Friday:
After school on Friday everyone headed to Durban to the hostel, but it was Elise's host sister Nandi's birthday, and Nandi is friends with Smu, so Elise and I went back to Cato Manor to celebrate with her! Her Mama made an amazing dinner (I think it was Indian in origin) and bought a nice cake for us all. It was all very exciting because it was her sweet 16, which we found out is just as big a deal in South Africa as it is in the US.
After the party festivities, Elise and I attempted to call a cab so they could drive us from Cato to Durban. However, there was some miscommunication and the cab driver ended up at the police station in Cato. He then called me and asked me how to get from the police station to where we were, and I obviously had no idea. Luckily my older brother had just come over so he and my mama helped us out and fixed the situation. After much struggle, the cab finally made it to the corner of our street and we made our way to Durban.
After settling into our room at the backpackers, we then showered (first time taking a real shower in weeks!!!!!!), and went to meet the rest of our group at The Keys, where they ate dinner and we just hung out and socialized. We then went to House of Curries because apparently they have the cheapest drinks, followed by TacoZulu, and then finally we somehow ended up getting into a club called De la Sol for free (gotta love South African Connections. It was a very interesting club. I feel like we made up a majority of the people that were there, but it was fun because one of the girls on the trip, Sara, turned 21 while we were there! We were all exhausted because we had been up at 5:30 that morning and were used to going to bed at 9:00, so by 1:00 I was more than ready to leave. We headed back to the backpackers where we hung out by the pool for a little while before passing out.
Saturday:
Naturally the next morning we woke up at 7:30, which, sadly enough, was sleeping in for us. We slowly took turns showering (there was one shower between 10 of us) and then made our way to breakfast. We went to this place around the corner called Europa and got some delicious breakfasts that were much more like breakfast we are used to in the US. It was a nice break from the cornflakes and porridge that most of us get usually. I got a croissant with scrambled eggs, cheese, and baconAfter a longgggg breakfast (meals always take hours here -- and you have to ask for the check otherwise you'll sit there forever), we then made our way to the world cup stadium! It was probably about a 15 minute walk from where we were staying. Below is a picture of the group of us that went with the stadium in the background.
The architecture of the stadium was absolutely amazing. All I could think of was how amazing it would have been to be there for the world cup. The reason we went there was to go to a flea market/craft fair. We were expecting traditional African crafts, but were very surprised at what we found when we got there. First, it was the largest white population that we have seen (other than ourselves) since arriving in South Africa. Second, they were selling beach crafts and things very similar to what we could get in America. A few people bought some homemade pants and bags, but we were completely shocked and baffled by what we found. We still enjoyed walking around and checking out the goods. Becky also gave 20 rand to a youth soccer NGO to get three tries to juggle over 50 times and win a soccerball. Unfortunately she only juggled thirty something times, but they still gave her a medal. After checking out the craft fair, we found the bungee jumping office and went to a gift shop where a bought a South African flag! Another weekend we are going to either take a tour or go in the sky car the goes over the large arch that goes over the stadium. Right behind it is the rugby stadium where the sharks play. Hopefully we will be able to make it to a few games in the next couple of months!
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| Becky and I in front of the stadium! |
After the stadium adventure we walked a little further down the road to get to the beach!!! Again, the waves were HUGE. Here is a picture of me, Becky, and Seth enjoying the waves...
And here is a picture of us unexpectedly being swamped by a wave as we were posing for a picture...
Sunday:
The next morning we woke up and went to Europa for breakfast again to get another real breakfast before heading back to our homestays. We then headed to the beach again and surprisingly there were NO waves. Well, there were a few, but they were small, and we found it very strange to not be constantly pounded by waves while in the water. It was still enjoyable and I bought a pair of cheap sunglasses for only 20 rand! We also heard that there was a festival in honor of Bob Marly's birthday by the beach so we checked that out. There were a lot of dreadlocks, to say the least, and a group of people doing a very interesting dance... but we were too hot, sticky, and hungry, so we didn't stay long. We then went and got some ice cream before hopping on a minibus taxi to go back to Florida Rd.
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| A picture of the large Bob Marley banner at the festival |
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| Another lovely view of the beach! |
Monday:
After a fun weekend, Monday was back to the daily grind of school. We had an isiZulu oral exam in the morning (me and my partner got an A-!), followed by an activity where we got to draw picture of what we thought represented health and healthcare in South Africa. We got some crayons and had a wonderful time reconnecting with our kindergarten self as we discussed health in the context of South Africa. During lunch we went to the bankmall where Becky and I went kwaCheckers (kwa means to), where we got some lunch and snacks for the upcoming week. It was a pretty standard day at school, and we were all exhausted from the weekend. I was also in a slight state of depression upon receiving the news of the Patriots losing the superbowl.
When I got home, I played stones with Smu and Mandisa (our neighbor). Naturally, they kicked my butt, but I did manage to capture a few stones for myself. While we were playing we were also waiting for Smu's Mama to come from Joburg. This meant that with every single minibus taxi that drove by (which happens every 15 seconds), Smu would have to stop the game and watch to see the people who got out to see if it was her Mama. Finally, after much anticipation, she spotted her mom and jumped up in excitement and ran down to greet her. It was one of the most adorable things I have ever seen. She was so excited to see her mom, who has to live in Jo'burg because she works as a nurse, or sister, in a hospital there. She was taking time off from work for a big party that was supposed to happen this coming saturday, complete with a cow and goat slaughtering! Yay! But unfortunately, my Mama's son/Smu's Mama's brother postponed the party, so it turns out Smu's Mama came down for nothing. I think they finally worked it out with her supervisors that she could go back to work this week and take next week off, but it is still a waste of her time to have had to come all the way down here.
Today/Tuesday:
Today we had our first school visit day. It was one of the best experiences that I have had here, and I want to do it justice, so I'm not going to write about it just yet. I will soon, I promise!
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