Departure Day

6:00 Last cup of tea in bed from Audrey.

7:00 Start of our last school day with lots of goodbyes flag signing adn even meeting new people I had never spoken to before!

14:30 The end of our school day and on our way to Cavendish to get our last Frio. I ofcourse have to order a Chai Frio. There was only a small group there, all of our special friends that we'd made during our stay.

15:30 Goodbyes to all of my school friends whom I may or may not see again in the future. (I hope I will though!)

16:00 A quick trip to Woolworths to buy flowers for my host family and lots and lots of biltong!

17:00 Back home again. Last bit of packing, weighing the suitcase and copying eachothers pictures.

19:00 Dinner time with the whole (extended) family. Which means everybody around the dinner table including the boyfriend and girlfriend. The last exchange of stories and plans for the future!

     "Audrey! We've been able to act normal for the past two months, try and keep it up for one more hour!"
                                                                    - Don (host dad).
21:00 The time we met up at the airport.... It was such a sad moment, I was bawling my eyes out before we had even checked in.

22:00 Time to really say goodbye! Last hugs for everybody and all the goodbye letters had been handed out.  
After we had boarded I just felt numb. I couldn't sleep, read, watch a movie... I could barely even eat! (And that's a real achievement for me!)

23:00 - 10:00 One of the worst flights I have ever been on. Not only was everyone depressed, but it was comparable to a 11 hour long Ryanair flight!
               "Good evening ladies and gentlemen, this is the cabin crew speaking. We have had to cut back on our spending recently, so if you can't feel any bloodflow in your legs, we really don't care. Enjoy the rest of the flight and the plastic eggs we're about to serve you for breakfeast!"
                                                                     - What the crew really should be saying.

10:00 Reunited with my famliy! I know my parents missed me lots and I think my little brother missed me too, because he gave me his first hug. (Brother: aged 14).

It has been a very hectic and emotional day, I am now ready to crawl into my bed and dream about going back someday.
That at least, I am sure about.

PEOPLE OF THE WORLD, TESSA IS GOING BACK TO SOUTH AFRICA!....someday.

I am going to miss everybody loads. This will be my last goodbye to you all.

Goodbye. X

The Last Week

The last week. THE LAST WEEK!

The last week was a very sad week for me. I don't want to go!

It was weird because everybody was leaving gradually:
Sunday Bella and Ana leave to go back to Colombia.
Monday, at Pieter's birthday in Spur, we had to say goodbye to Michelle (also Colombia).
Emma had organized a goodbye party for us on Thursday. That was basically the time for us to say goodbye to our closest friends and (new) families.

The Dutchies actually had a very busy day on Wednesday. To start off Di picked us all up and brought us to Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden. I had been there before, but now we had time to actually "look around". Now what I mean by "look around" is the exchange definition of spending most of our time hanging around on a bench, eating a second breakfeast and looking around the souvenir shop! Nevertheless, we had a blast!
Next stop was Stellenbosch. You can compare Stellenbosch to Leiden back home, in the sense that it is a university town. And it's tiny. There were only about two streets for us to explore, but they were a very cute two streets.
Last on our agenda was Rhodes Memorial. It's a lovely place to take pictures of Cape Town from up top.
The day ended with a visit back to Bishops to watch their musical 'Oklahoma'. I saw a couple of guys on stage and just thought; wow. I never would've expected them to be that good, not in a million years.

The goodbye party on Thursday was sad and a blast at the same time. It was sad because it was our goodbye party and we had to book our tickets there. But it was great at the same time, because your surrounded by friends, family and people who love you. The night was filled with suffing our face with delish South African goodies and some spontaneous swimming in the pool.

Life here is too good. I have such mixed feelings on going back home. On the one hand I want to see my family again, but on the other hand I've made so many new memories here, and I am going to miss my Cape Town family so much!

It's Coming to an End

This past week has been HECTIC!

I think I'll give you an update the same way I did for my last post.

Sunday:
Spent the morning at Camps Bay beach and had my first ever pizza, with a hole in the middle! They say it's to help you cut down the calories, yeah right!
Spent the afternoon at a Goldfish concert for a friends birthday concert. The concert was held in Kirstenbosch botanical garden. If there is one tip I can give to all concert-goers; know the chorus to most of their songs BEFORE you go. You will end  up having great time bobbing up and down, losing your voice.

