A Look Back At Term 2 - Weekends spent in St Francis, Port Elizabeth and little old Grahamstown

Lately I've been a bit annoyed with myself because I know I'm not giving Arrows the love it deserves. I never wanted to publish a post just for the sake of getting a post up. That's not what Arrows is about for me. This is my online journal - a space that I can come back to and reflect on my life. I love being able to share my happenings with you all and the community that this blog has given me is so special to me. No matter how busy life gets, I need to encourage myself to write. This need I have to document things brings me so much joy.

Anyway, today I thought I'd take a little look back at my second term. This post is not nearly as in depth as I would have wanted it, but plans have changed a bit. Emma and I had planned to head home for our week's study leave on Friday morning as she had a test on Thursday night. However, she's been knocked down with a terrible case of laryngitis and all sorts of other lovely things. This means no more test for her on Thursday, which means we're heading home a day earlier. Yay! This afternoon was a bit of a scurry to pack up, get notes printed and pop into the pharmacy to load up on some vitamins - everyone around me has been knocked down with gastro and the flu and I cannot afford to get sick now. It's currently late on Wednesday night, my bags are packed for the most part - I must remember my toothbrush - and I finally have a moment or too to reflect on what has been one of the most amazing terms I've had at Rhodes.

We kind of hit the ground running as soon as we drove into Grahamstown at the beginning of April. Em's parents came down for a few days and we were able to show them our apartment. We spent the days with them eating out and exploring Grahamstown. After they left we spent just over a week house sitting for family friends. I think we'd been back for over two weeks before we spent a night in our own flat. I remember being so relieved when I walked through our front door. I've said it before, but I love that this place feels like home.

We then celebrated Vicky's 21st with the most beautiful high tea. It rained all day but that didn't stop us from having a ball. The café that hosted the tea did such an incredible job - the food was absolutely delicious and the decor was perfect for the occasion.

The next weekend we roadtripped to St Francis - ah what I'd give to re-live that weekend. It was probably the most fun I've had all year. I wrote a whole post about it over here but in case you need  a reminder or two, here's a couple of photos.

The weeks following our St Francis weekend were busy. I spent my days writing Psychology papers and doing my Anthropology research task - an evaluation of the social and economic reasons behind why people choose to shop at Grahamstown's Shoprite or Pick n Pay. Thrilling, I know. Em and I did however manage to sneak in a day with just the two of us. We've most definitely outgrown the party/club scene here in Grahamstown, and unfortunately besides drinking yourself silly there's not much else to do here. We had an incredible day though - we'd planned to check out the Observatory Museum but it was closed. We spent the day trying out two new coffee shops, exploring the Settler's Monument and of course some shopping was involved.

Then along came this last weekend. Oh wow, where do I even begin? We all traveled down to Port Elizabeth to celebrate Courtney's 21st birthday. It was the most incredible time - we made a weekend out of it and 18 of us stayed at Cat's house. I haven't laughed as much as I did in a long time. It requires a whole post of it's own which I really hope I get round to doing. We spent most of the night all dancing and hugging while singing along to YMCA, Journey, Abba and some other really old, really great songs. My friends are incredible. It was one of those weekends that left me feeling so, so grateful for where I'm at right now. Life is so, so good.

My people. Doing life with these kids is just so great.

And so that was term 2 at a glance. It was a goodie, wasn't it? Although term 2 technically isn't over - we still have a month of exams, but the teaching weeks have come to an end. I'm so excited for term 3 - I can't wait to make more memories with these people. I wish you could meet them all - you'd love them as much as I do.

This is where I leave you for the next while - I have a 3am alarm set and a 10 hour journey home ahead of me tomorrow. As you can imagine, I'm just bursting with excitement to have Liam's little arms wrapped around my neck and my face smothered in sloppy wet kisses again. Gosh my heart wants to explode at just the thought of being with that baby boy again. Gah. Alright, good night sweet people, if I don't go now, I never will.