Valentines Day Fun

Molo!

This weekend was another adventurous one to unwind from a long work week. James (John's brother) was nice enough to invite us over to his house for pizza and rugby Friday night. We learned the basics; however, I still prefer football to rugby. We then woke up early on Saturday to one flat tire and another low one. Fixed the two of those, and then we were off to Mpongo. We spent most of the day at Mpongo Private Game Reserve for R50 (about $5) per person, we were able to drive our own car through this BEAUTIFUL game reserve. We saw so many animals along with the scenery. We did not see any elephants or hippos, so we still have to find those. Then, once home, we watched the Lion King movies. Perfect end to an African day. 

This is one picture I took at Mpongo. They were my Valentines <3 

Weekend Shenanigans

Molo! (Hello!)

We had a fun weekend staying in the city.  Saturday we woke up early and spent the better half of the day at Nahoon Beach.  Soaked up tons of sun and got a little sun burnt.  I swam in the Indian Ocean.  We then went home and quickly prepared for the Super Bowl Braai at John’s.  –He kindly recorded the game for us (it aired here live in the middle of the night/early morning).  We watched the game, and even watched some of the commercials his brother downloaded for us from the internet.  The puppy and horse commercial still win.  The game was not terrible; however, Packers should have been playing.  Traveling across the ocean doesn’t heal that loss. 

Sunday we had a full day as well.  We woke up and went to Quigney Beach Front in East London.  We went the flea market.  I bought a MUCH needed backpack.  Then we enjoyed some drinks at Buccaneers.  While they serve ‘bloody marys’ here, they make me miss my bloody marys at home.  We then picked John up, and he took us to a cricket game.  We only went for the second half of the game.  While I will claim to have a general knowledge of the game now, I am still confused.  South Africans think that football is slow to rugby; however, cricket is MUCH slower than baseball.  We also spent time before the game driving through town.  We drove through an informal settlement called Duncan Village.  This is one of the largest settlements and over 100,000 people live there.  Below is a picture of the power lines in Duncan Village.  This shows how much stealing of electricity happens in these villages (some residents in the villages DO pay for electricity).  This is part of the cause behind the load shedding (power cuts).  You also get a good idea in the picture of the structure of the shacks and how close they are to each other.  Entire families live in those 1-2 bedroom informal structures.     

Creatures and Electricity

Yesterday we experienced our first time being "load-shed" two times during one day. It goes out for about two hours at a time. It was out when I left work. Without power, I had no choice but to relax on the beach for a couple of hours ;).  After the beach, I was about ten minutes into an episode of Orange is the New Black, when the power went out (John gave us external hard drives full of tv series and movies). Those two hours were over dinner and getting ready for bed. I ate a wrap that i neglected for lunch, and Emily and I drank wine by candlelight before bed. Then, when our power came back on, John's went out. So he came over and we talked about our practicums and weekend plans. We now have our candlesticks and matches ready!  Also, the other morning I got to see the creature in the picture roaming through our yard. He got scared and ran across the street before I got a picture. He/She is a mongoose. Emily and I want one for the house because they eat mice, rats, and GECKOS! 

Frustration

Internet. Oh how I miss the internet. We had wifi at the house... for one night. My agency finally was able to restore their wireless internet today. We thought we had an unlimited internet connection at our house, we were proved wrong by running out of data in one night. South Africans have NO idea how much internet us Americans use; especially when it is the only way to contact home. I am dealing with withdrawals of not being able to talk with my family regularly. I hopefully will be able to handle these withdrawals by laying out on the beach in the afternoons. I will come home unrecognizable-y tan (or burnt, jury is still out on my heritage letting my skin get tan).