End of Year Celebrations

We are now in the end-of-year season and we have been to several celebrations recently.

On Friday 23rd November the staff at the Cape Town studios went for a meal together to celebrate Christmas.

As often happens at such events, some of them wore silly Christmas hats. Here from, left to right, are Donna, Brigitte, Nicky and Tanya.

The event was held at Bloemendal, a restaurant on the Durbanville hills, overlooking Table Mountain in the distance.

At this time of year the 'tablecloth' forms on the mountain top. That day it looked more like a train with steam pouring out of its chimney. It was an extremely windy day, so that could explain the unusual cloud formation.

Bloemendal is a wine farm and now the vineyards are green again, with miniture bunches of grapes beginning to form.

I thought it was somewhere we had never been before, but when we arrived I recognised it as the place we had come on the day I arrived in Cape Town, for a three week visit, in September 2006. The restaurant was the location for the launch of the film 'Faith Like Potatoes'.

On Sunday 25th our church had a picnic on the school sports field.

South Africans are famous for their braais, which are giant BBQ's filled with charcoal. Some have legs and others are made from oil drums cut in half. When they were all lit and cooking the meat, a thick fog covered the area, in the middle of which were most of the men!

Why are braai-ing, BBQ-ing, bar-b-ing, churrascando (portuguese), and any form of outdoor cooking, predominantly a male domaine?

It was a very hot day so parasols and gazebos were essential.

There are lots of young children in the church, so they had fun on the bouncy castle...

... or kept cool on the water slide.

Then, on Wednesday 28th November the ladies in the church met for their final home group. The group I attend joined with another one for breakfast (at 10am) followed by 'Secret Santa', where everyone buys an inexpensive gift, wraps it and places it in a large washing basket. We then took it in turns to select a gift from the basket. Here are a few of the ladies and their gifts...

Before the event I had been told of a game they sometimes play where the person opening their gift can swap it for someone elses, but as the game commenced each person showed their gift and kept it.

Immediately I took my gift from the basket I noticed how heavy it was, very conscious of our severe weight limit on the homeward journey in a few weeks time. The bottles of bubble bath and hand cream were beautiful but I knew I could not take them home, so looked for an opportunity to swap. However, none came: I think they had abandoned the idea.

So, as the last lady opened her gift I plucked up courage and explained my predicament, asking if anyone would like to swap their light gift for my heavy one. I ended up with a handmade necklace, which I am delighted with. It will be a lasting memory of Wednesday mornings spent with these wonderful ladies and some gorgeous babies. Before we finished on Wednesday they all prayed for Andy and me, blessing us for future.

Lastly, my dance studio held its end of year exams. I had taken the Bronze Preliminary Exams in July, entering for Foxtrot, Waltz, Tango and Rumba. I passed them all and have been working towards the next level since then, which is Bronze Intermediate.

Last night I took seven different exams: Foxtrot, Waltz, Tango, Rumba, Cha-cha, Boogie and Eastern Swing. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to mix exam levels, so although I didn't feel ready for some of them, at the next level, I decided to enter.

My previous teacher, Wesley, has now moved back to Johannesburg, so this is Ivan who came from Kosova to South Africa as a child. His mother, Marina, is the head of the dance studio, and he has been dancing for many years. He is an excellent teacher: very patient, but also clear with his instructions, persevering until I get it right.

I have really enjoyed the dance class. It has not only given me a new hobby, which I can continue in the future, but it's also been a great place to meet and get to know other South Africans from very diverse backgrounds.