hotards in south africa: durban

And so Friday we headed back to Joburg to stay with Heather Bellew before catching a flight back to Durban on Saturday. We had a nice dinner with Heather’s family and then we ducked out to catch a movie. I had been dying to see Sex and the City while it was still in the theatre and so we made our way to the theatre, bought ice cream and pop corn and enjoyed the show.

We navigated our way to the airport and returned the car and hoped that the rental car wouldn’t notice the scratch (ok, it was more like a gash) I had made while we were in Limpopo. One of the mornings I was trying to protect the poor undercarriage of the car from the huge bump going into my house. We managed to avoid scraping going in one direction but trying to go out at the same angle proved a bit more difficult and I ended up scraping the door on the brick post. Oops. Lucky we had insurance and the rental car guy didn’t actually notice it. I made Katie and Teresa run through the car park just in case he changed his mind called us back.

We were met in Durban by Pat and Francois who had graciously offered to put the 3 of us up while mom was still on the ACTS retreat. They were the sweetest hosts, offered us delicious food, made 2 birthday carrot cakes and even took us to the mall so I could find a shirt to wear the next day. They were part of the ACTS retreat last year so they we were all able to go to Candlelight to see mom and the others from Texas for a few minutes before the big reunion the next day at Sunday mass.

Sunday was also my birthday and it proved to be a spectacular day – I couldn’t have asked for a better way to celebrate than with two of my sisters, my mom and my fiancé! After mass and a nice lunch, we headed to the hotel to check in and rest up for a bit. In the afternoon we walked on the beach, got our feet wet, admired sand sculptures and just goofed off a bit. We headed back to Taco Zulu for my birthday dinner and enjoyed another night of Mexican food and even a shot of Patron tequila! When we got back to the hotel we met up with some others from the retreat and had more drinks. Mom ordered a white Russian, Teresa ordered a non-alcoholic Pina colada and I tried to get a dirty martini – Katie and Jason ordered beers which turned out to be the better option. Teresa’s drink turned out to be a red fruity thing, mom’s was an interesting looking shot and my dirty martini was pink with cherries AND red olives (not pitted).


The next day was devoted to shopping at the Victoria Street Market. Jason debated if he should stay back and work but we won him over and he came with us. Not sure if it was the better option because we shopped for 4 solid hours! He was amazed at how much stuff was bought! Finally we were rewarded with a very late lunch (early dinner) at the Wharf, where we had bunny chow. Basically it’s a hollowed out loaf of bread with curry inside. We didn’t order the hot ones but we were all sniveling messes when we were done – but happy because it was so good. We goofed around as we left the wharf and Katie and I decided to play on the mechanical rides. The rest of the evening we spent relaxing in the hotel room and enjoying our last night together.


Sadly we all boarded planes the next day. Although I wasn’t on the same flight as the girls, we met up at the terminal and we hung out for a few more hours before they headed back to board their international flight. It was hard to believe their visit was over – I won’t lie, a few tears escaped once they walked past security. It’s amazing how much fun I can have with them and just how much I love them (even those the 3+ that weren’t actually here). Sometimes I wonder why I live so far away but it’s apart of life and the old adage is true, distance does make the heart grow fonder. Or is it time? I don’t know but either way, I do love them more every day despite the time elapsed and the distance between us. My cup over floweth.

hotards in south africa: limpopo

After spending the night in Durban, Katie, Teresa and I sadly parted ways with mom – she was staying on in Durban and meeting up with the ACTS ladies and we were heading up to Joburg then Limpopo to experience village life. We managed to survive the excessively early morning, made our flight in plenty of time, did a bit of shopping once we got to Joburg and then had dinner (and stayed with) Leigh and his family. We left the next morning for Turkey village with a stuffed to the brim car and an extra Tanya and Sofia. The drive was fun but longer than I anticipated and we made it the village after dark. The girls were good sports though and they didn’t mind having their first pit toilet experience with the stars shining overhead. Luckily that was not the night we met our rat friend.

