The things on my Agenda

Although I may be back from my 6 month stint in the UK, my gap year isn’t over so I am still in the process of looking for things to do for the next few months until Uni starts. For now I have been merely soaking in the presence of my family, which has proven to be an exhaustingly pleasant feat, especially after 6 months of being away.

Coming back was a bit of a culture shock in itself, but not in a bad way, In a way that has had me thrown back into the rituals of home life and the happenings of African Culture. A big contributor to this is the fact that the weekend I got back, was also the weekend that lobola negotiations were being done for my cousin- If you do not know what lobola is, I suggest you Google it. As a result of this my body has had to readjust itself from the ways of western life to that of my African family.

It has been great to actually be old enough to understand how this important part of African culture works and to be fully immersed in it. It has shown me all the things that I have missed about being back home, and I now know what to expect when I get married one day- when I am 85, maybe. On the downside of this, is the fact that every other family member approaches me and says “you’re next aren’t you? Will it be a white man?” To which I reply with a nervous giggle and a shrug of the shoulders.

Now, to my agenda. I do not have anything planned as of yet, but I am hunting around for jobs and things to do and I have come across the Johannesburg film and photography expo which I hope to go to at the end of next month. I think it is something like the largest of its kind in Africa so it should be really exciting. Other than that my plans are pretty flexible, I have loosely organized to go to Cape Town, to see old school friends and Pietersburg to see my lovely grandmother.

Most of my time however will be filled, by finishing touches to university things and an interview which is in the near future.

In between everything else I am enjoying being back in the African sun, which at times is rather scorching. But I guess it’s the perfect balance after in a country that has season commitment issues.

That’s all, Bye! :) x

My day in North Devon (11th Sept)

Aaaaand, we're back. It seems like every time I abandon this blog (albeit very temporarily) I come back with a million and one stories to share and this time is no different. Today I will disclose the details of a Magical Mystery Tour (as it was so described) that I was taken on around the North of Devon.

Anyone familiar with Devon will know that it is an extremely beautiful part of the country and (as I have discovered) that the North of Devon is a particular gem. Anything that I could say in words would not even begin to portray how beautiful it is, so I have assembled, a collection of photos that will sum up my day.

Before I allow you to feast your eyes on the beauty of my assembly of pictures, I would like to mention some very special people who designed and facilitated this "Magical Mystery Tour." Sandra and Pete (Sandra's son), who  invited me to their part of the country, are also responsible in allowing me to do the amazing leadership course that I mentioned in a blog post here a while ago. So a huge thank you to them for being a part of my amazing experience in this beautiful country and for immersing me in the most picturesque sites for a day.

After some thought, I realise that I could just pop some pictures into this space but I would rather take you through my explorations and show you where I went and what I did there. Sound good?

First, I arrived at the train station in a town called Barnstable (which is pronounced "barn-stable" for reference.) I was welcomed here by Sandra and Pete whom I had never met before so I spent a few split seconds, as I was disembarking the train, stressing about whether I would have to approach random people and ask if they were here to pick me up. None of that was necessary, although it would have been quite an experience in itself.

We then drove to Instow, to get a taster of some of the lovely sites to come.

I had to jump out of the car to get this shot overlooking the Estuary

Next was a town called Bideford. Here we popped into a place called Golden Bear belts, and had a peek into the process of leather belt making. Each belt is customized to the preferences of the customer, so no two belts are exactly the same. This is also all done in the most environmentally friendly way. 

The next league of our tour was to the only place in the British Isles to have an exclamation point in its name (yes, it is possible, apparently.) There is a  story of how Westwood Ho! came to get such an extraordinary name and it involves a bestselling novel (back in the day) and a brainwave as to how tourism could be induced in the village. I was also treated to possibly the most delicious vanilla Ice Cream that I have had in my life. 

A Panorama overlooking the coastal views that one would get from Westwood Ho!

Next, was off to lunch at what is described as the best pub in all of Devon: a claim with which I will not argue. The home of this pub (the old Smithy) is a place called Welcombe. I had a veggie burger which can actually compete with other non-veggie burgers that I have had, yes, it was that good. 

The exterior of The Old Smithy

Pete and I conversing about something. It's probably very interesting.

A candid of me saying something. Photo Credit: Sandra (she is a photographer so a few more pictures will pop up that were taken by her.)

