This week I started my home-stay.
The weekend leading up was packed with touristy goodness. We spent a day driving down to Cape Point. Along the way we drove down the coast through cute beach-side towns. It reminded me a lot of the drive along Route 1 in California. Simon’s Town is reminiscent of Big Sur and Mendicino. We hiked the trail along Cape Point and then descended the steep rickety staircase down to the beach. The water was chilly, but not anymore than the air and the sand. -- Well maybe a little colder. But it did not stop us from getting our toes wet for photos. And then the tide came in and swallowed our ankles, and maybe a little more. On the return trip we stopped at Boulder where upon my request, we were able to make a pit-stop so that I can see the penguins. Super adorable. Not everyone was interested in penguins so they got delicious ice cream as they waited for me and Carli.
We returned to our guest house to find an unpleasant surprise. Our belongings have been scooped up put into the closed off living room. There was a great miscommunication and we were not told of our check-out time. The entire week, there were discussions about coordinating packing time. It was concluded that we would be able to pack after out adventure to Cape Point and before our 5pm check-in time at our home-stays. Apparently the guesthouse was overbooked, and the new guests arrived around 10am, while we were out. So began the frantic sorting and packing.
We arrived in Langa, right on time. It was not our first time to Langa. When we first arrived in Cape Town, we took an informal walking tour with one of the leaders at Leap as our guide. We have also been to Langa twice for some delicious African food at Lelapa - a traditional buffet restaurant out of Mama Sheila’s house.
We were greeted at the B&B by a familiar face. It was one of the students we taught during the Holiday Programme. He was not a Leap student yet, but a potential in a year or two. He kindly walked us to the bus stop so that we would know where to catch our ride in the morning.
The lady of the B&B was very welcoming. She showed us to our rooms to let us unpack and get settled. Two of her nine grandchildren live there with her, while her son and daughter live across the street. They are wonderful kids, and very acclimated to having guests, especially foreign guests. They were polite, well spoken, and very eager to ask about everything we had. I showed them my doll Lucy, and photos of my family, Archimedes, and Lucy on my iPad. They are very quick learners, and soon figured out how to use finger swiping to scroll through the photos. Apparently, there was no communication about dinner being prepared for us. We had food none-the-less, and the grandkids hugged us goodnight.
In the morning, the grandkids greeted us again. When we returned home from school, we were greeted to warm hugs and happy shouting “Jessica!” “Carli!” They are wonderful children. They want to spend a lot of time in my bedroom, since I have a TV that turns on - but unfortunately, I only get two channels - and no Olympics! Perhaps I will introduce them to Avatar: The Last Airbender series. They like karate, martial arts, and I guess they also get DragonballZ here too.
Theme of the week - be flexible.
