Usually, though, I carry a small sketchbook.
Even though I carry golden-age memories of this ballet in my head from 25 years ago, and even though the Kirov will soon dance it at City Center (under its old title, "Ballet Imperial"), these performances were cause for excitement.
I can see why the odd dance act at a standard festival is semi-appealing – though I carry scarring memories of being on top of a mountain in Bilbao and being faced with the choice between Kings of Leon and Fatboy Slim everywhere I went.
Once I got a Flip, though, I carried it with me all the time and recorded with abandon — three seconds here, ten seconds there.
I pretended not to wait for my phone to ring, though I carried it in the pocket of my apron as I mistakenly prepared enough mashed potatoes for all the urchins in a Dickens novel.
Though my husband and I carry what seems like obscenely large mortgage, but at least we've built up a ton of equity in our home at the same time we get to live there.
I had now canvassed the city through the eyes of seven strangers — a fact that had allowed me to find by Day 1 or 2 of our trip the kind of untouristed places that I sometimes only find by Day 4 or 5. (I was glad, though, that I carried a guidebook — I needed the maps; and when we stumbled onto a church, it was helpful to know when it was built).
Even under the best of circumstances, though, it carries a risk, much like surgery or chemotherapy.
Most of the time, though, I just privately carried this wish to be no more.
I mean, I don't even know how to play mahjong (yep, I'm behind the curve), though I do carry a cane so that I can shake it at teenagers while spouting off sage, but somewhat confusing advice, like: "Never bike against traffic, it's bad for your pancreas".
The extent to which I am not may soon become obvious: still, this point is best made at the outset, as someone else's reputation is at stake here.Neither am I just a tourist, though: I'm here to carry out research on behalf of The Economist's guide to Johannesburg, which I have edited, from London, for a couple of years now.
