Festive festivals and getting out of Joburg

I shouldn't be incredibly shocked that once again the water system is annoyingly broken here at the clinic. I say annoyingly because there's really nothing like putting soap on your hands to wash dishes and realizing that you have to paper towel it all off. This keyboard is sticky.

This past weekend was a blast! Friday was basically the beginning, as Lauren and I took the day off to brave the supposedly heinous queues at Home Affairs downtown Joburg. We got downtown around 6:30 AM after getting lost, obviously, and then queued for only a little bit before getting to the correct floor and finding out we didn't have the correct paperwork. Clearly this is not a surprise, but at this point I'd like to interject the oft-used phrase by ex-pats, "sometimes Africa wins". We'll have to take more time off work to come back, but hopefully our visa issues will be sorted soon.

Saturday we had another early morn, though this was in much better spirits as we road tripped it with Dillon and Brad from Joburg to this adorably artsy mountain town of Clarens, like 3 or 4 hours away. Our primary reason for going was the beer festival, and although I'm not a total beer aficionado, I still loved tasting over 28 different South African beer vendors, hanging out in the gorgeously sunny summer day, and generally enjoying being out of Joburg for a few days. With the festival you get your own souvenir glass that you use for 5 tastings, and then you can buy 1/2 glasses of any favourites. I was very sad that the lavender wheat beer was gone by the time I went to taste it! So many unique flavours and such. 

Festival fun!

A variation on my photo theme

I kind of ruined this picture, but I was just so happy I couldn't manage a normal smile

We stayed in this backpackers hostel that was apparently the hotspot for festival goers, and I had a delightful encounter with one gent who felt it was his duty to tell me that all Americans are self-centered, we only study American history, and we don't care about the world. I won't really go into much more detail, but needless to say I attempted to defend the American education system, and was slightly furious. This hardly put a damper on the weekend, which also included lovely meals at local restaurants, meeting some new people who were super friendly, and taking our time driving back, with a pause in the gorgeous Golden Gate Park (I think) that's surrounded by breathtaking mountains.

the hostel! The Honeymoon suite where we stayed with 5 people, is to the right. Very romantic!..

The view from the hostel

view of the mountains on the way back to Joburg

 Before I forget, I wanted to post about my summer news- I got offered a gig with GlobalWorks, a language and community service program that operates in several different countries. I'd be the language leader on a 4 week immersion to Spain, working with 3 other staff members and leading about 20 high school students on a language trip to Spain. We'll be starting in Madrid, then exploring Segovia, doing a homestay in a small rural village, a longer homestay and community service break in a sustainable village, and ending in my heart of hearts, Barcelona. Not only am I completely thrilled to be returning to one of my favourite cities and countries, but its really nice to know that once I get back to Boston I'll have something to look forward to that will help me financially and also help the fact that I have no where to live. A win win!