Catching Up

Below is a list of all the major things that have happened since I last posted (while on my flight home for Christmas). In my attempt to be less verbose, I have only allowed myself one sentence of commenting for each item on the list!

1.     Lori is engaged! – very difficult to be away for this milestone, set my alarm for 3:30am so I could Skype with her minutes after Brandon proposed – (a must do in Brandon’s proposal plans) He’s definitely the one!

2.     Thanksgiving in Durban – first Thanksgiving away from home, big house with 11 other people, big pool and weather warm enough to use it, first time in the Indian ocean, football on the beach, missed Mum’s incredible dinner, and wasn’t with Lori when she bought her wedding dress L  

3.     Hawker’s Christmas Swap – good friends and I gathered for dinner to celebrate the holiday with a South African style Yankee Swap: limit 100Rand (just over $12) and must be bought on the side of the street from a hawker. Contributions included: 3 wooden toy snakes, 2 enormous blow up soccer balls, 12 ears of corn, a wire Christmas tree, among other “fine quality” trinkets. H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S!!

4.     Christmas songs sung in several different languages in my classroom – with the sun shining and outside temperatures reaching nearly 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

5.     Flying home for the first time in my life! I’ve never lived in a place I have had to fly from to get home. I felt special, missed, and incredibly loved upon my return!

6.     First night in my old bed – slept better than I had since I moved overseas! It really hit me, as I laid my head down and fell asleep without thinking of an escape route, just how different life in Johannesburg is than New Hampshire. I knew in that moment that living in Johannesburg would never be a permanent thing.

7.     First day in New Hampshire – booked Lori’s wedding venue J, drank a Starbucks latte, enjoyed the cold weather, felt right at home!

8.     Loved every second of my 12 days back home for Christmas. LOVED spending so much time with Lori, Scott, and my parents. Seeing all my friends filled my heart and reminded me again and again of how lucky I am.

9.     December 29^th – flew back to Johannesburg. Spilled tears as I said goodbye to Mum and Dad and the crew, BUT – took Lori and Brandon with me!

10.  Stood at the airport and waited to pick up my other half and future brother-in-law. Couldn’t stop smiling as they appeared through the glass doors – it was my chance to share my new life with them!

   11.  December 30 – January 1^st safari at Madikwe Game Reserve. Two morning game drives and two night drives produced sightings of nearly all the Big 5 – including a pride of lions as the sun rose for the first time in 2012. Happy New Year!

   12.  January 2^nd – January 7^th visited Cape Town (for the second time). Shark cage diving, watched Lori and Bdon jump from a plane, hiked Table Mountain, tasted incredible wines in Franschhoek, admired penguins, ate incredibly well, and loved every minute of it!

13.  January 11^th – said g’bye to Lori and Brandon. HATED every minute of it.

14.  Began seriously training for Two Oceans Half Marathon. Lucky to have the support of a group of friends at school training as well – made long runs over the weekends more bearable.

15.  Chelsea met a 23-year-old South African named Matthew (he is one day younger than her!). She is very happy; therefore, so am I! It’s great to see her get what she deserves!

16.  Presented on Responsive Classroom (Community Building in the Classroom) to two groups of around 20 teachers during a professional development day at school. Felt ALIVE – it was hard to contain my passion for this subject! Began connecting with a fellow teacher (Heather – Kindergarten teacher from South Africa) and found we make an incredible team!

17.  Presented again to a group of Middle School teachers (and the principal) – very successful. I am feeling quite confident in my presenting skills as well as the subject matter!

18.  February 15^th – stood at O.R. Tambo again awaiting familiar faces to walk through the doors. Scott, Jeremy, and Busa flew in for a two week vacation. My apartment was alive…felt so great to fill it with people!

19.  February 18^th – Katie arrived!! - the first person to book a ticket upon my acceptance of this job! Off we went to Kruger National Park for two nights of safari – yielding sightings of all the Big 5! Points game in the car made seeing impala less boring and the prize of a feline sighting more enticing!  

20.  My visitors left for a short stay in Cape Town, while I continued working – thrilled each morning to wake with an apartment full of life – in the form of unmade beds and open suitcases. A welcomed sight compared to my typical silence and order. 

    21.   Valentine’s Day 10K with Faze and Chelsea – night run through the streets of Randburg. Chelsea and I stayed at about the same pace, and it felt so good to run with someone again!

