All in a day's work

1) Airport run
* Delayed the day by one hour. Not to mention original flight was canceled day prior for airport repairs.
2) Run errands
* While making a U-turn, the car behind me decides to go around me and stick his nose in the quagmire. Though frustrated with his impatience at first, I was grateful that it in fact opened a spot for me to turn in the space that he made in traffic. Gotta love "make your own road rules" mentality.
3) Work in the office
* Should be normal enough except that we bring our dog to the office. It's typical he'll escape once or twice but come back when called. Yet, ever since we went returned from our trip, he's been more ornery. Today, he disappeared for quite awhile. Chris went driving to find him. I was annoyed and surprised to find that Sam had somehow escaped the park and found his way on the OTHER side of the fence.
4) Drive home
* Yet I got waved over by the police at the checkpoint. In times past, I haven't but today the police were especially nice. One was asking about the German flag mirror covers on the car. He thought they were painted on and asked if I was from Germany, then said the covers were pretty. The other officer said he didn't speak English but then said "What is your name?", after he had all of my documentation. Pretty funny.
5) Grocery shopping
* The highlight was running into Marlyn and the other girls. Some of the kids joined me on my shopping excursion. It was so nice to have company for a change while grocery shopping. Everyone was looking at me, speaking Spanish with little girls.
6) Home for the night
* Only to have guy who washed the car come knocking at the door at 9pm asking for payment.
* And listening to my neighbor's play Spanish polka music

Ahhh, all in a day's work.

World Cup 2010

This might be an ongoing entry because there is so much to say! It was my FIRST time to ever see a World Cup and I was in awe. We traveled a ton: first, a 7 hour drive, then layover in Miami, then NY, off to Madrid for a day in the city, to Joburg and then immediately down to Capetown, then back to Joburg and the same way home. It was just about soccer though, we had a chance to explore the cities. In Capetown, we hike Table Mountain. It was quite a hike but worth it to EARN the spectacular view! And I'm not referring to Katie Couric, though she was at the top. We met several new people--wonderful hosts who helped us out along the way. The next day we went to Franschhoek, the sprawling vineyards outside of the city. It was a gorgeous view with the best meal I've had, honestly. Mark was a great server, host, tour guide and...winemaker.

In Joburg, I was most excited to meet up with amazing friends, Mynhardt and Lisha. They took us to Apartheid Museum, introduced us to friends, joined us for the Ghana game and showed us around Pretoria. I'm still speechless from their kindness and hospitality--from late nights to lending us their car. Later, we watched the Germany game from a sweet hotel bar tucked away in the hills, just before heading to our last game.

Games we saw:
1) Spain vs. Portugal
2) Uruguay vs. Ghana--this was the best, though truly gut-wrenching!
3) Spain vs. Paraguay

Concluding our busy itinerary was the safari trip at The Somalisa in Zimbabwe. This was breathtaking--from Victoria Falls to the watering hole with elephants right next to our campfire! Not to mention, on our excursion, we almost saw a kill.

Needless to say, there aren't enough words!