The Next Chapter

On Sunday, August 11 2013, I started writing the next chapter of my travel diaries as I boarded a plane to Canada. After an almost 40hour trip which included flying, waiting at airports and flying again, I finally landed at my final destination Prince George, British Columbia.

Tuesday morning awoke at around 4am as a result of jetlag. My internal clock was pretty confused as to why I was still sleeping at 1pm CAT. So I got up and unpacked. Later that day we drove around town and my first thought of my new town was that it looked like I was on the set of a Twilight movie. I was n't far off since the Twilight-saga was filmed about 4hours from Prince George.

We drove around everyday and my eyes kept looking for a cool local hangout spot and my favorite clothing stores. I couldn't find them. Turns out I'm going to be a millionaire soon since about 50% of my money usually goes to partying and shopping (stop judging me).

I will be working as a nanny and again I struck gold. I have to admit every time I've decided  to go abroad as a childcare provider I've been so lucky. In the States I had a great family and now I got a great one again. My new host family are actually South African which makes life just that much easier since I already know the culture and they can compare the Canadian culture to ours. They have also been great in helping me set up a few things to possibly have a future in Canada.

I'm definitely looking forward to writing this chapter of my life here in Twilight town.

Greatest lost

12 years ago I lost you

I didn't lose you because I forgot you somewhere

I lost you because God wanted his most prized possession back.

I can’t remember everything about you as clearly as I want to

But I also cannot forget you.

Your face is engraved in my brain

Your picture on my dresser

A big house, empty.

Where your voice once was, silence screams.

I was young, but I remember

They wanted to keep me away

But when the ambulance came, I saw

I knew…

Saving Private Ryan

“God, please don’t let my oupa die”

Monday, September 20, 2000 at 07:30

No time for goodbyes

My denim dress at your funeral

My confused thoughts

Lost

I wonder if you know who I am and where I am

Are you looking down at me with pride?

What advice would you give?

You were and still are my greatest love

You were the first one to break my heart into pieces

There will forever be a gaping wound until we meet again in heaven

God spoiled me rotten by giving me an angel like you

I pray he sends me a husband as pure as you

I miss you more everyday granddad 

“Whatever happened to chivalry? Does it only exist in 80’s movies? I want John Cusack holding a boombox outside my window. I wanna ride off on a lawnmower with Patrick Dempsey. I want Jake from Sixteen Candles waiting outside the church for me. I want Judd Nelson thrusting his fist into the air because he knows he got me. Just once I want my life to be like an 80’s movie, preferably one with a really awesome musical number for no apparent reason. But no, John Hughes did not direct my life.” This is my favorite line from the movie "Easy A" starring Emma Stone.

I actually hate movies. Maybe it's just me and my over active imagination but I watch these stories about love and I think to myself:  "What a load of bullshit!" The things that happen in these movies do not happen in real life. The men in these movies do not exist. I probably sound like some bitter cat-lady but I assure you I'm not. I would just like for men to take the hint. I would just like for men to be good old gentlemen from centuries ago. 

It's the simple things in life that make girls happy. For instance if you open the door for her, bring her flowers, late night chats without any intentions of scoring. If these men exists today can someone please direct me in their direction?

I am still very young but I'll be honest I am scared of dying alone. No, I am not interested in getting married right now or even being in a super serious relationship but I would love a companion. Someone I can hangout with, drink with, cook with and kiss passionately, someone who doesn't question my every move. But no, the only male species that I seem to be attracting these days are guys who carry little black books with photos of all their victims. I am sorry but I don't want to be another slut on your hit list. 

My head has been spinning for days now trying to figure out whether or not I will give in to one of these black-book-carrying-men because my head is saying "YES YES YES! He is gorgeous, yummy, sexy, look at that mouth" but my heart is saying "Have you lost your fucking mind? Look for a companion. Someone that will respect you" 

This is probably one of the most useless, dumbest, confusing blogs I'll ever post but I just needed to get this of my chest (no, I'm not texting you a pic of that!)

When life does NOT hand you lemons

This is a more personal blog. A blog where I will write about my feelings...

It's hard for me to write about feelings because I don't like them. I don't like them because they build up inside me and then it's like a bomb that explodes and I cannot control it. The last couple of weeks have been really hard on me. Stressful.

You're probably reading this and thinking "How in the hell is your job stressful?" Dealing with teenagers is very emotional and add to that the fact that they are being moved to a different country. That is stressful on anyone. But aside from my job, my personal life at the moment is causing me great stress, I think it's more frustration than stress though. And I can't talk to anyone about it because everyone wants to give me their 2cents and all I want is for the person I'm venting to, to tell me I'm allowed to have these feelings... So now, to deal with all these feelings and frustration I'm writing about it.

