South African Adventures Part 1

Thursday, December 13, 2012

This may or may not be a very exciting account of my journey overseas but I don't want to forget the little bits we do from day to day whether or not they are something amazing or a lazy day reading and drinking tea. So read at your own risk of boredom...or just enjoy the photos.




I can hardly believe that it’s been almost 2 weeks since I have been in Cape Town. The time really does go by quickly. I arrived safely on Tuesday the 4th around 10pm exhausted after a very long 18hr flight. Thankfully it went fairly quickly and very smoothly. I and my luggage all arrived in one piece. Greeted at the airport by 3 very excited cousins and my Uncle Philip. I was whisked away to Grandma and Grandpa's house which is kind of my home base. I have a sunny little room to myself with a lovely view of the mountains out of my window. Wednesday We mostly had a quiet day resting and catching up with my Grandparents and recovering from my jet lag...which is horrible just for the record. (As I write this it is 5:00 pm here but it is 10:00am back home.)


Wednesday 5.12  night I went to a worship service at Meadow Ridge Baptist Church with my cousin Amy which was really lovely. It felt like home. It's a strange and wonderful feeling to know all the worship songs that they sing at their church half way around the world from where you live and sing the same songs. It’s warming, and comforting. It is incredible how you can be on an impossibly amazing adventure and feel homesick so quickly. It is hard sometimes to fight those feelings. But I would rather be real and acknowledge them and try to deal with them so I can move on and enjoy the rest of my time here. And I would rather be honest about them, than pretend that everything is ok when I am feeling a bit empty. Strange how you can be around people and feel lonely, even when God is right there next to you.



Thursday 6.12 was a fabulous adventure day with my cousin Amy, she is a lovely girl and we had an adventure around the cape coast to a place called Hout Bay. We first stopped on the way in part of the Table Mountain National Forest and had a little mini hike walk which was lovely. We had proper fish and chips at Fish on the Rocks in Hout Bay and then went round to Llandudno Beach which is a beautiful beach in kind of an alcove of the coast protected by the mountains. The water was absolutely clear and turquoise blue. It was so beautiful...and so so cold. It shoots pains to your bones it is so cold...but we swam anyways...not for too long, but after a nice walk on the beach we had a lovely dip and then headed back to Hout Bay for an Ice Cream. She dropped me home for a quiet evening with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma got out her scraps of yarn and knitting needles, so of course I have a few projects going to keep my hands busy. :) Must always have a craft to work on...but more on that later...

Friday 7.12 Morning I went with Grandpa for a walk on the coastal pathway from Muizenberg Beach to St. James Beach (two of my favourite beaches)....essentially it’s a walkway that pretty well bumps up against the beach and goes for a long ways around the whole cape coast. It is the most amazing view of the ocean and mountains I have ever seen. I cannot get over the beauty of the cape. "You couldn't enjoy its loveliness anymore if you had ropes of diamonds..." as Anne Shirley would say. Grandpa and I ran some errands to the grocery stores and the mall for a few things. It is lovely just to look around the shops and the grocery store...loving food as I do, I find their markets heavenly. Grandpa and I stopped at Pick n' Pay their local grocery store for lunch and a coffee. After all the errands were done we headed home for a rest and supper...and a quiet evening of knitting and Grandma getting me hooked on 7 de Laan...which is essentially an Afrikaans soap opera...but a surprisingly clean one. It’s quiet fun to read the English subtitles...sometimes the characters speak English but one will speak English and the other will respond in Afrikaans which I find highly amusing.

Saturday 8.12 school is finally over for all the cousins and it’s the weekend! We had 2 Braai’s today. Which is a traditional South African cookout, but better food than we ever eat in the US. Boerewors which is a South African sausage that is delicious, and chicken and so many salads and side dishes that I can’t eat them all at my Uncle John and Aunt Pam's house. They live in an area called Marina da Gama, which is actually on the Marina. After lunch and coffee we jumped off their back lawn into the marina and had a swim. :-) I also learned how to paddle ski which is kind of like sitting on a surf board and using a kayak paddle....needless to say I immediately fell off and I was very sore the next day. We went from Uncle John's to Uncle Phillips for Braai number 2 where we had a yummy bruschetta type appetizer called choppy choppy which is like sundried tomatoes and garlic and peppers in olive oil on lovely bread. And Uncle Phil got to work on braii'ing 4 types of sausage and beautiful lamb chops. Traci made a lovely green salad with fresh lettuce and rocket from her back garden, which also had asparagus, snap peas and green beans in with a mustard dressing that was delicious! We had sides of roasted butternut with pine nuts, and curried coconut lentils. I tasted several lovely South African wines as well. We went home very full and very sleepy.

