Following Durban I made my way to Pretoria
to visit friends my mother and I met when she visited Namibia way back in 2013.
They had big plans to teach me the ways of South Africa through rugby, biltong,
partying, and game drives. My biggest excitement was sitting in a Lazy Boy with
OnDemand on a giant flat screen and two dogs to cuddle with.
The first day was nice and quiet, which was
quite perfect. We went to the mall and hung out at home (bring in Lazy Boy, TV,
and indoor family dogs). That night was where the excitement began. Gerhardt
had a surprise for me and wanted to take me somewhere special and it was a
surprise and when he pulled the car into the parking lot of a large mall with a
Hooter’s I thought “Nooo, he wouldn’t take me to Hooter’s…” Sure enough, that
was the surprise! He wanted to give me a taste of home and nothing says America
like big boobs, beer, and wings right? Two nights prior I got one view of
America through South African eyes in Durban at trivia night and now 48 hours
later I was getting a TOTALLY different one. To be honest, I had never even
been to a Hooter’s in America so this was a huge milestone for me I guess.
After a few drinks and shots (South African inspired of course) we began to
talk of what to do for dinner. Gerhardt started laying out options for me.
There was Chinese, sushi, pizza, burgers, obviously Hooter’s. Anything I
wanted. I hadn’t had this many choices in a long time. I was overwhelmed and
knew I would be happily satisfied wherever I ate. I didn’t want to decide. He
said that was fine, Dominos was right next to the sushi place that also served
Chinese. So lets get it all. *Cue jaw drop* We literally got a pepperoni pizza
from Domino’s, a sushi roll for an appetizer and some sweet and sour pork for a
side. Oh but wait we weren’t done. We then proceeded to go get frozen yogurt
for desert (like the kind where you take a cup and put whatever you want on it à decisions, decisions), and we obviously needed something to drink,
bring in Bubble Tea!
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| "A little taste of home" |
There was so much amazing good food that
I’ve been deprived of that I was ashamed my poor little village stomach had
shrank and couldn’t take it all in. I left their house 2 days later with my
frozen yogurt still in the freezer L
Saturday was the big day. There was a rugby
game on and Gerhardt and Surita planned a party with some of their friends for
me to learn all about being a South African and rugby. We went to the biltong
shop and picked out a prime piece of meat to be expertly sliced and devoured in
the pregame activities, picked up other meat to braii at the specialty
supermarket, and visited a liquor warehouse to pick up a case of Budweiser just
for me (among other beverages). Apparently this store is owned by the Walton family
of Walmart and thus carries one and only one American beer, Budweiser. It was
wonderful.
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| Budweiser! |
The next morning was obviously a later
start but there was one more surprise activity for me before catching my flight
back to Namibia. I had seen 4 of the Big 5 in Namibia. The elusive water
buffalo was only found in Waterberg in Namibia so chances are I wasn’t going to
see it. Conveniently (because this is Africa remember) there was a wonderful
little game park a mere 20 minutes from their house. Unfortunately we were not
able to find that damn buffalo (don’t worry I saw hundreds on my trip in
September!) but we did see a lot of other animals and I thought it was just
really cool to be at a game park in a big city.
I then got a short tour of Pretoria, which
is gorgeous and visited this giant statue of Nelson Mandela.
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| I am there at his foot hugging his leg |
I was sad to leave. South Africa was
extremely impressive as it was uniquely first world and Africa at the same
time. There is culture, there is game, there is rich and there is poor, there
are comforts, and there are opportunities to push your comfort zone. Two thumbs
up and a great vacation to have just before starting my last term teaching!
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