Saturday, 29 October (Car, friends over, and Sara's Peanut Butter Cups)

     On Wednesday, I mentioned that our car was in the shop, so we were down to one car.  Our thanks goes to the De Chalains, who loaned us their minivan in exchange for Dad's five-seater Honda Jazz.  We have our car back now; we picked it up yesterday.  The air conditioning hadn't been working (something not acceptable in this country, given the heat) because the Frion, the gas needed to work the air conditioning needed to be recharged, and the car was overheating in general because there was a leak in the engine coolant system, resulting in no coolant, and no cooling.  That's all fixed now, thankfully.
     Yesterday after school, we went to try out a dentist, but were unsatisfied with the service; we won't be going back.  On an upside, we had two friends over: Jessica Otter (my friend) and Becca's friend Hannah.  We all swam in our pool - it was my first time! - and played outside until it was dark.  Jess and I watched a movie, the Princess Bride, and this morning we went clothes shopping.  I desperately needed some more tank tops, what with the heat wave we've been having, and she came along for the ride to PQ Clothing Outlet, a store she was astonished to find had good prices, R40 - R60 for a shirt, when most shirts around here cost between R130 and R80.  Personally, I would struggle spending that kind of money on a simple shirt!!
     I have been sorely missing my Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, so Jess and I, both loving to bake, decided we would find a recipe and attempt to make our own!  We were very successful, and although the recipe isn't perfected yet, I'll keep working on it.  Peanut butter and chocolate....... yum.

     With the Jacaranda tree in full bloom, Dad decided we needed to have a family picture taken in front of it, and Jess was our photographer.  Here are the results.

Wednesday, 26 October (Update: hectic week)

     Sorry for the long delay in writing; it's been a fairly hectic week.  Last weekend, we had guests, Nathan and Adriane from the states, who just moved here and are staying around 9 months.  Monday, the car started acting up, air conditioning not working, making some funny noises, and overheating.  We took it in today, and are now without a car.  Our pool is very nearly cleaned, and a heat wave a hit Joburg, reaching up into the nineties (high-thirties, celcius).  School has been busy, with end of year projects and classes finishing up, exams starting on November 17.  We just got our printer up and working, meaning we're able to finally print our own school projects.  Ivan and Jonathon are both participating in cricket (somehow, I never imagined Jonathon as a cricket player), and us girls are all playing softball.  I'm also looking into doing intermediate swimming once a week.  I'll post again in a couple of days, probably Saturday.  

Saturday, 22 October (Tour of inside of house)

Yesterday I posted a video of a tour of our new property.  Here's the inside of the house.https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=237289579658468

Friday, 21 October (Tour of our property)

     We don't have school today (it's mid-term break), so I took advantage of the sunny day to take pictures and videos.  Go to https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=236825423038217&saved to watch it :) Tonight we're having our friends, the Otter's, over for dinner, a braii.

Quesadillas!!

Sunday, for lunch, we had quesadillas.  This was so exciting, I just had to take a picture and tell the world - we haven't had mexican food for 2 1/2 months!

Pictures from October 15

 Paul Conan playing with the tiger cub

 Tiger at the lion and rhino park

 Alligators at the lion and rhino park

 Mom and Ivan playing with the lion cubs

 CUTE picture of a lion cub

Cheetah

 From left around the top of the circle: Claudia, Megan, Jess Pautz, Nicola, me, Karen, and Wendy

I'm on top, across the middle are Claudia, Jess Pautz, Karen, and Wendy, and Caitlyn and Megan are in the water.  Nicola, Mikayla, and Jess Otter are somewhere else 

Saturday, 15 October (Conan coming, siblings at camp, birthday party)

     Yesterday, my siblings all left from school for an overnight camp put on by King's college.  Needless to say, the house was much quieter last night.  Also last night, Mom and I visited NewLife church again to try a woman's meeting called Flourish that they hold once a year.  We ate some good food, listened to two good speakers, and left early because it was 9:30 and we were both falling asleep in our chairs.  I honestly don't know how these South Africans do it!  They all have to get up at 5:30 or 6 am for school and work, and yet their programs (even in the middle of the week) don't end until 10 pm.  That's not enough sleep for me, when we don't get home until 10:30.
     Today, we're heading to the airport at 8:30am to pick up Paul Conan, a guy from Gig Harbor, our church!!  Later, Teresa, Mom, and Ivan are taking him to visit the Lion and Rhino park.  While they are there, I'm going to my friend, Megan's, birthday party, a pool party!  Hopefully, I'll have some pictures to post later

Wednesday, 12 October (auditions)

     We visited the NewLife church again tonight, this time to try out for the Christmas play.  Although it's nothing like Anne's plays back home (not as big, I mean), it's something familiar.  All of us got parts, although we're not sure exactly what we are yet. 

Sunday, 9 October (New church and my mug)

     We tried a new church today, NewLife church, not very far from where we live, and I really enjoyed it.  The worship was good, and the sermon for high schoolers was enjoyable.  Mom and Dad said the adult's message was good too, and my siblings loved their Sunday school.
     This is a picture of me drinking tea (cinnamon, honey, and lime) out of my wonderful mug that all my friends signed for me before I left. :)

This week, October (ER visit, and Prestige)

     First of all, my apologies for not posting sooner this week :).  Tuesday and Wednesday I came down with some bug, and I couldn't think of anything to post about while I was sick because I wasn't doing anything while I was under the weather.  I had school on Tuesday, and my siblings had Prestige, which they did well in.  I came home early from school because I was sick, and I slept the whole afternoon.  Wednesday, I again stayed home from school and just relaxed; I had a couple of nosebleeds throughout the day, but nothing major, nothing that worried us.
     Thursday, I went back to school, slightly panicked because I hadn't completed the homework from the day before (yeah, that's me: overachiever).  After school, I was really tired, since I was still sick and all, so I was looking forward to getting my chores done and going and lying down and reading, but as we pulled in our gate, I got the heaviest nose bleed I'd ever had, and it continued all that afternoon.  At 5:15, Mom and I got in the car and headed for the emergency room.

