Saturday - Tuesday

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd update you a bit more on what's been happening the last few days. It has been a great weekend! Friday night, I went out for dinner with Carlo's parents, Steph and Hester, and his brother and sister Magdel and Hanno. His parents are very old schooler Afrikaans and so don't speak English often. But the conversation was good. They asked a lot about my family, England, and what I enjoy about living there. I told them: Roast Dinner, beautiful countryside and England beating South Africa in the cricket!

On Saturday, we travelled early over to Krugersdorp where I met Kathy's mum Pamela, step dad Jany, step brother Tianno and family friend 'Aunty Sis'. They had explained previously that I was meeting two very different Afrikaan families - Carlo's parents were maybe more conservative, while Kathy's mum's household was definitely more relaxed. Felt a lot like home!

As you can see from some photos below, a few of us went to a small lion 'sanctuary' ('sanctuary' being the only word possible to describe it). We saw lots of lions, even went in and petted some small cubs, and some larger (more PLAYFUL) cubs! There was also a drive through area, where we got very close to some big lions. Pretty incredible having them stand so close.

Arriving back at the house we had some brunch and then just hung out. It was so lovely, just playing cards and talking. I taught them how to play 'poo head'! However, Jany is obsessed with this classically trained violinist called Andre Rieu...which meant we watched a lot of his live dvds. I was pleasantly surprised. Very entertaining.

I also learnt some funny Afrikaans words. Vink (pronounced slightly like 'funk') is a weaverbird. Lekke (pronounced 'lacker') means nice. But this word has become a common word in English sentences too. So you might say, "The beach looks well lekke today." Some individuals (who may remain unnamed!) tried to teach me to say some silly phrases, like poo hole, in Afrikaans. But those words shall not be typed for all to see. (just grab me when I'm back in England and I'll tell you!)

I had heard rumours of Jany's amazing steaks and I was treated to a wonderful braai that evening. Not only did he cook regular steak and pepper steak, but he gets a fillet and stuffs it with spices and vegetables and whatnot. It was cooked to perfection! The meat just melted in our mouths. I think there are a couple of pictures below with the lions.

With Afrikaners (mostly older people), it is quite common to kiss people smack on the lips. When we were leaving, I definitely experienced this! Amounting in much laughter on the journey home.

Sunday morning, we went off to the English speaking church which Kathy and Carlo attend. There were lots of people there, of different races and ages. It was exciting to go to such a big church, and to recognise people I'd already met from the New Years Eve party too. I noticed in some of the songs, they sung about race and it made me wonder how culturally relevant our songs are that we sing in our own Churches. Race is still a big issue here and although they are living in a post-apartheid era, there are still many tensions that are continually being worked through. I had a really interesting conversation with Carlo about the government and their President (Jacob Zuma). It seems that there are still lots of issues going on surrounding corruption in politics. They couldn't believe that Zuma, who had over 700 corruption charges against him (but then all were mysteriously 'dropped') could even run for Presidency. Please pray for this country and their government - that justice would be maintained.

Anyway, for the rest of the day we just chilled out and watched some films. Carlo went back to work on Monday (he is a geophysicist) so Kathy took me out to a lovely place just west of Jo'burg. It was one of the first times I'd seen actual hills here! The rest of the country seems so flat! We went to a big dam, where they've built a town around. *See the photos above for a small glimpse.

Today, both Kathy and Carlo are at work. Kathy is working part time for her church - working with students at the local college/university. So I am just relaxing on my last day here with them. Kathy's sister Karen is coming over later. And then I am taking them out for dinner to say thank you.

Tomorrow, I start the long journey over to Swaziland! I am so excited to see the Skinners, Robyn and Gerry and all of the ABC children. I can't wait. Hopefully I shall be taking a lot more photos there. And as it is the summer holidays here, the kids won't be in school = lots of play time! I am not sure if I will get internet connection there, but hopefully you will hear from me again soon.