Monday:
Exchangees school trip to a township. During our visit we; Played with little kids in the Rainbow nursery. Got a tour of the main ground. Spoke to uncle Frank who had some very big dreams for the furure. He was actuallly very inspirational and told us to never give up on our dreams and you can't really love if you're attatched to material things the whole time.
Tried a 'vetkoek', which is basically just an oliebol. Everyone loved them!

Tuesday:
Spent the day at the boy's school, Bishops. I got paired with Jamian, who was kindly was tourguide of the day and answered all questions I could possibly think of.
It was very weird having all of these eyes staring at you the whole time, but what else were we supposed to expect, right?
Dinner in a Jamaican restaurant called Banana Jam! I had the Reggae rice, a vegetarian dish. At this point my body can't process the amount of meat I'm eating lately, so I needed a break from that.

Wednesday:
Annick's host mom, Di took Annick and I to see Cape Point for the first time. We had a hilarious "game drive". We saw not one, not two, but four tortoises! Then we walked all the way to the point and saw a dassie. It's like a huge mountain guinea pig.
That night I went to ballroom dancing again at Bishops. And if the guy's toes weren't crushed the last time, they definitely were this time! We attemted to dance the waltz, the rumba and rock 'n roll style.

Thursday:
Another school outing to False bay, where we went surfing! Now, I say surfing lightly. What I actually mean is; we looked like a bunch of penguins trying to waddle on top of moving surfboards. Actually, now that I mention it, remember the movie Surfs Up? Yes?Well, I wasn't anything like that unfortunately.
After school, off to Access Park with Annick. I don't know how else to describe it other than an outlet centre. But the only items that really that really appealed to us were the food items, so we ended up having a picknick on the edge of a walking path.

Friday:
The boys spend a day at Herschel, but we weren't allowed to go anywhere near them, barely even allowed to look at them. But eventually all the exchangees ended up in the library signing flags. How sad is that? That means it's almost the end of our exchange!
After school we all went to Cavendish shopping to get the Columbians their last Frio :( (Lindt chocolate milkshake type thingy)
That night all the girls had to waitress for the Matric Dance (Last year dance). Our job mainly consisted of us  scoffing down what the matric wouldn't eat, so we had about four mango meringues each that night, yum!

Saturday:
Went to see my first Rugby match with my host dad. Actually my first match ever! It was the South African Stormers against the New Zeeland Chiefs. And we won 36-34
That night was Bella and Ana's, the Columbians farewell party :'(  We signed some more flags and it was a very depressing night for us all,  they can't be gone already!!

Sunday:

We spent breakfeast on a picknick blanket. Watch the Argus cycle tour. It's the biggest timed cycle race in the universe (my host dad made me say that). There were lots of peopl there. And people dressed up as fairies. And rhino's. And cows.

I'm pretty sure you're tired of reading this very, very long blog. As I am writing it.

That was my week.

We're about to have a braai now.

Buenos Nachos!

Ps. Please ignore all spelling and grammar mistakes. My brain is going into typing overdrive and can't handle looking at the screen anymore. Nevertheless, enjoy!

Week 2

I feel like I am lacking a bit. I still have to update you guys on what happened two weeks ago!
What did happen anyway?.... *gets out journal* ....

Garden Route!!!

Day 1, Tuesday:
Bella's birthday :) accompanied by lots of balloons, but there was one slight problem; she is terrified by the sound of popping balloons!
Cango Wildlife Ranch, full of lots of animals and a wacko tourguide who kept on scaring people into thinking that the crocodiles had escaped.
Cango Caves, we almost had to be hospitalized for our selfie overdosis and I just have to say that our tourguide was aboslutely fabulous darling!

Day 2:
Mozied along down to the Ostrich Farm, weren't allowed to ride any though. We weren't even allowed to even see any, how sad is that?
While in Knysa - Took the Featherbed Nature Reserve tour.
Tried an alfajor (pronounced the spanish way, *alfagor*), É chocolate recheados com doce de leite da Argentina. It's chocolate filled with Dulce de Leche form Argentina. It's amazing how much google translate has helped me during this exchange.