     At the ER, we didn't really do much.  My nosebleed had nearly stopped, so I wasn't very high on the priority list; Mom and I had a lot of talking time.   A short, pretty, confident doctor looked in my nose and listened to my heart, and then informed us my blood was going to be drawn and tested.  At first, it scared me, since I've never had my blood drawn, but I discovered it's not that bad.  It doesn't hurt very much, and the sight of blood doesn't phase me.  When the blood tests came back, nothing was wrong.  They were worried I might be anemic, but I'm not, and the only slight irregularity was something to do with my having been sick.
     We left the ER at about 8:30 and headed home, where I finally was able to collapse into bed.  Friday, I was up at 5:30 again, getting ready for my Prestige; the preparatory school and the college each have a separate Prestige meet, on different days.  The entire college attended, and on the bus ride there I got another nose bleed, but it wasn't nearly as bad as my first, it lasted about a half an hour and then stopped, although I kept gauze in my pocket the rest of the day. We did well at Prestige, consistently coming in the top three, racking up a lot of points.  I ran my relay and for my stretch held my own against those racing against me, and we had a clean hand over; we came 5th overall.
     At the end of the day, as they were gathering the scores, all the teams were war crying.  Our school war cry is

KINGS! (stomping of feet, three seconds) COLLEGE!

WE'RE BOLD (WE'RE BOLD), WE'RE BOLD (WE'RE BOLD) 

WE'RE BOLD AND COURAGEOUS

WE'LL TAKE (WE'LL TAKE), WE'LL TAKE (WE'LL TAKE

WE'LL TAKE THE PROMISED GROUND

RISE UP (RISE UP), RISE UP (RISE UP)

RISE UP ON WINGS OF EAGLES

RISE UP (RISE UP), RISE UP (RISE UP)

RISE UP ON WINGS OF EAGLES

COLLEGE!

     Like all competitions, they first announce who's in last place, 8th, and then move up towards first.  As you can imagine, the excitement in the stands built as we didn't hear our name called.  Finally, the announcer called out second, place, and it wasn't us, meaning we had taken first place!  We stood up and started screaming, of course.  We came only 20 points in front of our competitor, but because we had won, we get to move up to A league next year, and Mr. White (our coach) promised the whole athletics team transportation to Sun City, although we have to pay our own entrance fees.  Sun City is  the 'haven for holidaymakers' in this country, and given that the whole team is really excited to go, I think it's probably a worthwhile trip to get excited about.  

     We spent Friday evening at the Otter's house, sharing pizza and watching Rio.  Esther is sleeping over at her friend, Hannah's, house, and Hannah's brother, Seth, is over here at the moment.  This morning, Saturday, I've been busy blogging (obviously), and then Mom, Jonathon, Becca, and I are going to visit the chiropractor, and hopefully get the nosebleeds to stop.  This afternoon, I get to catch up on schoolwork *groan*.  I had two reports I was supposed to be working on and forgot about because of being sick and having the nosebleeds.  Oh the life of a highschooler...

Monday, 3 October (Storms and phones)

     Everyone has been telling me how 'wow' the storms are here; some people love them, and some people can't stand them.  Saturday and Sunday we got our first big storm while in country.  It POURED, harder than I've ever seen it pour in Washington.  Of course, having missed the rain, I couldn't help but go and dance outside...ok not really dancing, just spinning around and getting wet.  It hailed too, ice chunks the size of a dime in diameter.  The thunder and lighting, as well, were big, going both at the same time, shaking the house and lighting up outside.  All in all - I loved it!

     Back in the states, I didn't have a phone; I didn't really need one since I was at home all day, with Mom.  Here, though, I'm at school, or out with friends, and I don't want to be rude, constantly asking to borrow a phone from someone.  Sunday, Mom and I got our new phones: blackberries!  Mine's purple, and hers is red.  The majority of people here have blackberries, because BBMing (blackberry messenger) is much cheaper than SMSing or calling.  

Saturday, 1 October (final track meet)

Today was the final track meet for both the prep school and the college.  Tuesday, the prep school has their Prestige meet, competing against all the schools in their league, and the college Prestige is on Friday.  Esther, Becca, and Teresa all competed, and they all did well, although Esther hurt her foot and had to step out of relay and possible Prestige.  My meet was somewhat boring, because there were only four schools competing, including us, and one left early, and the other schools had small athletics teams.  There were a couple of races where we were the only school competing.  I came fourth in the 800m, the 400m, and the 100m, third in long jump, and our team came second in relay, and overall, our school did well.
The top picture is our team, and our team's bags, the bottom picture is the four three other teams.

Friday, 30 September (Sci-bono and Guest)

Today (ok, yesterday) we didn't have school, so we visited the Sci-Bono Discovery Center, aka Science Museum.  It's essentially an old warehouse filled with exhibits: the science of soccer, optical illusions, mind games, gravity, etc. It was a good way to spend a day for R80 (about $11).  In the evening, we had a guest over, one of Dad's co-workers from Zambia.