22.   February 24th - had to say goodbye to Truc Lan. She was an incredibly motivated and intelligent student teacher from the College of New Jersey. I thoroughly enjoyed sharing the classroom with her for her short 8 week stay. LOVED the opportunity to be a cooperating teacher again- there is just nothing like the experience of sharing my classroom, mentoring, and learning from someone so fresh and new in the field of teaching! 

       23.   March break came before I knew it!   About 10 days after Scott and the crew left, Chris Blaudschun arrived! It was great to have another visitor and share my life with more of home. A couple days later, Chris and I were on our way to Cape Town where we met up with Ben, Dan, and Sara – more home.

 24.  Cape Town (3^rd trip down there for me) = sky diving again! Shark cage (we saw 11 different sharks!) Table Mountain (up a different, but equally beautiful route) Stellenbosch (great wine and a chance to pet a cheetah!) Cape of Good Hope (something new for me!). One surprise to the week – meeting Zara (old friend of Chris’ who lives in Cape Town) … she is a doll!!

25.  My 4^th set of visitors left – hard to say goodbye, but I felt so grateful to have had 11 visitors that spent the money and made the trek to South Africa to see my new world! People asked me if it got annoying to have so many people in my apartment – for someone like me, who has shared my entire world for my entire life, loved every minute of all 11 smiles!

26.  A couple of days post-final home visitors, a friend of a friend came through Johannesburg and crashed with me. She brought along a friend of hers and a girl she had met while bouncing around Africa. I had never met her before, but knowing she was a friend of Jeremy White’s meant she certainly could be a friend of mine. In total, Kendra and her friend David only stayed with me for about 5 nights. When they left, you’d never have known I hadn’t met them before! A new perk to living across the world – meeting some incredible people!

27.  For three nights (around this same exact time) I hosted a teacher from Cameroon visiting our school for a conference. I will be honest – it was the last thing I wanted to do, but I had volunteered back in September, so I was stuck! This woman was nice, and I am glad I had a chance to meet someone from another part of the world.

28.   March 31^st – after a 6:30am ten mile run (the last of the long training runs) I brought Kendra and David to the airport and officially closed Hotel Akerley for the school year. J As much as I loved all of my visitors, it was very nice to know that the apartment was back to being mine – all mine for awhile.

29.  Wednesday, April 4^th – Carbo Load potluck dinner at Dee’s. Several of the Two Ocean runners gathered at Dee’s for dinner. Sitting in her quaint living room, laughing and mentally preparing for the upcoming race, it felt like I was home! I have good people here – good friends. What did I do to deserve two “homes,” filled with incredible people, in this life?

    30.   Thursday, April 5^th – for the first time in my career I found myself working at a school with an Easter holiday break. After an early release, eight of us headed to Lanseria Airport and hopped a plane down to Cape Town – 5 of us  set for a 21.1k race (13miles) known as the Two Oceans Half Marathon. 
   Post-race plans - wine tasting in Franschhoek WInelands! 

the snowball effect

The first week I missed writing a post, I told myself - "It's ok. I'll write one next week." Then next week came and went, and I repeated the phrase "It's ok. I'll write one next week." But alas, next week came and went again, and still NO POSTS. Like a snowflake that quickly catches another flake and another, before finally sticking into a cold, solid ball of snow - my "It's ok. I'll write one next week." has turned into over three months of post-less blogging. Ooops!  I am grateful for the technology that eliminates 8000 miles of land and sea and allows me the chance to share my experiences with you all back home. It has been this connectivity that has made living so far away more comfortable. Upon first arriving in South Africa, writing about my experiences helped shrink the distance because I knew my words were being read and I was being missed.
 As time has marched on, I have continued to miss my life in New Hampshire, but I have also begun to create a temporary home here in Johannesburg. The nights have grown less lonely, and the days have filled with more distractions. My circle of friends has stretched and my social calendar remains full. Increased Internet capability allows me to see faces and hear voices.  Regular reflections on the highs and lows of my days and experiences have lined the once empty space left in my heart after leaving home. Each day that passes I grow up more and more – I become the woman I always wanted to be but never thought I’d see – the woman who stood on my own and pushed my comfort zone and left “home.” I have an overwhelming desire to be back home every day that I am here - but the difference is: I don’t need to be.
 

All that “sediment” (it’s a Grampa Anderson thing) aside, I return back to the problem at hand…I have become very neglectful to all my readers out there, and for that I apologize. There have been many times when I pulled my computer out to start writing, but each time, the snowball seemed too big. The task of recalling all that had happened since the last time I posted seemed too daunting, so I just gave up. As spring pushes away winter in New Hampshire and fall’s chill begins to settle here in Joburg, it’s time to melt the snowball. J

Reflections of November/December (Part 1)

Written while waiting for my flight home from Paris’ Airport!

