Holiday Week

This past week I've been on holiday from LUC Academy.  No particular reason besides it was the end of our third term.  Because summer is in December here, the school holidays (and the school year) are a bit different.  We get three weeks off in December and then three other weeks distributed throughout the rest of the year between terms. 

I stayed in Joburg for the holiday but did get to do some exploring of my city and also run a few errands that had to get done. 

After relaxing and doing nothing on the first day of holidays, last Sunday I went to the Taste of Joburg to try some interesting food.  They gave us a menu while waiting in line and I started picking out things I know I like (especially from the Thai place).  But then I woke up and realized that I should be looking for African food or at least something I wouldn't get in North America.  So I settled on a "Duo of Springbok" (leg and loin, coco bean ragout, shitake, tamarind, two way pureed and roasted cawliflower) and a "Neck Meets Tail Terrine" (trio of ostrich neck and star anise, pork belly and citrus, oxtail and red wine terrine with tomato atchar and chakalaka salad).  I was a bit nervous when I got the terrine.  It looked a bit like the head cheese that I used to slice when working in the Farm Boy deli.  Thankfully it tasted nothing like the head cheese smelled.  It was actually very good.  The springbok was also very nice.  I was expecting it to taste like venison but I thought it tasted more like beef.  I also found some craft beer.  I had Darling Brew's Bone Crusher, a very yummy wit beer.  I finished off with a delicious Cranberry, Pomegranate, and Rooibos cupcake.

Monday I went to the China Mall with my friend Roz (a therapist at LUC Academy).  It's basically just a mall with lots of stores filled with things from China and primarily owned by Chinese people.  The most successful purchases of the day were my wall stickers.  They took a while to put up, but hopefully help make my apartment look less like a prison (as the people with whom I've skyped have described its appearance). 

Tuesday was an errand day.  I finally bought some patio furniture.  It's not very pretty or special but it will serve its purpose for the year.

On Wednesday I went to the Joburg Zoo.  The reviews online were not particularly positive but I hadn't been to a zoo in a while and it wasn't too expensive so I decided to go anyway.  I was impressed by the number of animals I saw, especially since the reviews made it seem like you were unlikely to see very many.  However, I was not impressed with the maintenance of the zoo.  Many of the paths were not well maintained and not placed directly beside the animal enclosures.  Also, there were signs indicating to go inside "The Ape House" if the apes were not outside, so I went in (since the doors were open).  However I found an abandoned looking enclosure with someone welding something at the far end.  When I realized I probably shouldn't be in there, I went out the way I came, but got the evil eye from some person who suddenly appeared in the first exhibit which looked like a "science room" (I don't know how to properly describe this, but an area behind glass where people work, not animals).  There was another "science room" in the zoo for visitors to examine the conservation efforts of some endangered frogs.  However the room that held the frog tanks was dirty and looked like it was falling apart in a couple places.  Overall though I wasn't disappointed with my visit.  As I said, I hadn't been to a zoo in a while and it was nice to see some animals in Africa, but not nearly as nice as it would be to see them in "the wild" (please imagine Marty from Madagascar saying that). 

Can you see who's waiting inside?

Monkey (a gibbon I think) with a newborn

On Thursday, I went downtown with my friend Elaine (another therapist at LUC Academy) and her husband.  I was very happy when she invited me to come with them.  I'd wanted to go downtown but I was nervous to do so by myself.  We started off by walking through Gandhi Square to the Carlton Centre, the tallest building in Africa.  We went up to the top for a view of Joburg.  Far off to the north you could even see "The Dome" that I drive by everyday to and from work.  After that we drove to Newtown and walked around a little bit.  We then went to the SAB (South African Breweries) World of Beer and went on a tour there.  It wasn't anything too special and there were quite a few unnecessary videos about beer around the world.  And of course thanks to Dan I already know the basics of beer.  The most interesting parts were the ones about Africa.  We got to try some traditional African beer (the kind made in villages) and learned about the history of the big breweries in South Africa.  At the end there were two "free" beers (included in the entrance fee), chutney chips, and peanuts.  We ended our day at the Oriental Plaza.  It was kind of like the China Mall but Indian.  We had some samosas for lunch and then visited the spice shop before heading home.

To the east

To the south, you can see some mine dumps far in the background

To the north where I live... very far north

Friday was another errand day.  I headed to Home Affairs to see what had to be done about my visa (long story short, I need a small extension).  It was boring and far (in Randfontein) but about as successful as I could have hoped for given the horror stories I had heard about Home Affairs.  They didn't do anything for me then, but gave me the requirements and told me to come back in April.  I spent the afternoon relaxing by the pool.

Yesterday I visited the Groenkloof Nature Reserve near Pretoria.  Like most of the reserves I've visited, the website informed me of the animals that live there, but I didn't have any particularly high hopes of seeing any.  Amazingly though I did get to see some animals!  Giraffes!  I was very excited.  I took tons of pictures.  Later on my walk a turtle was sitting right in the middle of my path.  As I got closer he hid in his shell, but I got some pictures of him from far away. 

The sky is limitless

Overall I had a very good, relaxing holiday.  Now only two and a half more months of school before the Christmas holidays when I get to explore the country with my family and Dan!