After lunch we went for a coastal walk along Hartland and its quay. It is very hard to walk along this coastline and not say "wow" or "amazing" or "beautiful" at every single corner that you take. It's not only beautiful because of the nature that lies around it but also because of the geology of the area, where you have these gigantic cliff faces that seem to have buckled into grotesque yet oddly charming formations. It almost seems as though the rocks will start moving and crumbling as you walk over them. Another beautiful yet slightly unnerving feature, is the stillness of the water. It seemed almost counter intuitive to be near the sea and have it be so quiet. It was very peaceful though. 

Driving to Hartland.

Some burnt shrubbery. It looks quite artistic, don't you think?

A snap by Sandra of me taking a snap of the beautiful views.

I especially love the rays of light in this one. 

Some of the rock formations I was speaking about. And the still water. 

Some flowers.

A view of the quay. 

To end off the tour we went to what I think should be referred to as a postcard town. Mostly because you could take a picture of anything in Clovelly and you could place it on a postcard and it would look outstanding. Understandably this picturesque town is appealing to many tourists and I found myself wondering how the residents felt having all these strangers walking through their town taking pictures of their houses and streets. 

At some point my battery died so I could not take too many pictures but luckily I had a photographer with me so I did get some lovely shots. 

Some donkeys that we came across at the top of the village before we started walking down towards the quay. And note the cobble stones which run all the way through to the bottom of the village onto the quay. 

A view of how the main street stretches to the bottom of the village.

I wonder how this resident feels about my taking pictures of the flowers on their balcony.

A look at the quay and some boats.this is the point where my battery died so the following pictures were all taken by Sandra.

One of the boats and a leveled view of the quay.

We had some natural fruit juice after a tiring decent through the village. We were also joined by Jen who is on the left. 

 Some wide angled views of the surrounding area. 

When we got back to the top of the hill I thought that this cow was in some need of photographing so Sandra did the honours. 

The "Magical Mystery tour" then drew to an end and it was time for me to head on home. It was back to Barnstaple and onto a train that would take me to Totnes. I was lucky enough to meet a lady called Amanda who was on the train with me so it wasn't a lonely ride back. And it also meant that I didn't run the risk of getting onto the incorrect trains because she was very familiar with it all.

Again, the hugest thank you to Sandra and Pete, for ensuring that I had a truly magical day, and for adding to my memories, an incredible tour around the North of Devon.

That's all, Bye! :) x

ALS Ice Bucket challenge

I did it, after much deliberation I decided that it was well worth pouring a bucket of ice cold water over my head despite all the criticisms that the fad has been getting. I was lucky in that the person that nominated me asked if I wanted to do it first, so I had some time to really think about it and decide if I was willing to take part. A part of me was temped to stand in the side lines and continue being the person who judges such internet trends but I think that sometimes, taking part in what everyone else is doing is not so bad, but only sometimes.

I did some research and I came to the conclusion that despite whatever claims were being made about the money not going to the correct places or whatever other accusations people were making, I decided that it was worth it because of the awareness that was being spread. Had the challenge not become a trend, I would not have known as much as I do now about ALS and I would never have been compelled to play a part in spreading awareness, to however small an audience.

So here is my challenge. It was oddly refreshing despite my body almost shutting down because of the cold. But I survived. :)

That's all, Bye! :)x

Plans and things

Now that I have caught my breath after a crazy amazing fortnight in London, I can give this here blog a little update (note that the incorrect grammar is purposeful.)

It is the most surreal and strange feeling knowing that I am going to be leaving in two weeks so I actually have to say goodbye to people. I have been planning a sort of farewell type thing just so that I can see people and say thank you to them personally for having me in their wonderful country and making my stay here an absolute blast. I also have to stop myself from becoming weirdly sentimental about everything, which I am doing a horrific job at.

Lets just make a leap to a completely different, slightly shudder inducing, topic shall we?... University

Throughout the course of this year I have always had universities and the like in the back of my mind and I have been constantly tracking applications and doing whatever research needed to be done. the next step for me is to do an interview and a portfolio for Wits, which is my first choice. This is slightly nerve racking but I think that if I just sit down and finish it off (I started quite a while ago) it should all be fine.

On a slightly less worrying note, I have been accepted to my second and third choices so there is always that. These choices being Rhodes university and University of Pretoria which are located in Grahamstown and Pretoria respectively.

Also coming to the surface now is what I will do when I get back to the land of my people (take that and do with it what you will.) I will probably do some work, by some I mean a lot, to save up for Uni and just to get that little bit of extra experience. I will also just spend some time with my family just to catch up on where we all are at in life.

I realise that this post is mostly just me speaking about plans and such, but its kind of nice because now I have to follow through with it seeing as I have written it down and shared it with people. Who knew that this blog would serve a dual purpose?

That's all, Bye! :)x