Soweto 10K – November 6^th

The words GONE FOR A RUN are nailed to one of my bedroom walls. Below them hang the medals given to me for completing distance races. A rainbow of colored ribbons remind me of my six half marathons, two Reach the Beach relays, and my two marathon finishes. Hanging on the far left of this colorful bunch now hangs a white ribbon clinging to a medal with the engraving “Soweto 10K” – my first road race in South Africa!

As I am with most things in life, I was late to sign up for the race; therefore, I ran not as Mandy Akerley but rather as my friend Robyn Spicer who had to back out at the last minute. The race ran as a 6-mile course and a marathon course – I played it safe and stuck with the 6 miles! J Thankfully, this course was a much flatter route than those I typically run back in my area of JoBurg. I crossed the finish line with a time of about 51 minutes, which I was quite pleased with given the altitude and difficulty I have been experiencing running in Johannesburg. I could have finished in two hours and still been happy – I had completed my first race in South Africa – first of many I intend to run while living here.

It was exciting to be back on the road running an organized event. The only snag in the event was my inability to open the “bag of water” that was given along the route – apparently you are supposed to use your teeth!  I experienced the same camaraderie on the South African roads that I have always enjoyed back home. Although I was disappointed the course did not take us through the notable township of Soweto, I found it an interesting cultural experience to run alongside people from all over the world. Most of the conversations being had around me were in languages I couldn’t understand. But, that didn’t matter because all I needed was to see their feet (many times bare) pounding the pavement to motivate me to keep moving.

A TIME TO BE THANKFUL – November 20^th

I can remember watching an old episode of Felicity on TV when I was in college. The main character and her new friends at NYU had all gathered together for a potluck Thanksgiving dinner because none of them were able to travel home for the holiday. The idea of not being home for a holiday was as foreign to me then as the French language being spoken around me here in the Paris airport is now. “I’ll never not be home for Thanksgiving!” I recall thinking. 

Well, fast-forward many years and where do I find myself but in South Africa at Thanksgiving – unable to make it home. This holiday would be my first celebrated away from home. I smiled at myself as I began relating with the fictional character, Felicity. Missing this holiday was sad and a reality check about my new life. Decisions that sent me 8,000 miles away to an exciting new life were also going to carry with them times of disappointment for all that I would miss back home.

Luckily, I was not alone. Once again, in the same way as Felicity and her fictional college buddies gathered to celebrate Thanksgiving, I assembled with some of my new friends and joined in a potluck feast to celebrate the American holiday we were all missing. Nearly twenty of us, all Americans, including my principal and his wife, sat at a beautifully decorated table at Ann and Charley’s house. We raised our glasses of South African wine and toasted to the American holiday that connected all of us so far from home. I wanted nothing more than to be diving into a plate of my mother’s turkey dinner, but as I passed the mashed potatoes to a friend who had been a complete stranger only 4 months prior, I smiled – a grateful smile. 

Homeward Bound

The plane wobbled and bobbed, dropped, and swayed in ways no human being should ever have to experience. All the excitement of going home drained from my body like the color did from my face. My Air France flight to Paris, the first of two flights that are taking me home, was wonderful as I slept but miserable as we descended.

All around me, passengers clung to airsick bags like these pieces of paper may perhaps erase the misery of motion sickness. I sat planning my escape to the bathroom (no way was I going to get sick into a bag!) when it dawned on me that getting sick in a turbulent airplane bathroom might not be any better than into a paper bag. I resigned myself to the reality that this rectangular shaped bag might be all that was in the cards for me, and reached in the pocket in front of me to fetch it. Unfortunately, it was not there. My legs started tingling, and I knew I’d join the airsick club if we didn’t land immediately. Either that, or I might pass out – a seemingly worse predicament.

“Do you have an airsick bag?” I sheepishly asked the man next to me. As he handed it to me, I assured him, “I will do everything in my power not to use this right here!”

After one failed attempt to land and the threat of a diversion to another airport, our pilots finally managed to touch down nearly 12 hours after taking off from Jo’Burg. I was so relieved to be on the ground (with my bag still empty) that I patted the shoulder of the stranger next to me, “Thank God!” Still clutching the white paper bag (just incase) I disembarked from the plane grateful for solid ground!