Day 3:
Knysna Elephant Park, where elephant dreams are filled with vegetables.
Then.....*Loud dramatic music*..... Bungy jumping from the worlds highest bungy bridge! 216 m!! The feeling you get when you jump off that edge, it's indescribable.
(Secret: I was actually more scared for my Public Speaking competition than this)
Birds of Eden, there were, uhmmmmm, lots of birds there.

Day 4:
We got the option to go skydiving! So ofcourse, I immediately call up my parents asking for permission (and a generous donation) but to no avail! I was allowed to go do it, but had to pay for it by myself. The price of 15 minutes of exhilaration costs just as much as five months of pocket money, so that was an immediate no :(

         "My wallet is like an onion. When I open it, i cry."
                                                    - Some person I do not know.
So we went to the beach instead.
Went on a game drive and saw not one, but two lions! I was actually expecting a few more, why? It's Africa!

Day 5, the last day:
Aloe Vera "factory". As most girls know, it is extremely good for you, but it is unfortunately the most vulgar thing to drink.
Cape Agulhas, the southern most tip of Africa.
Cheetah encounter, no accidents had happened for fifteen years... until we got there. Just joking, the care takers would get all anxious if the cheetah turned onto its other side. So we had a very exciting visit, the cheetah turned around for times! They are actually very cute, calm and gentle creatures, when they're not chasing after you.

Ended the day with dinner in a restaurant called Moyo, which ofcourse included facepaint.

I. Need. Sleep.

It has been a very, VERY hectic two weeks!
As not to bore you, I'll just give you the highlighs:

Week 1, Off to the Cederberg for a week of camping and hiking!
We attempted to rock-jump, but I, according to no-one's surprise, was not able to jump off the highest ledge into the lake.
That night I realised I had forgotten my sleeping and a proper pillow, so I had the worst nights sleep IN MY LIFE!
Played hide and seek with little school kids we were visiting. Guess what? I was always it, and I always lost. Who thought six year olds could come up with so many schemes...
Saw a few thousand year old Bushmen paintings. Their art skills were way more developed than mine will ever be!
Encountered with a few wild leopards, and one even scratched my leg! Nah, just kidding. We spent the rest of the day examing droppings, the leopards were probably hiding from us.
Wine tasting. 'Cederberg wine, with altitude!' Is their motto.
Jumped off a cliff backwards. This time I am not joking. We had the oppurtunity to go absailing! Fortunately enough, we were attached to the moutain with a rope around our waist, so there were no accidents. Yes mom, it was COMPLETELY safe.
Probably one of the most interesting parts of our trips was the Solo Night. We were dropped off one by one in random spots in the mountains where we had to, yes, sleep alone. So after I had set up my sleepingbag (borrowed, since I didn't have my own), had taken an adventurous  walk between the bushes, I was ready for dinner. Surprise, surprise, I had forgotten my gascooker. That meant surviving till the next morning on a snickers bar and some crisps.
Went on a ten hour hike through tiny cracks and gaps, over long open rock fields and over an arch.
Smores... nomnom... need I say more?

When we got back to Cape Town, I tried Wakaberry frozen yoghurt, warning, do not go for cheesecake.

Johannesburg, Joburg or Jozi...

Weekend away? Why not!
Lets just take a two hour flight to Johannesburg, spend a day in Gold Reef City Themepark, then finish the day going to a tap dance show where the guys dance on the ceiling and on moving floorboards!
Lets just spend Sunday driving past beautiful views on our way to the Cradle of Mankind Caves, drive by some lions, giraffes and white tigers, then afterwards, go for a quick shopping spree in the huge Sandton Shopping Mall and then casually fly back to Cape Town as if it was the most normal thing in the world to do!

This is what my weekend could've been like... and guess what? This is what my weekend WAS like.

It was absolutely fabulous, darling!

I have realised that I om living on adrenaline right now, because I am always on the go! I wake up at six every morning and fall back into bed exhausted everyday at ten. The time inbetween is spent travelling, eating  (nomnom!) and spending money. $$$

In the sprirt of the Oscars that were on last night, I would like to thank the following people for giving me the chance to have this incredible experience:
Herschel, for letting me be here and putting up with us.
All the Exchanges, for their hilarious Spanish phrases.
Mrs. de Wolf for having the very good sense to pick me.
Cape Town for existing.
My mom and dad for making me exist.
All the trees here for the shade they have given me from the burning sun.
(I am not going to thank the sun, because all it's done is try to turn me into the colour of a lobster!)
And ofcourse I want to thank Him for creating this world for me to live in.
Amen.

