Absolute MADNESS

Last week can only be described as madness! It started out as a normal week. The sun was shinning and the wind blowing. My host dad Mark had family in town and that was the only part of the week that was different. That was until Tuesday when a 5.9 earthquake hit the East coast. Where was I when the earthquake hit? Well, I was in the car admiring my latest pedicure and didn't feel a thing. I picked up a very freaked out Sidney and thought she was joking. That was until I got back on the parkway and the traffic was crazy. We got home and turned the news on. People were talking about how they thought the world was going to end. How they saw the Washington monument move and heard something fall on the inside. So maybe this was really an odd thing to happen this side of the States but I wasn't part of the "Quake club".

So while everyone was talking about how the world was ending, I was talking about how nice my toes would look in heaven if the world was to end. That night at 1am we had an after shock of 4.8 and I was in! I had just finished skyping with Louis, my friend in Canada, when everything started shaking. I know it wasn't a massive quake and that there wasn't to much damage, but the fact that everything starts shaking and you don't know why, makes your heart beat faster all of a sudden. Oh and the Washington monument has a crack in it!

Mother nature was clearly pissed off because then we heard Irene was coming to town.

My favorite weatherman Doug informed us that Irene was on her way and that she was a big category 4 storm. She left Puerto Rico and parts of the Bahamas with damage and was now on her way to North Carolina. They immediately declared a state of emergency in most of the states on the East coast. When she hit North Carolina on Saturday morning she had settled down to a category 1 storm but winds were still a good 80mph. I watched the weather channel in amazement as weather reporters stood on the beaches of the outer banks barely being able to stand. You could barely see then. Trees where coming down and roofs where being damaged. Still there were people out driving! And ofcourse the naked man looking for his 30seconds running through the screenshot. The storm hit here about 6pm with strong winds and heavy rain. We waited for the power to go out since over 1million people were without power. This Tropical storm took our power just after midnight but it wasn't out for long. What worried me was that my favorite place in the world, New York City, was said to get hit hard because Irene had gained strenght. Luckily it didn't hit them to hard. Parts of New Jersey got flooded and in upper New York state people were swimming in parking lots (no jokes they had bathing suits on)

This past week was weird and crazy. In South Africa things like this doesn't happen and even though these were mini storms and quakes compared to others I still felt pretty awesome having experienced them. I am glad they didn't do to much damage in our area but I pray for the states that got hit very hard.

The Nations Capital: Washington DC

In April 2010 I was contacted by an American family to au pair for them for a year. They said they lived in Springfield, VA about 30min from DC. "That's where Homer Simpson lives!" was my first thought but to my surprise, and to most of your surprise, the USA has 25 states with a city called Springfield.

So on August 4 2010 I was on my way to America. I'll admit that my knowledge was limited and what I knew was that Obama lived in DC because he was the president. My host family picked me up from Dulles International Airport and as we started driving towards our house I noticed that there were a lot of trees and I mean A LOT of trees! My Homer Simpson neighbourhood turned into Tarzan's turf. I was going to live in the woods and I didn't know if I would like that. Where I live in South Africa it's never quiet and here silence screams at you.

I quickly learned that the local football team was The Redskins and the baseball team The Nats, but no one really rooted for them because well they kinda sucked. Football is definitely a huge culture in America, maybe even bigger than the Rugby culture in South Africa. It's starts with Monday night, then again on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. My favorite is college football, I just love the whole band and cheerleader thing. It's pretty awesome.

Now for the part of town I knew one thing about: DC.

My first trip to DC was the night we went to watch a baseball game. I saw the Washington monument from a distance. Then one night we drove into town to see Mr. Lincoln, Jefferson and the White House. But it was on my trips with my new found BFF, Maria, that I really got to see DC. We went to museums, walked to the monuments and old buildings, dined out in Chinatown and explored Georgetown. We would walk from Lincoln Memorial to the Capital building. We would go into the American History museum every now and then to see the same exhibit. I have never had so much fun and learned so much. During the festive season it feels completely different as the National Christmas tree in front of the White House is decorated and a big train and town is build around it.

Another one of my favorite places is Arlington Cemetery. This is where the American soldiers who has died in battle are buried. I have seen it in every season but my favorite has to be winter. The white snow that blends in with the grey of the tombstones and then the splash of green and red from the reefs that are laid in front of each and every grave. I also got the opportunity to go into the Pentagon which was awesome.

Whenever I travel every city looks dirty compared to what I'm used to in DC. It is super clean and can even make a fairly clean city look like a pigsty. Do I love living just a stones throw from the nations capital?? Hell no!

Homebound

A few weeks ago I was in South Africa for a 2week visit to my family. I have been working as an au pair in America for a year and it was time for a visit. I'll admit that I was very excited to go home, but also scared. I knew things had changed. People changed. And I changed too.

Those 18hours were probably the longest 18hours of my life. When we touched down I knew I was home. Greeting me at the airport was a big purple banner. "Welcome" it said. And my brother ran to greet me. It was a room filled with tears. Was it that bad that I came back?

I guess you never really appreciate where you're from until you pretend to be a tourist of your own country. So that is what I did, I pretended to be a tourist on my first visit to Africa. Well, kind of. I did a lot of things tourists would do.

I visited Pilansberg Nature Reserve, where I saw a wide variety of antelope, giraffes, rhinos, warthogs, hippo's, leopards, but to my disappointment I didn't see any elephants or lions. I have been to Pilansberg a number of times and have always seen elephants but never lions (which makes me pretty sure they don't have any). But that's just what makes nature so beautiful and mystical, you have to truly look to find.

True to my own nature I also did a lot of shopping. I needed a serious winter wardrobe update and Mom was willing to splurge on her beloved daughter. Out of the 2weeks I was maybe home a full day or 2.

Then I decided to hit the African Market called Chameleon Village. Outside of the market you hear drums beat and the smell of good food overwhelms you. Once inside madness takes its toll. Hundreds of stands each with it's unique goods and very unique owner. I'm pretty sure you can find every cultural group of South Africa there and each of them will give you "a special price".

On the day before I left my mother took me to the "Lion and Rhino park". Again I saw a wide variety of antelope, but what I was most excited about was getting to hold baby lions and tigers. And not just any type of lion but white lions! We got to play with them and cuddle with them. The tiger cub was my favorite, he kept jumping on me and chewing on my shoes and clothes, not realizing it's strength yet. I also saw big male lions in the wild for the first time in my life!

What impressed me the most on my visit was the kindness and friendliness with which we were received in all 3 places that we went. The smiles and the stories that these people shared warmed my heart.

My 2weeks ended and it felt like I was home for a month. And now I'm back at my other home to continue my adventure in America.

My next blog will be about the places I have visited so far in America. Don't miss it :)