Matric Dance

The famous tractor arrival

Matrics arriving on the back of a flower truck

A rather large dress

My favourite dress

This date stalled the car 3 times driving up

Hippy Van (and matching outfit)

.... A little over the top? NEVER

The hall... amazing

.. Again

Enterance

Marina and I dressed up

Back again, but not too much to report. Starting to feel a lot more home-y here and relaxed, less exciting new things to talk about. Last week we had a very low key time. Just hung out, watched lots of Grey's anatomy, read (I am trying my best with Wuthering Heights) had a couple nights out and did a lot of swimming. (Marina and I have a new laps routine we do every day- quite impressed with ourseleves!). Friday we weren't feeling too good (rather big night on wednesday we were still recovering from) so we ended up renting the 3rd CD of the Tudors season 1 and watching in on the HUGE tv in the matric tv room- a great series i reccomend it.

Saturday was the day of the Matric Dance (aka prom) which is HUGE here- so big in fact that they have it now (2 months into their matric year) because the girls are so excited about it they are unable to concentrate- therefore having it now gets it out of the way. The gr 11 year organizes it for the gr 12s so they don't have to worry about it but there is an incentive to do a good job. A huge pink tent was erected on the hockey field but it blew down over night sending everyone into panic mode. We ended up going down and lending a hand moving all the chairs/tables/decorations/lights etc etc from the field to the Hall (the tables were VERY heavy). Once they were back on their feet Marina and I headed out to long street for lunch (lunchs at school on sat. are rather grim) and had an awesome time and amazing food that we had been missing. (especially nachos!). Plus we found out that the resturant has 1/2 price apps. and 13.50R coctails during happy hour so it may be a new hang out! We had a nice relaxing afternoon- swimming, a trip to camps etc and then got ready for the dance as we had been invited to the coctail party before hand and it was a formal event.

The coctail party ended up being more like "watch the arrivals" which are the BIGGEST part of the dance here. The majority of girls arrived in REALLY nice cars, one of the best being a pink thunderbird, but some went all out. There was a horse and carriage, a horse box (not sure if it was a compliment), A tractor (couple sitting in couch on forklift), matching harley davidsons, plenty of old fashioned cars, a hippy van, the hot white st. cyprians van (cough cough), an old fashioned bug etc etc. One girl arrived in a shopping cart with her date pushing her. The dresses we mostly beautiful- very big and fancy and in some cases quite low considering they had to introduce their dates and look their headmisstress in the eye- akward. The theme was an indian type thing- beatiful, as you can see by the pictures (dosen't even capture it!). roses everywhere and beautiful rugs and pillows etc etc. From what I hear the food was amazing and the after party (at this fancy club in camps) amazing.

We headed out into town since we were all dressed up and had a fun night that ended with us all sharing some delicious thai noodles! :)

Sunday we went to the beach with some friends we met through the bishops boys. It was a beautifully hot day and really nice to be out on the beach while it is NOT windy. Hung out and read on the beach and then headed back to bishops for hanging out and swimming and watching mtv because they have it there.

Back working today- felt like the weekend went too fast, but very nice to be out of the school for so much of it. Not too much going on this wee k except it is the head of prep's birthday so a party for that and I am very lucky (and greatful to Firdaus) to be attending a service held by Archbishop Desmond Tutu on Friday morning. Should be a life changing experience.

Marina and I celebrated because we fully booked our march holidays today- after all the stress flights are booked and buses are organized etc etc. (my bank account did not celebrate) just gotta work out my 12 hours in joburg... anyone know anyone?

Hope all is well in Ottawa- love to you all!

xx Heather

<-- Mama Amelia's kids waving/singing us goodbye-- soooo amazing

<-- cutest kids probably ever.

<-- Bo-Kaap houses

<-- Waza Cape Town Show

<-- The krew at WCT

<-- Athletics Day (notice no sunrise)

<-- Before the fancy club!

