Bed alone, woke with 3 men..........!

Well, am here! The flight was brilliant, although I discovered that if you remove the trendy red South African Airways eye mask whilst hugging the equally trendy red blanket provided, you create little blue electricity sparks. Fun at zero feet, potentially worrying at 33, 000! And they advise you to do all these funny exercises jerking your knees around and rotating ankles. This is fun, but could appear peculiar if done under trendy red blanket!
Anyway, Cape Town...amazing. People really stop at Zebras, everyone is smily with excellent manners and they have McDonalds. So like home really!
Booked into a hostel for the first few nights The other two girls, from Sweden,(they are 21 so allowed to be girls) got a room together. I get a six bedded dorm. Just me. Joy. Snuggled under bedclothes. Slept. Awoke two hours later as a body clambered into bunk above. Bunk flimsy, so feared for safety below. Shortly afterwards, woke again aware of someone stripping off by next bed. But too tired to greet said body. Finally, a third person, about 1.30 am Oh boy, she could snore. And snore.
Next morning awoke to find had been spending night with three men, a Zambian Phd student from Cape Town University, a local barman and the unidentified snorer. He was too embarrased to stay and share his life story. Apologies all round from Hostel owners...but hey, can't let the teens have all the fun. Was promptly moved to single room. No snoring but no fun either.....

Today to a township. Just like you see on TV, but nothing can prepare for the reality of seeing people live in tin sheds. But a great sense of community, with everyone else looking out for each others children and so on. We helped to feed about 23 of them...veg soup, bread and a satsuma. For some, the only meal they'll get, their parents being too busy or out drinking to care for them. In return they demonstrated some amazing African dancing which we had to try and follow. Less said the better.
We had the chance to try our hand at grinding maize in a traditional giant stone pestle and to roll maize to make flour with a huge stone roller. Others very good at it. I nearly crushed my fingers by treating the roller like a rolling pin and imagining pastry. Was told would not make good African wife( thinks...do I even make a good English one?)

Then to visit a genuine sangoma, or witchdoctor. This conjures up pictures of dried skulls and feathered headdresses but this sangoma had a very little English and didn't have skulls. There was the chance to see her remedies, mostly herbal based and often now used in conjunction with medication from standard doctors. I think we'd understand this as complementary medicine and the idea of treating the whole person seems logical. Intrigued by fact various medicines were all stored in old Smirnoff bottles.

Also today yoga. Not a success for me. Find my brain doesn't think of nothing when instructed. It thinks" oops did I unlug the phone charger? " and "Wonder if it's rained at home yet?" And chanting ommmmmmmmmmm and laaaaaaa laaaaaaa simply made me feel slightly new aged hippy and as if needed loo urgently.

Tomorrow to meet host family. watch this space.......

Polonius wouldn't have used Post It notes

Well, a few hours to off and the house is scattered with Post It notes "Just remember, sometimes, to wash the dish cloths". "The Fiat takes DIESEL, fool, not petrol" and so on. One above daughter's bed reads"A good idea to launder bed linen sometimes" and one on the fridge"Green and furry is NOT GOOD" Six weeks worth of birthday cards are written, stamped and addressed with little green Post it notes for date of posting and the cleaners money is in little dated envelopes. But will they remember to change loo rolls (Am convinced that all my family think there is a Loo Roll Fairy who does this.) And despite huge post it note with reinforcing sellotape, will anyone actually record "Sherlock" next Sunday.......
And all Polonius could manage was "Neither a borrower nor a lender be"
He wasn't even trying........

Slight over estimate

Given that the landing had completely disappeared under heaps of clothes, games,medical supplies (enough to equip a Red Cross mission) and so on , I decided it was, perhaps, time to start packing . Brought out brand new rucksack and a smaller, older version borrowed( i.e. pinched) from Peter.
Put in walking boots first. They took up at least a quarter of the space. Decided, despite forecast of "very warm" from the met office to travel in boots. In with two pairs pyjamas( one on, one in the wash), assorted undies, three t shirts and a pair of jeans. Also essential Extra Strong Yorkshire tea bags for early morning cuppa in case all Cape Town can offer is that horrible yellow Liptons cat wee stuff. Smugly do up rucksack and turn to smaller one, to be used as hand luggage. In go presents, for the orphanage, the two small children of a friend I plan to visit and the two children sponsored by school. Disaster. Rucksack now full, with no room for Home Stay presents( shortbread with bemused looking highland cattle on tin), mobile charger and file of Essential Documents. Remove one box fuzzy felt and squash in highland cattle. Remember that still haven't put in toilet bag, make up ( yes, non essential I know for true Gap Year Youf, but ladies of a certain age mustn't frighten the natives),book for the journey or raincoat. Scene now of total chaos, reminiscent of the wonderful Jerome K. Jerome "Three men in a Boat" .
The ridiculous thing is, after a few days, all pressies will have been distributed and I'll have virtually nothing for myself....still, an empty rucksack does allow for some serious shopping before the return trip!
Meanwhile, am off to double check luggage allowances.......

Maybe too much of a good thing

The children at school held a cake sale so I could take some toys over to Cape Town with me. Great cakes and all sold out, although the vague idea of making it a maths lesson went belly up early on. Had planned all cakes at 10p so my 6 and 7 year olds could work out that 2 at 10p were 20p and anyone giving 50p would meed 30p change and so on. This went well until a parent, who has baked professionally bought in some amazing cupcakes. An insult to charge 10p. Another produced an amazing sponge. Uncut.No knife. Ended up hurtling up and down behind table squealing, "Just take the money and let them choose" and " For goodness sake, two lots of 10p is 20 and if you don't know that by now Mr. H( next teacher) is gonna kill me". Had to locate knife to cut sponge, so given that this tirade was accompanied by the mad waving of a super size carving knife it was probably just as well Inspectors/ "Elf and safety" folk were nowhere to be seen. Next time(yeah, right) will be guess number of jelly beans in jar!
So, cash in hand, a happy hour was spent on the internet ordering toys. Got a bit carried away. Have just taken delivery of three fuzzy felts(hands up who remembers fuzzy felts), including one "On Safari". Hope lurid pink giraffes and green lions as per box will be acceptable. Also card games..Snap should be failry doable, but maybe slipped up when ordered"Happy families". Tact was never my strong point. Four sets of finger puppets ( does anyone know Afrikaans for "Trip, trap, went the Biggest Billy Goat Gruff") and a game of animal lottlo. At least half of the pictures on the cards feature African animals that would happily eat one in their native environment given half the chance.
Now all I have to do is find room for them in parachute style rucksack.