Feeling at Home

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I’m sorry I have not posted anything in a while. Time always goes by so fast for me when I’m in South Africa. There never seems to be enough of it and my stay never seems to be long enough. The other reason I have found it hard to blog about this section of my trip is because I feel like I’m at home when I’m here in Joburg with my family not really traveling - even though I am of course. Plus I have not had internet for a while so I will do my best to get you up to date on the past month without making this too long! And then I have a bunch to tell you about my last 2 weeks out here so I’ll probably post a couple blogs over the next few days.
Our first day back from Madikwe Sam and I hung out at Westgate which is a shopping center near my grandparents houses. We did a bit of shopping but mostly walked around and just looked at everything. We did both, after debating on it for a long while, buy a pair of shoes that were probably too expensive but also in the end too awesome to pass up!
Friday night we met up with Marie, Hansie, Justin, and a bunch of his friends to go Go Cart Racing! It was so much fun! I have never done it before and was a little unsure at first of how to take the corners and what not but each lap I got more confidence! I was not the fastest but I got the drift around the corners down and so I was pretty happy about that! Afterwards we went to this bar called Cool Runnings. It was decked out in Rastafarian style, there was a huge outdoor area with a massive fire pit and stages for when they have bands playing there. It was quiet for a Friday night, not many people there but we had a good time. Sam and I both drank a bit too much but it happens.
Sat was not so exciting for me I had not been feeling great the previous 2 days and it seemed the night of drinking brought up whatever my body had been fighting. I was sick and spent pretty much the whole day in bed. Sam, Mom, and Dad went back over to Marie and Hansie’s place for a Braai and I stayed home with Grandpa.
As tradition on Sunday we went to the Rosebank flee market. I was still not feeling well and so after a quick stroll through Sam, Raymond, and I went to sit outside and have a drink… I had an Appletizer which is sparkling apple juice basically. We got to see a group of kids singing and dancing outside of the entrance to the market and then we met up with everyone for some food. Went to Bulldogs, which used to be called the Black Steer, for our favorite ribs in the world! I couldn’t eat much but I know Dad enjoyed them!
Dad and Raymond put in a new washing machine for my grandpa on Monday and we helped re-organize his living room area but mostly Sam and I read our books! We went to Thundergun for dinner and had the best burgers! Afterwards Raymond Sam and I decided we wanted to go on an adventure and so we started to drive and Sam and I would tell Raymond when to turn in the hopes of finding something new that he did not know. We ended up in an area he didn’t know and after driving for a bit decided we would stop at the next open place we saw. So we did… I had a funny feeling about this place once we parked and was hesitant to go in but Sam and Raymond thought it looked ok and so in we went. Inside was nice. It was quiet except for 3 other guys – one of who was determined to start a fight. We tried to ignore him, we ordered drinks and did our best to just not pay attention to them. Eventually we decided to leave without even finishing our drinks. Just a reminder for me to trust my instincts I suppose 😊
Tuesday Raymond came and got Sam and I and we went for Adventure Golf! It is like put-put golf but instead of being in man-made thing it is out in nature with a little course. Lots of trees, water, rocks, and plants of all kinds! It was cool in the shade and we had a blast although none of us did too good! That night we went to Andre and Heathers house, they are good friends of my parents, for dinner. They are really nice people and I’ll never forget the story of when they decided they would fly to the states to surprise my parents and so they flew into California and rented a car…. They asked which way to Denver Colorado and drove! They didn’t realize it was such a long ways away by the time they made it to my parents they could only stay for 1 night before they had to start driving back to catch their flight back home!
Mom, Sam and I all had a facial on Wednesday as a Christmas present from Mom. It was so wonderful! Marie is amazing 😊 When I was not getting my facial I hung out with Grandma.
Thursday(Thanksgiving) was time for mom and dad to start packing. Sam decided that she wanted to extend her trip in South Africa and our Uncle Chris helped her find a job in Balito Bay working for our cousin Brent. Everyone just hung out at the house while Mom and Dad packed and then we all went for dinner. We being; Anton, Grandma, Tots, Josh, Dad, Mom, Sam, Raymond, Grandpa and Me. We went to Thundergun again because Dad had not been there before and Sam and I decided it was a must. It was not a traditional thanksgiving by any means but it was the same, surrounded by family and great food!
Friday Mom and Dad left and Alex arrived. On the way back from the airport we took a small detour through downtown Joburg. It was not too bad I didn’t feel like we were in any danger and it was nice to get in and see the city a bit although we did not go in as far as Mom and I did last year with Grandpa. Then Alex, Raymond, Sam and I went to a different Cool Runnings with some of Raymond’s friends. This one was a lot smaller and didn’t have the cool outside area but they did have live bands for the night. The ones we saw were great, my favorite was a band called Captain Stu. They were true hippies, long hair, no shoes, who just rocked out and then they handed out free CD’s which of course I took one!
Saturday, Raymond, Alex and I went to the Lion Park. It was really busy but we were still able to get a good close up look at the 3 lion prides they have there. We also got to hang out with some sleepy lion cubs and a Giraffe! We went back to get Sam and then went to see the new Harry Potter movie! I enjoyed it but the previous one is my favorite so far.
Sunday did not go as planned. Grandpa came in and woke me up just after 7am. Grandma had been taken to the hospital via ambulance. She was not allowed visitors so we decided to go meet tots at Clearwater for a coffee to wait and see when we could go see her. I have been to Clearwater countless times now, of course my first day driving without mom in the car I got lost! The GPS didn’t seem to be able to figure out where we were going and so we drove around for about 2 hours. It all looked so familiar and we were very close but Grandpa and Tots could not figure out where we were and I’m not sure how but we eventually found our way there! It was pretty funny and I’m more comfortable driving here now after that! Sam, Grandpa and I went to see Grandma that night she had visiting hour from 7pm-8pm. She seemed to be doing ok, was in good spirits and didn’t look too bad. The doctors thought she had a kidney infection and put her on antibiotics. She was only supposed to be in hospital for 3 days at most. Unfortunately, she ended up being there for 10 days, but she is home now and doing well just has to take it easy while her body recovers from being in bed for so long.

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