It's been 1year and 8months since everything changed. And in 3months it will all be taken away.
I finished high school with big dreams for myself. I was going to study Drama at the University of Pretoria. Get a good acting job and be discovered. Move to Hollywood. Be America's sweetheart. But someone found out that this was my dream and threw a bucket of water in my face so I could wake up. Unfortunately I opened my eyes and gave them the middle finger. I came to America anyway!
They say good things come to those who wait. And so I waited. I found an American family that could not love me more if I asked them to. Well we found each other thanks to Go Aupair. I remember how excited I was to be moving to a place minutes away from Washington DC. So July 31 2010 I anxiously drove to the airport only to find out the people who booked my flight, booked it for August 31 2010. Disappointed doesn't even begin to describe how I felt as we left Johannesburg International Airport. "We are getting wasted tonight" I said to my cousin. And we did... The next available flight to Washington DC was August 4 and I was on that plane. But of course, being born under the sign of the pig, something had to go wrong. "Mam you were not booked straight to DC and we need you to come with us." a gentleman at the airport in Senegal said to me in very broken English. All I could think was that "this is not how I want to die" as he led me to an abandoned alley where my bag was. They took my passport and told me to unlock my bag because the scan showed an explosive. Needless to say I will from this day forward never travel with hairspray again. They babbled on in French and then put me back on the plane. I still don't know what happened.
So I arrived at my destination very tired but happy all the same. I met the family that I would be spending 12months with and unpacked my stuff. The months flew by and we did amazing things together. We laughed and cried. There were days when I was sure I was just gonna leave but I had fallen in love with this family. I've always wanted a mom, a dad, and sisters. Don't get me wrong I love my mom and brother to death. But the space where my dad was supposed to be was empty and they filled it. All families have problems but you have to communicate and we did. That is why this social experiment worked.
Last year around January they asked me to extend my contract and stay another year but I wasn't sure if I wanted to. I prayed hard and got my answer. I was driving down the parkway and said aloud "I want to stay" as I was saying this I got this huge smile on my face and I knew I wanted to stay another year. We went on spring break and bad news hit. My host mom was deploying to Iraq for 6months. I then knew why I was supposed to stay.
I would be lying if I said her not being here was easy. I have never been a mom or had teenagers and now I kind of had to think like one. I felt awkward walking down the street with my host dad because people would give us strange looks and play the "Girlfriend or daughter" game. And when I spoke to other host families about how my host mom was defending their country they would ask "Isn't it weird living alone with a married man?" Like they were expecting me to be some kind of South African whore who was longing for a relationship with a married man who is like a father to me. No one ever thought that I was stressed out. That I was scared as hell that something might happen to my host mom. No, all they could think about was the gossip. I have so much disrespect for all those people. My host mom came back without a scratch and I praise the Lord for that! She was safe and my life could return to normal.
In January I started to panic as I knew this time there was no extension. Another bomb dropped as my host family heard they were moving to Germany. What did this mean for me? Well just that instead of going home in August I would now be going home in July. I am honestly happy for them but I don't want to leave earlier.
My time is running out fast. Leaving America will be bittersweet. I have met the most amazing people and I have come into contact with the most amazing people. People I will remember for the rest of my life. I'm a little scared to go back to South Africa, back to the person I was before this amazing journey started, but I'm excited to start my life.
I might not be the actress living in Hollywood like I planned but I still have big plans for myself and my return to this beautiful country. In the famous words of Terminator "I will be back"