The first few days in the village we worked hard and painted a world map mural at one of the drop-in centres. I had to do a bit of work but managed to delegate (thanks Nick!) some of it so I could enjoy the time with my sisters. Amazingly, we finished the map in 2 ½ days – we definitely wouldn’t have finished if Nick hadn’t helped us paint all the water. You don’t realize how much 80% of water is until you paint it! Megan helped us out too and we were able to finish (second coats even) the painting of the countries on the last day. To involve the kids at the centres, we had them put their hand prints all around as a border for it – they loved it and instead of wasting paint, we finished off the left over paint by putting our handprints all over the water tanks. It was fun and the kids really seemed to enjoy it!

During the evenings we visited my friends around the village before heading home to cook dinner. They met Rosen and his family and we were invited to watch a DVD of old Celine Dion music. At Nathacia’s house we were treated to fresh from the oven biscuits and cold drink before they got their hair braided by some of the girls. Most of the time we cooked yummy dinners except for one night – I had no desire to endure another night of prep work, cooking and clean up so we stuffed ourselves on gummy hamburgers/hot dogs, mentos, nutella and pretzels and who knows what else. This was also the night when we had to wash our hair. We took turns washing each others hair, then we each bathed and in the end, the entire process took two hours. There wouldn’t have been enough time to cook dinner anyway…

I had been planning to have a party with a bunch of my friends in the village for awhile so I thought the perfect time was while my sisters were around. On the last day I made a grocery run with Susan and then I came back and made sure that the girls were up. Then Katie, Teresa, Susan and I ventured out to buy 6 chickens for the party. We bought them, carried them home and then proceeded to cut their heads off with a dull knife. PETA would have a hissy if they were around but that’s the way it’s done here. Ok, we were probably a bit slower than the professionals and my first clue was when Setlau said to Katie in a desperate voice – “SPEED”! We each had our turn and then helped prepare the rest of the meal. Teresa helped Annah with cutting up the chickens and cleaning them, Katie helped Susan chop vegetables and I managed to look busy although I don’t recall actually doing much but taking pictures!

2 o’clock rolled around and I started getting nervous because we had a lot of food and no one was showing up. But it’s Africa and people started showing up around 3:30. Rosen brought over his sound system so we had music playing and were dancing to Sarafina and Mangogroove before the big meal. We had to eat before dark so we soon chowed down on the delicious meal of pap, fried chicken, boiled cabbage (which is REALLY good – either that or I’ve been eating traditional food too long) and soup stew thing that you eat with the pap. It was delicious and all the party goers managed to leave no scraps but plenty of dirty dishes. Annah insisted that they would clean them the next day which was really sweet considering the girls and I were peacing out then to head back to Joburg.

We adequately fulfilled one of the Peace Corps goals by introducing to the party a piñata. Mom had sent it the year before but I didn’t get to use it for the intended use (a Cinco de Mayo party) so I thought this was a perfect occasion. Katie and Teresa had filled it with tons of candy they brought from home – jolly ranchers, gummy hamburgers and starbursts. After explaining to everyone what we do, Matome shyly was cajoled into giving Winnie the Pooh (it was exactly a traditional piñata) a whack with the stick. A few pieces of candy flew out and then Madala stepped up to bat. His whack sent the thing flying and the candy spilled out which, of course, caused a mad chaotic dash for the candy. Kids of all ages including a woman with a baby strapped to her back and the new manager for Phedišang, Charity, were among the horde. They were completely perplexed by this custom from America but enjoyed it none-the-less.

We continued the party and danced to traditional music till it was well past dark. Everyone was out there, even my shy host mother, Annah, all the other mothers, Nick, and the girls. Teresa was hit on by Sydney and he even gave her his phone number before he had to leave for the evening. We had some birthday cake that Elayna had made – oh yea, this was partially to celebrate my birthday which was coming up in a few days. Soon people had to leave and I drove the PCV’s home as promised and then I came back to settle in for the night with Katie and Teresa. They had such a good time and loved every aspect of the day – cooking and the prep work, playing with the kids, dancing, the piñata, the pictures, all of it. I had to agree – it was a great day and I was happy to share the day with my sisters.

