A Small Taste of Home!!

Yesterday, we realized that we have a trip coming to Beautiful Gate and that we needed to get some single size bed mattresses, bed sheets and pillows. So, we took this opportunity to cross the border into South Africa to search for lower prices. We were successful! We were able to find a very good deal on the mattresses in Ladybrand. And, since we were already across the border, which can be a large hassle, we had already packed for a drive and overnight stay in Bloemfontein. For those of you who don't know South Africa very well, it is a larger city in South Africa about 1 1/2 hours drive from Maseru (two with all the road construction going on). Bloemfontein also has two very big malls that you can shop at as well. And if you can't find what you are looking for in Bloemfontein, you probably don't need it. Anyway, we arrived after dark in Bloemfontein and we went straight to dinner at the Spur. This is a good burger and steakhouse restaurant. The ironic part is that it is called Spur, but the whole motif is around American-Indian culture. It is also ironic, in that, there are no cowboys or indians in South Africa. This is truly one of those American culture invading other countries things. Anyway, after a wonderful meal, we went to our hotel, only to find that is was full. But, they had another hotel that they worked with for cases like this. We ended up staying at a nice B & B type place with some really neat themed rooms. It was very comfortable.

Then this morning (Saturday) we woke up and went to the first mall called Mimosa Mall. Once we started exploring the stores, it was very easy to forget that we were in Africa. It really does remind you of any American mall. They have food courts, jewellery stores, sporting goods stores, clothing stores, etc. After spend a lot of time and money (at least by accountant's standards), we went to the second mall called Waterfront mall. This one also had various different stores like Mimosa mall, but was a mall that was in the shape of a semi-circle around a beautiful pond. There was also a McDonald's there. We had not eaten at a McDonald's since we were on our way to Lesotho (in the Chicago airport on Dec 4). That makes it 3 months and 15 days without McDonalds, but who is counting? And it tasted just like home! It was so nice to be able to eat something that could remind us of home. Even Faith exclaimed how the chicken nuggets and fries were just like the ones in Zeeland! I know this sounds really stupid to some of you, but it was great to let the new culture just wash away for the length of a meal.

Culture shock is starting to set in for me. I find that I am increasingly more frustrated with some of the differences that I see everyday. Other things, Anita and I just laugh at. Case in point today was while walking through the mall, we saw quite a few people that were bare footed. Anita just looked at me and said, "In America there is always the "No Shirts, No Shoes, No Service" policy." I kept expecting some guy to walk into a store without a shirt at any moment. (That never happened). But, we were able to find pillows and bedding for Beautiful Gate, along with some much needed household supplies for our "house". (And we had shoes on!)

Anita is really excited for the electrical blanket that we will need in the winter time (June & July) to stay warm at night. Remember, we don't have central heating here and the entire house is made of concrete blocks and tiles, so it will be cold. We have not put the electric blankets on the beds yet.

But the best part of the trip for me was the drive home from Bloemfontein. Along the way, we saw the harvest moon rising over a beautiful South African mountain right as the sun was setting opposite us. The picture above does not do it justice. Then we started joking about the "harvest moon" and how we are good with that term as it IS going into fall here and now we can honestly say that we saw a REAL HARVEST MOON IN MARCH!!!

Thanks God for the small taste of home today!

Bryan