Last summer week in Weston

This last week has been somewhat mundane, but with an extra dose of optimism and positivity things are looking up.  The mind is strong enough to focus on the good, and in turn eliminate the bad, and this is the route that I have chosen to conquer on my Au Pair journey. On that note, I have met Yonela, another South African, who lives GPS time 13 minutes away, Mel's time, 8 minutes! Considering my blurred existence in the depths of the woods, 8 minutes to the average person is the equivalence of perhaps your next door neighbour. Yonela and I get along like a house on fire. Our last weeks activities involve dinner at our new spot, Tavern 7, a local bar/restaurant with a social ambiance, a constant hum surrounds you as you compete with the music and hustle. Large meals at reasonable prices.

 We had frozen yoghurt at Swizzles, same concept as Wakaberry. You choose your poison in the form of levers and taps, add anything from skittles to cookie dough to fresh fruit and pay by weight. We've indulged in a few Starbucks treats, nothing like a Frappachino or an iced caramel Macchiato on a hot and humid Summers day.

On Friday night, we made our way to Norwalk to check out the Black Bear Saloon scene, arriving around midnight doesn't allow for much catching up on the already inebriated crowd that have already moulded their night. Of course the 2am curfew serves no assistance. We still had a great time. Saturday we drove to Trumbull to see what Target is all about, purchase a few reasonably priced items. From there we poked our heads into Marshalls and TJ Maxx. We revisited our Tavern 7 for a guaranteed delicious meal, after we had laughed in a mixture of dry humour and pure unexpected sights and scenes. " The Watch", a truly original storyline that faces a script many would find odd, the lucky ones will be able to laugh remarkably at the randomly placed line at some of the most dry locations of comedy to walk out being truly amused. A great collection of actors, without which, the film would not be worth while. Tomorrow we leave on our much anticipated road trip in which we travel South to Amelia Island, Florida, making a pit stop in Washington DC for two nights, The White House and the Smithsonian await my eager arrival...

Back to Reality...

It's been two weeks since I have been back from my Texas road trip with the girls. Updating my blog already brings a form of nostalgia whilst glancing through our pictures. It's these unprepared, spontaneous, crazy moments that we cherish the most. I feel very lucky to have met two wonderful people, Chey and Meg, different personalities, similar traits, agreeing or disagreeing, we share such an important bond, our heritage, our country. We will always be connected because of where we were born, now we have more than country blood, we have sister blood, we have history together. Unfortunately life goes on, and for life we need to sustain ourselves through that dirty little thing we call money, and to get money, I dare say it, we need JOBS !! Being back, I enter, what the Au Pair community refer to as the end of the "honeymoon" phase. The new and exciting feelings have worn off, and surroundings are now familiar as we embark on the " lifestyle " phase. With this transition, there is an amalgamation of severe homesickness, withdrawal, doubt and depression. The key is too push through and to begin the lifestyle phase. It was my birthday last week Thursday, 24 years  young! I celebrated by going into the city to see Gen and Tom who were ending off their Contiki adventure. I successfully completed my first solo train  and subway movements to arrive at my destination. SoHo! New Yorkers, whether they be from New York or the more likely option, another country but living in New York, are very upfront and forward. I was assisted by many a chivalrous gentleman, a few obnoxious punks and some friendly Irish boy, all of whom insisted I take their numbers. I had no intention of seeing them, with no US phone ( I lost it in the toy room at home ) I was running on hope and a Mc Donald's destination. Seeing Gen and Tom was such relief. We initially planed on going to this little place for $1 drinks, but Tom forgetting his ID at home prevented this. We ended up at the half Pint drinking a beer tower too awesome for words. We jumped from bar to bar meeting and mingling with many. It was an adventurous night out in which details remain irrelevant. Let's just say, roses, dedicated song, no entrance, missed train, morning rain and champagne...

Day 6 - Believe it or NOT !

