Blogs from Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa, Africa - page 9

Who’s stolen the Sun? We had great plans of relaxing outside our apartments, reading and letting the kids run about the garden but when we awoke it was to the sound of torrential rain, which sort of scuppered that idea. So instead after breakfast we went for a walk from the hotel to the wine estate and booked ourselves into a wine tasting session, kids too; they would be taste testing grape juices. The Spier estate has a lot to offer - we wandered around the craft market, played pooh-sticks with the (aggravatingly enthusiastic) estate river, winced as the kids played on the adventure playground, and bought lunch from the site supermarket (which excelled in massively calorific desserts). The picnic service was suspended, though. We went back to the wine shop and were ushered into the ... read more

I arrived in Capetown yesterday. It was my second day in Africa but really the first day I was actually going to see anything. On the first day I went straight to the lodge which was so close to the airport I could actually see the plane that I arrived on from my window! In Johannesburg the airport is approximately 25kms from the City and the traffic is notoriously bad, so I figured it would be easier just to stay out. I arrived in Capetown in the morning, after getting up at first light, my stomach still in knots from my conversation with the man on my flight from Australia. He had me stressing big time! I could still here his voice in the back of my head "52 people die in Johannesburg everyday", "Mozambiquans are ... read more

4 weeks and counting....wow. I can't imagine leaving my home in Stellenbosch... This past week has been by far the fastest week ever. in fact, every week gets shorter and shorter. I guess this one felt so short because I was crazy busy with finals and papers. Luckily my 20 page community development paper got extended till Wednesday - thank goodness. Let's see, had my Afrikaans written exam on Wednesday-let's just say I'm thankful that it's only worth 15% of my grade. :P And the oral exam is this following Wednesday...Luckily I'm with Julia and Stefanie so we are getting together and making a script of what we want to talk about. Monday I finally got to wine tasting!! Went with Pia and Stefanie and some other german friends of Pia's. We went to 6 wine ... read more

A NON SEQUITOR GREETING ON FREEDOM DAY Hello to all my friends, There’s a man down the street who is slowly walling himself in, literally. I can’t help but thinking of Poe’s “Cask of Amontillado” as we watch the red bricks rise. In itself this should not be an unusual sight. In fact, his house prior to the arrival of the sand and bricks and stone, was one of the dwellings in our neighborhood (perhaps 50%) that did not crouch behind a tall wall, a growling dog, and an automatic gate. In other cities, like Johannesburg, it would be a rarity to see a house that was not protected by a wall. And the walls in that city are higher, more formidable, and topped with razor wire. This one is a pleasant two story white structure ... read more

Net voordat die storie oor die Duitsland trippie begin, moet daar eers vertel word van die tyd vooraf en hoe amazingly jesus net vir alles gesorg het! Aan die begin van die jaar toe ek aankom in stellenbosch het ek A, 'n MSc projek en B. 'n geleentheid om duitsland toe te kom. Ek het nie A. Blyplek en B. geld vir die M projek nie, maar dam 'n bietjie geloof (rerig net 'n bietjie) geloof dat alles al uitwerk. so die eerste dag wat ek toe kan, gaan spreek ek toe vir Prof Fey (my promotor) wat my toe sê maar die projek wat ek wil doen is nie rêrig M kwaliteit nie en ek sal iets anders moet soek. Dus, daar gaan A wat ek het. Toe wil ek aansoek doen vir 'n visa ... read more