Well my friends it is back
to my trusty bucket baths after two weeks of visitors from America (and
mostly hot showers)! I want to state for
the record that I’m not complaining about this.
I don’t mind bucket baths…I have a great system. It’s not very efficient in regards to time or
resources but I realize it could be worse (like a COLD bucket bath!).
I had two great friends
visit me for the last two weeks. The
first to arrive was my college roommate and Phi Sig sister Allie. Two days after her Dani my Leadership and
Service bestie arrived! We had a BLAST
and the time passed by in a blink.
Before I knew it I was sending them off at the Port Elizabeth airport.
We had a crazy schedule
when they first got here – trying to find a good balance between showing them
my life at site and seeing the local sights (which there are a ton of!). Here are my highlights of the trip…
Fourth of July Traditional
Dinner
We went across the street
to my South African family’s house for a traditional dinner and celebrated the
4th with some ‘Merica themed temporary tattoos, fancy straws, and
American Flag banners. One of the goals
of the Peace Corps is to share American culture with the host country nationals
and I believe that goal was achieved fully in this night! My favorite part was when my middle aged mama
requested a temporary tattoo of an American flag on her face. It was great.
They cooked my favorite traditional food which I can’t spell (or say)
the name of. It’s supposed to be made
with a plant that is collected out in the bush but can be substituted with
spinach. It’s made of spinach, mealie
meal (a form of corn that in this case looks like a smaller version of
couscous), onion, salt, and if you want, chilies. It is delicious and the girls thought so
too!
National Arts Festival in
Grahamstown
We wandered around the
huge arts market and were temped by many cool things! All of us came away with something unique. We also ate at the “famous” pub Rat &
Parrot which has been on my bucket list since I saw it! It looks like an old British pub…which in
reality it kind of is, just in South
Africa.
After the festival we went
back to the Smith’s house where we proceeded to mix cultures some more with a
traditional braai in honor of the 4th. We made traditional BBQ foods from the States
(potato salad, fruit salad, and a spinach dip with taco chips) and they braaied
the meats. Dani literally fell in love
with warthog fillet. When I say fell in
love…I really mean it. Someone find a
specialty store in the States and get that girl some warthog. We had a great night and all ate so much we
had stomach aches (or at least I did).
Addo Elephant
Park
This was simply
amazing. We were able to drive through
the park at our own leisure and choose our route. We saw so many different animals! Tons of elephants along with zebra, warthog,
kudu (like elk only with spiraling antlers), meerkats, monkeys, cranes, other
birds, and other kinds of buck (deer-like animals). The elephants were so amazing and came SO
CLOSE to the car. There were three
separate times that we were in the middle of elephant crossings on the road and
more than one time that I was slightly concerned if I should roll up my window. You are not allowed to get out of your car
expect at designated points in the park.
We did get out at one point in one of the designated areas despite the
signs “BEWARE OF LIONS – Get out at own risk”.
Luckily, no lions were present at that point in time. The whole experience was incredible, and I’m
so grateful I was able to finally visit there!
It’s an absolutely breathtaking place – with beautiful blue rolling
hills as the backdrop to herds of elephants.
Can’t ask for much more than that.
Port Elizabeth
At different points in
time we spent the night (or nights) in Port
Elizabeth.
Sometimes for airport proximity and other times because it was raining
for days straight and we had nothing else to do (sorry Dani)! We went out to my two favorite places dancing
– Balizza and Aqua, and had a great time chatting with the locals and the
international crowd at the backpackers.
Also, Dani and I saw Snow White and the Huntsman one particularity rainy
day and couldn’t believe that it ended with a solid minute on a close up of
Kristen Steward making awkward faces.
Seriously?!
Nature’s Valley
We spent two nights on the
Garden Route
near Tsitsikamma (10 points if you can guess how it’s pronounced correctly) in
a cool place called Wild Spirit Backpackers which boarders the Tsitsikamma National Park. We got to do some cool hikes in the area (the
weather was a little bit rainy while we were there) so we also swung down to
the posh Plettenberg Bay (which reminded me of an outlying LA beach town
along the lines of Santa Monica). We also saw baboons which was really
cool/terrifying. They are CRAZY. We had lots of shenanigans at this place and
it is where we discovered our love affair with Amarula thanks to my friend
Matt. I highly recommend a double on the
rocks. Absolutely delectable. Also, we saw a lot of fire-twirling
performers (it was fully of hippies) and I seriously think that my brother
needs to take up this hobby for multiple reasons.
The Billabong Pro
From Nature’s Valley we
made a pit stop in Jeffery’s Bay for the Billabong Pro which was totally
rad. I have never seen professional
surfing and it is so impressive – they make it look extremely easy. I couldn’t believe how good they were
(although they should be since it’s an international competition I guess…). It was so cool to see. We were able to watch several heats and see
some really great surfing. There was an
American for which were cheering and I tried to say hi when we saw him on the
beach and all I managed was a “Go America…YAY!”. It was slightly embarrassing and he did not
seem to appreciate our US
pride. Oh well. Maybe if we had offered him a temporary US
Flag tattoo he would have taken us more seriously…
We ate out at this
restaurant/bar The Mexican which actually has pretty good “Mexican” food by
South African standards (they have sour cream/guacamole which is a big
deal). Hilarious moment ensued when the
waitress brought me my “burrito” which was in fact two hard shell tacos. Me: “Oh, I’m sorry, I ordered a
burrito”. Waitress: “Yes. This is a burrito”. Okay.
They were great tacos though.
American Time
It was really great
getting to spend time with old friends, catching up, and hanging out. I was laughing constantly, and enjoyed being
able to share this huge part of my life with two great people! Now that I’m back at site I’ve been catching
up on sleep, eating healthy, and trying to motivate myself to work out. I was so unhealthy for two weeks – it’s time
to get back on track!
I have been getting a
little nervous at the thought of coming back to the States after two years over
here in my own South African/American world.
Dani and Allie’s visit made me realize that I have very little to worry
about going back. At least when it comes
to friends I know that I’ll be able to pick up right where I left off (after a
few hours of catch up and wine that is).
Before their visit I was also nervous that somehow their trip would make
me homesick. That didn’t happen although
any mention of great (or horrible food places ie. Taco Bell) made me super jealous but it’s
fine!
All in all, I’m happy to
still have time in South
Africa.
I look forward to the lessons, challenges, and successes ahead of me in
my service. I also can breathe a little
easier and look forward to the stage after Peace Corps and my return to the
States. And, even though I can’t believe
it myself, I don’t even mind coming back to the bucket bath.
I feel so content and
grateful in this moment.
“Yesterday is history,
tomorrow is mystery…today is a gift” – Roosevelt.
