So alot has happened and changed in the last few weeks; it's been exciting, confusing, fun, difficult, and sometimes stressful. Here's a little taste of last week.
After a beautiful - but cold! - sail down the west coast of Africa, and up slightly on the east side, we arrived in Durban, South Africa. It was September 2nd. After docking, I kept going out onto the gangway (we weren't allowed off the ship yet) to just look at the land, and see proof that we weren't moving anymore!
The next day was a day of "hurry up and wait". Since there were over 100 people - singles, couples, and families - tranfering off the ship we had a big moving day. All the stuff from the Academy, and all the many departments, had been boxed up and was stacked in the midships area the day before. So at 8am, we had to start bringing all our personal belongings that we were taking with us, into the same area. Then we waited for the moving trucks and busses to arrive.
Once the trucks arrived, we got down to work. Pick up a box or bag, get in line, down the gangway, put item in collection area for moving men, back in through pilot's entrance, up two flights of stairs, repeat. I really felt like the little ants in the movie A Bug's Life, as we had our little trail going 'round and 'round.
Afer getting everything packed in the trucks, everybody piled into the busses and Land Rovers, off we went. Two hours of highways and hilly winding roads later, Appelsbosch was in our view! Everybody piled out with the little bit of luggage we had taken with us on the bus, and went and got their key to their new abode.
Thirty minutes or so later, the moving trucks arrived. Time to move more boxes and bags! So, the central building by the parking lot - a big gymnasium - is where everything went. This time conveyor lines of people were the mode of transport. Into the gym went all the boxes and bags and more boxes and random bits and pieces (a british phrase!) into big ol' piles. Thanks to everyone pitching in, it only took about an hour to empty the trucks and fill the gym.
Then time to gather belongings, drop them off in your new room and go eat some dinner!
And in my next post........Wedding preparations gone complicated!!
