Anywho, onto more journaling:We spent the weekend in Port Elizabeth (PE) just about 3 hours south of East London. We were planning on going down early in the morning but Josh, the other American Scout, had a delayed flight and with it being so close to Christmas he had trouble finding a flight (I'm rather thankful I came earlier). Brett, Fennell and I hitched a ride with Llewellyn Song, the Troop Scouter (equivalent of a Scout Master) of the 1st Cambridge Scouts (Brett's Troop). Gareth stayed and waited for Josh to get in and then met us in PE later that night.
Llewellyn (Lewy) is a mad driver but a fun guy. We got to see a lot of the country side. I think it's really beautiful in most places. Every now and then you'll see a squatter camp (groups of tin shacks/shanty towns) but for the most part it's very nice.
We got in to PE around 16.00. We first went by Brett's girlfriend's, Eunice, house. I got to meet her family and had some lekker sweets. They're an Afrikaans family and so her parents were a bit difficult to understand (though not nearly as difficult to understand as Alan or Murray when I first met them!) but I got used to the accent pretty quick.
We showered, changed clothes and got food for the briaar (bbq) at Christine's. Once we got there I got to meet the rest of the people going to Cederberg. We had a good time eating boerwurs (a most delicious type of sausage) and getting to know each other. Gareth eventually showed up with Josh. he looked very tired from the flying. Understandable. Afterwards we went back to Eunice's house and went to sleep.
Saturday we went out to one of the malls in PE. It was crazy in there with everyone doing some last minute Christmas shopping. I cashed a few of my traveler's cheques so that I might have some rand (SA currency) for Cederberg. That took FOREVER. There was only one teller and six or so people waiting in line to see her. We met up with the rest of the group (including a girl that had phoned a few days prior and asked if I was obese b/c all Americans are obese... and they say Americans know nothing about the world around them...). We headed to another house for a birthday party. It was Steve's 18th birthday and a big celebration. Turning 18 there is like turning 21 here. This was the main reason we came down this weekend. If we had not come down I probably would have gone up to Durban to see my friend Tammy who was the exchange scout the year before Brett came.
At the party I got to meet a lot more people. Most of the PE people were pretty gone fairly early into the evening. The rest of us, from EL were all quite sober and were entertained very much by the antics of the others. All in all it was a very interesting night and I enjoyed myself thoroughly.
"Spade."
Sunday morning we slept in b/c Fennell wanted to go surfing on the beach. The rest of us watched High School Musical. It was a decent movie. We headed back up north at noon and took the road by the seaside. There was hardly any traffic and it was a gorgeous day. We stopped in Port Alfred and got some Beaver Pies. They were delicious. I got a pepper steak. I don't think they would do too well in the US b/c most people think pie=dessert. Then again, there are pasties and chicken pot pies. I just don't think that they would be accepted enough to be a good investment.
Entry for Today in the SA/A Dict.: Kief (kiff) - nice, cool
Probably the three most sober people at the party.
Llewy and Fennell decided to have a race scooting on their butts in the middle of the road. I'm not sure I'll ever truly understand South Africans or their crazy games.
Steve, the birthday boy.
No comments:
Post a Comment