Things I miss about home

In July of 2005 I packed my suitcase and flew to the UK, in search of independence, adventure and experience.  8 years later, I am married, settled into our house and expecting our first baby!  Who would have thought?  You never know where life is going to take you, you can make plans and have ideas for the future but most of the time you don't know what is around the corner.

I feel really settled in England now, I mean I tend not to think too deeply about it if I'm honest because otherwise I think about moving back to Cape Town.  Cape Town will always be home to me, that is where my family are (except my Dad, Christine and Conor who live in Dublin), where I grew up, where my friends are, it's what I know. 

I often wonder what a different path my life would have taken if I had stayed in South Africa - what would I be doing, who would I be with, where would I be living?  Isn't it funny to think about what could have been?  But I know for sure that this is where I am supposed to be right now - no matter if it is hard at times to be far away from family and friends.  Skype makes this all a lot easier!

So I was thinking the other day about Cape Town and Pinelands (where I grew up) and what I miss about it.  Things I yearn for that England just doesn't have (and yes there are things here that I love which CT doesn't have so it works both ways).  I thought I would share my little list of things that really epitomise what home really means to me.

* On a quiet day, hearing the cape turtle doves singing their song "Work slowly, work slowly" - do you know what I am talking about?  Click on the video to have a listen.


*The accent - nothing is quite like a South African accent - I love it - mine is definitely not as strong as it was - I actually have a bit of an English twang now - but I do tend to lose that when I go back home.  Fancy a giggle?  Check out some South African words here.

 * The sun - of course this had to be on the list - nothing is like the African sun and the bluest sky. 

* Space - one thing I always notice when I go back home is how much space there is - in people's houses and gardens.  I also love when we drive through Pinelands in the summer how everyone has their doors open.  We are lucky as our house has a big garden but that is kind of unusual in the UK.

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* Table Mountain - the first thing I look out for when we are making our decent into Cape Town, no one could ever get tired of it.

* The V&A Waterfront - definitely my all-time favourite place to go - the restaurants, shops, vibe is just unbeatable.  Favourite place to go? Definitely Quay Four.

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* The food - one of the things I miss the most - just to name a few: Spar cheese rolls, peppermint crisp tart, melk tart, Spur food, Steers, Butlers pizza, tempo, cadbury snack, biltong, droewors, ghost pops, nik naks, Jumpin' Jack popcorn, Koo mayonnaise, creme soda....I could write a whole blog post about the food.

So that's my list.  Any South Africans out there in the UK/USA/Australia?  What do you miss about home?

On days where missing home overwhelms me I always remember my mom reassuring me and telling me that home is wherever you want it to be. ♥