Monday, August 30, 2010

Almost Over Aug …

The last weekend of August was also unfortunately Michael’s last weekend in Milwaukee before he had to go to Chicago where he is studying. Michael broken/fractured his thumb joint while ATV (Quad biking) up in Canada and has a cast on his hand, so I offered to help him move into his apartment that he is sharing with two roommates and his sister. I had lots fun meeting all Michael’s friends and his volleyball team, as well as seeing where Michael attends college.

Part of Loyola

I also attended a Lady Gaga concert which was pretty interesting. I never realized that you are meant to dress just like Miss Gaga herself to enjoy her music and show your support so I instead went for comfort and practicality. Silly me, haha!

Miss Gaga

Monday, August 16, 2010

Doesn’t always stay in Vegas…

We flew back from Vegas at 11pm, which meant arriving in Milwaukee at 5am. Michael was sweet enough to offer to fetch us from the airport, which was awesome cos we didn’t have many other volunteers! After having a morning nap I started work at 10, with happy thoughts of a wonderful vacation.

The famous Vegas sign
Tamara my partner in crime hosted a Vegas party for her farewell, it was wonderful to go out and celebrate with the girls (and a few guys friends too) even though we were celebrating Tamara’s year coming to an end. Sunday night we had a dinner with Tamara’s family which was fun, they are a really nice family that really made Tamara (and me) feel like family! 

My partner in crime...Tamara

Sunday, August 15, 2010

What happens in Vegas…

On the Friday my trip to Vegas began, and true to superstitious Friday the 13th style it was a LONG trip…I missed my bus,  this was mostly due to not being able to find the bus stop which was in a town called Falmouth, which was past a town called Mashpee and past a road called Stub Toe Road…haha!

Family Picture taken in Providence Town, MA

Sue decided to drive me half way to a town called Braintree where they have a shuttle service that goes directly to the Logon International Airport. I never missed my plane (*yah*) but the plane was delayed!  After arriving in New York, I spent a little time wandering around the airport (which is the same airport I flew into almost a year ago on route to Cali) then made sure I got to my gate in time, I definitely didn’t want to miss my flight to Las Vegas! And of course, my flight was delayed…again! But we still managed to land in Las Vegas on time. I had to catch two buses in order to get to my hotel where my friend Tamara was waiting for me. It was soooo damn hot in Vegas! (Like 108F which is 42C) Our first afternoon was spent lying by the pool and relaxing, later we walk to the closest fast food place for dinner, and then got ready to go out…in cute heels of course! By the way, if you ever go to Vegas…pack flats and heels, every time you enter a casino put your heels on (and your slops in your bag) and when just walking around TRUST me you are going to want to wear flats. We eventually walked home barefoot at like 2 in the morning!

Vegas airport :)

As you know they say “what happens in Vegas…stays in Vegas” so I won’t get into too much detail about my trip, but I will hi-light a few things to give you a run down. Tamara and I did almost all the 50 things on our list. We adjusted a few when we realized they were never going to happen (like finding a guy with a mullet, I guess men have finally realized that the mullet is definitely out…so we found a guy with an outrageously long Mohawk instead)

Mohawk dude

We almost got arrested, unfortunately it was not for “being awesome” but rather for Jay Walking. When you get warned not to Jay walk in the USA, take it seriously, some places (i.e Vegas) take this law very seriously! We were stopped by a cop that kindly explained exactly what a cross walk is and that we should learn to use them. We did however get to sit in a police car and take pictures; I think the cop felt sorry for us crazy foreigners.

In the police car...

We did catch a ride in a limo…what makes it even sweeter was that it was A. for free B. a hummer stretch limo and C. It was hot pink! We walked through a drive through, got boys to paint their nails purple and blue. Gave out a few red lipstick cheek kisses and collected coins, awesome times with Robyn and Tamara!

Limo riding in Vegas
*Hi-lighted words are explained in the glossary page

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Boston, with family…

Since my last post I have been to a few different states…and said goodbye to a few good friends, such is the life of an au pair…but I’ll break it up into a few posts.

My travels began with a trip to Boston, we left on the Friday afternoon and arrived in Boston by early evening. My host family was staying in a hotel for the night before driving to Cape Cod, which is where we were vacationing. They offered me the weekend off after I mentioned I had family in Boston. Sue met me at the airport, and the first thing I noticed about her…her South African accent was still there! It was really great to hear! Once arriving at their house in Weston I realized Alric also had his accent while the boys, not so much. It was crazy seeing the boys after, what we worked out was 10 years! Yip the millennium party on the farm was the last time we saw each other. Sue and Alric had a great weekend planned for me which started with a family meal on Friday (the biggest T-bone steak ever, and salad. I love vacation!)

South African Breakfast with Micheal, Sue, Alric and Richard

The Saturday was pretty exciting as we did the Boston Duck tours, which is a tour that is both on land and water, so you are driven around the city then driven into the Charles River and because the vehicle is a converted boat on wheels it floats along…best part of the Duck tour? Had to be steering the boat!