Sadly we had to leave on Friday but we did make a side trip to see Jessica the Hippo. Katie, Teresa and Nick were fascinated by her and fell instantly in love. Our visit was quick so we could make the 5 hour drive, with a lunch stop, and get to Johannesburg before dark. A fun ending to a fantastic week!

hotards in south africa: hluhluwe imfolozi

Soon we left for Hluhluwe Imfolozi Game Park in hopes of seeing some serious animals in their natural habitat. We weren’t disappointed and ended up seeing zebras staring us down, a pack of wild dogs (sightings of them are VERY rare), a rhino peeing REALLY close to the car, giraffes, plenty of impala and warthogs.

We splurged and took a night drive in one of the camp’s big safari vehicles. We didn’t see much for the first hour but soon we saw one elephant, then a couple and then we realized we were surrounded by a herd of them – most of them with new little additions that were adorable. We had big spot lights and were shining them on this one in particular. He turned around really quickly and we got quite a scare but he just stood there staring at us. Eventually our driver left (to Katie and Teresa’s relief) and as we left the elephant let out this HUGE trumpet call and we screamed – it was such a majestic, terrifying but amazing sound! As we were heading down the road our guide stopped the vehicle, hopped out and ran over to the brush on the side of the road. He came back with a beautiful chameleon – it had been white on the brush but it quickly turned green. He has good eyes to spot that little guy in the dark!

Our chalets were on a hill and we had a great view and even saw buffalo and a troop of baboons right outside our rooms one day. The camp was really nice and we played around a bit, enjoyed the buffet dinners a little too much and had relaxing evenings. Katie even attempted a little zulu dancing which was hysterical!

We ended our stay at the part on the 4th of July and spent most of the day driving through the park seeking out more animals. No big stories but of course it was fun and scenic. We then headed to Durban where we spent the evening with some of my PCV friends and had dinner at Taco Zulu – the best (and possibly only) Mexican food restaurant in South Africa. Their first week was packed with lots of driving but lots of fun memorable experiences!

hotards in south africa: st. lucia

Mom, Katie and Teresa spent 2 weeks in South Africa with me. It was amazing – last year when my mom visited it was surreal having her here with me. This year was no different except that there was A LOT more laughing and a lot more tears because we were laughing so hard!

They arrived Saturday evening and were delayed but in good spirits. Jason and I met them at the airport and then we went to the backpackers where they had Welcome to South Africa gift bags awaiting them. We stayed up late into the night talking, catching up and eating some of the South African goodies I had packed the bags with. We left for St. Lucia on Sunday (minus Jason), stopped to visit my friend Alycia and were welcomed by a wonderful woman named Monica, at the bed & breakfast, who made us feel right at home. She even hugged Mom and told her how lucky she was to have most of her girls in one place! We enjoyed a really tasty seafood dinner at this hole in the wall restaurant called Fishy Pete’s (I think) – it was excellent and I think it’s the best place we ate while we were in St. Lucia.

The next morning we woke up before the sun was even contemplating getting up to catch a ride out to the water for our whale watching experience. I was of course hungry and decided to share some dried pineapples with the girls while we waited for our friendly guides to show up. We were giddy with excitement by the time we got to the ocean. We hopped on the boat and donned the ugly raincoats and life vests but were happy for the added layer of warmth. It was a bumpy ride out going over the enormous waves but it smoothed out. That didn’t last long – we ended up in the middle of a bumpy current on the look out for either breeching whales or the mist from their blow holes. Once sited, we would head in that direction. It didn’t take long and we were off to find our friends. We saw a beautiful whale breech right before the sun rose – what an amazing site. Soon we were actually fairly close to a young male and he kept swimming around our boat. After awhile I succumbed to the sickening feeling of constantly be jerked up and down by the waves and had to sit down. Turns out I wasn’t the only one – Teresa was already lying down, Mom was sitting hoping she didn’t have to puke and Katie and I decided we had no shame and threw up over the side of the boat. Mom eventually did too and right as she was looking up the whale swam by – what a better view than a porcelain lid! Our ride came to an end and we went full speed ahead and beached the boat right on the sand. We were instantly cured of our seasickness once we were on land and most us (maybe not Mom) agreed that we would probably do it again if given the chance – minus the dried pineapple appetizers!