My frustration starts with the fact that I'm in school and I don't want to be in school I want to be in movies/ TV shows/ on stage. I want to walk down the street and see smiling faces looking at me saying "I loved that movie, I was laughing so much!" or "I could really feel your emotion" I could care less about the money. I just want to see people smile and know I'm the reason. People tell me that I have to be willing to work hard, like they think I just want to walk into a casting and get the lead role. I KNOW I have to work hard and I'm willing to work my ass off to get to the top but I need someone to take a chance on me. As I'm writing this I have tears streaming down my face because I am so passionate about this but I don't know how to make this dream come true. I need to find someone who will be my agent and work for just about nothing, but believes that I'll make it to the top and that they will get a big payday then. I'm frustrated that I didn't grow up in a family that know people who know people because let's be honest 80% of how you make it is based on who you know.

Instead of having the world at my feet I'm sitting on my bedroom floor packing up 2years worth of shit to move back to South Africa. A country that I love but a country that has become to small for me to want to live there. Living in America has given me an appetite for bigger things. Yes, packing up 2years of your life is nothing compared to packing up 10years or 25years. But when you've grown as much as I have in the last 2years it would be hard for you to do too. When you're doing something against your will it's even harder. I just need to find a way to come back...

I'm frustrated because I feel like I was born to be a performer. I'm frustrated because I don't know why God gave me talents and made me passionate about something that is so hard to make a living of. While most people my age dream of their wedding day and having kids, I have my iPod in my ears dreaming about performing side by side with Lady Gaga or starring in a film directed by Clint Eastwood.

But life does NOT want to hand me lemons...yet.

The Battle of Gettysburg

I am a complete nerd. Yes, I just said that. And why do I say that? Well, because I really love things that no one cares about. My brain is filled with useless facts. For instance, the Washington Monument is sinking by a quarter of an inch each year, if Rose shared the raft with Jack they would have both died because of the weight on the raft. Pretty much useless information, but I'm a curious person and I need to know things.

Last year my host dad suggested that we drive out to Gettysburg. I've been wanting to go there for weeks and I think my nagging finally paid off. The reason was not because "Ghost Adventures" had investigated there. The reason was because one of the bloodiest battles in history took place there and I wanted to see where it happened.

I'm a very visual person. When someone tells me something it's like their words become pictures in my mind. So as we drove up the road to the battlefield I saw the battle taking place. I could hear the shots going off and smell the gun powder. I could feel the energy of those 160 000 plus, men fighting for what they believed in. Hear their cries of pain.  We got out of the car and walked around and looked at the battlefield while my host dad or "Pep" as we call him told us facts and stories.

Here are some facts about the battle: The two armies (the North and South) collided just outside of the town on July 1, 1863. The total engaged forces were 165,620 of which 93,921 were Union and 71,699 were Confederate. The total estimate of casualties were 51,112. Commanding the Union was George G Meade and commanding the Confederates was Robert E Lee. The Union claimed victory on July 3, 1863 and the three day battle came to an end. This is the most famous and important Civil War Battle.

After we toured the battlefield we grabbed lunch at and Irish pub. All of us were chatting about our favorite parts of the battlefield and asked some questions. My only question was when can I come again? We walked in the town for a while and it felt like I walking the streets of 1863. The sidewalks and shops look like they are still from back in the day and I love that. It was like taking a walk back in time.  I was walking past this huge tree when I noticed a sign. It read "Lincoln walked past this tree" I giggled to myself. Well, so have I! I also
walked past a shop that offered Ghost tours and hunts and that caught my attention immediately.

Gettysburg is an awesome place to visit and I recommend you go there soon. It's such an important part of history.

I feel a very special connection to Gettysburg but more about that in my next blog...

Thinking about "someday"

Most of you know that I'm always on the internet reading news, entertainment and sometimes just random stories. So I started reading Kelly Crigger's blog a few months ago because he co-wrote one of my favorite books and we tweet every now and then and just because I really like how straight forward he is. I came across a post on his blog that I really enjoyed called: "Someday" and you can read it here: http://www.kellycrigger.com/someday/

This post got me thinking about "someday" and how my view of "someday" changed as I grew up. When I was a little girl I thought that "someday" I would be the first female South African fighter pilot. I grew up a few miles from an air force base and my mom is to this day in the South African Air Force. Other little girls wanted to be teachers or fairies but all I wanted to do was fly at the speed of light and do those fancy twists and turns and dog fights. Me in an F16 chasing a Grippen. Even today there isn't anything I love more than the sound of a jet, making your insides shake and your eardrums burst.

But then I grew up and reached the 6th grade. I still loved my jets and was still planning on becoming a fighter pilot but I discovered that singing also lit a fire in me and when I got to play the lead role in my school play in the 7th grade another fire lit up within me. I now also wanted to act. So I wanted to, "someday", be a singing/acting fighter pilot. That can be done, right?

