The Dawn of the Final Year

February 24, 2024

Hello and a special shout out to whoever (if anyone) is reading this :)

I have long debated whether starting up this blog during my final year would be wise. The key issue is whether or not I will have time to properly keep it running. I do not much mind if no one reads it (in some ways I would far prefer that!) because it is meant to be a simple digital journal of my memories of my last year in Stellenbosch. I will try to give a summary of each week's highlights or most memorable moments. I cannot promise these will all be in order I am afraid, so best be forewarned!

Now with that introduction over, let's get to the exciting bit!

I have decided to start this story with arriving for orientation (Sarah's that is). I was eager to come back to Stellies as soon as possible so that I could be part of 'Mission Stellenbosch' which the church was running. We ran a few events during the two weeks of orientation, one of which was my very proud suggestion: a board games evening!

The summary of events the church ran or was involved in is as follows:

Stalletjies (handing out pamphlets and starting conversations)
Soccer match at Coetzenberg
Volleyball on the Rooiplein grass
Board Games evening
Swimming afternoon at the dam
Kristen's ice cream run
Crete Movie night (this one wasn't as official though)

There were also a whole bunch of personal adventures I got involved in during this time; the most enjoyable and memorable of which was helping out with Liesje at the MBLDS sokkie and line dance workshops. The first one we went to was hosted at Pieke and while we had been told it would be a line dance, it turned into a sort of ice breaker/initiation where the boys had to sokkie with each other. It was this afternoon that I discovered it is nearly impossible to teach people to sokkie when neither is willing to be led (read also: both parties want to lead the dance). Things did improve as we went to other PSO's and it was a most educational experience! I can now proudly say that I know two three more line dances: Cotton-eyed Joe, Sunshine and The Wobble.

I'd like to add a brief note about Stalletjies-- at first I found it rather hard work and felt very awkward, but as the afternoon wore on, I found myself feeling far more confident. I was one of the only girl volunteers who spoke Afrikaans and so it became my mission to be very friendly to any female Afrikaans first years.

There was one adventure which I have forgotten to add to the list, that I organised myself! Dana and I discovered that there was a popcorn and movie special on at the Neelsie cinema (it will always be called "PULP" to me), and so we advertised for people to join us to watch "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang". In the end it was George, Dana, Luna, Zandi and I who went. Zandi knew nearly all the words to all the songs and it was more fun watching her face light up and George's twist in bewildered amusement than it was to watch the film itself! I must agree after seeing it at an age where I understand (as much as I fear one can) what is going on, that Dana's suggestion that grandpa is the best character is very true!

The other most notable adventure was going on my first (and last) DreamWalk. This too was done with Liesje at my side, although we were a larger group including Sarah, Jemma & the Malta girls, and Lieneke. It was a thoroughly spectacular evening which made me wish I had thought to go before. We managed to sneak into my PSO group and walk under the banner with them. I felt a little lost not knowing the words to the chants. One went something along the lines of "Sit jou brille op, en laat die Arries hop" or at least that is what I heard. In the end, all I could really chant along to was "Arrie arrie arrie- stea stea stea!" and "Oh Arrie you're so fun, you're so fun you blow my mind! Hey Arries!"

While we were at the Rooiplein afterwards, we saw these Chinese performers who lit this dragon on fire. I'm afraid I am not explaining it well or doing the experience justice. It was amazing standing there watching them run and twist and dodge while holding what I can only describe as these giant sparklers. We could feel the heat on our faces and the light was intense. I felt spellbound, and my mouth must be hanging wide open. It was the sort of thing you might see in a film, and certainly not something I had ever thought I would encounter for myself. Perhaps "spellbound" isn't quite the right word because it implies I was shocked into silence and immobility, which was not quite the case. In the video Liesje took you can hear me laugh and whoop with excitement.

We decided to walk home via McDonalds and all got ice cream cones. For Liesje and I, ice cream is the perfect end to all adventures!

This concludes the rather muddled retelling of my welcoming and pre-class adventures 😊