J Baai (Jeffrey’s Bay)

Last night, after failing to plan a spa day in proper time, we scheduled surfing lessons and hired a car.  I also heard that my cousin Erica had her first child, a healthy baby boy named Brayden John Stensven, early Tuesday morning.  Congrats to her and Matt and to Gramma and Grampa for their first great-grandbaby! 

After a short convo with Ali and Grams, my first attempt at sleep was at 11:15pm in the fresh air of the terrace.  I achieved the equivalent of napping in 15-minute increments until 2am and then finally fell asleep for a solid two hours from 4:30—6:30am.  I woke with my stomach ache slightly less noticeable and with an appointment to meet.  We got a cab to the airport to pick up our car and drove an hour to J Baai.  Apparently, “Be here by 9:30 to sign indemnity forms,” actually means, “Be here by 9:50 to sign indemnity forms.”  So, we just hung out at the backpacker which is situated on the top of a hill, overlooking the beach, until they were ready to begin lessons.

We started by squeezing our bodies into our wetsuits, which is no easy feat no matter how well it fits.    We got some lessons on the shore, had a first stage water lesson for which we just lifted our hips off of the board, and a second stage water lesson when we actually began surfing.  I caught every wave I could, and after a two-hour lesson, it was a challenge to bring the boards back up the hill to the backpacker.  We bought a CD with professional pictures of the surfing, see a few posted below.

carrying the boards to the beach below

land portion

"Paddle, paddle, paddle!"

Step 2: Plant hands and push up.

Rest ...

Add step 3: Plant back foot and bring front foot between hands.

Try to stand up

Get some more directions

And you're surfing.  Waaahoo!

 Next we went fossiking (definition anybody?????) .  We looked for shells on the beach, checked out the small shops in J Bay, grabbed some ice cream and headed home around 5.  I made it home with enough time to makes some dinner to freeze for next week to accommodate for my dwindling time and to create some Alton-Brown-is-my-hero-banana bread.  Now, I am struggling to keep my eyes open, and we have another early morning for our trip to Grahamstown tomorrow.  

J Bay

workin' it to pass some time

J Bay the other way

Where is Schtevo?

See the mountains across the bay?  That gives you an idea of what a gorgeous drive it was to J Bay.  We met an  American women who just came from study abroad grad school for her MBA in India.  She said that we have to understand that SA is totally different than Indai for all it's natural beauty and ecotourism

The shells I collected today :D

Planning Day

We had a bio lab thins morning in which we logged data on the hundreds of snails we got on the beach last week.  We took their dimensions, found density, classified their species, and a whole lotta schtuff.  We have to do a lab repot to answer questions about zoning on beaches to find if certain species live in certain parts of the beach.  Exciting! :P

We took a kombi home from class and I dropped my bag at the door, laid down, and woke up two hours later.  I am still exhausted from Tuesday night’s paper writing.  I was up til 3 and got up at 8 so I had time to make the lunch time concert and get the three assignments for lit done (Thanks a lot Professssssor, Doctor Mary West >:[ ).

Tonight we called J Bay (Jeffrey’s Bay) Surf School to schedule lessons for tomorrow morning.  We plan to explore the rest of the day.  We also discussed weekend plans for the next few weeks because we don’t have any group trips planned.   I am excited for the possibilities: Tsitsikamma, Hogsback (where Tolkien got the idea for Lord of the Rings because of its beautiful landscape), Coffee Bay (a non-touristy spot about half way to Durban), Plettenberg Bay, and we decided to spend the second half of spring break (the first half is a group trip to Cape Town) in Durban—the flight is only $134= sweeeeeet! 

After we hired a car and got all of the surfing plans in order, we went to 34 Degrees South, a touristy seafood restaurant.  I was not impressed.  I had Pealla, a variety of seafood (prawn, mussels, calamari, fish) in a red, mildly spicy sauce over rice, and ended the meal with a cappuccino- yum.  I had to change my order while she was taking it though because two of the other things I wanted were not available L

Now, I should start homework that’s due early next week, but I don’t know what I have the energy for.  We have to leave the flat by 7 ish tomorrow morning to pick up the car and drive to J Bay to arrive by 9:30.