<-- 6 months old!!! awwww

Happy Valentines Day!!!!!!! Hope everyone had a very good Feb. 14th!

So much has happened since I last wrote which means a large entery is coming up! First of all I was informed that I was not talking about the actual work enough so here is the deal on that.....

We work 5 days a week- Monday to Friday starting at 8 am. A normal day would be: waking up at 7am, getting dressed/ viewable by the public by 7:15 and then going down to breakfast. I almost always have the same thing- yogurt, and a toast with jam and peanut butter and pineapple if it is a good day. Then we head back upstairs and do whatever for half an hour. On Monday's we have assembly which we have to be at by (we think 7:55 but we always seem to be late...) In that we sing a song, do the prayer for africa, SING the lord's prayer (have NOT gotten the hang of that!) and then the head talks and makes announcements. On Tuesday we have chapel which usually involved some sort of singing and talking. After those I head to the prep school where i work admin from 8ish-10:30. I work with two ladies- Trilby and Feroza who are awesome. It ends being a lot of answering the phone, doing some paperwork (including sorting through people who are applying to the school up to 2015!!!) and doing little jobs for them. Right now I am entering parents SMS numbers on the giant system (they SMS parents in order to inform them on stuff- cell phones are HUGE here). It can be a little dull but the time goes fast because I am always so busy and they are so nice it is always good.

At 10:30 we have a break for tea and sandwhiches. (i am conditioned to be so hungry at 10 which is a habit I am trying to break. ) Then after break I work in the Sport department. It usually entails running jobs for them, helping in class, dome admin etc. (i prefer prep) Then lunch at 12:30 and then from tuesday-thursday I continue to work in sport after lunch and on Monday's and Friday's i have started helping out in classes in the prep. Just helping kids with extra work, organizing more complicated classes like science and art and some marking. This is very new so i don't have too much of a status on it yet. After school I usually end up doing after school sport.... everyone still in high school appreciate your teachers!!!!!!!!! I like watchign tennis the best because i often convince marina to join me and we play a bit. I have also done soccer and swimming and I am goign to surfing next week which should be interesting. My day ends around 5 and I am free after that. Dinner is at 6 and we either go out or call it an earl-ish night and read. (marina works in the library so she is always brining good books back). So yeah.. thats it- we basically just help the teachers in whatever they need to do.

So since I last wrote we have done tons of stuff. We ended up going to that fancy club i mentioned and had a really good time. It was on the 31st floor of a HUGE building in the waterfront- so an amazing view of the whole city. Plus they were doing a free promotion thing so they had free beverages which was quite nice! and the bathrooms were amazing- hot towels etc. We met up with the bishops boys (it was Mungie's friends party) and had a really good night- although a little late! On Saturday we got up at 5:30 AM to get ready for the athletics gala that day. Lucky for us it was a cool morning! The gala was tons of fun- lots of work running around (It got blisteringly hot too!) but really nice to see all the girls and their spirit. There are three houses here- Darke(mine), Verinder and Anderson and they each had their own enterances/cheers etc. It was especially funny to see all the boyfriends lurking around- the ONLY time they are allowed on school campus since they can be passed off as brothers etc. Verinder won but it was ok because we won the swimming gala on thursday. It finished around 1230 so we had lunch and slept for most of the afternoon. That evening we went out in an area called Claremont which we hadn't been before and that was really fun but quite hectic! Sunday night was raining which was a HUGE relief!! Kady, Marina and I walked down to waterfront and tried mini-taxing (joint taxis eekk) and ended up seeing a movie- 27 dresses VERY cute.