Fun Fact: Did you know? That Joburg is the biggest artificial forest in the world?

At Long Last!

Guys I have come to the conclusion that it is impossible to write a blog on everything we've done!
Even the main points are too much, because we make sure we do something exciting EVERY SINGLE DAY.

What did I do yesterday? I pierced my ears again. I now have two holes in each ear. Don't worry guys, this wasn't a spurr of the moment thing, I was actually thinking about it for a long time. You'd be surprised how many people have asked me if my parents (my real ones back home) had gotten really mad at me. I hadn't told them I was getting them done, I didn't even subtely bring it up, but the only reaction I got from them was:

"Don't forget to take out your old ones, the school might catch you." There was no guilt trip, no angriness, no excited shriek, not even a "meh"... Just when I thought I was being rebellious.

Lazy sunday morning? No way. Up at eight, dressed and ready at Annick's house by nine. We drove to a little harbour called Hout Bay, filled with little market stalls and smelly fish. We decided we wanted to take the boat to 'Seal Island'. And let me just tell you, it was FREEZING, and smelly. We arrived in little shorts and tanktops , but the wind was blowing, the moutains and sea were covered in dew and practically everyone had a thick jacket on... It wasn't really a successfull trip, but the million and one seals were cute. We had a bite to eat along the shore in a place called 'the Dunes', and on our way out we got stopped by the waiter. No, not because we had forgotten something, but because we hadn't paid the guy enough tip. He started shouting and complaining and accusing, it was like being back in class with a selfish teacher. The problem was easily resolved by us, firstly, keeping our mouths shut, then saying; "Sorry, we uhh, we no speak English. *A bit off Dutch chatter* Bye!" The waiter was not expecting that, but I guess it's just all part of the South African experience for us.

On Saturday it was my Sweet Sixteen! Everybody who I vaguely knew the name off and I liked was invited. The day was spent chatting, eating, some people played tennis and some even swam! People here are very original with their presents... I got three Africa neclaces! But they are all unique and special in their own way. #cheesy, but very true.

One of the girl schools in our area is called Springfield was hosting a fashion show on Friday night. So what else would a girl (and a few boys) do but go to it and enjoy the view of pretty clothes and shirtless boys.

Need I say more? What about... If I could move my family here and live here, I would. It's that amazing!
Although I do prefer our own school system, somehow I always feel.. doormekaar (Afrikaans for unorganised) here.

A Very Exhausting Day, but so worth it!

RCHP!!!!!!!!

Don't you just lovedoing something extremely last minute! I know I do. And this was just the cherry on top of my trip :)

We started off the day going to Robben Island, saw the usually things; the prison cells, the houses, Nelson Mandela's cell. It was a shame though that our tour guide had a really thick Xhosa accent, because I wasn't able to get the full picture in my head of what the island used to be like. A few interesting stories did stick with me though. There was one about a lady who had managed to escape and swim to the mainland, 17k away, in under two hours. And if that wasn't impressive enough, she only had one leg doing it! Unfortunately her name has slipped my mind...

The afternoon was spent shouting 'war cries' at the Herschel interhouse swimming gala. The house Dani and I are in, is Rolt, So one of the hacka's that we had to sing was;

Rolties, wo nabo beyeza
This one's not for laaities
Or for sissies
Rolties, wo nabo beyeza
War paint and we're swinging
Our knobkieries
Rolties, wo nabo beyeza
We are coming
Beware, we are coming closer....

Sounds very Afrikaan doesn't it? But don't ask me what the words mean.... I wasn't really paying attention for that part. If you would really like to know, I have a great friend called Google Translate who would be more than happy to help you.


Everyone: "Tessa are you going to the concert tonight?!"
                 "What are you going to wear?"
                "Are you just excited as I am?!!"

