I am now in the airport in London. I felt much better Saturday morning after having slept 10 hours the night before. The flu like symptoms were entirely gone and all I am left with is a cold. Such a relief! Because I was feeling so much better, Erica and I went on a little shopping expedition on Saturday morning purchasing some last minute souvenirs. We found a great store called "Out of Africa" that had all kinds of African artifacts and supports local artists. It was then back to the house to finish packing and wait for my drive to the airport.
The flights to Johannesburg and then to London were uneventful except for a completely frustrating exercise of trying to reclaim the VAT I paid on my purchases. Everyone told us it was so easy and they they would put the refund on your credit card or give you American cash or whatever but it was totally not worth it. I had to wait in a long line twice, once to get a check, which was made out in South African rands and once to cash the check. The fees taken off at both the tax refund place and the cash checking place were pretty huge. Also, I did not realize there was no refund of VAT for accomodations and that was by far my greatest VAT payment - for the stay in Johannesburg and the Safari. Anyways, other than that bit of annoyance, everything went fine and I had a pretty good sleep between Johannesburg and London. Now it is homeward bound!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
Last days
Unfortunately I have been felled by a horrible cold/flu! I cannot believe it. I was doing everything right in terms of my diet, vitamin pills, sleeping etc. I am wondering if maybe I am just too old for this type of vacation.
So many of the people at the Old Age Home have been sick lately so I am pretty sure I caught it from one of them. I did a manicure for this one lady on Tuesday who had a really bad cold, so I have the feeling that is when it started. On Wednesday, I drank lots and lots of water because I felt it coming on, but it was just too powerful. Thursday and today (Friday) I have just felt awful - chills, weakness, head fuzziness, coughing, sneezing, blowing the nose - yuk!
On Thursday at work, the substitute O.T. Michelle was there and she took the lead in the activities but she did get me to help out quite a bit. She also gave me lots of ideas for Friday and was about to start to give me ideas for next week too when I told her I was leaving. I guess Lucy is not back for a few more weeks. Michelle had a totally different attitude than Lucy which was really nice.
After work on Thursday, the entire volunteer group went out for a farewell dinner. I felt compelled to go but had a hard time hanging on. It was in an African restaurant with African decorations, food and entertainment but unfortunately I could not really enjoy it.
I woke up today still feeling bad but feeling compelled to work my last day. I did my yoga/exercise and also put on this WACA WACA song that everyone is crazy about. It is a song by Shakira and came out during the world cup. Everyone who can walk totally gets up and dances - it is so funny. Then I did some word games and memory games that Michelle told me about. They worked out really well. After that, it was goodbye to all of the old people, most of whom were very sweet and told me how much they appreciated me being there and how good it was to get to know them. It was really nice.
After work, some of the volunteers were taking the train down to a few beach/tourist type towns but I decided to stay home and rest. Also I am not going out with them tonight as I really want to get lots of sleep for the big plane ride tomorrow.
In reflection, I have had a fabulous time in South Africa. It has been super interesting and exciting. I am really glad I did it!
So many of the people at the Old Age Home have been sick lately so I am pretty sure I caught it from one of them. I did a manicure for this one lady on Tuesday who had a really bad cold, so I have the feeling that is when it started. On Wednesday, I drank lots and lots of water because I felt it coming on, but it was just too powerful. Thursday and today (Friday) I have just felt awful - chills, weakness, head fuzziness, coughing, sneezing, blowing the nose - yuk!
On Thursday at work, the substitute O.T. Michelle was there and she took the lead in the activities but she did get me to help out quite a bit. She also gave me lots of ideas for Friday and was about to start to give me ideas for next week too when I told her I was leaving. I guess Lucy is not back for a few more weeks. Michelle had a totally different attitude than Lucy which was really nice.
After work on Thursday, the entire volunteer group went out for a farewell dinner. I felt compelled to go but had a hard time hanging on. It was in an African restaurant with African decorations, food and entertainment but unfortunately I could not really enjoy it.
I woke up today still feeling bad but feeling compelled to work my last day. I did my yoga/exercise and also put on this WACA WACA song that everyone is crazy about. It is a song by Shakira and came out during the world cup. Everyone who can walk totally gets up and dances - it is so funny. Then I did some word games and memory games that Michelle told me about. They worked out really well. After that, it was goodbye to all of the old people, most of whom were very sweet and told me how much they appreciated me being there and how good it was to get to know them. It was really nice.
After work, some of the volunteers were taking the train down to a few beach/tourist type towns but I decided to stay home and rest. Also I am not going out with them tonight as I really want to get lots of sleep for the big plane ride tomorrow.
In reflection, I have had a fabulous time in South Africa. It has been super interesting and exciting. I am really glad I did it!
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