In my junior year in high school that "someday" thing or place, fell apart. I couldn't do the math. I didn't understand the science. It's not that I am dumb, I just didn't understand.

So I had to re-evaluate my plans for "someday". I decided to focus all my attention on dancing, singing and acting. Words can not describe how proud I was to be awarded "Actress of the week" at a local play festival. I finished my senior year with high hopes for myself. I was just going to study drama and then walk into an agency be signed and go to America and make it.

The thing with "someday" is that it doesn't go according to our plan. I never said: "Someday I'm going to go to America and be an Au Pair for 2years." But "someday" decided that I would. It's like "someday" is an entity. It's like "someday" is a bully, carving desires into our hearts that we may never achieve.

I'm 21, I don't have it all figured out. I don't know what I'm going to do when I return to South Africa. Finish my degree, do my masters. Then what?

My "someday" plan is to travel A LOT and to entertain people. My "someday" plan is to own property on the beach in Clifton. My "someday" plan is to get married and love someone so much that I can't breathe without him. My "someday" plan is that "someday" exists.

I hope "someday" comes one day... Soon...

Time is running. Make it stop!

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"

The Au Pair Diaries: The Experience

I've been getting a lot of emails lately from girls who want to be au pairs so I decided to dedicate a blog to them answering their questions.

So what is it really like being an au pair? Do you want me to be honest or do you want me to tell you what you want to hear? I prefer the truth.

This has been the best experience of my life. Yes there has been days where all I wanted to do was sit in a corner and cry, but then I think to myself  "You are in A-FREAKING-MERICA". The first three months were the best. Let's call it the "Honeymoon phase" because this is the phase where everyone (you included) put your best foot forward and everything is just so exciting and new and so much better than where you came from. But then you start getting used to everything and you find a friend from the same country as you and suddenly the country you came from is the best place on earth and America is lame and dumb because they don't have Milo and Biltong.

There have been days when I just curled up and cried until it felt like my eyes where going to pop out. There have been days when I've yelled unnecessary and cried some more and got mad. I've called my mom at 01:30am CAT and cried telling her I want to come home because I don't think my family likes me because I was being over sensitive that day.  Your time in America will be determined by YOUR attitude. That was probably the most important thing an au pair friend of mine told me.

I have traveled more in the past 18months than I ever traveled in South Africa. I've been to NYC a couple of times, I've been to New Jersey, Ohio, California, Florida and I am currently planning a road trip on the west coast. If you don't like traveling then come anyway to experience freedom. Americans are so comfortable and  in some areas they are so safe. I don't lock my car, in fact you can go outside to the car right now and find the keys inside. Guess what?? It will still be there tomorrow.

As a person I've grown so much. I used to rely on other people. I needed other people's approval. Now I am an independent strong woman. I promise you the person you are today will not return to South Africa or where ever you are from. Do I still love to head bang and be silly? Of course I do, but I am so much more in control of my life I'm so much more responsible. I trust my own judgement and other people do to. They kind of have to since I have their kids most of the day ;)

I got really lucky when I chose my host family. I love them like my family and I know they love me too. The most important thing I've learned is to not keep everything inside. Talk. I think that is why our relationship is so good. If my family makes me mad I tell them, or if I'm worried or I feel sad we talk about it. If I make them upset about something they come and tell me. Communication is key people!!! lol

So there you go. That is the experience. I can't guarantee you that you will have an awesome family like mine, but if you don't you can always rematch. Don't give up just because one family let you down!

My City

"This City is my city and I love it, yeah I love it, I was born and raised here, I have it made here and if I have my way I'm gonna stay here for life" - Patrick Stump

This song takes me to the city that never sleeps, the city where dreams are made and shattered, the big apple.

New York City is a city loved by many and I am no exception to the rule. My first trip to the city was in the summer of 2011. I arrived in Times Square to be blown away by the magic of billboards and lights. In my head I have always had a picture of what it would look like but never did I imagine it to be this breathtaking. So when daylight finally broke I headed into the city with a couple of friends and we did everything tourists do. It was on my next trip that I would really start to love NYC.

The purpose of this trip was to go to the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade. We got there nice and early and got a spot on 58th and 7th and had the greatest time. After the parade we walked in Central Park and baked in the sun like some cold blooded creatures. We then strolled down Madison Ave just to find out that Barneys was closed for the day. New York during the festive season is so amazing. All the shops are decorated and Tiffany's blew my mind. I saw Audrey Hepburn peeking through the window looking at the jewels inside.

When I took the ferry out later that afternoon I was even more awestruck. Seeing the Statue of Liberty, while the sun is going down and the sky is purple and orange, and the city growing smaller and smaller. It was like a painting. A painting that showed of what God can do and what man has created in perfect harmony. Does that even make sense??

