Reciprocation, Hikes, and Beaches

As we have boasted before, our landlords are so generous and helpful. We continually think of ways to pay them back and decided we would take them out to dinner. They ended up inviting other friends, driving, and taking us to this exclusive “member only” place. So, it felt again as though THEY were taking us out, but at least we paid. Dirk had mentioned this place served peri-peri chicken (one of our favorites); however, it turned out that they didn’t. So, Dirk insisted he would make us his peri-peri chicken the next night as we watched “America’s Got Talent.” We asked what we could bring and barely got him to agree to lettuce. We brought muffins as well. But of course, yet again, they are giving to us. We just can’t keep up! We know it isn’t the point, and they enjoy treating us, but we really want them to know how much we appreciate it. We often wonder where we would be if we had picked the other place to live. It would be more lonely and difficult, that is for sure.

Now that we have a car, we were able to join our first hike with a hiking club! We met the leader, Duncan, at a local mall, and as we pulled up, a group of five hikers watched Chris stall the car in his effort to parallel park (“on a hill!” adds Chris). Chris scooted me out of the car so I would distract them from watching his second attempt; which of course, I told them he was doing. By the time we started the hike, it was 8:30 AM and there were about 15 of us in total. Chris and I had no idea what was to come, though we should have when Duncan hinted at disliking the “quick” Saturday hikes. Boy, does he ever! We had a million breaks, including a lunch break. Umm ya, we didn’t bring a lunch because we didn’t think it would be A SIX-HOUR hike in a blazing, 80-degree sun (with intense humidity, we’d add). We had already gone through our energy bars by then; and at one point, I was on the brink of losing my mind between heat exhaustion and hunger. To be positive, the first few hours of the hike were fantastic! We walked along some old railroad tracks (hence, the dirt, see pic) to get to the harbor, visited an old, abandoned whaling station, and had some amazing views of Durban city. In addition, the people were extremely friendly and genuine.

In fact, one lady, named Iris, runs a nonprofit and is looking for some extra help. She does a lot of different things, though; the big event coming up is an annual book drive where books are delivered to rural schools. She said she needs help badly and could possibly even give me a stipend. I meet with her next week. This is the website: http://www.rallytoread.co.za/intro.php

Chris and I were exhausted so we took a nap before seeing the play that night, “I Love You, I’m Perfect, Now Change” at the university theater. So, we had dinner, a hike, and a play all in one weekend. I have also joined an indoor volleyball team and it looks like my book club is growing some wings as well. Plus, I may be soon volunteering for a nonprofit. It really feels like things are coming together.