The rest of our stay in St. Lucia was relaxing and decadent complete with lazy mornings and an amazing breakfast each morning. We visited a crocodile reserve and saw hippos in the estuary. We had car trouble one night – I couldn’t (and neither could anyone else that stopped to help) get the car to start, the key wouldn’t even turn! So we waited over 2 hours for the new one to come and of course once we made the change, the guy was able to start the car no problem. Oh well – there weren’t any extra costs for us, unless you consider the round of drinks we had while waiting. Overall, a great start to our holiday.

toilet excursions

There is a rat in my pit toilet. Not actually down the hole but actually running around the rafters of the superstructure (that’s a word I learned from Jason!). The first time I met him was with Katie and Teresa while they were visiting. We would take a nightly trip out to the toilet together, mostly because we all had to go but some times one of us would just go for the moral support. Katie was the moral supporter that night and since I’m the seasoned pit toilet frequenter, I was the first to go, to make sure nothing was lurking in the corners. I walked in and flashed my head lamp around and saw this HUGE rat in the corner of the wood beams at the ceiling. I ran out screaming, which caused Katie and Teresa to scream a bit, and then laugh. Then I was laughing trying to explain to them that the entire almost 2 years that I’ve lived here, I have never seen such a thing lurking around anywhere. While Katie is trying to stop laughing, I venture back to the toilet and see him again, in the same spot only this time my screaming startled him and as I ran out again, he scurried away, the noise of him running creeping me out even more. At this point we’re all laughing so hard we can barely keep our pee in and actually some of us couldn’t keep the farts in and as she laughed she tooted quite rhythmically (I won’t mention who so as not to embarrass her too much) – which made us laugh even harder. As this point, rat or no rat, I had to go so I braved it one more time and was happy to see that the rat had smartly vacated the premises.

We didn’t see the big guy again during their visit and I wasn’t sure he would ever make an appearance again but he did – tonight. I went out to use the facilities and as I walk in and flash the light again, he scurried away, freaking me out. I let out a quiet shriek and covered my head just in case he decided to lose his balance and fall on me. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t actually standing under the roof, I had to protect myself. And so I thought of Katie and Teresa, and wished I could share the moment with them. Alas, they are home now but I will always think of them when I’m going to the pit toilet after it’s dark, wondering if I’ll have another encounter with the rat again.

happiness is simple

Today was a good day. I might even go so far as say it was a great day. We had a meeting with our OVC (orphan and vulnerable children) Carers and one of them brought her little sweet 1 year old niece with her. The little girls name is Once More – the first time I heard that I nearly keeled over with laughter, I can just imagine what made them come up with that name…Anyway, she’s adorable and while most of the meeting was being conducted in Sepedi, I played with her. She sat on my lap, was fascinated by my hair and played with it a lot. Mostly just being around little kids like this (any kid really) warms my heart. After the meeting we played some music for the carers so they could learn it and teach the kids at the centres. They loved it and Susan started dancing and of course I had to join her, then little Once More did too. Then a few of the carers were dancing with us and it was an impromptu dance party. Music and dancing really make me happy!

We then walked to Butswana centre – a nice hour long walk in beautiful weather so no complaints – where we had to talk to the Pre School principal and that went smoothly. After that, we played fireball with the kids at that centre – best 3 out of 5 games and it came down to the last one but my team won. Fireball, by the way, was introduced to our centres by one the first German volunteer we had, Michaela. It’s basically an adapted version of dodge ball. I’m terrible at these types of games and proved it by getting hit early on in each round. But it was fun and the kids were animated and excited.

