15 - 21 April "The One Where the Friends Went Home"
The main event of this week was the long-anticipated visit home accompanied by Dana and Liesje. Having spent the best part of a month counting down to this weekend, I was very excited. There was just one snag to our carefully constructed plan, Dana had forgotten that she would be on door monitoring duty for res that Friday night and was finding it difficult to swap out with someone. So until around three hours before the time, there was a good chance it would just be Liesje and I having adventures in Cape Town.
Before I continue writing about the wonderful weekend with my two favourite people, let me mention a couple of other things that happened in this week. Firstly, I spent some time with Inge from my Bible study. We chose a day after class to meet up and got iced milo shakes from DCM and then walked along the Eerste Rivier until we found a good bench. It was very soothing sitting there in the late afternoon sun just chatting. While we were sat there, we saw a kitten come crawling out of this storm drain pipe near the river. It was a sweet-looking little thing and I felt quite bad and hoped that would be looked after. Stellenbosch has had problems with stray and feral cats and it always makes me sad.
Another significant part of this week was starting the practical part of Phys Ed. We were divided into two groups (sadly I am in the later time slot) and meet at the Coetzenberg rugby fields every Wednesday. Our first session was mostly just centred around running games and spatial awareness. I very quickly realised that I am not as fit as I thought I would be able to pretend to be. While I know I could and probably should get back into running or cycling, I know it will be hard to begin with and I don't really know if I have the energy to push through it at the moment.
Anyway; back to the weekend! Sary did not drive back home with us because she finished classes much later and decided to get a lift back with Emma instead. That way, Liesje would not have to get stuck in the traffic. So, Dana walked to the flat and then Liesje came and loaded our stuff into the boot and off we went! I brought along some Mentos which I periodically dished out to everyone and Dana brought muffins (although neither Liesje and I wanted one in the car). Liesje's comment as we headed out of Stellies was "Sjoe, ek is so opgewonde! Dit voel eintlik ek gaan huis toe!" and Dana said she felt the same. It was so lovely to me that they were just as excited as I was and had been looking forward to it all week.
When we got home, Mom hugged each of us and it was as though they fitted right in. Liesje gave mom a small spekboom plant and chocolate to say thank you, which I think Mom thought was very sweet. I don't remember entirely how we spent the afternoon, but I know that mom chatted with them and that we thought to start playing ticket to ride. We attempted it, but gave up in the end when Sarah came home and Gandalf kept sitting on the instructions. (It was at this point, I should add, that Dana decided she liked Gandalf after all and kept kissing his face while he purred delightedly. I think perhaps they have bonded over their common knack for deliberately annoying people and that is why they like one another). In the evening, we made our pizzas and watched a "About Time". Liesje had to watch it with her prescription sunglasses on because she had forgotten her work glasses and found it to blurry without them. Poor Mom was quite concerned when she first saw this and asked whether the projector was too bright for Liesje. We all had our own bowls of sweets which Mom had divided for us-- some of what everyone liked I think which was very thoughtful. And-- she had baked chocolate cake! Apparently, although I was not aware of this at the time, Dana threatened Sarah with her pinkie trick in order to obtain one of Sarah's smarties. The fact that Sary still likes and is not intimidated by Dana after that really surprises me.
After some discussion, it was decided that Liesje and I would share the bed while Dana slept on the mattress. This was because Dana has a tendency to toss and sit bolt upright and say things in her sleep as I discovered when she and Nienke house sat with me in December. However, I found out that Liesje is not too easy to sleep with either. She is a snuggler! Which is fine if one knows that, but I did not and so I kept moving further away because I thought she needed more space. In the end, I nearly fell off the bed while Liesje lay at a diagonal angle, freezing and looking for body heat to share. Thankfully we both slept better the second night!
