show here but this one will be competing for a Revlon contract instead of Covergirl. There are 16 models and 22 crew members. The girls will be basically thrown here and will have to fend for themselves in the most basic of living conditions... more details to come but i can tell you now its going to be quite hysterical. Spent the weekend in Joburg and was treated like a queen... hung out with a few 'queens' too in one of the most amazing houses i have ever seen... it was even surrounded by a moat filled with water. Watched my first Rugby game(thats the big sport here)... Go South Africa!
Now im back on the vineyard and YES i am drinking lots of delicious wine... people are friendly and have been welcoming to me (although nobody really knew i was coming... bad managing system... everyone is pretty much left in the dark about everything- Ian and I are going to try to change that). OH, everyone speaks Afrikaans as their first language... yikes.
Anyways, I will try to update as often as possible but being that they are using this ancient and incredibly slow dial up, i wont be as connected as id like to be. Can the city girl survive 3 months on a farm with no wireless connection? Shakespeare, that is the REAL question.