Day 50 - Saturday

Departure! One last trip to the Garden to feed the squirrels nuts. We had a lot of nuts left. Fat, happy squirrels in our wake. Parting words to Cape Town, "an Irish coffee should not be served in a wine glass, it's a hot beverage!"

Day 49 - Friday

Time to get serious about getting ready to go. Went to Company's Garden for a working breakfast. My Fall calendar is filling up too quickly! We went to Mexicano for a snack and worked on hemp jewelry. They have a big sign out front that says, "Parking for Mexicans Only". The first time we were there, a couple parked out front, then checked to make sure it was ok. Clearly did not get the novelty of the sign. This time, we ran across our first group of Americans in town. 3 girls who sat in the booth next to ours. They were loud and obnoxious as ever. I see where Americans get the reputation. For the first time since we've been here, I couldn't avoid hearing the entire conversation. One of them claims she cannot donate blood now because she slept with an African. Another like so could like not like finish a like sentence without like saying "like" like 5 times. Jeez ... Finally, we finished up our souvenir shopping and bought a new suitcase to bring back all the stuff we accumulated. After going to the Backpacker's to say goodbye to the students, came home and started packing. I couldn't sleep, as I never can before a trip, and read half of the book I was saving for the plane.

Day 48 - Thursday

Finishing up work and getting ready to go. Looking forward to good Internet access again! Also looking forward to not having to deal with it next week in Ireland. It's amazing how little work I get done without it. Everything I do involves the web to a large extent, and it's been torture trying to accomplish things without it. 2 hours today completing something that should have taken 15 minutes. Need to find a way to change that for next year.

Went to the V&A Waterfront to bring receipts to the VAT office. I have about R2,000 coming back in taxes. Yay me! Dinner at Mitchell's for the last time. Listening to South African accents all around me, I realize I really miss hearing the voices of people who talk like me. Aside from the study abroad group at the game lodge, I haven't seen another American since we arrived.

Note to self, an African Toilet is made with banana liquor, Amarula, and Nachtmusik. Leave out the Nachtmusik and it's a Hard On.

Day 47 - Wednesday

Said goodbye to the casino, and actually took some cash home this time :)

Day 46 - Tuesday

Goodbye coffee with Steven and last night at the casino. I'm really going to miss gambling with Rand! So much fun for so little expense.

Day 45 - Monday

Last day of class today. One of the students read a blog entry and left me realizing that my blog is so boring! I haven't really invested the time to make it interesting. I guess I've just been having too much fun doing things to spent time writing about them. At lunch today, the boy was interested in the spring rolls. He likes bread, and of course 'it is a roll made in the Spring'. Sadly he was disappointed. I encouraged him to try a burger instead and deeply regretted that after he returned it on the bathroom floor that night. I'm going to have to learn how to cook before next trip.

Day 44 - Sunday

Like our first week, so is our last. It's raining. Went to the mall and ate at Dros. The kid's play room is great. That's something we're missing back home. Places that cater to adults and kids at the same time. A separate "bar" side of the restaurant is great for the parents while the kids are happily playing together in their own room. After dinner, we saw Ice Age 3. The theater was obviously built very nicely, but sadly is poorly maintained. That seems to be true of a lot of places here. Service jobs don't seem to be well managed, and service, as well as food quality, is inconsistent from day to day. I'm starting to realize a lot of the things I take for granted back home, and missing them!