A weekend in Stellenbosch

What a great weekend! Saturday was a lazy day filled with lots of nothing… lounging by the pool, going to the botanical garden and reading, shopping, exploring more of the city, etc. It was very refreshing after two weeks of orientation, homework, getting lost, and trying to figure out a class schedule.

My house rented two cars for the next five months. They are two of the crappiest VW Bugs I’ve ever seen and I love them! I'll have to get some pictures of them posted at some point. We got up Sunday morning and went out to the country. Stellenbosch is located in the heart of wine country so we were on a hunt for some vineyards. When in Rome… right? We found some of the most beautiful views and I can already tell it’s going to be hard to leave. We had no trouble finding some amazing vineyards and got to sample some of the local wines. We had a friend along with us that has grown up in a family in the wine business and is studying wine now. He would tell us all what we were supposed to be looking at/smelling/tasting and we would all pretend that we understood what he was saying. “Yeah, of course I smell green peppers and asparagus.” “I agree, 2005 was a good year.” “Ah, yes, finally a robust blend” I’m getting good at pretending to be a wine expert.

When I got back to the house I met some other Americans for church. I asked someone in town for directions to the church and they explained that it was by Pick N’ Pay, above the Pet Palace. I can honestly say it was the first time I had to enter through a pet store to go to church. The church we went to was started by a group of students and it was a lot of fun. I love going to church around the world, it's a good reminder of how big God is. It doesn't matter if you're at an orphanage in Kenya, or an elderly club in Romania, or a pet store in South Africa, or Christ Lutheran in Nauvoo, IL... we are all worshiping the same God... a God of the world. I love it! After church they invited us out for supper with them and we had a great time. It was great to meet some more South Africans and laugh a lot. Definitely a great way to start the week!

Coming up this week..

-Amanda comes to town!

-First visit to my service-learning site.

-Stellenbosch Wine Festival!

-Class...