As I was standing at the top of the Empire State building, waiting for Sleepless in Seattle, I realized that all the crazy down there is what I have wanted for such a long time. I want that rushed life with no time to chat. The penthouse on the upper East side.

This city is my city and if I could stay here I would! Maybe one day I'll call the subway my car and the city my home. I'll hail a cab, starbucks cup in my hand and head to my corporate job in a 50 story building, and life will be perfect!

Lifestyle of the rich and famous LA LA land

Being abroad sometimes has a down side. My down side was that my birthday was approaching and I didn't really have that many friends to celebrate with. The friends I have made here are great don't get me wrong, but for me my birthday needed to be spent with people who knew my story, who knew what made me really happy.

So on this one random day, a few weeks before my birthday, my friend Louis and I have one of our vacation planning Skype sessions. These are sessions where we choose a location and shop the Internet for the best bargains for traveling and hotels. And so we start planning our weekend trip to Los Angeles, California. We were going to fly in on Friday, spent Saturday (my birthday) at Universal studios , and then if we could squeeze it in we would go to Santa Monica, Venice and Malibu beach. "Let's REALLY do it" Louis said to me and at first I was like "Well okay" but in my mind I knew he would never actually do it. What you have to remember is that Louis lives in Canada and he is only a student. But Louis was very serious about this trip.

So on May 27 I was on a plane to LA and my dear friend would await my arrival as he was already there. As fate would have it a high school classmate of ours had just moved to the States a few weeks before and guess where he was located? Torrence, California. Two is a company and three my dear friends is a party!

So on Saturday morning we got up early and headed out to Universal Studios. We had front of the line passes and it felt like we were VIP. We didn't have to wait in line for any of the shows or rides. In fact we had our own entrance and we went on some of the rides twice while some people were still waiting in line! We got to do everything were some people could do maybe one or 2 things. My favorite part was the studio tour. We got to the entrance and there was a 2hour wait BUT because of our special passes we could go straight through and we didn't even have to wait for 2seconds! We declared the Simpson 4D ride the winner of the day and in close 2nd was The Mummy. I'll admit that my eyes were closed for the entire ride the first time but my second time was amazeballs!

So after our Universal experience we hit up the town and went down to Hollywood blvd to go see all the stars, theatres and Hard rock cafe. I was a little disappointed in the stars because they look so glamorous in movies but it's pretty dirty in real life however the Kodak and Chinese theatres are beautiful. After stopping for a picture infront of a hostel (for the boys) we headed back to our hotels.

On Sunday we took the bus to Santa Monica. I wanted to go there because I like going places I've seen on TV and in movies. It was beautiful and even though the wind was crazy it was a dream come true to walk on the beach and see the pier up close. We then walked to Venice beach and what we saw here can not be explained. Weird people, ugly people, hot people, crazy people, smelly people, old people, homeless people, rich people, you name them they were there! Some of them high as a kite. We put our toes in the water and it was freezing cold and after that we checked out what we like to call "hippy beach party". We even paid a hobo to take a picture of him. That night as we went back to our hotels a fit of the giggles came over us and there was lots of laughter and videos made (private content).

All in all this was the best birthday of my life so far! And I spent it with 2 awesome friends who I adore. We are currently planning our next trip for my big 21st birthday. Can you say SinCity??

Life is a beach I'm just playing in the sand

It's Springbreak 2011 and the fam and I are heading to Destin, Florida... by car! Yes, we were driving from Virginia to basically the gulf of Mexico. We made an overnight stop in South Carolina and then the journey continued. I don't mind long distance traveling by car, but trust me when I tell you that teenagers and pre-teenagers do.

We arrived at the Emerald hotel and walked into a beautiful condo. The livingroom had big windows and a balcony to enjoy the beautiful view that the beach has to offer. We changed clothes and went out to enjoy some local cuisine. We found a very nice seafood restuarant and had a delicious meal. I also tried fried green tomatoes for the first time and it was delish!

We literaly had to walk out the door, down the stairs, past the pool, and then we were on the beach. I though places like these existed only on the pages of magazines but here i was on the whitest sand in the world. If you want to fry an eyeball then don't wear sunglasses because the sand will blind you. The ocean was crystal clear blue and green and the waves quite small compared to the South African waves. I even saw dolphines, while enjoying my morning coffee on the balcony, one morning.

My favorite part of the trip was seeing the sunset. The whole beach turns red/ orange/ yellow. The night we went out on the beach to see it, it also happened to be a full moon. While the sun was setting on the one side the moon was rising over the ocean. It was truely beautiful. Unfortunately, this was also the night that I learned my host mom had to go to Iraq for 6months. I didn't know what to say and honestly I was scared.

After a great and relaxing week, we took on the 16hours again and this time drove it all in one day. Ofcourse we had to have some car trouble first, but luckily it was just an airconditioning malfuntion :) Till next time travellers

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 :)