Our Weekend Activities

Why do weekends go so fast!!

Many of us finished early afternoon on Friday - and decided to venture to the 'big mall'.  We have a taxi on call - and we've learned a lot about South African time while waiting for our ride!  We were very pleasantly surprised to find a very large mall with many international shops as well as services.  Several of us needed to exchange our dollars and Euros for Rands - and learned how time consuming that was!  I went to a bank - and each back has a set of 2 doors.  You enter one, then wait for a green light before entering into the bank.  This was a new experience for the team - and we tried to have 4 of us go into the bank together.  Security guards came running and told us it's one at a time!  So I entered 'properly' - and went to the teller to ask about the exchange rates.  She didn't know - she said she had to complete a form to find out.  She needed my passport and life history for the form - as well as help from her colleagues.  I also asked the fees - she said she didn't know - the computer determines this.  About 20 minutes later, she provided information about the rate and fees - and I told her to go ahead.  More paperwork for me to sign and more questions. Then she reviewed each one of my US dollars to ensure it was real.  So total time was about 25 minutes.  When we met as a group to go back, I learned that the others didn't fare quite as well - it took over 90 minutes for hte 3 of them to get their rands - and they didn't have an chance to visit any or the stores or get lunch!

Saturday morning some slept in - I took the opportunity to do a 5 mile run and see more of the neighborhood.  There are a mixture of gated communities and gates and high walls around individual homes. (So the barking dogs are fenced in!) I learned this is a result of apartheid - in 1994 when the requirement for Blacks, Coloured, and Indian to live in separate settlements was lifted, the formerly white areas had some integrated - but also the area began filling up with the gates and walls.   As I ran through the area I noted people of all colors living there - and all homes very very nicely kept.

Saturday afternoon was a game drive to nearby Polokwane Game Reserve.  Small by game reserve standards - but convenient.  We did see some zebras, kudos, bush buck and a couple of others.  For the most part these were quite far from the road.  It was an evening drive - and after dark we had a picnic provided by the tour provider.  It was delightful - lanterns had been set up along the road leading to the picnic area, tables with table clothes laid out with lanterns, a big fire to get warm (it was in the 50's), and an open fire tended by Lizzie and Alta who cooked out dinner.  We have a great chicken and cashew dish, boiled potatoes with parsley, an eggplant and cheese dish, fresh bread, and several salads.  Dessert was a lemon tart made with local lemons.  We road in an open jeep and while the drive during the day was pleasant it was really cold riding home - at highways speeds!

Sunday 6 of us attended the local Catholic church - which was a large cathedral.  We arrived about 15 minutes prior to the service - and noted that there were 4 sections - the church inside was in the shape of a cross.  We sat about 3 rows back in one of the sections.  Beautiful interior, soaring arches, stained glass windows, several side alters - but no pipe organ!  When the service started the singing was led by the choir accompanied by a drum and tambourine.  And we suddenly realized we had sat in the middle of the choir!  We wondered why some of the people looked at us strangely - but we were the only white people there so thought that was the reason.  But the choir had to squeeze into 4 rows instead of their customary 5.  But it was great being in the middle of the singing!  Some was in English and some in Sotho - these are 2 of the 11 official languages.  Service was 2 hours long, lots of singing, a short sermon, a baptism, etc.  Members had their missals - we didn't so needed to watch others.  All in all a good experience.

Sunday evening we had a braai - a South Africa barbecue.  Bob was the chef and he really set the standard for excellence!  In the afternoon he and I walked to the grocery store to pick up the food - and learned that folks in the store had never heard of either tofu or sour cream!  We got great veggies - and Bob made skewers of veggies, corn on the cob, baked potatoes, chicken - either barbecue or lemon pepper, salad and cake for dessert!  A fantastic feast!  Bob also brought out his computer and speakers and we had great music - and some talented dancers in our group!