Tag: south Africa

Life in the Time of Corona

My alarm goes off at 5:20AM. I ignore it and drift back to a half-asleep state. It doesn’t matter if I’m late. There’s no traffic. My mother wakes me up at 5:30AM and this time I finally get out of bed.

I stumble to the bathroom with my eyes half-closed and pick up my toothbrush. I brush my teeth with one hand and with the other I check the news sites for anything related to Covid-19.

This is an everyday routine. This is our new normal. When we went back to work three weeks ago, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to adjust after more than a month at home but surprisingly it took me a short while to accept our new world.

I leave home at 6:50AM, careful to ensure that I have a freshly washed mask. Our company provided us with three black ones but I have been starting a collection of infinitely more colourful options.

Once I get to work, it’s time for our temperature check. The drive to work is only twenty minutes but I make sure to arrive early just for the temperature check. The lines can get long and I hate waiting even with social distancing.

The lady checked my temperature, has me sign attendance and then sanitizes my hands. I still have to go in the building and press the button for the lift which still creeps me out. The lift reeks of disinfectant but all the same, I am careful not to touch any part of it.

When I get to my desk, it is either already cleaned or in the process of being cleaned. Desks are cleaned daily and the entire office has a night cleaning with extra strong chemicals (allegedly. I’ve obviously never seen these people but I feel pretty good about our cleaning routine).

I sit down at my desk and use the sanitizer given to us by management to clean my hands again after using the lifts. I start up my pc and make small talk with the staff.

We are all spaced apart on the floor and if anyone is approaching you for conversation, masks are required.

There is a limit on the number of staff allowed in areas such as the kitchen and seating areas (the same goes for stores).

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that there’s a pandemic going around. We have adjusted to the rules pretty well.

Life has been going on as normal. Sure you can’t see friends and family nor can you touch them.

But you can go to work, go to the store and almost live your life as normal.

It makes me wonder was I wrong in freaking out when this all started? It has been 3 months since we were first hit with the virus. Our numbers are 20 000+ confirmed cases and 300+ deaths. All things considered it seems like South Africa is handling the virus relatively okay.

Inside the June Book Case Box

The Book Case is a book box based in South Africa- it’s actually the only book box I know of that is based in SA. I’ve always wanted to ordered a Book Case box for never got around to actually doing so (mainly because I was unemployed but I don’t like talking about that time of my life). I ordered a box for my birthday and was thrilled when it finally arrived.

 

It's a treasure chest of bookishness
It’s a treasure chest of bookishness

 

Doesn’t it look gorgeous? The Book Case Box always has amazing bookish goodies inside and the June box did not disappoint.

 

INSIDE THE BOX:

  1. The book was Flame in The Mist by Renee Ahdieh: I was too scared to buy a box without knowing what the book was so I did some research beforehand to see if I wanted the book. Obviously I did because I LOVE Renee Ahdieh’s writing.

Flame

2.  A House of Targaryen coaster: I don’t really watch Game of Thrones but I am obsessed with Daenerys so I loved this. I don’t think I’m going to use it though. I’m probably just going to keep it and look at it. Don’t judge my weirdness.

Coaster

3. Mockingjay Keyring: I have wanted a mockingjay item for so very long and now I have one! *Squeals with joy*

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4. A Court of Thorns and Roses bracelet and necklace: The bracelet is a star while the necklace is decorated to look like the Night Court sky. I’ve been using these two nonstop since I got them.

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Fact- this is the main reason why I bought this book box. I desperately wanted ACOTAR merch
Fact- this is the main reason why I bought this book box. I desperately wanted ACOTAR merch

 

5. Hermione’s Enchantment Candle: I really like the way this smells

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6. A “Flame in the Mist” print: I’m not too sure what I’m going to do with this but I’ve never had a print before so I’m feeling pretty pleased with myself. Also, if this book turns out to be anything like “The Wrath and the Dawn” I’m going to get obsessed with it and having the print will be a great way to show that.

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I was really happy with my box and I absolutely recommend it to all the bookworms out there. I have always wanted a book box and I’m glad we finally have one in South Africa. You can find out more about The Book Case or order your own box here.

My Unexpectedly Large November Book Haul

I got fewer books from the SPCA booksale than I usually do:

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So I decided to just check out what Bargain Books had since they had really great books when I visited last month. They didn’t have any of their “3 for R99” books but I did find great bestsellers for R69. It took some time for me to choose (their selection was amazing!) but I finally picked six. I chose “Winter” and “Scarlet” by Marissa Meyer, “Last Sacrifice” by Richelle Mead, “The Duff” by Kody Keplinger, “The Originals: The Resurrection” (this was actually a mistake. I thought I was choosing “The Originals: Rise” but I ended up picking “Resurrection” instead which really hurt my heart) and finally “Let It Snow” which is an anthology I’ve been eyeing for a while. While these books were alot, they were books I really wanted so I was thrilled. I did however have some regret about the books I left behind. Thankfully my mother lent me some money and I was able to buy a few more. This is where things get interesting.

My mother lent me R140, enough for two books. I decided to put some of my own money so I could buy two more. So I chose “Soundless” and “Bloodlines” by Richelle Mead as well as the second and third books in the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. During my previous trip to the bookstore I saw that my card wasn’t working but I hoped that this time would be different. I knew for a fact I had money so I had no idea what could possibly cause my card to fail. Anyway, I made my way to the till where the manager greeted me with “Back again for more books?”and I responded with a bright and bubbly “yes.” The lady paying next to me declared “You can never have too many books”. This is a sentiment I usually agree with but as an unemployed person, my book-buying was getting to be a bit problematic. So I told the woman with a laugh, “There is such a thing as too many books when you’re unemployed.”

I paid for my books and hoped for the best as I handed my card over. It failed. Sighing, I asked the cashier to please take out two of the books. “How much are they?” asked the woman who was paying next to me.

Still cheerful on a book-high, I answered “R69 each.” In the back of my mind, I could picture her buying the books for her kids and how happy they would be to get such great books at such low prices. But then she did something I never would have expected anyone to do- she took out a R100 note and placed it on the counter. “No, you don’t have to” came my automatic response to anyone giving me money. My mind still hadn’t processed what was happening.

“Take it,” she insisted firmly. “From one book-lover to another.” She sounded so certain of herself that all I could do was mentally calculate how much more I needed to pay. I handed the remaining amount to the cashier, my mind still reeling. I tried to find the woman to thank her. Did I thank her? I didn’t know. I didn’t remember. It all happened so fast that it seemed like a blur. I looked around me in confusion, trying to find the woman or a camera crew. Who pays for other people’s books? I’ve heard about “paying it forward” but that’s not a book-thing or a South African thing. Was I on TV? Was someone filming me? But no matter how hard I looked I couldn’t find the kind lady or the camera crew. Eventually I decided I must have been having some really odd dream. I dreamt of buying books all the time. Why shouldn’t this be any different? But once I got my change back and got ready to leave the store, the manager remarked “lucky you”. So maybe it wasn’t a dream. “I can’t believe that just happened,” I replied. I spent the rest of the morning trying to figure out exactly how everything happened because it was so mind-blowing. I’ve heard of stories about “paying it forward” but I never ever thought something like this would happen to me.

My Complete Haul
My Complete Haul

 

Have you read any of these books yet? What did you think of them?

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