This week marks the end of the month of July and a good
portion of my friends are heading back to their respective countries and
starting their next semester at school.
Leila cooked a delicious supper club for a Monday night goodbye to
everyone. It was really sad since we all
spent the last two months together. Milou heads back to Holland, Sara to New
Jersey, Melinda to New York. Rebekah and
I met up with some other friends from the DRC afterward to watch the Olympics
and so she could say goodbye to them.
This was the first time I got to watch the Olympics since the opening
ceremonies; swimming and beach volleyball were on (on separate TVs) which was
really nice. It is convenient because
London is only a 1 hour time change backward from Cape Town.
Tuesday was Jake (UK) and Rebekah (North Carolina)’s last
night so we went out for a dinner and Olympics night again. I loved the atmosphere watching the games
because we are all pulling for different countries, which makes it that much
more fun. Back home it is always the USA
and everyone around me wants the Americans to win but here the environment is
incredible and diverse. It was sad at
first because only Judo wrestling was on, not my favorite, but then the
swimming began. For the 200 fly when the
South African out touched Phelps for the win, the pub went insane. Everyone was so happy and excited. In 2008 South Africa won 1 silver medal
during the Olympics. This time they
already have 3 gold.
PATA received an award Tuesday night as the charity pick of
the year for the YPO in South Africa. We got a nice check and lots of
recognition for our work. Hopefully it
leads to more funders so we can expand our current programs.
My birthday morning started with a nice surprise. Leila baked me cupcakes, and she and Rebekah
brought them down at 7 in the morning as I was getting ready for work. They had a sparkler, and I got to blow out a
candle. Unfortunately after this I had
to go into work and Rebekah had to go to the airport. At the office, everyone was surprised when
they found out I was only turning 22. My
boss couldn’t believe I had graduated from University at the age of 21. We celebrated at work with a delicious banana
and caramel tart.
I came home and met my new roommate, Haley, from the
UK. 8 of us went out to The Fat Cactus
for Tex-Mex and margaritas. When they
found out it was my birthday we were all given cowboy hats to wear, with mine
black and everyone else having a tan one.
I also got a free tequila shot with an orange instead of a lime. I had a really good time, even though it was
my first birthday where I saw no family whatsoever. It was also my first birthday that occurred in
the winter (since this is my first excursion into the southern hemisphere).
I finally watched Blood Diamond. It was exciting to see the clips from Cape
Town with Table Mountain in the background. It was also fun when I heard them
use phrases that are popular here: “howzit” “lekkah” “ya, ya.” Most South
Africans do not like the movie because the accents are wrong and do not sound
like they are from Zimbabwe.
Unfortunately I still do not have a camera. It got backordered at Best Buy, so mom doesn’t
have it, meaning it is not even on its way here so hopefully I have one by mid-August,
but the odds are not looking good.
Instead I will just put up this cute nephew picture because I miss them
so much and they are freaking adorable.
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