Christmas in Port Elizabeth

So Christmas this year was a tad strange for me.  My housemates either went home or met up with family.  I, too, could have found some fellow interns to meet and spend the holiday with, or travel elsewhere, but partly due to laziness, and partly to interest, I decided to stay in PE.  What followed was an unforgettable Christmas.

First off, it was green.  Christmas in the summer...I will never get used to that.  People were interested to hear if I was homesick, and in truth I was, but the fact that nothing felt like Christmas as I knew it made it a whole lot easier.  I did buy some cocoa so I would drink hot chocolate at night to feel a bit like home.

I woke up on Christmas morning around 9:30.  My parents will tell you that this NEVER happens.  For some reason I am always up by 7:00 every Christmas...habits from childhood I guess, but I still love Christmas morning.  So...late start, I called Chika and she told me she'd give me a call when I should head over.  I saw Theo quickly in the morning and he again invited me to dinner with his family, but I was excited to spend the day with my girl Chika!

I relaxed for a good part of the day, reading, watched a movie, ate lunch...my Christmas package from home has yet to arrive to the day felt like any other.  Chika called around 3 and I went, by her directions, to her aunts house.  They had spent the morning making various salads and were firing up the braai when I arrived. 

We had sausage, beef, and a few different salads - tuna noodle, coleslaw, mixed greens, curry noodle - for dinner.  I was so full I couldn't finish my plate.  It was really tasty and her family was so nice.  The little girls especially were really loving on me.

After a bit of family time we made the rounds to pick up some girls to go to Eyethu.  Eyethu, for those who don't remember, is a club.  "A club?"  you might say….on Christmas?  Yes.  Christmas day is one of the biggest clubbing days in South Africa.  Everyone goes out.  So Chika and I dropped her mom at home before picking up Nelly and going to Bobsy's to get her and Nowie.

At Bobsy's house we parked the car, said hello and were given more plates of food.  The potato salad and meat looked so good we ate again.  With full stomachs we went to Eyethu.  The club was starting to fill as we arrived, but the dance floor was more-or-less vacant, save the few people who just love to dance and never leave the floor.  We bought our drinks and settled in.  Within the next few hours the place got filled to the maximum.  The police shut it down at 1:30 for fire-code violations.  It seems that the front door just takes money and lets people in until its too packed and then, no matter the time, just closes. 

Interesting stories from the night involve two people. 

1. This dude sitting at the table next to us grabbed me at one point and pulled me out on the dance floor and tried to dance with me.  I obliged for a second before pulling away.  Any man wearing a bucket hat (a major fashion trend here) is not really my type.  He later tried to take a picture with me, I told him no as he point to his friend with the camera phone.  Later he kept telling me that he thought he was in love with me...drunky.
2. This woman who tried to hit on me the other night when I was out with Theo and Ashley hit on me again!
1. She introduced me to her girlfriend and then said, "I don't want things to be weird between us just because I have a girlfriend."
2. I was there with Chika and I think she thought we were a couple because she kept saying "Phakama is my friend." (Phakama being Chika's real name).
3. Later, Theo came and I was talking to him and she grabbed me arm and tried to pull me away.

3. Last story of interest involved a bathroom run.  The toilet paper for the bathroom is kept on a line at the bar.  You go and take some if you want and then go to the stall - which has no doors.  I had just pushed my way through the now packed club to the bar to grab some toilet paper and was heading back towards the bathrooms.  Suddenly someone grabbed me from behind.  I just stopped and whirled around ready to slap whoever it was - it wouldn't be my first time.  It was just Theo however.  He was lucky.  Later in the bathroom a rather large woman stood in front of me while I peed so that the guys who might walk through unnecessarily wouldn't see me - also, wouldn't be the first time.

So after Eyethu got closed Theo, Nelly, Chika, Bobsy, and I went to Parliament street and went to a bar for a couple hours.  Exhausted, we went home around 4.  A Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!