A friend of mine recently emailed me with a subject line, “BUSY?” Reflecting on the last month of my life in JoBurg, I guess busy is an accurate description! Although I am disappointed in my lack of posting, I am excited at what that means: I have a good life in JoBurg! When I accepted this position, I declared immediately that I would be coming home for Christmas. At the time, I imagined a very homesick “me” who would need a trip home to refill my “homesick bank.” As I boarded the plane last night, I said to my friend Ryan who was travelling on the same flight, “I want to go home – I’m so excited to go home – but I don’t NEED to go home.” 

I am not the “me” that I had envisioned back almost a year ago. I am a “me” who loves and needs my family and friends back home and is over the moon at the thought of seeing them all again, but I am a new “me” who is happy with my decision to move and is enjoying all that fills my cup back in JoBurg. How lucky am I to have what I do and to be experiencing what I am and to be supported every step of the way by the people whom I will embrace for the first time in 5 months - in less than 12 hours!

So, here I sit at Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris, France. I am now one hour behind JoBurg and six hours ahead of Home. My next flight - my chariot home - isn’t for another three hours, so I am inclined to use this time to catch up on all that I has happened since my last post at the end of November. I will do my best to keep it short! J read on...

African Umoja and Stupid Taxi Drivers

Everyone needs a Chelsea in their life! She is the master of making a plan and organizing all the pieces to ensure it happens! Last night, she organized for Beth and me to join her at the Victory Theater near downtown Johannesburg to watch a show called African Umoja - traditional song and dance of African culture. I'll admit, I was initially skeptical - anticipating some version of a third rate production. However, when the cast bowed after the finale, I sat wishing the show would go on!

Chelsea, per usual, found a gem! This nearly 2.5 hour performance was filled with incredible music and sensational dancing. The drums were powerful, the voices gave me goosebumps, and the dancing kept a smile of amazement on my face the whole night. Standing on the stage at the start of the show was an African man, probably in his late 60's, who began to tell the story of how music has played a role in African culture. The cast transformed in proportion to the changing times portrayed in the show. They began as topless women draped in beads and topless men dressed in furs and leather pounding on drums. Their costumes, music, and dance changed as they traveled through the apartheid era, swing, gangster styles, gospel, and returning full circle to their roots. I sat there in my squishy, Victory Theater seat, amazed by their talent, moved by the importance of music, and grateful for the experience.

That was the good part of the evening. Let me rewind a few hours to the bad part....

Downtown JoBurg is not an area we choose to explore very often, in fact, not really at all. Most locals will ask you, "Why would you want to go there?" Luckily, our evening plans placed us just on the outskirts of downtown, but not so far away that the blood wasn't pumping as we drove my little Jetta down the lively streets. Thanks to the preparedness of Chelsea, we had back-up directions to rely on when the trusty ol' TomTom told us we had reached our destination as we pulled into the parking lot of an apartment building.

"There's the BP!" Beth shared, confirming we were headed in the right direction. In about two minutes, the Victory Theater was in view off to our left. The problem was that I was driving in the inside lane. Flipping on my turn signal, I slowed down in my lane and prepared to turn left. In my rearview mirror I could see a red and orange taxi quickly approaching in the lane next to me. I hesitated to make my turn but noticed the taxi appeared to slow down for me. Naturally, I began to take my turn; however I quickly corrected myself because the taxi was not actually slowing down. One thing led to another and our vehicles made contact.

Perhaps I should explain South African taxis to you before going any further. Very simply put, taxis are not to be messed with! They are about the size of conversion vans and always look as though they've been through hell. The reason is because the drivers of these taxis have no regard for any other motorist on the road. Though I don't know the accurate statistic, I would assume that taxis make up probably 75% of all accidents in South Africa! When someone tried to cut me off in the States, I played chicken with that vehicle until they backed off or at least got the impression they couldn't mess with me. Here - there is no game of chicken. Here, you back off! Taxis are not to be messed with.

Thankfully, this taxi was not moving with much speed (at all) at the moment his vehicle struck mine, so the damage to my car is no more than a decent dent and some deep scratches and thankfully none of us were hurt at all. The part of the incident that was difficult to deal with was not the accident itself, but rather the reaction of the driver. As I pulled my car over to the side of the lane and threw on my hazards, the irrate driver abandoned his taxi in the middle of the lane and stalked over to my car screaming at us. A passerby, watching the whole incident, said, "Ooooh. He's gonna kill YOU!" Back home you'd just shrug off a comment like that; however, in S.Africa - you just never know.

