Back to the books

Yep, it's back to the academic grindstone for me. Our 4 weeks in the States for Christmas felt like a genuine holiday - I didn't once think about my thesis. However, upon our return to Cape Town in early January it was again time to hit the books. My supervisor had marked up the first draft of my thesis, which I had submitted before the holidays, with lots of comments and suggestions. Since then I have been hard at work slicing and dicing, honing and re-phrasing, abbreviating and in general coaxing my thesis into (what I hope to be) its final and acceptable form.

I submit the final draft on 13 February. It's hard to believe that I'm within reach of the finish line for this programme at UCT (to refresh your memories, I'm finishing up the Master's of Philosophy in Higher Education Studies). It's been an amazing experience!

A couple of pix of UCT's upper campus, where I have spent much of my time in the past 1 1/2 years. It's gorgeous.

Welcome to 1 Pillans Road - garden cottage of "Cottage House"

As of Sunday 25 Jan we are officially moved into our new place! It's still in Rosebank and only a block from our previous flat. We are both pretty ecstatic about the new location and set-up - more private and quiet, with its own patio and garden area (and less rent!) plus very friendly landlords. In the past during walks around the neighborhood, we had always admired this house and property, so to find ourselves living there now - !

Monday morning was our first day to wake up in our new home, and since it was a sunny summer morning we ate our breakfast outside. Naturally Jim took the photo while I posed (in my pajamas).

There's breakfast: coffee and Jim's homemade buttermilk-bran rusks. Oh and fruit of course (not pictured). Nectarines, plums and mangoes are in season now.

Monday night I watered the flowers, which was probably the highlight of my day. In this photo you can see the front double-door entrance and the farm-style door to our bedroom on the right.

Here's the view from our cottage up to the main house, where Jon and Ann (the owners) live. Since a lot of the larger homes in Cape Town have "names" (I think that's a British thing?) next to the number, this house is named "Cottage House." It's just over 100 years old and typical for its time in Cape Town. So I guess that makes us the "Cottage House Garden Cottage." How's that for a mouthful?

Obama and 1st Days Back

I'm finally getting around to posting a few photos of our first couple of weeks back in Cape Town. It is SO GOOD to be back! Five days after we arrived we moved out of 1 Gavenwood and temporarily in with a friend from church, Kirsty (until our new flat was ready). While we were staying with Kirsty the inaqueration of President Obama took place. News headlines were enthusiastic here and we were able to watch the moment live on a local station.


During the evening as we watched the ceremony, Kirsty made pancakes (as South Africans describe what we would call 'crepes') as a special treat.

With American friend Lisa - and the headlines of our paper on the 'day after'.

Lounging in Kirsty's double-wide hammock one evening. She has a lovely patio and garden at the back of her flat. Note K's cat Smudge sitting up on the wall at the back of the garden, and Smudge showing off her beautiful eyes below.

En route... London, part II

On our 2nd day in London we had until 4 pm before leaving for the airport, so Charlotte Gandy graciously drove us over to Windsor Castle. We definitely enjoyed seeing the typical villages and farms of this area, driving along crazy skinny roads. Fortunately Charlotte knew where to go otherwise Jim and I would have been lost all day!

The Gandy fam: Gran Roberta, Missy, Charlotte and Steve

Windsor Castle was originally started by William the Conqueror, and it is still used as a royal residence and houses a large staff. The Queen spends many of her weekends there. Photos here are taken inside the grounds (huge!) of Windsor Castle. Above the door in this photo is the Knights of the Garter crest.

Standing in front of St George's Cathedral. Incredibly it was built in only 70 years (15th century) and is still used annually for ceremonies with the Queen and the Knights, as well as daily services.

Jul at the exit. The sun came out at the end and the stonework on the walls and buildings was lit up beautifully.

En route to Cape Town: stopover in London

On our flight from Chicago to Cape Town we were fortunate to have a 2-day layover in London. Thanks to a Wheaton connection (from Jim's Admission Counselor days) we were hosted by the Gandy family in Woking, a very pretty suburb of London. They were great hosts! We were able to spend one day walking around parts of London and met up with Jonathan in the afternoon. There's no photo but one of the big highlights was using the public transportation (train and Underground) - so efficient and smooth!!



Above: portion of Piccadilly Circus, where we exited the Tube and began our walk. Pretty soon we noticed how conspicuous I was in my pink winter coat.


St Martin in the Field's church. Known as inspiring "colonial style" architecture in the US (can you tell?) and also for its excellent choir.


Jon and I in front of a market in Covent Garden, where we ate lunch

View from Trafalgar Square up to the National Gallery. Jonathan's classes through Notre Dame (2nd year law) are in a building just around the corner. The Gallery was impressive! And free!

At the end of the day we took the foot bridge across the Thames en route to Waterloo Station to catch the train back to Woking. Here's the view of the London Eye, Victoria Tower, Parliament Square, and Big Ben. It was raining (almost snowing) and quite chilly - ready for a cup of tea.