So as a note to start off with. Jerome, Andria, and my South African friends are all busy having a good laugh at my completely horrid list of facts in recent blog posts. So for future reference...if you want facts that are actually correct...find someone (perhaps jerome?) with an attention span longer than a 5 year old. I never said my facts were correct...just the slightly scewed lauren version! heeehee.
So the past couple weeks...
So I've started volunteering regularly on tuesdays and wednesdays from 8:30 to 12:30. Tuesdays I head to Chrismar which is an old age home founded by one of the churches here that became a large organization. It's a lot of fun because tuesdays is craft day! Sometimes it's very slow and there isn't a lot for me to do which is frustrating because I'm supposed to be volunteering. The nurses (they call them "sisters" here) are very very sweet and always give me hugs when I come and go. It's very amusing since most of them are about half my height so it's like hugging little kids. Usually their head is resting somewhere on my stomach.
This past week Gwen (the lady in charge of crafts) couldn't think of anything to do so we took all the 90 year old women and gave them manicures! I'm expecting you to use your imagination for this one...these women were literally giggling at their manicured nails and pink nailpolish. After we had finished with them (around 10 or so) they all held up their beautiful pink nails for us to admire. I really noticed that a lot of them really need the attention so when we did their nails we would also massage their hands with oil etc. Most of them were so pleased to have someone to talk to. Sadly they didn't quite realize that I didn't understand a word of afrikaans but I smiled and nodded in all the right places so they were still happy.
On Wednesdays I volunteer at Tygerburg which is the main public hospital here. The healthcare system here is very different from Canada so most people with more money have private healthcare. The first time I volunteered I was on the trolley where we sold goodies to the people waiting to be helped. The second week they put me in a room full of black men....haha
I was packaging sterilization bags in one of the rooms and it was just me, the woman teaching me..and about 20 black guys. At one point I had 3 or 4 of them waiting for me to give them my number to which I politely said "I don't have a phone." Sadly at that point in time I had just been texting someone and one of them looked pointedly at the phone in my hand. I backtracked quickly and said "I don't know my own number." This is actually entirely true so they couldn't complain! I really have no idea what my own number is :P
I volunteered today as well where they put me in the Milk Room. This was about the worst place they probably could have put me because:
1. I'm clumsy
2. I'm really clumsy..
The whole point of the milk room is that everything has to be sterilized. So if you drop something on the floor you have to wash your hands every time. This means that lauren had to wash here hands more times than I could possibly count. ERG. I have pictures on my phone but I don't know how to get them off so I'll put some pictures of volunteering up in a later blog post.
Last week friday jerome was finished his 2 week module and he took the family on a trip through the winelands and other places to celebrate. I think this is hitting one of the prettiest drives I've ever been on. The winelands is just green green with lots of estates everywhere with options for wine tasting. It was BEAUTIFUL. We ended up driving to Franschhoek:
[this information is taking directly from the Franshhoek official tourism site so it is correct...shocking]
Here's proof if you're looking for it: http://www.franschhoek.org.za/ (also so I'm not plagiarizing :D)
The Franschhoek Valley - first settled by French Huguenot refugees in 1688 - mixes magical ingredients to create unforgettable experiences.
When it comes to accommodation in Franschhoek the options are endless, with accommodation to suit all tastes and budgets. Decide between classic auberges, boutique hotels, lavish country lodges, cosy B&Bs, pleasant guesthouses or comfortable self-catering cottages.
Franschhoek is the gourmet capital of South Africa. Franschhoek restaurants will treat you to cuisine that is delectably indulgent, ranging from gourmet to rustic with something to please every palate.
We ended up getting some gourmet milkshakes, tea, and coffee as a treat from jerome. It was delectable! The girls had difficulty finishing their milkshakes but Andria, Jerome and I were happy to oblige.
It was a pretty long drive...apparently :P
We continued on from Franshhoek with a beautiful drive along the coast to Hermanus. The main attraction here is probably the whale watching (see deanna's post for whale sightings!) but sadly you really only see whales in the winter so I didn't see any. I did get my first glance of dassies!! I've lived here almost a month and hadn't actually really seen any (which is shocking because they're like rabbits here :P).
Finally we went to the MTBS which is a competition between a couple of the public schools here. My friends Janika and Simon go to Bellville school. It's very similar to track and field except that they also have cheering competitions as well. It's amazing! They choose students from each school and they make designs by having jackets with black outsides and white interiors. I'll show a picture since it's kinda difficult to explain but it really encourages school spirit! In my opinion we should start doing things like this in Canada :)
I'm running out of time so that's all I can do for now :) Hopefully I'll do another one this week so I'm not so behind.
LOL, nice post Lauren. I'm desperately restraining myself from correcting any factual errors... To be fair to my daughters, however, I must say it's too bad I didn't take a picture of you sleeping in the car - you were asleep a lot more of the drive than those two! Glad to hear you still enjoyed it though. :-)
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