Peace and love.

Wednesday

I spent the morning finishing up Lit assignments.  Took a kombi to school early to see a St. Cloud State U and NMMU choir concert. SCSU is visiting South Africa for a short tour.  They sang well, and it made me miss choir.  The NMMU Choir called Le Strada sang spirituals and had Xhosa dancers and a drummer.  It was a really, really awesome concert!  I’m glad that I made time to check it out.

Later on in the evening after class, we went out to Barney’s to meet Suvi and Sari, our Finnish friends.  It was a relaxing, early evening.

March: In like a fire-breathing dragon out like???

I went to bed tired last night, but woke up not very rested.  We’ve decided to pursue a trip to an African-inspired spa on Friday, but we’ve hardly had time to get things in order with so many assignments hanging over our heads.   The weather was scorching and I have two papers and a movie to do before class tomorrow and prep for class today usurped my morning.  I know plenty out there could complain about their class schedules, but I am just sayin’, I feel overwhelmed right now.

(--> Culture for Bruce-->) We arrived at House this morning an hour-and-a-half late after getting around traffic from a bus and taxi accident.  Shadly exasperatedly asked a policeman directing traffic what the jam was all about, and the police man informed him of the trouble and said, “A bus fell onto a taxi, so at least you and your passengers are still breathing.”  True that.  I don't think this sentiment is unique to African culture, but I was happy to have that reminder.  Life is precious, and I don't plan on worrying it away because I was supposed to be somewhere five minutes or a half-hour ago.  Yoga has been more and more appealing to me lately, and it strives to keep the practice in the present, never losing minutes to the future or past.  What a great goal-- I'm faaaaar from reaching it, but at least I have a goal :) (End of Bruce's Culture)

At House I worked in the kitchen with Laura, my flatmate, chopping vegetables and helping with pancakes, what we’d call in the States crepes.  One of the ladies from the front office was making crepes with caramel inside and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar for the kids.  When we were done with the veggies she said we could help.  She cooked with a cast iron skillet over a propane grill.  I tried flipping one, but anyone who has seen me attempt eggs knows that I am a remedial flipper.  I have lots to learn.  Asandra let me spread the caramel and roll a few crepes, insisting to no avail that Laura and I split the very first on I rolled to try.  It was heavenly!  Laura was so happy that she bought mix at the grocery tonight for her own crepe attempts.

The afternoon was very busy.  We got back and I was out of food and money, so I hit up the ATM and went to Nando’s a South African-almost-Chipotle-type joint.  Their specialty is chicken.  I had a wrap with Mediterranean sauce (tomato-based, a little tangy and sweet) while I wrote a reflection paper.  In the end I was quite pleased with both the paper and the meal.  I grabbed a kombi to class, presented in class about the last section of A Long Walk to Freedom with the great feeling of satisfaction of being done with the book (except for the inevitable papers to follow), and walked to the Super-Spar (the adventure-land I described in an earlier post) to fill my cupboards.  I came home, made dinner and started straight away on my towering pile of homework.  We recently took an ice cream break in the thunderstorm, and I’m back attempting homework now.

Zombie Day

Exhausted from the long weekend travels, the bus was more like a dinner table after feeding a starving crowd than the bubbling atmosphere it normally holds.  We attempted to paint at House, but we were reusing brushes from last week, and they hadn’t held up at all.  The paint brushes streaked along the edges of the wall, and the rollers smudged the paint unevenly.  When we attempted a few strokes at a second coat we realized that we would be wasting paint to continue with the brushes, so we found our supervisor, Reney, and she permitted us to go to the play school until Shadly, the bus driver, came to get us.

During lunch I ate the last food I had in the flat after throwing away yogurt not yet at its expiration and milk with the same story.  Throwing away food so often really irks me, especially when we shop so often and are really careful about expiration dates. Poo!  I finished a book over lunch so I could prepare a presentation for Tuesday that night.  Then, we kombied (not a real word) to school for music class and learned about township jazz.  In the middle of class the girl next to me whispered that volleyball practice had been cancelled, so Taylor and I ran home for some exercise.  I did a few body circuits, showered (which happens less than you would think), and Katie and I prepared the presentation until I hit the sack.