Day 6: Rugby and Irene

***Two blog posts this evening because of the busy weekend***

It is 11:30 PM and we just arrived back at the boarding house- 14 1/2 hours after we left :) Today was a packed, but very fun day. I wish that I could post on the blog now, but I'll settle for writing in my journal and re-typing tomorrow. We came back too late and the rec room is closed for the evening. In fact, we almost got locked out because the school gate is supposed to close at 10 PM...

This morning, we met at the Booysen's house for the Super 15 semi-final between the Natal (S.A.) Sharks and the Christchurch (N.Z.) Crusaders. Super 15 is considered the biggest rugby tournament in the world- it is more prestigious than any playoff that the northern hemisphere has and these teams are considered more elite than the ones that compete in the rugby world cup (or so I'm told). The Crusaders feature Daniel Carter, the premier player in the world. He is the Cristiano Ronaldo of rugby- talented AND easy on the eyes. The game was competitive in the first half, but everyone lost interest in the second half as the Crusaders ran away with it.

The Booysens are so friendly and they were incredibly hospitable to our large group. They have a beautiful home located in Cornwall Hill Estates, which is right behind CHC. It is one of the many gated communities in the area- come to think of it, most, if not all, communities are gated. It is far more difficult to get into these communities than it is any gated community in the U.S. Not only must you be on the list to get in, your car VIN is scanned, and your license is scanned before they let you in. The entire process takes several minutes. Anyway, their home was perfect for hosting a large group of students. They have a tennis court, pool, trampoline, climbing wall, cricket pitch, and a large walkout patio complete with a fire pit, grill, arcade games, and a jukebox. There was a fire in the family room and out on the patio to keep everyone warm- no heat in any of these houses and it was a cold day! The students roamed back and forth during the game and played tennis outside. Because it was so early in the morning, they had hot chocolate, coffee, and muffins for us.

Between the game and lunch, Mrs. Klopper and Emily's host mom brought two car loads of students down to the Irene Flea Market. It was a very popular place to be! I was impressed with how many stalls there were, everything from cheese and baked goods to jewelry and clothing, to paintings and iron work. The vendors had intricate work. Everything in the market must be handcrafted or the vendors are kicked out. Many markets in the area have been infiltrated with items made in China, but Irene has kept up it's repuation as one of the best.

After an hour, we went back to the Booysens for lunch. The CHC boys were in charge of the grill and I think they had every mammal possible on there- South Africans love meat! The parents also prepared roasted vegetables, pap (a cornmeal that resembles a very small, dry couscous) with an excellent tomato and onion sauce, corn-on-the-cob, bread, and Greek salad. They also had koeksisters for dessert. NO ONE left that house hungry!

We went our separate ways for the afternoon and evening (with the exception of Lauren, who was whisked away early Saturday morning for a surprise trip to Cape Town!) Mr. Kline and I went with Mr. and Mrs. Klopper to Irene Farm. When you exit the freeway for Irene, the first thing you notice are the cows on all the signs. When you think of South Africa, you typically don't think of dairy cows. At the local malls, they even have statues of cows- the one place has a cow udder fountaion- I kid you not. We weren't really sure why, until this afternoon. Irene Farm was one of the first settlements in the area. A lot of the land has been sold off for development, including a golf community next door, but the farm has increased its milk production in recent years. They have mostly Holstein cows and a few Brown Swiss. People can actually milk their own cow and bring home a bucket of milk. They have a very nice market, coffee shop, and restaurant inside renovated barns, in addition to being a fully functional dairy farm. The buildings and grounds were absolutely beautiful.

As we drove through the area, Mr. Klopper explained a bit of the history of the area. Irene, pronounced I-ree-nee, is the Afrikaans word for "peace." It was an Afrikaner settlement established after the Great Trek. The land that Irene Village is now built on was actually a concentration camp for Afrikaners during the Boer War (Darryl- feel free to correct this if I'm wrong). The British assembled tents in rows and placed the women and children in these camps while the men were fighting in the war. Mrs. Klopper showed me a book later with all the pictures in it- it is a very sad time in their history that is not mentioned often; Mr. Klopper's grandmother was actually a camp survivor. It's something that I had never heard about.

We went to Centurion Mall to pick up a few things for dinner that evening. The mall was built by a lake for the scenic views; however, the developers never considered the environmental implications of such a project. The lake isn't really a lake at all anymore- most of it has been filled in with silt from runoff. It was so shallow, it is less than a few feet deep in most places. During the summer months, flooding is a major problem because of all the pavement around it. The water overflows and parts of the mall and office buildings around it are under water! We stopped at Woolworth's, a department store, to pick up groceries for dinner. Yes, a department store for groceries- imagine a small grocery store just beyond the cosmetics section in Nordstrom's- that's what it is like. The line for the cashier was too long in the grocery store, so we ended up paying in the women's clothing department :)

One other funny thing: the area was not originally called Centurion. This area (so sparsely populated it really couldn't be called a town) was called Lyttelton. The cricket team in Pretoria outgrew their stadium, so they built one in Lyttelton and called it Centurion Park. The population grew and it quickly became a suburb of Pretoria- and the town was named after the STADIUM.

We went to the Klopper's home for dinner this evening and we were joined by another teacher from CHC and her family. The house that they live in is the house Mr. Klopper grew up in. We all prepared a traditional Afrikaner meal together- and it was delicious. I can't believe how well-fed I was today!

New foods to add:
Rusks: shortbread biscuit similar to biscotti. It must be dipped in coffee before eaten.
Bobotie: casserole made of ground beef, diced carrots and onions, Cape Malay curry, turmeric, bay leaves, and topped with an egg-based sour cream sauce
Souskluitjies: dumplings with a sweet vanilla/brown sugar/cinnamon butter sauce. VERY good!

Tomorrow the students have a day with their host families- I can't wait to hear about what they do- especially Lauren's trip!