Driving through the Free State, South Africa
Not much has happened since I wrote last. I’ve been at Louren’s parents’ house since Friday, hanging out and doing a couple things. On Wednesday night, I went to a public viewing park (right) with a friend I met in Brussels last year, Jaco. We met up with some of his friends and had a really fun time. There was maybe a thousand other people at the park, nothing too serious but enough to get the crowd feel. The crowd seemed to be split 50/50 on wanting Spain or Germany to win. I wanted Spain to win because I felt like they would be an easier team for the Netherlands to beat, but now I’m not sure! They looked so strong against Germany. Anyways, they did win and we had fun cheering for them.
On Thursday, Lourens and I had to drive to a different town to get his tires changed. His dad was able to find someone to sponsor his new tires, so we met them at the shop. While the tires were getting changed, his dad took us out to lunch. We went to this fairly nice restaurant where all four of us got big steaks. It was really good! By the time we got back, another friend from Brussels, Andre, was at the house waiting for us. We were giving him a lift to the airport and hanging out beforehand. On the way, we picked up Jaco, making it a really fun time. For me it was kind of like a very small Brussels reunion… except it was missing a whole lot of people. When we got to the airport, we had some time to kill so we just got a table at a restaurant and hung out for the remaining time. It was so much fun just relaxing and hanging out with those guys. I definitely already consider them some of my closest friends and to have that time together was really good. We said bye to Andre and drove Jaco back. On the way, Jaco offered to show me around Pretoria and drive me home. That was another really fun experience. I got a tour of the city, seeing the Parliament building (right), the city center, and a great view over the whole area. Then I got to see where Jaco usually hangs out with his friends, and a tour of Pretoria University. I felt like I got to see everything in a very different way than most people since it was at night and with a well-educated local. Jaco is about to get his history degree at Pretoria, so he knew all the details about every little piece of Pretoria. At the end of the night, we took a picture for the memories and headed home.
On the way home, I got a great email from my aunt. My cousin, Andrew, is in Kenya for the next year plus, working on a water sanitation project there. If you would like to know more, he is also maintaining a blog: http://savannahgrams.blogspot.com
With Elsa's parents
Friday we left Elsa’s parents’ house to go to Lourens’ parents’ house (only a 30 minute drive or so). When we got there, we unpacked and waited for their domestic worker, Martha to finish her shift. Martha has worked in the Martiz family home for more than 25 years, helping raise Lourens and his two sisters. When she finished up, Lourens, Elsa, and I drove her to her home in a township down the street. We sat down and had a conversation with her, doing a needs-assessment of their life in this township. By the end of the conversation, we found out a lot. This township has electricity, decent roads, waste removal, access to clean water, and sanitation- all of the basic physical needs of a community. The major needs there are access to income and adequate nutrition for children. So as a start to the development relationship, Lourens’ mom is sponsoring a feeding scheme there. A lady that lives with Martha said if she could be paid, she would buy and make food for children. This system will be a start to helping the larger problem- feeding 40 children three times a week and creating a job for an unemployed woman. On the way back from Martha’s home, I took a video outside the window while Lourens and Elsa talked and explained some of the conversation to me (it had all been in Afrikaans). The rest of the day we spent hanging out with his family, relaxing and watching movies.
Lourens, Martha, Elsa
Saturday was pretty much the same except we woke up early to watch the Springbocks Rugby game. It’s really interesting how similar SA is to the US! The rugby-soccer relationship in SA is the same as the football-soccer relationship in the US. I’m still the minority, preferring soccer over rugby here too. After the game, Lourens and I went on a bike ride around a farm close by. It was really cool to see where he used to play as a kid and all the stories that came with. By the end, I was nice and sweaty and sat down to recover. Three movies later, I got up to eat dinner. I was a little ashamed with how lazy I was, but it was really good to relax for a while. After dinner, we watched the Germany vs Uruguay game. I was so happy Germany won! They not only deserved it, but Uruguay deserved to lose after cheating so horribly against Ghana.
Now today, we woke up at a decent time, packed up the car, ate lunch, and got on the road to drive back to Stellenbosch. We are stopping tonight to watch the Netherlands beat Spain in the World Cup Final! Man I’m excited. I’ve got my dutch jersey on again. So far they have won every time I wear it! (They’ve also won their last 25 games, somewhat reducing the correlation between my support and their success… somewhat.) After the game, we’ll spend the night somewhere close by and finish the drive tomorrow. The next ten days will be very significant. They are the last days of this trip in South Africa and will really answer a lot of questions. Til next time, “Hup, Holland, Hup!”
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