Me: "Sorry guys, I can't go with you because we weren't able to get tickets, so I won't be getting dressed up. I am excited for you guys though!" This was the answer I had to give to all of the fan-crazed people going to the concert... But then:

Dani: "TESSA! I just got a called from my mom; we're going to the Red Hot Chili Peppers tonight!"
Me: "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!" Bare in mind that it is now around 16.00 and the concert gates open at 17.00. And so the story continues...:

While Dani and are getting all dolled up and wolfing down our dinner, we find out that Matthew and Pieter are sitting right next to us! So once we were there, they came and sat beside us, then Emma, Annick, Domas and Carlen (another friend) came and joined us. It was an amazing night. The music was great, the people were pumped, and considering that these guys are, what, in their 60's (?), they had an unbelievable stage presence. At one point, one of them was even doing a handstand.

The next day half the school was completely exhausted, but every single one of them said it was so worth it!

Woah, Time Flies By Fast!

I promised a post on Herschel and by golly, that’s what you’re going to get!

Herschel is a school in Cape Town (No way!), it is and all girls school with a uniform which looks something like this: >>>

Your hair needs to be tied up, you’re not allowed to wear any jewelry except a watch and studs, and make-up is completely unacceptable.“ That sounds like such a nightmare.”Some people may think, but it actually isn’t. It means you can stay in bed for a bit longer in mornings, and you don’t have to be fussed about your appearance.

And talk about staying in bed; since school starts at around 7.30, you can almost guarantee that the majority of Herschel girls will be at school just after 7.00, 7 o’clock, 0700! An unimaginable time in the life of Dutch students!  Some people are at school even earlier if they have something ridiculous like basketball or waterpolo practice at 6 in the morning o.0

All the students start off their day with a tutor class, where their tutor teacher just tells them what’s going on and when they have to be somewhere. Then you spend the rest of your morning walking from class to class, possibly getting lost, and looking forward to the breaks. I have tried to pick all of the fun subjects, such as; Drama, Art, Science, Math, English and Consumer Studies.

Consumer Studies is a subject I recommend all schools should have! Why? Because during practical’s we bake pies and yummy goodies! This is a lemon meringue pie I baked with Annick Teepe last week:

The theory lessons are not so nice though. As some people might know, the food I despise the most is egg. Even the word sounds horrible. I can’t stand the taste, the smell, anything!  And guess what we’ve been talking about during everything single theory lesson so far… Eggs. The enthusiasm in my voice is probably unbearable for you right now, but there is nothing more I can do except for to suck it up and cross my fingers we start talking about butter soon.

English is probably one of my favourite subjects (Is it possible that I can hear my Dutch English teachers heart fluttering?). The topic we’re on now is Macbeth, Shakespeare, as some of you very well know. During every class I seem to be repeating the same quote over and over again in my head (One Annick, Charlie L. and Jessy v.E had practically imprinted into my brain for the Shakespeare Shorts):

Double double, toil and trouble,
Fire burn  and cauldron bubble!

To finish off, here’s a picture of a cupcake the school baked for the students (Mwahaha free cupcakes!) :

I Survived the First Week

BOO! Didn’t expect that did you? After me being away for so long. You’re probably wondering why I haven’t written about my amazing week, but don’t worry, “Working WiFi” is here to save the day! The internet has been very dodgy lately, so as true adventurer; I seized the moment. Don’t worry, it’s not that South Africa is technically underdeveloped, it’s my exchange host, Dani’s house that is underdeveloped.

Moaning about the WiFi, is not exactly what you want to hear, is it? If you must know, life here is incredible, you have no idea how much we’ve already done during the past week. Sleeping is starting to turn into privilege.

I was welcomed warmly by my host family and immediately felt at home in their house. I’ll give you a quick summary of what we’ve done so far:

Tuesday was our first “real day” here in Cape Town and our hosts decided to show all the exchanges the Waterfront.  This is a harbour turned tourist attraction. This is where we saw our first shark and South African penguin at its aquarium. We later rediscovered our youth at a place called the ‘Scratch Patch’, where you fill a bag with all the pretty stones you’ve found. Highly recommended for those fifteen to sixteen year olds looking to bring back their inner toddler self.

