That's me, of course, on the left. And that's Deon Scheepers, my roommate, on the right.

We're standing at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. Behind us is Table Mountain, one of the most powerful natural features of the world. It's a kilometer tall, and the city is built in its lee (you can see some of the skyscrapers in the background.) Our flat is over our left shoulders and on the slope, called Signal Hill. Every day precisely at noon a cannon is shot from behind our house. Everything shakes and the dogs bark; it's a little like living with the Banks from Mary Poppins.

Deon works at the Waterfront as a barman at Joe's Café. He's from Potchefstroom, a conservative Afrikaans community in the middle of South Africa (think Bible Belt). English is his second language and even though he wants to be an actor, he doesn't smile in photographs. The combination of barman/accent/not smiling would drive American women crazy. I have an accent, too -- but only in Cape Town.