Would you trust me?
Dinner that night was at Vapiano’s, which was really great food and it was cool cos there whole family was there (plus Richard’s friend Julia) After dinner we went to the Blue Man Group, which was one of the most amazing shows I had ever seen! There is always something happening on stage plus it’s so diverse that you are constantly entertained and surprised. Unfortunately they ban the use of cameras and video recorders, so I could not document the experience.

Micheal, Julia, Richard and I

The Sunday was spend on the Charles River when we decided to do a kayaking trip up (or maybe down?) the river. We (Sue, Alric, Michael *my younger cousin* and I) were in single kayaks, which was fun for the first few bridges that we had to cross (there were about 8 altogether) by the 4 bridge we had a group vote as to whether we should continue on or turn back. The water in front of us was really choppy as the waterway widens. We decided to forge ahead, which meant you had to keep paddling non-stop or else you started to go backwards! I ended up by myself for a while as the others had taken a break, but I only realized when I was a bit far from them, not wanted to turn around as I had managed to get that far. Luckily we had cell phones on us so I let them know I would meet them at the rental place at the end. Afterwards I realized that I didn’t actually know where the rental place was, but thankfully I had a map! So now I was trying to paddle, take pictures and read a map…thankfully I made it! KFC for dinner was the best decision ever!

Me :) with Boston in the background
Monday was pretty relaxing; I had to catch the ferry to Provincetown…which I unfortunately missed! But that just meant I got to stay in Boston a little longer, I sat by the Dunkin Donuts and played on my computer ‘til the ferry came. It was a 90 minute ride, and once I arrived in Provincetown I met up with my host family and we had a dinner with Dave’s side of the family.  This meant I got to eat my first Boston lobster, which Mike (Dave’s uncle) had to teach me to eat…as they are a little different from crayfish!

Yip...I ate this one :)


Later that night we drove back to Harwich Port, Cape Cod where we were staying for the next two weeks. The house we rented was really nice and big enough for all of us that were staying there. It was a 2 minute walk to the beach, although I spent most of my days watching kids napping, which is why I managed to get so many emails done! The weather in the Cape was really nice it was hot but not unbearably so. 

Sunset in Cape Cod, MA

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Pretending to know what i'm talking about...

I’m pretty sure I told you this before but Michael plays volleyball for his college, but he also coaches volleyball camps in the Summer (when he isn’t working at the Medical College of Wisconsin…playing with mice, ew!) He mentioned that he was coaching one of the camps by himself and that I was welcome to come watch or help out. Um, wait did I not tell you I have only played once before? But always willing to try new things I agreed to join him. I could only go the second, third and fourth day, so I missed two days, but when I got there one of the other told me he had just announced to a room full of 7th and 8th graders that I am African star volleyball player…HAHA! And that they should listen to the advice I give them…anyone seeing a problem here?! One girl announced that she wanted to hear my accent, and that it was so cool. I spent the rest of the camp making sure I listened to Michael explain the game of volleyball and what ball control exercises they had to do, then I walked around and corrected a few kids by repeating parrot fashion what he had explained. Although I am pretty sure they didn’t understand anything I was saying. It was a really fun camp and it was interesting to learn a little more about volleyball.

This is kinda my motto about trying new things...

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Have fun in the Basement…or not…

This bring me to a problem we seem to have in Wisconsin, which I have never had to deal with before…flooding basements. Ours has flooded twice! 

Our flooded basement

The first time was just a little water, the second time was a little more serious and since the water is part rain and part storm drain water (ewww) pretty much anything the water touches has to been thrown out. It is really sad to drive around the neighbourhood and see kid’s toys, furniture, pictures and all the rest just waiting to be picked up by the dump trucks! This also means we have had a basement cleaning crew in and out of our house as well a lock smith, painters and house cleaners. Ugh!

Our backyard...flooded!

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Salsa Dancing…

The next morning I woke up early and Michael fetched me and we drove to his family’s cottage in Illinois (which the state below Wisconsin, it’s the state that Chicago is in) The day at the cottage (well there are actually two cottages right next to each other) was such a nice relaxing day, I mean everyone was working in some way, either mowing the lawn or pruning plants (that was my job…which I think I did a good job of) but then we all had lunch together and later dinner, and we also went out on the lake in a little boat. The weather was gorgeous and it was really nice for me to get away for everything for a day! And of course to kick back and relax before our night of awesome Salsa dancing…

A beautiful day in Illinois

It started with a Salsa lesson, which I have to say, Michael and I were definitely getting an A+ in. Then they opened the floor and all these couples started dancing, and that’s when Michael and I realized we were going to have to step up our game! So we were watching other couples and trying to learn their moves from them. We had so much fun, and that’s most important thing.

Salsa Dip