Sorry for the lack of reading material these past two weeks –I’m just now catching up after a fabulous two weeks of having the Wendel family visit Stellenbosch! It has felt like a vacation while on vacation and I’ve got the chance to do a lot of sightseeing with them along the coast and through Cape Town (school? What’s that?...)
While I won’t bore you with moment-by-moment details, here are some photos and highlights of the past two weeks:
1. Climbing Table Mountain with the Wendels
Despite our best efforts to arrive early in Cape Town to tackle the mountain, we began our ascent during the peak hours of sun and arrived sweating at the top 2 hours later. The view from the top is absolutely stunning (for those of us who weren’t afflicted with a fear of heights…) and we looked out to see Robben Island, Cape Town center and the Cape flats spread out in all directions. Incredible.
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| It means no worries.... |
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| Taking a well-deserved break |
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| ta-da! |
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| X-treme yoga! haha |
2. Strand Beach
We spent the following day relaxing on the beach (and trying to even out the lovely hiking tans/burns we acquired the day before). Mom found the perfect candidate for a photo shoot –a cute little boy running around butt-naked on the beach –and tried to look as natural as possible while snapping photos…
After returning to Stellenbosch we discovered my new favorite restaurant, Java Café, which has been blessed with our presence a few times since!
3. Human rights lesson at Lynedoch
We’ve decided that our focus for the semester looks at human rights in various countries and how they compare. Last Monday we “took a trip” to America and explored women’s suffrage and the civil rights movement, comparing them to similar movements in South Africa. I ran a simulation with the kids, splitting them into two groups and only giving half “voting rights” on issues like lunch choices and field trip opportunities. The ones classified as the ‘women’ were not happy by the end of the exercise after I kept silencing their protests and it was interesting to watch their face light up with understanding once we discussed the simulation.
4. Cliffwalk
Took a trip to Onrus on the coast and enjoyed some beautiful sights and wildlife, while stopping to refuel along the way at cute seaside restaurants. (I can really get used to the ‘coffee shop-hopping’ itinerary here!)
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| enjoying the view |
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| Dassies |
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| seaweed tug-o-war |
5. Humarus Braai
Julien made a delicious braai and introduced to the Wendel family to braai lamb, sausage, chicken, roosterkoek (homemade braai rolls) and mulva pudding… mmm mmm
6. Eliza comes to class J
After deciding that she has the best older sister in the entire world and who is so much cooler than tagging along with the adults for wine tasting, Eliza joined me for a day at university! She sat in on Afrikaans class and watched 20 international students struggle with rolling r’s and throat-clearing g’s (and I think ended up taking more notes than most of the students…)
7. Lynedoch Yoga
This past Monday the 7th grade girls had a wonderful treat for class –Mama Wendel came to teach yoga! While they laughed at the Afrikaan translation for the animal poses, I’ve never seen them so focused for a hour –even in shavasina at the end! (We even got stern –and slightly intimidating –Mr. Myburgh, the 7th grade teacher to join in for a few poses!)
8. Happy 21st Birthday!
Now, I know 21st birthdays are special on their own, but this one was even better than most– I was sung to in 3 different languages throughout the day (and well, being in South Africa…can’t really top that!). The Lynedoch students all crowded into the break room before class and sang:
“Veels geluk liewe maatjie omdat jy verjaar!
Mag die here jou seen en nog baie jare spaar!”
(They were so beautiful and it gave me the chills!)
I also got to wear a lovely homemade crown for the rest of the day, which seemed to invite a variety of birthday wishes…one of them being a strip tease from the Argentinean rugby team in front of McDonalds where we stopped for a coffee…wish I was kidding...
Mom got to see her first rugby game (Stellenbosch Maties v Praetoria Tukkies), although the rest of us sitting there were just as clueless and confused with the rules as she was. I have, however, finally learned the celebratory song played every time the Maties score –check it out, it’s so catchy!
9. Cape Town exploring with Ilse and Mom!
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