New Year's Eve
I worked on a paper and went to Koolbaai again. Click the photo for details.
ZA2009 Archive December 2009
Cleaning
I had the lonely job of cleaning our rented home today. I accomplished a ton of work, though:
* Gave a bunch of clothes to our pastor for families in Kayamandi
* Got a new piece of luggage from our pastor (I've decided to travel home with three pieces and pay extra for the privilege)
* Got a haircut
* Dropped off a lot of stuff for the daycare at Rescuers
* Got boxes at Pick 'n Pay in the Jamestown mall
* Printed three photos for Ronnie
* Bought a pair of sandals for the upcoming Orange River trip
* Bought tarred twine and weed whipper line at Builder's Express
* Bought a few groceries at Checkers
* Cleaned up the study (hadn't been done yet)
* Packed all my bags (still overweight, even using 3 bags. Arrrrgh!)
* Packed a box of stuff for storage
* Did two loads of laundry
* Cleaned the toilets and sinks in both bathrooms
* Brought the egg salad recipe and stuff for Ronnie to Aunt Elise
* Moved to Wikus' house
* Packed for a Crystal Pools hike tomorrow with James
* Did some consulting work
* Had a teleconference
* Called Tracy on Skype
This last bit is important! Seems like everyone has arrived safely in Grand Rapids. Mark and Catherine did GREAT on the flights. One piece of excitement was a windy descent into Washington, DC: the pilot aborted three landing attempts. And, in a nice bookend to our arrival in Cape Town, one piece of Tracy's luggage didn't arrive in Grand Rapids.
--Matt
Departure 1
Tracy, Mark, and Catherine are now in the sky. Click the photo for details of their departure.
Ratanga Junction
Click for news about an amusement park (Ratanga Junction) and a quick visit with some old friends.
Merry Christmas!
Click the photo for news about our Christmas day, which included church, a Christmas lunch with friends Ed and Viv, and a beach outing.
Saying Goodbye
Final Braai
We had a farewell braai at Amanda and Louis' house tonight. The menu included chicken, ham, squash, beets, and ice cream for dessert. Their friendship and hospitality have been blessings to us this year, and we thoroughly enjoyed spending just a little more time with them. We laughed at Amanda's hospital stories, discussed environmental and political topics, checked out Louis' new Green Bible, and traded photos from Arniston.
It seems very weird and somehow impossible that distance will soon prevent us from getting together. But, I took one (not so good) photo of us before dinner. Maybe that will help us remember the friendship we've renewed and enjoyed so much this year.
--Matt
2009-12-17
We were invited for dinner at the home of my Conventional Energy Systems teaching colleague tonight. Richard and Shareen hosted us at their home in Durbanville. Once again, we returned home later than we expected, but we had a very nice time.
A quick schedule note. Don't be surprised if there are no blog updates in the next few days. We'll be in Arniston for the weekend.
--Matt
Dinner with Auntie Elise
Auntie Elise
We invited Auntie Elise, our uphill neighbor, for dinner this evening. We had a pleasant time talking about families and memories.
--Matt
Afternoon Tea
We had afternoon tea today with the parents of Mark's friend Philip (Louw and Lynne), Philip's aunt Leena, and one of their family friends (Daphne). We covered many topics, including the Quagga Project (they now have one of the un-Quagga-like zebras from the program), culling deer and rabbits at Robben Island (Louw is involved), upcoming holidays, schools, etc.
--Matt
Mark's Last Day at Rhenish
Last Day
Mark had his last day at Rhenish today. Tracy took a photo when she picked him up.
I had a meeting with environmental and economic development officials from the Western Cape Provincial Government. We discussed the development of the renewable energy industry (especially wind) in the province.
In the evening, we went to a Christmas market at the Oude Libertas theatre. The kids bought gifts for each other and one parent.
--Matt
2009-12-10
A Year of Art
Cathereine went to daycare today. Mark had his second-to-last day of school. Tracy worked on her paper. I worked at Stellenbosch until I picked up Mark at 13h00.
Mark brought home most of his school art and arranged it for a photo, which you can see on the right.
--Matt
Bet Breakfast
Breakfast at Crémé
Louis, Amanda, and Tracy
Tracy and I went for breakfast with Amanda and Louis this morning. We're thankful to J.M. Coetzee for the occasion.
You see, the women lost a bet with Louis. Louis said that South African writer J.M. Coetzee accepted his Nobel Prize in Literature in person from the King of Sweden. The ladies said he skipped the ceremony. Louis was right and the winner of R100 from each of the women.
Although I didn't have an opinion, Louis included me on the bet, and we decided that we should use the winnings to have a nice breakfast together. After a week, we informed the ladies that we would each choose a guest, to be decided later. Last week, we chose them!
So, we met at Crémé Café at 08h30. I printed the photo of Coetzee accepting his prize from the King of Sweden and set it at Amanda's place prior to her arrival. The photo in the sidebar shows Louis, Amanda, and Tracy with the photo and the two R100 notes. All good fun!
Jos sent me this funny list of South African English words. This list seems to have gone viral on email in advance of the 2010 World Cup.
--Matt