Sunday 9. 12 morning I went to my Granparents church with them, where I was shown around and kissed by many people and told how thrilled they were to have me. They are really so happy to have me here with them. We had a light lunch, a nap and I went for an early coffee with Johnny and then back to Meadow Ridge for their evening church service which was lovely. We again sang some songs that I know well, and I learned a few really nice new ones. It is really nice to have the presence of God make you feel so at home so far away from your home and realize that you really can worship him in all places, and that he is here with me just as he would be at home. After church we hung out with some of Johnny's friends and had delicious burgers and french fries.

Monday 10.12 Jenna and Kelly my twin cousins age 13 came to grandma's and we made paint brush cookies and had a swim, although the water was a little chilly with the wind being so strong after which we had lunch and spent some time watching Downton Abbey together, which was lovely!!! For dinner we had Cottage pie, which is kind of like shepherd’s pie, and had a quiet evening together. Grandma and Grandpa always do the crossword puzzles in the newspaper and stay up till midnight or later, which I think is funny. So I have started helping with the crossword puzzles, which is quite fun. We also spent some time watching Jamie Oliver food specials on TV which makes me want to cook!

Tuesday 11.12 we got up early to go Christmas shopping at the Blue Route Mall which is a lovely big mall. We also stopped at Vida e coffee in the mall for a coffee and snack before continuing our shopping. They have fabulous coffee. It was so strong and delicious. We also stopped during our errands at a shop called Mama's crafts for some special yarn to make twirly lacy scarves out of and I quickly got to work on mine that afternoon when I got home. They ladies in the shop even gave me a tutorial on how to make them. I also found a sweater pattern there that I am keen on trying to make. Grandma and Grandpa still have a lot of get up and go in them for being in their 80's but being out from 9a-1pm is plenty so we also had a quiet afternoon/evening.


Which brings us to Wednesday
12.12.12
Yesterday I had a lazy quiet morning and did some reading and writing. Sitting on the balcony you have the best view of the backside of Table Mountain. Grandma and Grandpa both had things to do out so I stayed behind to enjoy the view and adventure around on my own. I went for a little walk around Plumstead, which is the suburb they live in, stopped in the little grocery store to look around and buy some chocolates and things, and did some window shopping at other places. There are 2 little book shops on their street and a shop with very old repaired sewing machines in the window that caught my eye :) For lunch I came home and had Steak and Kidney pie...which is like a pot pie...but traditional British style, which was delicious. I had a nice nap after lunch and then went out in the evening with Johnny and Traci to the Earth Fair Market which delighted my heart in every way. It is exactly what it sounds like, an organic local Market with all kinds of foods and booths including: Portuguese, Indian, German, Sushi, Spanish Paella, Pizza, Poitje (Poi-key-a South African stew), a Gelato man, a pie man, a handbag lady, a stand with chutney's and jam's and one with spices, a flower stand, and The Lazy Crocodile brewing company-An organic local craft beer brewery made in Cape Town. We had lovely beer from there with our dinner...and I had Carrot Ginger and Chocolate hazelnut gelatos for dessert. The walls were muraled with vines and leaves and fun earthy sayings on them, and the place was buzzing with people. We had a lovely time over dinner. And hung out for a while after.


Today 12.13 I made curried chicken salad and a green salad for lunch for some cousins of grandpa's 2 from Cape Town that have lived in Seattle for 30 years back for a visit and 2 that I haven't seen in years. We had a nice lunch and grandma's apple crumble for lunch and coffee afterwards. And well here we are, it’s almost 6pm here and I am just finishing typing up this list. It is really interesting to be here. I am loving it, but I long sometimes for all of you to be here to share it with me. I love catching up with and being with my cousins that are my age Amy and Jonny, and with all the family, but it’s as if I know them and don't know them at the same time and that they don't know me. It hard sometimes to be away from people who know your true heart, and even harder to share that heart with the people you are with. Being known, letting friends know you, and knowing them often takes quite a long time I think. But My God will supply all my needs. I have been reading Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell while I am on Holiday here and I am really enjoying it. It is interesting and challenging. Part of me feels like there is something big I am supposed to learn or figure out while I am here...but often in life isn't it the little things that make more impact? I feel like I should come home a new and different person....but I really don’t see that happening....I love being here, it’s so beautiful and incredible and we drink tea at the least 5 times a day sometimes more, and yet I feel like I am missing something, or not enjoying it to the fullest...strange feeling that.