Week 12 – There and Back Again

(not quite a Hobbit’s tale, but an adventure none the less)

And I am back in South Africa! Sjoe, that was definitely a whirlwind of a trip! I flew from Joburg to Dubai to Dulles and arrived in the arctic. Seriously, it was FREEZING there! There was even snow!

I landed Sunday, with my body having no idea what time zone it was in. I joined dad and Colleen to go to Colleen’s stables to meet her horses and help put rugs on them because no one likes this cold.

I completely did not think ahead and did not realise that Monday was a public holiday in America, so I had to scratch Monday off my admin list which meant I had a full open day. I called up Casey to see what she was up to and then was able to join her, Jessie and the kids for an afternoon at a local wine farm. It was so wonderful to be able to spend time with them and catch up on life. I had not seen either of them in nearly three years! We had a great time trying the different wine pairings, including a Girl Scout Cookie flight! Ah man, I have missed Girl Scout Cookies. I cannot say the wine was the greatest (South African wines have really spoilt me), but the company definitely made it a very special trip!

Monday evening, I went to West Virginia with dad, Colleen and her family for some snow tubing! Luckily dad and Colleen had enough extra winter gear that they were able to kit me out, otherwise I might still be a popsicle stuck to the hillside in West Virginia. It was a lot of fun though! It was a “disco night” at the slopes, so they had colourful lights and music going as we made our way up and down the tubing hill.

Tuesday was admin day and I must say, I was very impressed. After dealing with South Africa’s systems for the last near nine years, it was a breath of fresh air doing life admin in the states. We got to the DMV, waited for my number to be called, handed in my paperwork, did my eye test, took that damn expensive photo, and had everything done and out the door in under 17 minutes!!! That would take at least 4 weeks to accomplish in SA. AND my new drivers license was mailed to my dad’s house the VERY NEXT MORNING. Crazy. Systems that actually work. Who knew? On the way back dad and I stopped at the grocery store and I made him walk up and down every single isle with me while I gawked at all of the variety – you really can get anything in America. I also stocked up on Fig Newtons, Reece’s, Butterfingers and Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning.

I met up for dinner with Jackie at the Mexican restaurant in town. Jackie is one of the most amazing humans and my heart is always so full after spending time with her! It was also great to have some Mexican food again – SA does not do Mexican right.

On Wednesday, Alice came over and we went out for lunch at Locals. She has been my second mom for nearly my entire life and it was so great seeing her and spending time with her. Alice has one of the biggest hearts. I dearly miss her when we go so long without seeing each other. It is always so much fun to catch up and reminisce over old stories and memories.

Wednesday evening, I popped by to Rani and David’s to collect some more ranch seasoning (thank you, Jessie!!) and catch up with them. I found out that Rani is probably my biggest fan of this blog and I cannot tell you enough how chuffed I was to hear that she reads all my posts! (Hi Aunt Rani!!!!) To be honest, I just do this blog so that I can look back on it one day and remember, but always hoped I could use it as a way to keep up with close friends and family but was not sure anyone ever read them. Well, I was really surprised that someone out there actually reads these, and it truly made my day! ❤ Getting to spend time with family really made me realise how much I miss everyone! I wish I could have spent longer there, but my heart is so happy that I had the chance to spend the little time I had surrounded by love and family!

To everyone that I just was unable to see this trip – I am so sorry! The main focus was getting admin done and I promise the next time I visit the states I will make a proper trip out of it to try and see everyone!!

Thursday morning before dawn, it was back to the airport to start the long trip home. It was ridiculously cold, and they were calling for major snow Thursday morning. Luckily my flight was only delayed by an hour and half while they had to deice the plane before take-off. I had never seen that before, so it was kinda cool to see but it meant I was late landing in Dubai and nearly missed my second flight. Though I have to admit, Emirates is pretty incredible. When the plane landed, they had staff members waiting for everyone with close calls on their connecting flights and the guy waiting there for me rushed me through the airport skipping ahead of the queues at security to make sure I got to my flight on time. I did get super lucky though and both of my long flights, I had the whole row to myself, so I was able to stretch out!!

Instead of making Ellery drive all the way back to Joburg, I caught a quick 37 minute flight into Nelspruit and he picked me up from the airport Friday night. It is really good to be home again.

Saturday morning, I woke up (still having no idea what time zone I am in) to my birthday at home. The sun rose with herds of nyala and impala outside our house and I could hear lions roaring in the distance. Ellery joined me at the stables to go love up on Akira and apologise for not being around this past week. She was so excited to see me that she was nickering away from her stall as I made my way down the barn. I was spoiled with some of Ellery’s delicious homemade carbonara (my favourite!) and we both passed out on the couch watching movies together.

35 years old and I can proudly say that I am living my dream here in the wilds of Africa! ❤