Thirties

In just a couple of weeks I will turn 30 1/2. I usually don't pay attention to such things, but this year I will cause I never mentioned when I turned 30. My parents were visiting at the time and what a great birthday present that was. How did I spend such a day of celebration? It started with a joint celebration with my family in Metz... MmaDiapo's birthday is 5 October, mine is the 8th, and Margaret's is the 22nd. Birthdays aren't celebrated much here, but if anyone knows me... you know we HAD to do something (I usually celebrate the whole month!). My family cooked up a big traditional feast (potato salad, carrot salad, cabbage salad, pap, beef, chicken (boiled and braaied over the fire), beetroot, butternut, green beans and potatoes, mashed potatoes...) and then we had cake from Pick'n Pay. The next day we drove to The Kruger for animal spotting and fun times at Olifants Camp, my favorite camp in the park. We saw a mother and baby rhino, lots of elephants, giraffes, zebra, and possibly saw a lion from afar at breakfast. My birthday dinner was at the restaurant in Skukuza Camp that yes, used to be an old train station (anyone who knows me...). The food was eh, the service wasn't much better, but the company of Peg, Rich, and Keri? Great. The next day we drove to Nkowankowa to visit Jaceson and Virginia at their site and spent the afternoon sitting under the mango trees at their house just talking... about Peace Corps, about Louisiana, about South Africa. We then drove to Tzaneen to spend the night with John and Mary, getting our fill (and more than that) of good food, wine, cider, and good conversation. I've spent 2 birthdays in South Africa. The first one was hard... I was alone with a boxed pesto dinner I had splurged on at the store. This past year was above and beyond awesome.
Margaret, Mmapula, and MmaDiapo... the birthday girls!

Keri, Virginia, Mmapula, and Jaceson posing in Nkowankowa with the apple pie Jenny made me for my birthday present!