Valentines Day Extravaganza

So, as I stated before, I would explain all about my wonderful valentines day. We had class, as normal but we convinced Marita to let us out early in order to get ready for a Valentines Day Dance at UWC (University of Western Cape). Lara and Katy intern there so they were able to find out about the dance. I got to wear my new dress which was exciting, especially since I am in love with it.

When we got there (via minibus taxi of course) it was a little ackward because this is a 99% black campus and we were the only white people there. Nevermind the fact that it was a group of 20 of us. Plus, although the flier said to be there at 5:30 for a sit down dinner, we arrived at 6:00 and nothing was ready. Also nobody was there except for us. So we sat down, talked, killed some time. Unfortunately it was pretty chilly and I was stupid not to bring a sweater. The set up was absolutely gorgeous though! Uconn would never throw something like this (even if you take out the snow factor on Valentines Day in Uconn). The tables were set up with white tablecloths, nice white chairs. There was a vase filled with water with a floating candle as the centerpiece for each table. Every girl received a red rose. We had regular glasses and wine glasses - we received our juice (which guava = delicious!) and then free wine! I did not really care about the wine since I don't like alcohol but everybody else loved it! Our dinner was a lamb buffet. Yes I ate the lamb and yes I liked it as long as I convinced myself it was a cow. The dinner was delicious. There were also two stages set up. One was for marimba players (they played that famous Andre Boccelli song on the marimbas) and the other was for a live band that was very good. We had locals reciting their original poetry and we danced. It was so much fun, despite the cold. Plus we got to meet a lot of really nice people and they all wanted to make sure that we were having fun (seeing as we stuck out like a sore thumb). There is a foam party there tonight that we were invited to but I am not going to go to. I think instead I am heading to a concert in Observatory that the other house went to last night.

Anyways, after our dance, we exchanged secret valentines. Previously we had picked out of a hat and put a limit of R35 for each secret valentine. The person I had was Jung and I bought her flowers, a beaded flower from the street and some P.S. I love you chocolate (a big thing around here). Noelle had me for a secret valentine and she bought me a beaded flower (that was a common theme for gifts), a really cool candle and a cupcakes with hearts on it from Charlys. She had heard about my mom's famous heart shaped cakes and how I was going to miss them this year so she improvised and got me a cupcake with hearts on it! I thought it was adorable. Also, since I had a bad night the night before, my roomie, Amanda, bought me daisies. Somehow she remembered that they were my favorite flower and they are gorgeous! They are painted daisies and I absolutley love them! Plus, to make the day even better, my amazing sister (along with her amazing husband) sent me a V-day package with a holographic Little Mermaid card (that is taped next to my bed) and the most amazing Little Mermaid shirt. I wore it this morning when I walked to get food for our braai today. It was probably the best valentine's day I have ever had. The secret valentine idea was the best idea we have ever had and I would do it every week if we had an occasion. Since everybody liked it so much we may just make up random occasions to do it.

So today, we had a braai because Dr. O, a professor from Uconn and the head of the UNESCO chapter in Connecticut (I believe but don't quote me on that) was in the area. Nolyanda, Babalwa and Mongamo came as well since we invited them. They were the three students that we met our second week here - they were the ones in hte video about taking the Matric exam when attending school in a township. We have become great friends with them and they were so much fun. They taught Lara, Christine and I how to do a dance. We showed off to everybody and I have a video of it. You will have to see how ridiculously bad I am at it :). So, that is that . It was a great day today and we had such a blast. Oh and more exciting news, next weekend we might go kayaking. I will add pictures to this blog later. I gotta run so that I can go to my concert! :) Love you all!