Sunday morning, our last hotel awakening, wallets are dry, clothes are running low, and of course its 108 degrees outside. Despite it all, we still have a reserve tank of enthusiasm ready for our touristy day in San Antonio. We charge up at Wendy's for some coffee and bacon and egg wraps. The only downfall about having a car in a city is parking, sure they have the parking facilities, but it gets complicated with location and destination, and of then in our circumstances, a nasty fee. The key is to have a GPS that assists you with parking, and then to obviously find the cheapest, but then again is this hassle worth the extra $5 or $10 you might save.

Walking over, we arrive at Ripley's, we wanted to see just the auditorium, which is $19, but for an extra $8 we could see a 4D movie as well as the wax museum. The auditorium was spectacular, my dad and I would watch Ripley's together every Thursday night while I ate my ham and bacon pizza, it was a tradition, walking through Ripley's collection was not only fascinating by extremely sentimental. I recalled the episodes I had scene, and over time could probably appreciate and understand more, considering I was around 11 or 12 watching the TV show. We spent hours, reading interesting facts, learning about American history, marvelling in the crazy unbelievable talents of some, the weirdness of others, the extremity of certain events and happenings. We were all very much thoroughly intrigued by each and every artifact. Money well spent. We did the 4D movie, it was fun, we were riding bumper cars through strange courses, wouldn't recommend it though. Moving on to the wax museum, it doesn't compare to Madam Tussuad's, but it was very well done and if you in the area, worth taking a peek, especially with the 3 attraction package. We posed with Johnny Depp and we sat on the Throne of Love, a quarter got Chey " Lovable ", myself a "Wild Thing" and for Megs, it couldn't decide so she was the whole package. We went through the tunnel of terror, which was moderately scary, Chey found the entrance and started, but was too afraid to continue and came back for us.

Having spent a decent amount of time exploring Ripley's, we went across the street to see the Alamo. The Alamo, originally known as Mission San Antonio de Valero, is a former Roman Catholic mission and fortress compound and was the site of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. Due to the heat and pure exhaustion, we took a quick walk through the garden and the museum, read a few interesting facts and made our way back to Belton, where Meg's host dad was kind enough to let Chey and I stay for the night. The best feeling was walking into the house with a delicious home cooked meal on the table, our tummies could not have been more thankful.

Day 5 - San Antonio

Waking up on Saturday, just in time for our self service breakfast, consisting of fruit loops and toast spread with jam in a squeeze bottle, we hydrate and replenish. I'm sure we have " FOREIGN " engraved on our foreheads as we always seem to attract people to us, striking conversations and showing interest. We pack our stuff, load up the car using one of those luggage trolleys and pull up onto the main road, Padre Boulevard, to undoubtedly pull off it and into the souvenir, beach attire shop. I tried on a pucker butt bikini that was on sale for $39, loved it, rang it up and ended up paying $19 for it, it was meant to be. Meg lost the keys for 10 minutes while we panicked and searched, only to recover them in her handbag all along, bless you Goldfish! We parked by beach 2, or 3 or whatevers entrance, made our way to some sunny rays with towels, hats and lotion. The water was clean and warm, and so relaxing to be in. We made ourselves comfortable under an umbrella with some chairs, only to be given an ultimatum of moving or paying $20, we opted the former.

Lying on the beach, tanning and chatting was truly appreciated after some stressful entertaining past days. Attracting more people, we were told to stay, party for another night, but we made a deadline, 2pm, we leaving for San Antonio. 2pm came, we packed up, fulled up with gas and left. Chey fast asleep in the backseat, stopping at a security check, we tricked her into thinking we took a wrong turn and were at the boarder of Mexico, she was up in seconds, only to be disappointed we were not. Showing our passports and declaring we on our road trip, the officer candidly said, " Choose another State " apparently if you live in Texas, you want to get out of Texas, and here we are road tripping through it.