On Saturday morning, I woke up much earlier than both friends and decided to use this to my advantage to work a little. Both were very cross with me for not waking them up as it meant that we missed the chance to have pancakes for breakfast at the Green Run stalls. But I think they needed to catch up on the sleep and in the end it worked out very nicely. When I asked what they did want for breakfast, Liesje gave me the cheekiest grin and said "Koek...?" And so Dana and Liesje both had chocolate cake for breakfast and we made three cups of Rooibos tea and sat down to each work on our respective tasks and tests. Gandalf joined us and plonked himself at first on Liesje's ipad before deciding that Dana's lap was indeed more comfortable. At some point, we took it in turns to use the shower and then made sandwiches for lunch. After lunch, we headed to Sea Point via Bo Kaap.
Bo Kaap was stunning although the weather was sort of odd and so the lighting from the photos is a little different. We did not stay there long, in fact we only went up one street since it was rather quiet and we wanted to be safe and wise. As we drove past though, we saw that there were all sorts of other very beautiful alleys and I think it will definitely be a spot I visit again! Liesje's google maps had wanted to take us to a very specific spot in Bo Kaap and so kept redirecting us. In the end, we landed up on a very top road overlooking the area. Unfortanately, we had to come down that road... and it was steep! It felt at times as though the car must be almost perpendicular to the bottom of the hill. I admire Liesje's driving ability and control of the break! She commented that it felt as though we were on a rollercoaster, and Dana and I certainly agreed! Her second comment was "Hierdie is presies hoekom Liesje 'n four-by-four nodig het!" which made us all laugh.
When we got back home, the three of us took Daisy for a walk as the sun was setting. We got home just before it got too dark and arrived to delicious smells of homemade lasagna (which mom has not made from scratch in forever!) It is Dana's favourite meal which is why Mom chose to make it which was so very kind of her. We watched "The Adjustment Bureau" with supper, although I did not actually watch all of it with everyone else because I had some more work on my assignment to do. Liesje's comment on the film was "Ek het heeltyd verwag dat hy in 'n cupboard gaan staan, ek het vergeet dat daai gister se fliek was!" But I am glad at least that she enjoyed the movies Dad chose. After the movie, we sat and chatted with Mom. Mostly about boys at Christ Church whom we think would suit one another (Mom's topic of conversation of course).
When we woke up on Sunday morning, who should we find snuggled next to Dana on the mattress but Gandalf! Dana's nose kept running for the whole day after that because she is in fact allergic to cats, but she was thrilled to be Gandalf's new favourite. We went to church at Classic (and I had to tease Liesje about whether or not she was okay with all of the sitting down and standing up in between songs). After church, we went home early and played finger board while we waited for Mom and Dad to get back. Mom then asked us to make jam RolyPoly and so we put the speaker in the kitchen and helped bake and wash dishes.
After lunch, we all began packing our things, feeling that the weekend had flown past and yet as though we had been on recess rather than only having had a weekend rest. We sat and had our pudding and ice cream and chatted. Liesje always has such fun stories to tell! For example, while we made the pizzas on Friday she told us stories about encounters with snakes on the farm. I can't remember what she said on Sunday, but I remember thinking how wonderful it was to have her there and being so glad that she got on so well with my family, and hoping they liked her even half as much as I love her. They have met Dana many times, but this was their first introduction to Liesje. Both friends are so special, I can't quite believe they landed into my lap just like that!
Liesje also dicovered Mom's chocolate flavoured Terbodore coffee which she really enjoyed. She said I should taste it, and while I did I couldn't understand the attraction. Liesje drinks her coffee black so it was terribly bitter!
Finally, it was time to say goodbye and we all piled into the car (with a lot more luggage that we had arrived with!) Since Liesje's phone was dead, I was tasked with DJing and recieved many enthusiastic compliments from Liesje about my playlist. She and I sang all the way home to Stellenbosch while Sarah and Dana sat in the back, lost in their own thoughts. And that too, that singing while stuck in traffic, was a moment I knew as I was living it would be a very special memory.
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