from Pretoria, SA
The past weekend was our most lively since Kruger Park! Friday night was spent out at Hatfield Square, the students’ hangout, ringed with bars and clubs. Although it wasn’t the most sophisticated social scene, a few beers and good company helped to pass the evening enjoyably.
Beers at Hatfield Square!
Saturday dawned bright and clear, and the three housemates plus Nikki and her roommate headed into Joburg to spend the day at the Gold Reef City theme park. Although the place is advertised as being a good way to educate yourself about the gold mining history of this area (Joburg is essentially built on top of mines), the surface section of the theme park is essentially comprised of the usual assortment of theme park rides (ferris wheel, several roller coasters, log ride, river tubing experience, whirly-gig, pendulum boat, etc…) with a superficial layer of gold mining tackiness layered on top. They do offer tours of the old mine on which it’s built, but we decided that it would be much more worthwhile to take such a tour at a mine that wasn’t a theme park. It was all good fun though, and I even got a few photos on some of the rides (I really wanted to go back and get one on the roller coaster, but we ran out of time!). There were a fair number of school groups there, even a pre-school group, and definitely a smaller proportion of white people than in east-end Pretoria. All the kids and smiling faces simply added to the excitement and carnival feel.
Fun at Gold Reef City!
Around five o’clock the place shut down, and all the crowds made their way out the gate, exhausted but elated. As we were making our way to Nikki’s car, we passed a couple of minibus taxis that had their doors wide open and African popular music cranked up on decent stereo systems. The vans were rocking and the young men and women sitting in the back were in full dance mode! What followed can only be described as a spontaneous ten-minute parking lot dance party, with the teenaged boys most competitive with eachother. It was amazing to see this burst of colour and music bloom around us as we passed through. A few minutes later and everyone drifted off to their cars, taxis and buses.
Sunday was spent preparing a Canadian Thanksgiving dinner for our new friends from work. It was all generated and organized by Rob, on the basis that we should introduce South Africans to some Canadian customs. I cycled to the grocery store in the morning and spent two and a half hours trying to find some hard-to-come-by ingredients while Rob and Rebecca cooked and prepared salads. By the time six o’clock rolled around, we’d been so efficient that dinner had to be warmed up when people wanted to eat. The nine or so guests brough appetizers, wine (which we managed to finish before dinner), and desert, and we all dug in to a wonderful meal, prepared from an assortment of Canadian and American recipes. All in all a great success, and Rob is still eating the leftovers. 
Turkey dinner!
On a random note, my bike’s having some serious issues and I think the seat may fall off before I can get my hands on some Allen keys. I also really really regret not bringing my hiking boots, as there are so many places to hike, and boots are the one thing you can’t borrow from someone!!!
I hope things aren’t too cold in Canada yet! I’m sure I’ll miss the snow for a minute (maybe two) this winter at some point.