Weekend in Joburg

Hey guys! 

This last weekend I traveled to Joannessburg, South Africa with three other girls and had an amazing time. 

 The little girl in this picture and her father helped us find our way across the border! 

Friday, we caught the TJ Motoloto bus at railpark mall at 3:30.  The bus was a large charter but and pretty darn nice. We piled on and made ourselves comfortable.  We drove out of town and about 10 minutes down the road we were at the border.  (It surprised us all how close we were to the border.) Thankfully we met this really nice girl from Botswana who helped guide us through the border because there were no directions or signs.  We first entered a building on the Botswana side, filled out a piece of paper, and then walked across the border, through some random field and into the south African office.  There they stamped our passports, sent us on our way and we loaded on to the bus.  We made one stop before joburg at a gas station where people got of and grabbed food.  I ate my packed pbj, banana, apple, peanuts and raisins.   We arrived at our stop at 9:00.  We got off at Clear water mall instead of the final bus station because it was closer to the house we were staying at and it was safer than the bus stop.  

Pam, the lady we were staying with, was waiting for us when we arrived.  Elle, one of the girls on the trip, knew of Pam through a teacher at home.  She was nice enough to invite us to stay at her house without ever have met us.   Pam and her family spoiled us rotten all weekend.  I adopted them as my family way from home.   

Their house was really awesome. It had a front porch area with a braii area and pool, a living room, kitchen and three bedrooms. I should have grabbed pictures of it but I forgot.  When we got to her house we found our rooms, made tea, and ate popcorn.  Her saying was “Make yourself at home, if you are hungry, thirsty, cold help yourself and if you don’t it’s your own fault!”  I loved it.  She made us feel so welcome and at home.  

The next morning we got up at 4:20am, grabbed a HOT shower, and headed to the Pretoria zoo.  Pretoria is a city about 15 minutes from Joburg.  Pam was helping cook sausages for a 5k run.  We were able to walk around the zoo and see all the animals while everyone else did the 5k.  Then we ate a scrumptious meal and socialized.  The language that Pam, her family, and her friends speak is Afrikaans. It was really neat to hear.   We learned a few pharses like thank you and nice.  

 Grilling out at the zoo

After the zoo we went back home and had more tea!  Yum!  (I’m telling you I’m getting addicted to warm tea.)  She had Joko tea and I think I like it better than five roses.   Next stop was a mall.  We walked around and then went shopping at Woolworths.  Woolworths is a clothing store but also has a food sections.  Its food is high quality, top notch, and expensive but it has a lot of variety. We really enjoyed looking at all the options and finding things like Nutella!  

After the mall we went back home and had one of the best sandwiches I’ve had a in a long time.  It was on cheese bread with a bunch of veggies, cheese, and a piece of turkey.  Oh my goodness.  We were all in heaven.  I mean look at this sandwich!

Pam is married to Jan (who is a riot and super nice!!!)  and they have six children.   We went to see one of their sons play club rugby with Jan and a second son.   Before the rugby game we got drinks at the sports pub across the field.  We then spent forty minutes watching one of the roughest sports I’ve seen and cheering like crazy.  It was such a neat experience.  South Africans love themselves some rugby.   

 

At the pub

 

Rugby match

After the game, we went home and started preparing for the night.  Pam and Jan had a big braii, invited friends and family, and we all watched the South African rugby team play Venezuela.  It was an entertaining night with great food.  We started off with delicious appetizers, drinks, and the ruby game.   In this picture you can see the fireplace they are working on.  Houses here don't have heat, so we had several fires!

We then moved out to the porch and they started cooking the meat.  Along with the meat we had a salad, potatoes, and bread.  It was delicious.   We were able to meet many of their children and their children’s partners.  The family is a riot.  I was laughing all night..   At about 11 or 11:30, we all had to call it a night because the 4:30 morning was kicking our butt!  

 Braii pit 

(They are really big about their Braii's here!)