Wednesday was our first day at school and talk about information overload! So. Many. Names. One week later and I’m still having trouble trying to remember half of them. It especially gets really awkward when you add them on Facebook after meeting them, then you meet them the next day again and they all expect you to still remember their names... My brain does not work that way.  A group of us spent some time after school at a mall around the corner called Cavendish. This is where I tried my first ‘Chocolate Frio’, it is the item to be seen with in your hand. It’s basically just blended ice + Lindt chocolate + Milk, but it is delicious. Afterwards we hung out with a couple of new friends in order to get to know each other better.

After school on Thursday we visited Groot Constantia, one of the six must-see places in Cape Town (The Waterfront was one of them too by the way). GC was and still is a wine vineyard with a big history in slavery.  This was followed by dinner at a typical South African fast food restaurant called ‘Spur”.

On Friday Dani took me to a shopping mall called ‘Blue Route’.  Some must-see shops would have to be: Cotton On, Lovita, Jay-Jays, Typo, YDE and oh so many more. The day was ended with a little pizza  get together at Emma’s (Another SA host) house with all the exchanges  from Chilli, Colombia, Holland and their hosts.

The past weekend was insanely busy! Hard to imagine, right?  We took the Hop-on-Hop-off bus around Cape Town on Saturday and during this we visited an African  market area and took a trip with a cable-car up Table mountain. AMAZING VIEW. The sparking blue sea, the bunched up houses and the green edges of the mountains in the distance was truly breathtaking. A load of photos were taken of course. After the bus, Dani’s parents took us to a restaurant on Hout Bay, where I tried my first horribly slimy oyster, never again.

I see this post is starting to get ridiculously long, but just bare with me, we’re almost done... Why don’t we take a five minute break and regroup ASAP.

we back? Good.  I’ll try to shorten the rest so you can all go back to your... uhm... *Insert interesting hobby/pastime here*.

Sunday was supposed to be spent flying over Cape Town in a four-seated plane. Sadly, the clouds were not being sympathetic to us exchange students. So surprisingly enough the rest of the day was spent shopping, in what is possibly the biggest shopping mall I have ever seen, called Canal Walk. I had my very first ‘braai’ that night! Ostrich didn’t taste at all what I expected. It actually tested a bit like liver.

On Monday we had the inauguration of Herschel’s (my school) new headmaster Mr. West. It was so long and with some of the songs that we had to sing, me and a couple of girls behind me had a bit  tone-deaf trouble with the high notes. Let’s just say that paracetamol didn’t really help the headaches.  Audrey, my host mom took me to Kirstenbosch, a beautiful botanical garden, for lunch. Then she and Don, my host dad, took Dani and I to Kalk Bay harbour to see the boats, sea and seals. They then took us out to fish n chips that night for dinner, in a restaurant where you can see the waves crashing a few metres from your window.

Tuesday was a lazy day, because we spent most of it going from shop to shop, trying on hipster clothes, smelling perfumes and swimming.

My hands are sore, your eyes are probably tired and you now know more than enough in order to stalk me and where I’ve been.

In my next post, I’ll tell you guys a bit about what school is like, the uniforms and the subjects that I take. Don’t we all love something to look forward to?

The Night Before...

Goodbye Holland and hello South Africa!!

What do people do before they leave their families for two months? Well, in my case it's stroking my cat to the point of irritation. Pack my suitcase. Freak out because the suitcase is 4kg overweight. Repack everything, still 1kg overweight. Give up, but proceed to jump around the house out of excitement because this time tomorrow I'll be in summer shorts!

Now, your probably wondering what a charming young lady like me is doing writing such a blog. If you haven't read the co-title, I have been picked to go on an exchange to Cape Town, and tomorrow is the day that I am finally going. I will be a student at Herschel girls school for the next 9 weeks and am going to follow subjects such as; consumer studies (aka cooking), drama, art, and why not try some squash while I'm there? I am going with three other friends of mine, another girl and two boys (don't worry, they're not going to the girls school...) and South Africa here we come!

This might sound really cheesy, but when I'm there I want to try EVERYTHING! My new motto is going to be YOLO. For those of you who don't know what it means, its; you only live once. A phrase which is increadably overused and annoying, but should still be considered as one of the best.

Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to get a good nights sleep ( I already know that's not going to happen) and mentally prepare myself for the screaming alarm tomorrow morning at 6.00.

Tessa

Ps. Rain, you will not be missed.