Tuesday, January 5, 2010

The New Years I'll Never Forget

Hi Everyone,

I hope you all had a good Christmas and New Years, I did. Here's a recap of the craziness.
1) Christmas: I went down to my friend Melissa's house in Mafeteng for Christmas. We made a tree out of paper and decorated it..so cute. We made some yummy food, watched some movies, played with her kittens and relaxed before leaving for our Durban vacation.
2)Durban: We crossed the border in Ficksburg South Africa and took a taxi to Durban, which took about 5 hours. It was me, Irena, Melissa, and an older volunteer Barb. Durban is HUGE. The very first thing we did once in Durban was eat McDonalds...which we don't have in Lesotho (the only american chain is KFC). Then we took another taxi to our hostel by the beach, Ansteys.
3) Ansteys: Ansteys was really cool. The people were really cool and the staff was hilarious. There was Dean and Tony. Dean was the biggest drama queen ever and provided endless entertainment. We slept in a tent at the hostel...in a tiny spot that was too small for the tent. One corner was off the ledge and I had a banana tree in my side lol, still fun though. We hung out with a bunch of Afrikaaners and some PCVs from PC South Africa.
4) The Mall: We went to the mall our first day because the weather wasn't great. The mall was HUGE and so great. Me and Irena got haircuts, and me and Melissa got our noses pierced. I also went shopping....
5) The Beach: The beach was like 2 seconds from the hostel and was really nice. The water was really warm, but the current was super strong. I got kncked down more than once only standing knee deep! But being in the ocean and on the beach again was amazing.
6) New Years: So Tony from the hostel was telling people about this "beach party" for New Years so everyone from the hostel decided to go. It was no beach party. It was essentially at the Elks/VFW/YMCA with a bunch of old Afrikaaners and little kids. We were all pretty horrified....especially since we got there at like 7. Unfortunately, about 10 mins to midnight I noticed my camera was missing off the table. Melissa and Barb saw the guy, who had just arrived and had been just booked at the hostel, being sketchy near us and then immediatly leave on a bike. Bad luck for me and also the family who's tent he robbed. Then we went back to the hostel and went swimming and went to bed around 330.
7) Dead man in the pool: We woke up to the news that the guy from Zimbabwe who had checked in with his wife the day before, was found at the bottom of the pool around 4:15. It was insane! The police/coroner came but didnt ask anyone any questions and not a single person was interviewed or anything. So everyone spent the day piecing what happened together and finding out who saw him last etc. It was a big mystery and really strange all day.
8) Tekwini: We left the next day for another hostel more in the city called Tekwini. It was cool. We went to Victoria Market where they have all these amazing African crafts, and then ate really good seafood. When we got back from dinner Ansteys called and told us that they caught the theif and that they had my camera! That NEVER EVER happens! When you get your stuff stollen you never get it back! Then we went out dancing.
9)uShaka: Me and Melissa went to get my camera from the police and heard all about the scams and fraud the guy committed. They are planning on putting him away for 10 years. Then we met up with Chris, Karolina, and Irena at uShaka water park/sea world. It was sooo much fun. We went down the water slides, did the lazy river, and saw all the cool fish and stuff, including the dolphin show. Then me and Melissa got amazing Thai food.
10) Bye Bye Durban: Sadly we had to leave the next day. So we grabbed one last Big Mac and hit the road for Lesotho. Me and Melissa went to Irena's house for the night and we all got completely soaked by the rain while trying to buy green beans from her neighbors. It was hilarious.

Now I'm back in Maseru chilling out before All-Vol and then Phase III training. I'm sure there'll be more updates later this month!