After the last game it was 4 o’clock and time to go home so we hopped on a taxi and I went back to my home in Turkey village. Susan has decided she wants to learn how to ride a bike so I brought my bike over to her house and she had her first lesson. It was great watching her master it – going from just one turn of the pedals then falling, to 3 turns then all the way down the street before falling. She’s so excited about it and determined to be able to ride all the way to Enable village where our office is. That was exactly how I was hoping to spend my evening – hanging out with my friends in the village.

So now I’m home, I’ve made some really great popcorn (Teresa you were absolutely right, there are definitely things you can’t scrimp on – popcorn is definitely one – and toilet paper too) seasoned with bacon salt and a touch of garlic. I’m going to bathe quickly and settle in to watch a movie. The perfect way to wind down after a great day.

PS – stories from my mom and sisters visit are coming soon!

the ring

It’s a great story of how Jason procured the ring so I have to share. Evidently Jason had been thinking about proposing for about 7 months prior to flying to the states in June. He went home with the intention of asking his mother if he could use his grandmother’s rings. The first night he’s in town, he was out with his parents at a wedding reception and his dad asks if he’s seen what they’ve done with Momar’s rings; they had them reset with some of Ann Marie’s diamonds. Clearly that option was out so Jason told them his plan and they made an appointment to see a jeweler right before he was going to leave.

Before he had a chance to go, out of the clear blue my mom emailed him and said that she didn’t want to be pushy but that she knows we’ve been talking about the future and marriage. All she wanted to do was offer Jason her mother’s rings for whenever the time was right. He said that when he got that email all he could do was laugh. He called my parents a few hours later and they got a huge shock (and were supremely happy) when he revealed his plan and asked for their blessing.

After Jason proposed and we were back in the comforts of the backpackers, we called my parents (actually, we texted them and they called us back) and they were ecstatic. My mom said that when Jason called it was a big shock but they were excited and she immediately told everyone else in the family but of course everyone was sworn to secrecy. She said that after Dad hung up the phone he had the same dazed look on his face that he had the day my mom told him she was preggars with Teresa (who was a COMPLETE surprise). Two daughters engaged at once – who would ever have thought that would happen?! I’m sure my dad never dreamed of it but they are excited and seem open to having one of those weddings in Puerto Rico.

his birthday but my surprise

It’s been while since I last wrote and now it’s a little daunting to think about all the stuff I want to write about to catch up. But it should be fun to recount all the memories because the last month has proven to be absolutely amazing. And what kick started the amazing adventure is the long holiday weekend that I took advantage of with Jason to celebrate his birthday on June 14. I had been scheming behind his back to put together a surprise, a book that included letters and pictures from his friends and family to celebrate his first 30 years of life. The response was great and I spent the two weeks prior to his arrival back in South Africa (he’d gone home for a visit and a conference) putting together his masterpiece. I finished the book the morning we departed for our mountain getaway – a long weekend of hiking in the Drakensburg Mountains near the Bergville area. We set off in our little rented Volkswagen Chico with a big box wrapped in fun African paper and Jason’s interest peaked. Little did I know that there was another surprise packed in that car.

Saturday was actually Jason’s 30th birthday and I was so giddy to give him his gift that there was no way we could hike before he opened his present. Mission accomplished: he had absolutely no idea that this was the big surprise I had been planning. We spent awhile just going through each page, reading the letters and looking at the pictures and reminiscing about his life. It was a great way to start the day. Then we finally climbed out of our reverie and headed for a beautiful hike in the Cathedral Peak area, Rainbow Gorge. The main attraction of the hike is this massive boulder that is suspended in air by these other two huge boulders and then a waterfall that creates all these rainbows from the mist. However we didn’t quite make it that far, partly because I was a bit of wus and got tired of crossing back and forth over the river. I fear falling in and injuring myself severely because of the terrible shoes I have – old running shoes with no traction. Although Jason was patient, I could tell he wanted to go further but I’d had enough for the day. He’s a good man and didn’t push me so we headed back. I am sad that we didn’t get to see all the beauty and am eager to go back once I have a quality pair of hiking boots and we can get an earlier start.

