By Mulesa

Last month, we took a company poll on what we’d like to do for our next inspiration day. There was an interesting range of suggestions – a music festival (something tells me that Tom was only half-kidding about that), a cooking class (this made a lot more sense after Nicole’s skills share on the art of being a foodie) or surfing followed by some beers in Muizenberg (Sarah made it quite clear that she was serious). Two things that were popular amongst the poll responses – wine and something outdoorsy. A combo of Liz and Melissa’s choices won in the end, and so after a day and a bit of working at CHIPS coworking, we were off to Constantia Glen to indulge in some bubbly, delicious flammkuchen and fun, casual conversation!

Pre-pandemic, we’d regularly take time out to unwind and get to know each other as human beings off-the-clock. From puzzles to pottery, water slides to bike riding, we’ve made some amazing memories that have brought us closer as a team. We’d been looking forward to a bit of “wine time” at Constantia Glen for a while, since it had been a long time since the entire team was together in person. So when the President announced that we’d moved to level one, it was all a go!

Also, Anja finally got to see our legs, many Zoom meetings and Slack messages later! But her long legs were the subject of much fascination as we couldn’t seem to get over the fact that she’s so tall (well, taller than we’d imagined)!. And that’s the weird thing about someone joining a team remotely – those expectations and speculations about what they may or may not be like offline. Anja described meeting us IRL as being like seeing the characters you’ve gotten to know in a novel translated to the movie screen. It could either be a hit or a miss. Thankfully, it was a hit in our case, and for us, it feels as if Anja’s been a part of the team for ages already. She’s taken it all in her stride and has adapted very well.

As we tucked into our scrumptious cheese boards, we cracked open some bubbly and Sarah led us in some rolling toasts – a lovely follow-up to last year’s round during our end-of-year team lunch. While everyone was acknowledged for their unique talents and abilities that have made them such a vital component of the team, the general sentiment was that each person made the other feel supported. This has been especially important over the last two years with this pandemic and is one of the reasons why we’ve been able to weather the challenges that have come with it.

All in all, despite the gloomy weather, it was a wonderful afternoon. We left with our hearts (and tummies) full! Hopefully, as vaccinations continue rolling out across the country, we’ll soon be able to get back to our regular inspiration day schedule.