Chelsea and Beth got of of the car to inspect the damage.  The heavyset man, about six feet tall, bounded over to us shouting that we needed to fix his car. "Sorry, but we don't know how to fix cars!" Beth responded matter of factly. The angry man continued to yell demanding that "the driver" come to his car and look. Although I was addressing him, he continue to yell at Beth and Chelsea. Upon my refusal to get out of my car and leave it in the middle of the lane, he threatened to call the police. I told him to go ahead and we'd figure things out. He didn't like that answer, "Get out of your car and come back here to look."

When it was glaringly obvious we were not going to get anywhere with this man, Chelsea and Beth got back in the car, and we told the man we were moving the car to a safer place before we discussed the accident. I pulled out into my lane and we manuevered our way back to the parking area for the Victory Theater. The taxi driver was gone.

No one was hurt, and the car was still completely drivable. Overall, my first accident in South Africa was not anything to write home about (despite the fact that writing about it is exactly what I'm doing). Clearly, the man knew the accident was his fault and reacted the way he did because he saw three American women he thought he could fool. Little did he know, he picked the wrong three women to mess with! :)
 (I sound so brave and wise, but I'll let you in on a little secret: not one of us had our witts about us to take down his license plate number! OOOPS!)

Turning 30

November 10, 2011 = 30 years old!

When I accepted this job, along with excitement, many disappointments flooded my mind. I wouldn't be around to witness the leaves transform. I wouldn't be home to see Lori start her internship. Katie Blair wouldn't bring me Starbucks on Friday mornings. I wouldn't be able to stop over to see Gram just because I felt like it. And perhaps the most disappointing realization that occupied my mind - I would turn 30 (the big 3 - 0!) without my other half. To make matters worse, this would be our first birthday in our whole life spent apart. This wasn't enough to make me decline the opportunity in South Africa, but it did put a frown on my face. In that moment, I began to imagine a subpar birthday, void of genuine celebration; afterall, my family and friends wouldn't be with me, and I'd be standing alone as I blew out my candles.

When 12 o'clock struck signifying the beginning of November 10th, my cell phone beeped. It was Chelsea - wishing me a very happy birthday! When I woke up the next morning, my wall on Facebook had already been added to with messages of celebration from both my American friends back home and my new friends here in South Africa.  Arriving at school, I was met by a mother of one of my students holding a large boquet of flowers and a sign plastered to my door (made by my good friend Beth). During Morning Meeting, my classroom door opened and in streamed Ms. Smith and the entire group of fourth grade students singing HAPPY BIRTHDAY. After a rousing chant of, "Are you 1, Are you 2, Are you 3..." all the way to 30, Ms. Jackson and Ms. Gina (my other teammates) marched in carrying a tray of 30 cupcakes all sparkling with trick candles.

Later that afternoon, the fifth grader who I tutor handed me a sandstone figurine from Kenya. "It is supposed to be a mother and child, but I think of it as a teacher and student!" she said as I opened her present. Inside her card she wrote, "You make math fun! You are the best teacher ever!" Following my afternoon with her, I joined Chelsea and about 18 other friends at a restaurant in town. Everyone was there to celebrate my birthday. Although I sat alone in front of the candle, my new friends made sure to remember this day was not just mine: "...Happy Birthday dear Mandy (AND LORI)! Happy Birthday to you!"

The night continued when we returned home to Chelsea's apartment. Chelsea, in her extreme thoughtfulness, had secretly collected my mother's recipe for the eggless chocolate cake we have every year on our birthday, and with great success had baked a replica! BUT, she didn't stop there. Knowing how important it was that Lori be "with" me on this day in whatever way she could be, Chelsea had printed out a picture of Lori's head and held it over her own face declaring, "Look who came! Lori's here!" My heart swelled.

It was just over nine months ago that I accepted this job - this opportunity to change my life. At the time, I was focused on what I would miss while I was away from home. As I write this, at the ripe age of 30, I can now feel the sadness of missing my family, friends, and comforts of home, but I can also see the incredible new family (Chelsea), friends and comforts I have found here in South Africa.
When I laid my thirty year old head down on my pillow, I marvelled at all the love and friendship I had been surrounded by on my birthday - and all after only three months.

While it was unfortunate that Lori and I had to spend our first birthday apart, it is exciting to think we did so in such incredible ways:

I turned 30 in South Africa

and

Lori turned 30 on a cruise ship 4 days after she got engaged!