The next day we decided to hike Tugela Gorge – it’s another beautiful hike that leads to the base of the 2nd tallest waterfall in the world, Tugela Falls. Jason hiked this area about 6 years before with his friend D after he finished his PC service. That time the weather was horrible and they had 2 near death experiences in two consecutive days. We were lucky this time and had amazingly clear weather the entire weekend (this also may have had something to do with the time of year – they went during the raining season!). I was a bit sluggish during the morning part of the hike – 4 hours of hiking the day before so my body was trying to tell me to ease into it. We weren’t rushed to go anywhere so we took our leisure time and enjoyed the scenery as we made our way deeper into the gorge. Finally we made it to the river bed that led us to these caves and a chain ladder that would take you up and over to the other side of the caves towards the falls. We scrambled over rocks and boulders and checked out the caves but there were quite a few people going up and down the ladder so we decided it was a good time to take our lunch break.

After we finished eating we were just lounging on our rocks when Jason stood up. I was not ready to continue hiking so I asked him why he was standing. He mumbled something about stretching I think and then draped himself across my lap. I was looking down at him and he asked what I was thinking about. I’ve always promised that I would answer that question honestly and not make anything up to be more intelligent or romantics so I was truthful and said his baseball hat. We play this game a lot so I knew it was my turn to ask him what he was thinking about. Thanks to my inability to recall what is said at important moments in my life, I don’t have a clear recollection of the way Jason actually phrased this next part. Essentially he said that he loved exploring and traveling the world with me and that he would like to do it for the rest of our lives (I only found this out after I’d told the story wrong a few times and he finally corrected me). I agreed and said that I wanted that as well. I do remember him saying, ‘on that note’ as he reached down for something. At that moment my eyes must have gone to the size of saucers and as he brought up the little box he asked me if I would marry him. All I could reply was ‘really?’ which I repeated over and over probably ten times. We opened the box and as I’m staring at the ring he had to ask just to be sure if my answer was yes. Of course it was/is and I gave him a huge hug and a kiss.

As I’m admiring the ring he asks if I know whose it is. I guessed his grandmother and he shook his head and told me it was my grandmother’s. Immediately I knew it was my Tata’s and that’s when the tears came to my eyes. (I’ll give you the story of the ring later.)

We basked in our little world for a bit longer and then decided to finish our hike up the chain ladders. We continued on for awhile and although we didn’t get to the base of the falls, we did manage to find a few amazing sites like this huge boulder that was cracked straight through. Eventually we had to head back before it got dark and the entire time I just kept asking questions about his plan and daydreamed a bit about the possibilities for the big day and our life together.

The next day we ventured out again to climb to the top of the Tugela Falls. According to the backpackers you should only take the hike with their guides but the park itself doesn’t mandate that so we decided to venture out on our own with a couple other guys, Johnny and Roy, we met at the backpackers. The hike was a lot of uphill but fun with our new hiking partners. There were a set of chain ladders, more intense than the day before but it was worth it when we got to the top. There was some ice and snow (remember, it is actually our winter) and we had a few snowball fights along the walk. The little river that leads you to the falls doesn’t seem like much but when we got to the edge of the amphitheatre it was breathtaking. We stayed at the top for awhile just enjoying our surroundings – our friends made a snowman, we ate lunch, took tons of pictures, took our shoes and socks off and relaxed before gathering up our stuff and heading back down the chain ladders and the mountain.

And that, my friends, is the description of one of the best weekends in the world. Jason also wrote about it on his blog so you may want to compare our stories if you’re interested – check out the link on the right side of this page. We haven’t set a date just yet but we have our hearts set on tying the knot in Puerto Rico in late December 2009. Stay tuned for updates…