Birthday Fun and More

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Classes are now well underway, I ended up getting everything that I needed, although two of them are independent study so I still don't really feel like I'm in school. Last night I started a Xhosa class, which I feel is going to be really challenging. Luckily most of the students from California are also in it, so I have plenty of people in Annie's Cove to study with. I'm also taking an intro mediation class which I think will be really interesting as well as useful in the future. Class discussions are difficult for me, due to all the strong accents, I have trouble understanding people but I think it will get easier with time. Nelson Mandela Metropolitan is largely an international university, with students coming from all over Africa as well as other parts of the world. I really love it.

This past week has been really fun, with my birthday as well as the usual fun stuff. I wasn't really planning on doing anything big for it, but mine was the first in our group, and a good reason (not that we need any) for a party. I wanted to wait until Saturday and have a braai, but a few of the girls insisted that we all go out to dinner on Thursday, so we got a group of about twelve together and went to a really good Taiwanese restaurant. The next day myself and two other girls from California and two Irish girls, all from Annie's, rented a car and drove to Jeffrey's Bay. We rented a house about a block from the beach and spent Saturday exploring and laying on the beach. J-Bay is a really cute surf town with all sorts of little shops, cafe's and clubs. It was a short trip because we had to be back Saturday night for my party, but it was really fun and we plan to go back. The car we rented was a really old Volkswagen Fox but we got it for a really good price, so we were excited to have it. On our way home, just as we were on the outskirts of PE, Foxy lost all power on the freeway. Poor Sarah was so nervous trying to get it across the lanes to shoulder, but when she did, we all laughed. We did make it home, after a few more mishaps, but our new saying for when anything goes wrong is TIA, for This is Africa 😊

The braai that evening was a huge success. There were probably about 25 or 30 people there throughout the night and everyone had a great time. It was held at a big house just down the street from Annie's where Maddie, one of my fellow SF State girls, lives with a whole bunch of Germans. The house has a big kitchen and a patio with a built in grill. The girls made me a cake, with trick candles and all. They turned out the lights and brought it out singing, totally putting me on the spot. It was really nice though. The next morning we headed back to Maddie's and had brunch and Mimosa's, and that was the end of my birthday extravaganza. I really couldn't have asked for more.

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Photos

Foxy
Even though she broke down, we were sad to return her.

Sarah and Sarah
Getting the keys to the J-Bay house

J-Bay House
It smelled like spring in California on the front porch.

My Birthday Party
Just goofing around, Brian is a riot. Don't worry Mom, I didn't get another tattoo. :)

Comments

[mel]

Mmmmm bacon. Glad you had a great birthday! Sounds like you are having such a wonderful time. :)