On Monday we wen to see a show called Waza Cape Town- put on by kids our age whoa re part of this dance company for kids in difficult areas. It was in district 6- famous for being destroyed during apartheid and moving all the residence to the cape flats in one of the churches that was not destoryed (district 6 is still just bare fields as they do not know what to do with it- shows how recent everything was) We started off by having a traditional meal- rice, haddock, minced meat thing, salad, potatoes and a pudding (they call cake pudding here). Our table was right on the floor where they performed so we had front row seats. First they showed us how to "gumpa??" dance which we thought was hilarious until Jenn (our boss) forced us to get up and do it- akward can't refuse your boss so well. Needless to see i was awful and marina and i have bruises from kicking eachother. The show was really well done- a combo of dancing, singing and poems made into a story about the three lifestyles in cape town (black, white and coloured). They were amazingly talented. It felt very mascish- Jennifer C I would recommend a visit over to see it!

Wednesday we also had another cultural experience- we did a township tour with Jenn wallace our boss. It started off in this famous church in the middle of town that was Desmond Tutu's original church. Beautiful stained glass! Next we headed off to Bo-Kaap a coloured area in the cities- with very colourful buildings and cobbled streets. From there we drove around some of the aread of town comparing some of the nicer areas to the townships and seeing the huge walls they put on between them to distact the rich people from realizing what was going on. It is horrible to see the one road leading into the townships and how they are "strategically" built behind hills. We stayed mostly on the outskirts since Jenn says the gangs in there are more notorious than the gangs of New york. We also went to this orphanage in the townhips called Mama Amelia's (the woman who runs it) she is paid to keep 7 kids by the SA gouvernment and at our visit she had 140 kids ranging from new borns to 18 year olds. It was shocking to see the piles of laundry- the 7 pillows on one small bed and all the toys. The children co-habitate AMAZINGLY well and are so sweet and well taken care of. Those who do not have birth certificates are named with her last name so many of them are her adopted children. We played and sang songs well them- they LOVED digital cameras and it was not easy to leave them behind. After that we went to a townships that is expanding due to all the apprentice work they are doing. we ate lunch there and went and looked at their work/ bought stuff (Jenn recommended it since she knew it was going directly to the community) All in all an amazing day- we are keeping our fingers crossed that we will be able to do it again!

I had a very good valentines day- although feeling a little lonely now that everyone is out with their boys and I am writing on my blog.... We made brownies for everyone which were much appreciated and Feroza and Trilby gave me specialy treats. Marina and I exchanged delicious/hilarious gifts and cards and Kady and Franzi who work in the pre-school made very cute cards. We had a fancy dinner in the boarding house tonight- wine glasses, fancy food and cheesecake for desert- awesome!

We are looking ahead at holidays- more info coming up but Marina and I have booked a trip for the 2nd week to Namibia. It includes: guided walk to bushman paintings, Orange river camping and canoeing, Canoyns, a national park and crossing the tropic of capricorn (7days). Also you do this amazing hike up dune 45 at sunrise which is supposed to be unreal. THe link is: http://www.nomadtours.co.za/desert_explorer_camp_2.html#galleryheader

feel free to go check it out

I am still figuring stuff out but i think I am going to do an overland by myself the first week (they ar with a group and guides so VERY SAFE!!! and yes i am avoiding kenya and zim) I will update when i figure it out!

Alright this is sufficiently long- if anyone reads this far- good on yea! Big plans for this weekend- trip to a cheap student travel place and some shopping :), going to a frosh party at UCT, a v-day picnic at bishops and doing to famous camps bay to waterfront walk on sunday!! Love you all

xxx Heather

Happy Shrove Tuesday from our shrunken room!

Marina and I at the top of table mountain

The Gaps on table mountain

View of Camps Bay and Lions Head

This is how we felt hiking....

Braai.....




