Compared to my Safari weekend trip this last weekend has been slow and quite. Last weekend I went to the mall on Saturday and saw A- Team. I don’t know if it is the lack of new movies I have seen, missing home or loving Bradley Copper so much, but I really liked it. I thought it was funny and just made me feel good just to go to a movie with a few friends. On Sunday I decided to not go to church and just stay at the compound. It is funny we all complain about being stuck out here, myself included but then it sometimes just feels really nice to stay for the day with out any type of a plan and just relax. I layed out in the sun before it got to hot, I actually even got sunburned a little so it was nice to have something to show for the time outside. It got kind of gross out so I went in and took a nap. I know that this is really exciting stuff but it was needed. It just felt so good to lay in bed on a rainy afternoon watch a movie and take a little nap before dinner.
This last week was a pretty good one. Monday we had a staff meeting after school, we have one every Monday and they are usually good for a laugh. This one was no exception. It just makes me feel good when I sit in my staff meeting with other academy staff and laugh, and can be my self- with out all the swearing (mom you should be happy). On Tuesday we went on a field trip with the Nursery and Elementary school. Sometimes it can be strange cause I don’t have a class of my own really, I have students that I pull out from other classes, but Amy the third grade teacher is always great about having me with them as they are the 2/3 class so that is great. We went to the tidal pools at a beach about an hour away. It is the beach we all go to after church so we all knew it but it was far less crowded on a Tuesday and a rainy one for that matter. It was not warm but definitely not as cold as the Oregon coast so I thought it was great. The kids all had a lot of fun playing and looking for different creatures. It was nice to be part of that and show them my love for it. I have the reputation here and rightfully so as not liking bugs. So it was nice to show that I love animals and nature just not spiders and other bugs that they all catch and shove in your face to look at. After we left the tide pools we went and got ice cream at Steers the South African equivalent of Burger king with out the creepy king himself. Of course the kids loved that treat.
We left and went to the Sharks Board. The Sharks Board is the organization that is in charge of maintaining the shark nets around this province. The shark nets are a little confusing because they don’t go to the ocean floor, or the surface or actually enclose the beach. So I am still a little fuzzy how that keeps sharks out. They could easily go over, under, or around and come eat swimmers, but they have not had any fatal attacks since they went in around the 1950’s so they most work somehow. There are sharks that get caught in the nets, the Sharks Board has teams that go out everyday and try and release these sharks with out any injury or harm. When sharks are not able to move they are not able to get water running through their gills and they die. That is not the hope of the nets but it does happen. When the shark board finds dead sharks they take them back to their research facility. In hopes of educating the public they perform shark dissection four times a week. It was gross but fun.
The rest of the week has passed with out too much going on, which I guess is good in the no news is good news way. On Saturday we had an opportunity to help in the community just outside our gates. A bunch of us went and painted a house that the local church owns in hopes that if they fix it up they will be able to attract an associate pastor. It was nice to help the community. We live here in our little bubble and do not have to much chance for interaction so it was great to get that time. We were able to work along side locals and meet some of the children in the area. After painting there was going to be a braai, a South African BBQ. The church a bunch of us have been to Balito Bible church was coming up to see where we were staying and to hang out. It was kind of a great day. A lot more people stayed then normal because of the Braai and it felt like a normal BBQ we were all playing games and hanging out. A bunch of us played catch phrase for about 2 hours. It was nice and felt like home, people yelling really loud and being to competitive, myself included. The braai was great and it was nice to talk with the people from the church.
On Sunday the plan was to go to church and leave at 7:30 then go to the beach for the day after. This sounded great but my door had other plans. Our doors lock from the inside and outside with the key, and you have to have the key to unlock them even from the inside. I had a problem about the first weekend here of not being able to unlock my door from the inside. I was finally able to get it when I took the handle off from the inside. I have not really had to many problems since then, until Sunday morning. I got up and was not able to unlock my door. I tried for a few minuets then took the door handle off thinking, that although it is annoying it would allow me out to run to the bathroom since I was about to pee myself. But of course no luck. At this point I got up on a chair and opened the window above my door to listen for anyone in the hall. I am at the very end of the hall though with no one across from me so I knew there was little hope. I started to look around for a water bottle to use as a make shift bathroom because it was getting pretty bad. I decided instead to wake up my neighbor. I started yelling out the window above the door saying I was locked in. She did come and let me out and I quickly ran to the bathroom as I said thank you over my shoulder. But I am happy to report I did not need to use the water bottle and made it to the bathroom in time!
Church was good, it was a new one for me and everyone was very welcoming. We went to the beach after ward and had lunch as a big group. It is so nice when we go out to have the whole menu to chose from instead of what is cooked for you. It was a great day at the beach and was nice to be there. I always just feel relaxed at the beach. When we got back we had dinner and hung out. I tried to call my parents which with them is always a little complicated. My mom was in a bad service area so she kept dropping the calls. I ended up calling my brother Dennis, it was nice to talk to him. About three minuets into that conversation my mom called him so Dennis made it a conference call. It was funny that mom hijacked the call but then she just kept saying it’s a three-way and I could not stop laughing. It was good to talk to them even though it was brief and with lots of interruptions.
November, 11th 2010
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