End of last week & Swellendam

Sorry for not updating in a while; hanging out with these kids wear me out! Wednesday was another great day! We went to Durban where the kids were able to decorate elephants, have a picnic lunch on the beach, and got henna tattooed on them! They all seemed to really get into all of the make believe aspects of that day. Thursday was another good day with the kids! We went to three places, Johannesburg Pretoria, and Kimberley Hole, seeing as how Johannesburg and Pretoria are very similar we spent the majority of our time at Kimberley Hole. Here the kids were able to pretend to find diamonds which were actually candy wrapped in tin foil. They loved it, especially the candy part. Thursday night a group of us went to dinner at Apprentice. It's where culinary students come and practice cooking. I ordered the spiced chicken; it was delicious! The portions were a bit small for the price but it was very good! I even tried zucchini and I liked it! After dinner we went to Cubana for drinks. They had all of these fruity cocktails that were so goood! We're going back tonight :) Friday was another day with the kids. We went to Krueger National Park which was VERY hectic. We made binoculars and tie-dyed shirts, socks, and pillowcases. I don't know if the kids were happy about tie-dying or that it was Friday but they were extremely hyper and one was actually hungover. The hungover boy was not a happy camper to say the least. He swore at me quite a few times in Afrikaans and then once in English so I knew what he was saying. After we had "class" with Grant which is actually more like a group therapy session we left for Swellendam! Right when we got there we tried to find a cabin but unfortunately the cabin that was supposed to be our was locked and by that time every other cabin was filled so my friends and I had to split up. At first in my cabin it was myself, Erin, Dom, Bri, Mackenzie, and GEORGE THE BUS DRIVER. Thankfully, they realized how inappropriate it would have been to have a 40 something year old man staying in the next room over. After George moved out Morgan, Lindsey, Carrie Ann, and Lance moved in! It was definitely a fun cabin. The first night we all just hung out by the bon fire drinking and roashing marshmellows. Saturday we woke up bright and early and went zip-lining! Only seven of us did it but it would so much fun!! We went off this big mountain hill thing right into the water. It was about 40 degrees and raining so the water was even colder! I was freezing once I got out of the water but they had a fire going on the boat so we all warmed up there. Once we got back we had lunch, drank a few beers, and went on a hike. Swellendam is gorgeous!! I posted some pictures on Facebook but I will upload the rest on Snapfish either today or tomorrow. Where we stayed also had a bunch of cows we went and played with them! It was awesome. Saturday night I wasn't feeling too well so I ate dinner and then went back to my cabin and read my book for a bit. Sunday morning we woke up and took a 45 minute bus ride to these natural hot springs. We all put on our bathing suits and hopped right in! Then we went on another hike .. it was rough. Then we got back on the bus and headed back to Stellenbosch! It was a successful and relaxing weekend :) Today, all of option two gets off so this morning my small group for the essay worked together and got our section done! In a little bit we have to meet again as a whole to put the whole paper together and then it's time to celebrate the 4th of July!!! I really wish I could be at the lake hanging out with everyone but this will just have to do! We're going to have a bbq and pretend like we're back in the United States for the day. It'll be interesting to say the least. I'll post pictures soon! Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday!!