Again, the google accommodation mode was in full force, and again, Motel 6 came to the rescue. We showered, changed and made our way to the riverwalk. I loved the look and vibe of San Antonio instantly. Parking, walking across the cobble stoned road, horse driven carriages sprinkled in fairly lights and beauty, we arrived at the Hard Rock Cafe for cocktails and dinner. Our waitress was oozing enthusiasm, loved her! Watermelon coolers and fruitapaloozers trickled down our throats putting out fires. Burgers and salads knocked our bill to $100. Ka-Ching. Worth it, we got a free hurricane souvenir glass to take home. YES! The riverwalk is gorgeous, cobble stoned, lit with lights, dark waters flowing between the two boardwalks, covered in restaurants, shops, clubs and bars. The atmosphere was enlightening and enjoyable, the people were happy and entertained. Boat tours and bridges, serenity and buzz, lights and magic rolled into one happy feel good place that I definitely recommend. A piece of nature in the middle of the city, wrapped in history and scattered with mystery. Sunday we were looking forward to some Ripley's and the Alamo....

Day 4 - Beauty, beaches, babes and boots

Refreshed, relaxed and ready for the weekend, we started our day in Rockport, at our Sportsman Manor Motel, with a delish breakfast consisting of a help yourself waffle maker, box of assorted doughnuts, fruit loops, coffee and orange juice. Included in the room rate this was a big plus for us when it came to making reservations.

Small talk with the owners lead us to our next stop, which we were informed was a splendid ferry ride guaranteed to sea porpoises (dolphins). I asked a local environmental conservationist on the side of the road, missing teeth, scraggly hair, she proceeded to take a good 15 minutes explaining. We found it on our GPS anyway, plugged in Port Arsansas and were on our way.

We arrived at the ferry, we were the first on and first off, no dolphins unfortunately until the return trip. A sweet island, very pretty, very local looking, we stopped at the shop with the unavoidable "Nothing above $9.99" sign, and were once again sucked into spending more money. We left the store, and made our way to Corpus Christi, another island off the bay along the coast, to get some lunch. The initial plan was Sushi, but due to price barriers, a meal on the lunch menu would suffice.

We did some scenery sighting and then made our way back on to the road to our very anticipated next stop, South Padre Island, located on the tropical tip of Texas, South Padre Island is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico and the Laguna Madre Bay.



Crossing the large bridge to get to the Island was such a glorious sight, blue seas awaited us. After a few days of experience, learning from our mistakes was becoming effective, one being not spend money on drinks while out in tourist priced locations. We scouted an H.E.B and made the most economical purchase yet, 24 waters for $3.99, and 24 Bud Lites for $14.99, as well as dinner for three around $10.00, not to mention this included our midnight snack later that evening. We took a quick look at the beach, completely scattered with cars and multi coloured umbrellas and headed to our hotel.

We drank our buds, slowly got ready, attempted a 10 shot self timing photoshoot, and made our way to the buzzing streets. The first club we arrived at, Chey forgot her ID so we couldn't get in, we did however come into contact with a lady who told us that the place to be was further down the street. We arrived at this very quiet pub, enticed by the DJ who lured us in with free shooters and cocktails, did a few pity dances because looking through the windows to the pumping party right next door, there was no chance we were staying. $5 entrance gets you in, lots of people, dancing on the decks of the Bay, DJ's, drinks flowing, all round island atmosphere. We danced in the summer heat drinking cold beers, laughing and singing along to the live music. Meeting some local Texas coming from the village, we made new friends, and before we knew it we were all being escorted out the club because of the 2:00am curfew, all bars, clubs, pubs strictly close, we were swept out of that place like a school of salmon in a fishing net. Feeling the night was still young, we contemplated drinking on the beach, thankfully we decided to head home and sleep so we could soak up some summer sunshine rays on the beautiful beach the next morning. The extremely arbitrary drunk outsider trying to slot into our plans made this decision a lot easier, discussing what we wanted in Afrikaans, a bonus ! Unfortunately leaving my small Nikon Cyber Shot camera in Belton, Texas, the nightlife and party pictures will arrive in the next 5 to 7 days...