JOBURG!

Last weekend we had a major intern reunion in Joburg.  There were 19 interns + 2 GRS employee/ex interns in a 2 bedroom house.  It was an insane weekend that I will never forget and which I needed.
 

 We left PE Friday evening to fly to Joburg.  Our flight was delayed an hour so we got in around 11:00 pm.  I had my money stolen from me - my first robbery happened in Joburg (fittingly).  It was due partially to my own stupid mistake, but really...

On the budget airlines here you can "hand check" your luggage.  So my bag is a carry on, but it's a little big for the overhead compartments on the tiny planes so I can hand it off on the tarmac right before I climb the stairs into the plane and they'll put it underneath and I can grab it when I get off.  I forgot to take my wallet out of my bag, but I didn't really worry because you can literally watch them and your bag from the windows.  However, when we departed the plane it was onto a ramp.  No one could see their bags and I was a little worried.  I was one of the last people to get mine carried up to me.  I checked immediately and all my money for the weekend was gone.  That sucked. 

So anyways...we arrive around 11 and the Cape Town crew had gotten in about 1 hr before.  We went to the airport bar to meet them and had a drink while we waited for Ben to come pick us up (Will bought me a nice drink to make me feel better).  When we got in the car we had two options: 1. Go to the house and drop off our luggage and then head back to the bar everyone was at (1 hr trip), or 2. Go straight to the bar.

We opted for the bar (I was wearing a crew neck t-shirt, sneakers, and my flannel, but I was ready to just go out).  When we got to the bar it was chaos.  I hadn't seen most of the people there since August in the states.  There was so much excitement in the room.  Everyone was hugging and going crazy.  We stayed at this place for a little bit and drank and caught up before we moved on to more of a dance-club.  Ended the night there after picking up some new hats.

Back at the house we found whatever piece of floor we could to sleep on and passed out.  Woke up on Saturday to a beautiful day.  We prepared the kiddy pool and hung out in the sun for the better part of the morning.  For lunch we got Cotas (who knows if I spelled this correctly - derived from "Quarter") which is a Sowetan specially I guess.  It is a quarter loaf of bread with fries and whatever else in it.  Delicious.  Soweto was much nicer than I expected.  The area we were in (literally went to a guy's back yard for lunch) was like a cute little town.  Different from PE townships for sure.  It was quite amusing though to drive up with 15 or so white people into a township to buy cotas.  There were other guys who would come in and ask us what we were doing there.

Saturday wasn't for relaxing though.  We had congregated in Joburg to watch the Pirates play the Chiefs - the two largest clubs in South Africa.  After seeing the Chiefs twice previously and being underwhelmed (read watching them tie twice) I was rooting for the Pirates.   Ben had bought us all tickets, but was having issues getting them printed.  He had recently replaced his bank card so the Shoprite he was trying to get them printed at was saying they couldn't verify he was the purchaser etc. etc.  Alice ended up sweet talking them and we got our tickets around 2:45.  The game started at 3:00.  Traffic was pretty bad, but we enjoyed ourselves.  We had a little caravan going and people were switching back and forth between cars when we were stopped and we were chatting to guys walking to the stadium. 

We ended up sitting down just before half time.  The pirates were already up 3-1.  The second half was less exciting and we only saw one goal.  The game ended 3-2, but you'd never have known it.  Everyone was happy.  This was the friendliest rivalry I have ever experienced.  People were just enjoying to sun, the soccer, and the booze.  It was a great atmosphere.  Back at home we spent the evening braaing, sharing favorite ZA music, dancing, and hanging out. 

I flew home early on Sunday and had a day to relax before work on Monday.  The weekend was so hectic, but totally worth it.  Now I just want to keep seeing people.  I haven't done much traveling yet to other intern sites and haven't spent much time with people.  I have been really occupied with PE and getting closer with people here and getting to know this city.  So much so that I completely forgot how much I enjoy my intern class.  It won't be long though before we see each other again.  I hit Zambia for a mini-reunion for Easter (though I'm missing out on Zimbabwe to go see my family in Germany).  The puppy will have to wait.