Birthday Flowers!!! thanks Mum and Dad :)

Hi,

I am sorry I have been kinda blog drop out but I am finding it quite difficult to find the time to update it- we however just got a new computer in our wing so maybe that will make things easier (although as i upload these pictures I am thinking it is a little slower than the teachers computers.. hmmm...) I updated the blog last Wednesday so since then it hasn't been to hectic. Friday night as I said we went to our first Braai which was quite the experience. We went to Bishops Prep for it- sooo different than here! They had about 30 people (boys and girls) and we were allowed to stay there late and drink and make noise (vs here where no boys are allowed on campus and e

verything else has to be kept very hush hush). We ate chicken and beef and pork that was dipped in really good sauce and seasoning and then "braaied" on an open grill (with coals etc). The boys organzied it though so there was no cutlery, plates, veggies etc- only beer and meat (apparently- according to them, the perfect combo) Around 8:30 we had another power cut (hmm on a friday night right when it gets dark... the country of South Africa is very sneaky) which ment lots of standing around talking to people you couldn't see. We planned on going home early any how as we were climbing table mountain the next morning at 8. The only dissapointing part of the night was that marina and I made brownies on a poor excuse for a stove (aka easy-bake oven) for the night and then forgot them.... (which acctually worked out well because we ate them for strength the next day). So we woke up bright and early the next day- put on our sneakers (the first time i have worn shoes in 3 weeks) and filled up LOTS of water bottles and took off (marina dragging her heels). We started at the base of table mountain on the waterfront side (one side of table mountain is waterfront/city and the other side is Camps bay) and then walked all the way around to the far side of the mountain on the camps bay side (approx 45min-1 hour of constant uphill) then we all of a sudden turned the corner and were facing a rock face that we proceded to scale- using hands etc. It was very rough... and sooo hot. Luckily we had super packed lunches from the kitchen with lots of snack food to intice us up the mountain. Marina who had been dreading this climb decided to be quite obnoxious when the rest of us changed our minds half way up and was very eager and excited about continuing up- "come on guys- i have such a good rhythm going" etc etc. We finally got to the top which made the whole thing worth while- the whole trip had amazing views (joan- you would have hated it!) and it was cool and windy at the top. The walk down was rough for many but I much prefer that direction. We all made it up and down (even the gr 9s!) and no one broke any ankles- suprising since climbing down that rock face felt very unsafe. I decided to wear my sens shirt on the hike- not realizing that my hat was also senators (thanks derek- you have decked me out) and along with my backpack and canadian flag i looked like a patriotic freak. After our hike we each had long cool showers and everyone went in different directions that night. I ended up joining Nicole Uys (St Cyps girl who did exchange to Sedbergh earlier this year) at a fmaily party she was going to- we have been trying to get together for awhile so it was nice that it finally worked out. It was also really nice to acctually get out of the boarding house and into someones home and meet some more people. Marina and I met out later that night and went out for a bit. Our new claim to fame is that we met a guy who makes the clay figures for the movie Wallace and Gromet. (soo cool). Sunday ended up being a lazy morning and then Marina and I WALKED down to the waterfront to watch a movie at the cinema and then WALKED back (we are so active- and too cheap for taxis!) We saw Elizabeth- the golden age. Very good- and Marina got all patriotic and started whispering historical facts to me through out the movie. We made it back just in time for dinner and then went out again to Camps Bay to meet up with the guys and watch Goldfish perform. They were done early so we headed back to school and made it a not-too-late-night. Monday and Tuesday have both been very lax days- Happy Shrove Tuesday! The school sold pancakes and we celebrated ourseleves by making our own. Today I had my first Ash Wednesday ceremony..... it was long... and interesting. This afternoon we are going to watch/play some tennis and then heading down to Gardens Center to get some phots developed. Also we have been invited to a fancy party at this club that is in the highest builing on the waterfront- supposed to be the best view ever. But it is supposed to be very formal and if we are not on the guest list very expensive- so we will see. If I end up going I will be sure to get some pictures.

In terms of school it is athletics week so a swimming gala tomorrow and the running gala saturday morning at 6am!!! (before it gets hot) so should be a bit of a quieter weekend.

Love to all at home- hope you are enjoying the snow and good luck with the marathon this weekend (hehe suckers.. but i felt the table mountain hike was somewhat comparable- it is going to be sweet taking the cable car up and down!)

xxxx Heather

Ps. My legs hurt for 3 weeks following the hike- and all i could think is i will probably have to do this twice more!!! :S