Monday, 15 March 2010

My quiet weekend

Not a lot to report I'm afraid folks. This weekend was a quiet and relaxing one. I deliberately packed everything I wanted to do into previous weekends to leave one free to chill or to do things I had forgotten.

We were allowed to leave early again on Friday but we stayed to check out a Nestle chocolate milk promotion on the school fields. It allowed us to mix with the children and get some more pictures with them:



After school on Friday we went to a reggae bar called Roots in an area called Observatory. We met up with the Human Rights volunteers and saw the live reggae band there. They were quite good and sang songs about last year's xenophobic attacks along with the obligatory Bob Marley covers.

On Saturday I went to Newlands with Callum for lunch and bought tickets to see The Stormers again (the VodaCom executive we met last week let us down.) Before the game we met up with a Bagley family friend called Selwin as well as Tyron (The Bagleys' daughter's husband) for a couple of beers in the lawn opposite the stadium. Here I am with Selwin:



The game was an evening one and made for a much better atmosphere than last week:



This time they played the Hurricanes from New Zealand and it was again a bit one-sided, The Stormers winning 37-13:



Here is a picture of Mr Bryan Habana (international winger) giving out signed photos. I didn't get one, boo:



After the game I invited Selwin and his friend to come drinking with us and we went to Pirates. It was interesting to have an evening talking to two cape coloured people about the current social situation in South Africa. They are wary and cautious of other ethnic groups around the country, but the main point they made was that under apartheid they found themselves in the middle of the social chain under whites, whereas now they perceive themselves to remain in the middle ruled by blacks under the ANC. Luckily they find a certain humour and irony to this.

On the way home we stopped at a take-away place to buy a gatsby, a South African answer to our late night kebabs. Imagine a genetically modified monster ciabatta, 50cm in length and filled with spicy beef, chips, salads and anything else you want. It weighs as much as a baby and only costs 70R (about 6 pounds). Needless to say it was enough for two, in fact probably enough for four. No picture though I'm afraid.

On Sunday morning I went to church with Lecia and Callum. This was interesting although not unlike a Church of England service, other than the racial demographic of the congregation. In the afternoon I literally did nothing. This was my last free day until I come home so I thought I would relax and read/watch TV. The only thing mildly entertaining on TV here is wrestling, and we've now become fixed on to this, wondering who will be victorious at the upcoming Wrestlemania...this really isn't something I expected from my travels!

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