Day 25: Hola! Me encanta Sudafrica!

Again, we made the trip out to Sir Lowry’s Pass to play with these precious children. Even though it rained most of the time, nothing could stop our fun. I returned to my arts and crafts post to help organize paper flowers and beaded bracelets. Not surprisingly, the kids gobbled up the stickers and beads fairly quickly leaving plenty of time for simple playtime. Yesterday, the butterfly antennas fascinated the children while today bubbles grabbed their attention. Who knew chasing and popping bubbles around school could be so much fun! Sadly, we could not make much progress on our mural because of the weather, but its slowly coming together. At least, rainbow number six provided a great background to our playtime.



This evening, I walked back to Ms. Hennie’s house with several kids hanging off of me as usual. I spent the entire time talking with Clayten, Ms. Hennie’s sixteen year old son. We had the greatest conversation discussing everything from his math class to the America’s Best Dance Crew Jabbawockeez. This studious boy wants to go to college and major in mechanical engineering or become a famous dancer. With his skills, I tried to stress that he could do either if he put his mind to it. Clayten also decided that he wanted to learn “Mexican” as his college foreign language. Shocked by his background knowledge of the subject, I explained that I knew some Spanish. And, the drilling began. He wanted to know every phrase or object that came to his mind or sight. I think he planned on wooing a girl, because he kept asking how to say “pretty girl” and “I love you.” (No, I am not the girl. Nice try, though.) Clayten could not get over how elegant he sounded while saying simple sentences. He was cracking me up!



Of course, he attempted to teach me some Afrikaans as well. Epic fail. This uniquely South African language has sounds that require tongue rolling and clicking, a skill I physically just can not do. I may not be able to produce most of Clayten’s phrases, but I could produce lots of laughter from Ms. Hennie’s peanut gallery. I am glad I could entertain them.



While heading to the bus, I felt upset that I hadn’t spent anytime with little Logan. Within fifteen seconds of that thought, Logan accosted my right leg. His smile and big eyes brightened such a muggy day!



We ended our day by going to the best steakhouse in all of Africa, Balthazar’s. Honestly, I felt terrible for going especially experiencing the township’s poverty just a few hours before. My friends convinced me I wasn’t doing a disservice to humanity, and I ended up enjoying a very tasty sirloin. Unfortunately, the naïve Americans got jipped! We asked for tap water, and the waiter continuously refilled our glasses. After devouring a scrumptious meal, we happily received our check. Surprise! The restaurant charged us for each bottle of water they used to satisfy our thirst. We spent 800 Rand on water!!! That’s around $133! Rip off! The Ugly American shows its face again.


Big highlight: The Braves were playing in the bar next to the restaurant! Day made!

Picture: Surfers outside our hotel!