Well, I am slowly catching up on my blogging. It has been a busy few weeks.
Autumn is here. The weather is a bit cooler, but still sunny and 70F most days, at night it goes down to 40-50s. In KwaMhlanga you can hardly tell that it is autumn, except for the occasional crisp feeling in the air. A few weeks ago I visited a fellow Fulbrighter, Aminah, in KZN (Kwa Zulu Natal) in the town/city of NewCastle. It was the town's annual Winter Festival which reminded me a lot of County or State Fairs in the US. There were booths, food, games, some rides, farm animals, etc. It was my birthday, and we had a really nice time. I bought some Zulu beads and celebrated with champagne!
While on the subject on my birthday, it was kind of never-ending-- in fact, it's still not done yet.
I celebrated with teachers and learners at work the day before ( my b-day is May 1, a public holiday here , Worker's Day, so no school). They sang Happy Birthday, it is the same song here, even the how old are you now? part. Though since I am a woman over 29 let's say, I was told to sing back in reply A woman's age is a secret. Lots of fun. Also, a couple of weeks later I got my birthday package from my Mom which was a lot of fun to get and open. And still one more package to go (thanks! Linda and Aunt Shag), so my never-ending b-day continues.
O.K. back to KZN Aminah and I also went on a trip to the Berg, the Drakensberg Mountains. We bought African batiks and candles, ate minced meat waffles (sounds gross, but really yummy), heard the Drakensberg boys Choir sing, and hiked. Stayed in a great little guest house; we had to stay in the "desperate room", reserved for use when everything else is full and booked solid. It was her guest room in her house, but it was lovely and the views were amazing. It was beautiful, and it finally looked and felt like Fall to me. (see pics above)
Autumn is here. The weather is a bit cooler, but still sunny and 70F most days, at night it goes down to 40-50s. In KwaMhlanga you can hardly tell that it is autumn, except for the occasional crisp feeling in the air. A few weeks ago I visited a fellow Fulbrighter, Aminah, in KZN (Kwa Zulu Natal) in the town/city of NewCastle. It was the town's annual Winter Festival which reminded me a lot of County or State Fairs in the US. There were booths, food, games, some rides, farm animals, etc. It was my birthday, and we had a really nice time. I bought some Zulu beads and celebrated with champagne!
While on the subject on my birthday, it was kind of never-ending-- in fact, it's still not done yet.
I celebrated with teachers and learners at work the day before ( my b-day is May 1, a public holiday here , Worker's Day, so no school). They sang Happy Birthday, it is the same song here, even the how old are you now? part. Though since I am a woman over 29 let's say, I was told to sing back in reply A woman's age is a secret. Lots of fun. Also, a couple of weeks later I got my birthday package from my Mom which was a lot of fun to get and open. And still one more package to go (thanks! Linda and Aunt Shag), so my never-ending b-day continues.
O.K. back to KZN Aminah and I also went on a trip to the Berg, the Drakensberg Mountains. We bought African batiks and candles, ate minced meat waffles (sounds gross, but really yummy), heard the Drakensberg boys Choir sing, and hiked. Stayed in a great little guest house; we had to stay in the "desperate room", reserved for use when everything else is full and booked solid. It was her guest room in her house, but it was lovely and the views were amazing. It was beautiful, and it finally looked and felt like Fall to me. (see pics above)
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