Trip Update: Days 7, 8 and 9

3/17 - Clem

Today was our last full day working in Kurland. The majority of the time was spent scraping dirt and bird poop off of the roof. We also put two coats of light blue paint in the bedroom and a second coat of the orange paint in the kitchen. Stacy painted furniture while Briana painted the address onto the house. During a break we played cricket in the street using paint cans as wickets, a duct-tape ball, and a piece of wood as a bat. The teams were Pat and I against Samer and Anthony. After our short break, Hetley, Glen, Chris, Samer, Anthony, Pat and I went to check out another house that has a few broken windows that need to be replaced. Hetley and Glen then gave us a tour of the town. All of the little kids were very happy to see us and came up to give us high-fives. Chris tried to get a hair-cut but the electricity was out. When we passed Hetley’s house his daughter saw us and when we were about fifty yards away she came out of the house yelling “Papa” and sprinted into his arms.

For lunch, we went to Johanna’s Soup Kitchen. Johanna is a leader in the Kurland community and feeds kids after school every day. We ate “Samp and Beans” that basically tasted like beef stew with pinto beans in it. We headed to the beach after we finished lunch but as soon as we got there it started pouring rain. We stuck it out for a few minutes, just long enough to get soaked. The trip was worth it though, because on the road between Rocky Road and the beach we saw about a dozen baboons just hanging out in the middle of the road.

The guys from Kurland came to Rocky Road for dinner. We ate a seafood dish called “Poitjie”. We played a South African version of “Crazy Eights” and we played “Mafia” with everyone. We gave them Nobles trip hats to thank them for helping us with the work this week. After they left we had a real quick team meeting and finished the night by hanging out in the hot tub.

3/18 - Jaida

After spending a week at Rocky Road and working in Kurland Village, it was time to say goodbye. Leaving was very emotional and many tears were shed. It was incredible to see the progress made in four days and how close we became with the guys. The house looked wonderful when it was all finished. We also gave Auntie Fyena and Susan a new chair and clothes chest. Since the guys in Kurland were such a big help to us we decided to give them some rand in addition to what they are paid since they do so much for such a little price. After our goodbyes in Kurland we went to Rocky Road for lunch and our last goodbyes there. Then we hit the road and headed to George.

After driving for a little over an hour we pulled up to Whispering Oaks. The house was very quaint and we had to be extra careful while staying there. Some of us had the pleasure of washing our clothes. The beds were very comfortable and I’m pretty sure everyone slept very well. The lady that was hosting us, Maretjie, seemed very nervous about a bunch of teenagers staying there. But she was very surprised to see how well mannered we are.

After settling in at Whispering Oaks, we headed out to the local mall. We were given 100 rand for dinner and able to go where we pleased for dinner. Darla, Briana, Jonathan, Amy, Chris and I ate at Spur. It had a variety of food to choose from and our waitress was very nice. The staff had to sing songs and dance which we all found very funny. It was Jonathan’s birthday yesterday so Chris and Amy had our waitress bring him dessert and a few waitresses sang happy birthday to him. During dinner we found out all the shops closed at six and it was really unfortunate. But at the end of the day we went to the movies and saw “Red Riding Hood” as a group. It was a late movie and a few of us fell asleep but overall it was a good time.

3/19 - Anthony

Hello everyone we made it through another day here IN South Africa (yay). It has been so much fun the entire time. After reading the earlier posts it may seem like it has been a lot of work, it was. What you may have missed, while reading through the blurbs was the idea that the house we worked on was a real house with a real person. (Which was very hard for me to fully comprehend while working on it.)

Well today specifically was a very chilled out day, which allowed for us to get some in on some of the more touristy attractions. It started off with a terrific breakfast at whispering oaks in George, which helped us, recover from a late night yesterday. I had eggs while many others chose the French Toast with some strange roundly bacon. After downing that we proceeded to Mossel Bay for our 10 o’clock boat tour of the bay. As we pulled into the city it became obvious why we didn’t stay, it was filled to the brim with biker bros with tents that stretched the shoreline. The tour was extra fun because the ship rode the waves well. When we hit shore we had some awesome fish n’ chips with a full length fish! (woah)

After our water fun we hit the road to the Game Lodge in Albertinia where our second, land-based fun began. We moved into our chalets (bungalows, as we like to call them). We got to spend time in the pool to fill up water log (haha). Followed up by an awesome safari for a couple of hours, which led to spotting a rhino, zebras, wildebeast, springbok, and most excitingly the cheetah at dusk.

Awesome day through and thorough props to Amy and Chris for choosing cool stuff to do without forcing it on us. They’ve been doing a great job and deserve a medal for their dedication to the team. Put the team on their back rightfully so. Well 'a goeie naag - we hope we get to blog at you again tomorrow!!!