I had such a fun weekend! On Saturday my friends and I woke up and went to the beach for our surfing lessons. Our instructor showed us the moves and then we got right out there and tried them ourselves. Since we had wet suits on, we just jumped right into the ocean and tried our new surf moves! First I had to sit there and wait for a good wave. Then when one was coming, I would jump on my board (laying on my stomach) and paddle really fast. Even though I paddled really fast, I felt like I was going no where. But when the wave finally got to me I rode on my stomach for a minute then tried to jump onto my feet. This was the really hard part. I first would jump up onto my knees but when I tried to jump to my feet I would just fall over and wipe out. Finally after wiping out over and over again, I got to my feet and rode the wave all the way in!! It was the best feeling ever and I couldn't believe that I did it! After riding that wave, I was really eager to get back out there and try it again. I got up on my feet about 4 or 5 times and it was incredible! Not to toot my own horn, but I felt like I was a natural and all my friends couldn't believe that I got up so many times. I wanted to stay out there all day and try more and more but eventually our lesson was over. Now I want to get up every Saturday morning and go surfing! After our lesson, my friends and I got lunch on the beach and then laid out for a few hours. The weather was so nice this weekend and were trying to soak up all the sun before the weather starts to get cold. Unfortunately, winter in South Africa is slowly approaching. After we came home from the beach, we all started a huge fire and had a grill out. In South Africa grill outs are called braais. They are really big here and a lot of the locals braai meat almost every night. After dinner I went to bed early because the next morning we woke up early again but this time we caught the train to Cape Town. When we got to Cape Town we took a mini bus to the Waterfront. The Waterfront is a really nice area right on the water with lots of boats and docks. It has a lot of nice restaurants and shops and there's a really big shopping mall. My friends and I went straight for a sea food place for lunch. Nothing like fried calamari while overlooking the water on a gorgeous day! Then we shopped around at all these cute shops and a crafts market. Finally we took the train back home. I slept well last night!
Not only did I have a great weekend but I also got two surprise packages in the mail this week! I first got a big box full of bags of cheese its, granola bars, peanut butter crackers, Milano cookies, movies and a few other things. Right away I opened up a bag a cheese its and cherished every cracker. It was like America in a bag. Having food from back home is such an amazing treat! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! American food is one of the things I miss the most, along with TV and my family. Not only did I get that box, but I also got another box that was full of Ellen's homemade chocolate chip cookies!! If you know who Ellen is or if you have had her cookies then you know how much of a treat this really is! I also got a really cute Valentine's heart decoration that is now hanging over my desk, a cute notepad, some ice tea packets and a card. It was such a great surprise. Thank you Ellen, Kate, Claire and Elizabeth! The only hard thing is trying to make those cookies last me at least a week!! I have also gotten some great cards from my aunt Shelley and Jan, Sitoo and Pap, Maria, and a few other people. I feel so loved I am so blessed to have so many people waiting and thinking about me back home! Seeing so many children and teenagers with basically no family and hearing so many stories from my people who have lost parents or friends makes me cherish everyone I have in my life. I am one lucky and blessed girl
Also, check out my surf pictures that I put up. There are only a few since we couldn't get any action shots. If you don't see them to the left then click on: more photos... (something is wrong and I can't figure out how to fix it).