Family, friends, and neighbors! :)

The next morning we rose bright and early again (7am this time) and had tea and rusks on the front porch.  Rusks are these delicious bread type things that are hard and you dip in your tea.  (I’ve already bought some for my room.)   We then headed to the lion and rhino park which is only 20 minutes form their house.  You were able to drive through the park and see many safari type animals, like rhino, zebra, buffalo, and several different types of bucks.   Most of the animals were congregated around feeding stations so they were very easy to see.  They had an education center where there were many different animals you could look at and even a place where you could pet baby cubs. ( They have a big cat breeding center on site.)  (It was neat to look at but I’m always very torn in these places because I can’t help question the quality of life, the morals, behind it, what’s right and wrong… I’m torn in many aspects… I’m still trying to develop where I stand.)  Never less, I enjoyed seeing animals I’d never seen before like mongoose and pygmy hippos.   We meandered over to a picnic area and had another wonderful sandwich, chips, and sparkling ruby red juice.  Delicious!   We continued driving around and saw even more animals.  We entered the lion, cheetah, and wild dog area where were able to literally just drive around the animals as they snoozed and played.  When entering the area were giving a warning sheet with such things as do not get out of the car, be ready to drive away quickly, do not leave your window down more than 33%.  All good ideas, I would think. 

 

 

We made it back home around 1pm.  Jan continued to spoil us and made us a delicious lunch of leftover meat, rice, fried potatoes and some type of cabbage vegetable mix.  I jumped in the shower one last time to enjoy the warm water!  Then we had to pack up our stuff and say goodbye with promises to return.   It was sad to leave!  Jan took us to the bus stop and we headed back to Bots. 

 

The thing that was so great about this weekend is that we were part of a family.  We weren’t just regular tourist running around a city but actually a unit doing normal things and experiencing the city. The time away from the dorm was much welcomed.  It’s great to be in a house and just go grab something from the kitchen or plop yourself on the couch to watch tv.    I can’t go enough about how well we were treated.  All her family welcomed us and demanded we come back.  Many of her children also said the next time we must stay with them a night.  I hope that I can become even half as good of a host as they were!  We all owe them a huge thank you!!!! 

We are planning on going back to Joburg to visit again.  Next time, we want to tour the historical parts like the apartheid museum and a township. Joburg and Pretoria were much more developed than Gaborone.  In many places I felt I could have been back in the US.  The different part was you would randomly pass a shanty town.  For instance,  right outside of town there was this huge shanti town with all these shacks placed together.  It was very odd to see the extreme poverty right outside the city. There are definitely two sides to Joburg.

Monday morning, I rolled out of bed, had a delicious bowl of oatmeal, and headed to French.  After French class I walked to the vet clinic.  The vet showed me around and introduced me to everyone.   It’s going to take me a bit to learn everyone’s name.  It’s so much harder to memorize Setswana names because I am so unfamiliar with the language.   The clinic was very dead.  We didn’t have one patient come in so I had a lot of downtime.  I talked to a vet student who is going to school in Scotland but is originally from Botswana.  She is working at the clinic for two weeks.  We talked a lot, reviewed the website, and read a few magazines.  At about 12 we decided to head out. We walked across the street to main mall and went to the grocery store (where I bought rusks!)  She is staying close to UB so we took the same combi back.  I’m so happy to be able to volunteer at the vet clinic.  I think I will be able to learn a lot.  Hopefully next time we will have some action!  

After attending Setswana at 2pm, I walked to riverwalk mall with a few people and had a wonderful smoothie/milkshake at linga langa.  (You can’t really find smoothies around here, they all taste like milkshakes.)   After relaxing at the restaurant for awhile (you don’t go to a restaurant expecting to get out of there quickly) we headed back to campus.  On the way back I stopped at Choppies, another grocery store, and stocked up on milk, yogurt, veggies, and cereal.   I think my food supply is set for awhile! 

After a quick run, a bowl of cereal, and a coldish shower, I curled up in bed and read until I went to sleep.  I probably need to become serious soon and finish my vet school application and do some school work but I’m enjoying this easy going life style!