Looks like the temps are starting to head up the mid twenties for next week. Perfect. We're ready for some pool time. And beach time. We made a short trip to Kirstenbosch to scout out the flowers for Al and Ruth before they come next Saturday. The flowers are in great shape and the gardens look well maintained.

On a funny note, we had a "potluck" for the workers at Carla's office on Wednesday. I was prepared to make a casserole, have buns ready as well as a bottle of wine in case nobody else brought. Well turns out that the famous potluck is not well known here. We had five extra adults and two children turn out and in total they brought two bottles of juice and some plates! We panicked. Well not quite, but I had quickly prepared some beans, with tomatoes and flavoured with curry and onions. Turned out to be a highlight. Carla whipped out a macaroni salad to top up the leftovers from the night before. Everyone seemed to have enough to eat. We just looked at each other and laughed (inwardly).
Henry is off this afternoon for a play date with a friend from school and then off to a sleepover at a friend from church. Katy is at a play date at a swimming pool this afternoon and then we're off for Indian food for supper tonight.

Well we never thought it would be so hard to exchange for some American money here in SA. I've been to the bank twice and to a currency exchange place, but they all want different documentation on how we got Rand in the first place, which one of us gets paid, who has a bank account, etc, etc. All we want is $80US to pay for Carla's registration fees for her conference in Nairobi next week. Boy is it a pain in the butt. I'm sure i've spent more than that in time already trying to get the money. They don't just let you buy foreign currency here, you need at minimum a plane ticket to get you started. I guess they are paranoid of people leaving?
On a funner (good word) note. Katy had a field day, pictures are posted.

When the parents were involved all mayhem broke loose. Katy's dad's legs did not move while his arms were going crazy. He fell! Katy's mom jumped the gun, stopped, got passed when the gun went off! Katy did get a first though and then some other podiums. We still laugh about it. Those crazy canucks just are too competitive. Henry had his final hockey tournament yesterday on artificial turf which was great. There were a bunch of teams and everybody had fun, especially with the free energade drinks for everyone. My team found that to be the highlight as they lost three and won one (against the girls at Oakhurst).

We were blown away by the Soweto Gospel Choir. They were fun to watch as well as hear. The movement and the colour of the outfits, we were in awe. Apparently they have two groups of singers now that they have become in such high demand. The guest artist was this great guitarist named Vusi Mahlasela. Check him out, we bought a cd of his.
The Habitat for Humanity work day was yesterday. Six of us from church went to a small township east of Cape Town for a full day of hauling bricks (cinder blocks), mixing "dagga" which is cement, sand and water and having some fun. It was an interesting start to the day as we found out that the mayor Helen Zille had been arrested the previous day for participating in a march. Apparently one needs special permission to have a march. But apparently they had. Also the N2 highway had been closed to traffic causing huge backlogs in cars due to a different protest that had gone awry with police firing rubber bullets, huge fires, etc. It seems like marches and protests go on with a high regularity here...mostly they are for lack of services. Back to the house. The little brick house wasn't very large, but did have room for two bedrooms, and a kitchen which opened up onto a living area/dining room. We were fed and watered well. There was a lot of enthusiasm too as these were the first homes for the people. About 130 volunteers were on site to build six homes. They will be finished by the end of the week. My back is sore from the hauling of bricks, but it felt good to help out.