Life is good.

The Amazing Race - skydiving and wine tasting

Day #3

I was driving along Route 16 with my windows wide open. Singing along with my radio distracted me long enough to forget the check that was loosely tucked up in my visor. As I approached the exit for the mall, with the speed of a “foot in mouth” comment you wish you could take back, that check shot out of the window with the wind and sailed away among the cars behind me! There was nothing I could do in that moment – I felt hopeless (and broke!).

Fast-forward many years to the skies over Cape Town, South Africa. A small, single prop plane flew nearly 9,000 feet in the cloudless sky. The plane lacked elite status, with strips of duct tape scattered about and a piece of heavy white cardboard nailed to the side opposite the door. This door, absent of any locking mechanism, rolled open and closed and constituted nearly the entire right side of the plane. “The air is a bit warmer today,” one of the men declared as he put his hand up to a gap in the metal of the ceiling.

Packed inside were six people and a pilot. Alan Chelsea and I paired with our life-saving partners composed the entire passenger list as we journeyed to 9,000ft prepared to jump into the South African air. Tucked into the front right corner of the plane was Alan’s tandem partner, with Alan sitting close in front. To their right sat my tandem partner, Jason. He looked remarkably similar to Hugh Grant’s roommate in the movie Notting Hill, but I didn’t care as long as he knew how to pull open our shute! In front of Jason, between his outstretched legs sat me, with one arm wrapped around my legs and the other gripping Chelsea’s hand. She sat next to me, pressed up against the “not so safe” door. Her tandem partner Beu, sat opposite her, periodically checking his altimeter watch. Finally, “Ok, let’s get ready!”

Let the record show that up until this point, I was ok. I was anxious and quietly terrified, but I was composed. It had all happened so fast: got out of the car, signed my life away, strapped on a harness that would hopefully keep me alive, walked to a plane that defied all logic, climbed in without so much as a second thought, and silently panicked momentarily as the plane climbed off the runway. Squeezing Chelsea’s hand, the reality had not fully sunken in yet. When Beu announced we had reached our altitude, and Chelsea began to turn her body around to be strapped to her soon to be hero, reality came rushing in like cold to your nerves. As I scooted onto Jason lap so I could be secured, I instantly began to panic. The fear increased exponentially as soon as Beu rolled open the door and moved toward the opening where the door had been seconds before. Gripping Jason’s thighs I began to declare, “I can’t do this! I can’t do this!” Even though I was not going to ask to stay in the plane or have it turn around and land, there was still that little bit of "escape" left right up until that moment when Beu announced it was time. In that second, it was official, there was no turning back.

In the same way it is nearly impossible to avert your eyes from a car wreck, I struggled to look away as Chelsea dangled over the edge of the plane on her guide’s lap. Suddenly, like the check that flew out of my car window so many years ago, Chelsea was gone! She had disappeared into the sky, and I was next.  As the insane reality of what just happened struck me in the gut, a split second passed in silence. Then, with increased despair, I began to cry (only a little!) and panic; however, despite it all, I miraculously remembered every direction previously given to me. I tucked my feet under the plane, tilted my head back into Jason’s neck, and prayed to God!

Whooosh! Just like that…I was gone!

For what felt like minutes, I shot through the blue sky, face to the ground, with the air deafening me. I forced my arms out to my side like a bird and willed my eyes open long enough to see table mountain, the waters of False Bay, and the brown and greens of the landscape below. Jason tapped my shoulder, he pulled the cord, and our bodies reversed direction. The roar of the wind silenced as if turned off by a switch. The free fall ended. There I hung on the front of a man named Jason floating thousands of feet above Cape Town in awe of the scenery that lay below me. In disbelief that the girl who has feared heights for as long as I can remember just dropped out of the sky willingly! I smiled with appreciation for life and pride for me!

What better way to top skydiving than with a glass of wine…in fact-several glasses! Our morning was spent falling from an airplane and our afternoon would be spent touring the wineries in the heart of Stellenbosch – part of the Cape Winelands of South Africa. We spent several hours driving from one vineyard to the next sampling some of the finest wines in all of SA. The six hours we spent sitting back, relaxing, and sipping reds and whites was the icing on the cake that was our day. Green fields striped with grape vines were nestled below the Helderberg Mountains and provided some of the most incredible scenery I’ve ever seen. Many times during this day I found myself feeling the kind of contentment that declares, “I could stay like this forever.” 

Cheers!

Life is too short to drink cheap wine...