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WORLD CUP 2010! FEEL IT- IT IS HERE!

The South African flag flying high in Joburg- a World Class African Host City!

Finally! The time has come!

South Africa has been preparing for the World Cup for years and KE NAKO- it's here! We can't begin to explain the energy and excitement here in Joburg. We feel so lucky to be here at this time. You see the South African flag everywhere- we even bought South African flags for our car to show our support. It has really brought the country together.

We've been very fortunate to attend both US games and Geoff also saw Brasil vs. Cote d'Ivoire and will also be attending the semi-finals with Mick. The spirit here is inspiring and it has been so cool to see the influx of people from all over the world. (Our building has been infiltrated by Mexican fans- complete with sombreros!) Here are some of our pics. We hope that the US is following the Cup and enjoying it as much as we are!!

Mick and Geoff pose in their jerseys during the Bafana Bafana rally. (Mick is (of course) pointing out the star that England won in the World Cup (yearsssssss ago!)).

Geoff and Lauren watch the opening match at Citigroup. (They had a huge party with drinks and food to celebrate. Also- note the US vuvuzela in Geoff's hand!)

Here we are at the US vs. England match-- USA ALL THE WAY!

Geoff and Mick show their support for the winning teams (it was a draw!)

Here we are at the US v. Slovenia game- great seats- right near the field!

The Ghana Vs. US game- sadly the US lost, but we were happy that an African team won!

Johannesburg- A World Class African Host City! (shot at Soccer City)

Long time!

Cape Town!





The view from our B&B in Camps Bay, Cape Town

What a long time it’s been!

We cannot believe that our last blog entry has been a few months ago already. It’s amazing how time flies! We’ve done soooo much in the past few months. Can you believe it’s April?

SO where to begin…we’ve had quite a few visitors passing through and we both agree that it’s always nice to hear the American accent. Johannesburg really acts as a major African hub for Southern Africa, so all sorts of our friends who work for the US Embassy, Foundations, etc, have spent the night, not to mention just friends visiting to see beautiful South Africa!

Work is going very well for both of us. Geoff has had an opportunity to travel to Zambia to present at a conference and is heading back to Senegal and Ivory Coast at the end of April to due another presentation…in French! He says it’s always nice to be back in West Africa, but the second you step off that plane, you remember the heat…and it hits you like a brick wall! Now imagine being in that in a suit!

Lauren is crushing it up at work like usual. She travels quite a bit back and forth all over South Africa. She recently finished developing and implementing a training on orphans and vulnerable children for the Re-Action! Outreach Workers. One of the topics was household economic strengthening. It was interesting to hear how people get by- 600 Rand for food per month--- Geoff and Lauren spend that at dinner...200 Rand for rent per month-- most people we know in Sandton
(where we live) pays around 25,000 Rand!!!!

One of the best moments of living down here is actually coming home and discussing our days. Geoff might be in client meetings all day discussing best business strategy for South Africa Treasury and Lauren might be visting a clinic in a township. So when we come together, we just have such different views and experiences of South Africa – it’s a real treat to have the opportunity to see the two South Africa’s like that.

Anyway, let’s see some pictures! We’ll start with when Jono Sillcocks visited South Africa for 3 weeks. Geoff and Jon went on a safari for 3 nights – and laughed together 24 / 7!

Jono and Geoff headed to Sabi Sands game reserve in Northeast SA adn enjoyed three manly days of safari filled with whiskey, meat, and laughter.

Check out how close the elephants got to the vehicle!

Hsieng-Wei, Myriam, Stacey, Alain et sa famille, Desi, and us celebrated with Manuel before he went back to Italy- Caio! Geoff worked the braai once again and delivered delicious beef, chicken and ribs to the table living up to his name Chef Geoff.

Manuel came to ours for a good-bye dinner the night before he left. Bellissimo! We'll-a miss-a you-a Manuel-a!

Every weekend we head to brunch at an ourdoor restaurant in Joburg- here we are at Tasha's one of our favorites!

We also had a visit from Ben Welch - an amazing recent Georgetown MBA grad who is starting a great job at Merill Lynch this fall and visited South Africa for a case study. It was good to see him and meet his fellow G-Town classmates - especially Felix who was the only person we ever met who had been to Bhutan! Good times.











Pajton, Geoff's friend from Pound Ridge, passed through on his african adventure working for the Clinton Foundation. It was great to hear his perspective on Africa. He later quizzed us on all 44 U.S. presidents... amazing what you pick up when you're alone in a small African town....

We took Pajton to the Elephant Sanctuary. Here we are stopping for lunch.

Lauren steps up to feed Dumbo!

We got together with the West African contingent of Citi for a Sunday brunch at a Beninese restaurant. It brought back a lot of memories as we enjoyed poulet, poisson grille, yams, aloko, and of course- piment! It was good to speak French and listen to Alain Ngoma and other West African singers.

Bon Appetit!

Our friend Steve and his (new!) wife Hester came down to Cape Town from London to get married at the beautiful Twelve Apostles Hotel. The first night we were all back together is a bit blurry! Here is Steve saluting Arsenal Football Club in the bar as Lauren sung hymns. So awesome for the gang to be back together!

Debs, Mick, and Lauren outside the B&B ready to head to the V&A Waterfront.

The girls went horseback riding on the beach (where Lauren managed to get into a trot!). These are some pics that Lauren took from the car window on the way back to the hotel.

Breathtaking!

A view of Table Mountain from the V&A Waterfront.

Geoff and Lauren get ready for the ceremony- champagne in hand!

Debs and Mick before the ceremony- check out Lion's Head in the background. (Soon they'll be moving down to Joburg to live near us!!! WOOHOO! We're really looking forward to the lavish game meat dinners that Deb will be preparing for Lucy and us! Sing Star 3am Cat Stevens.....!!)

The 3 Amigos pose for a pic before the wedding.

Mick and Steve (best man and groom)

Deb quickly googled a youtube clip to learn how to tie the cravat! Well done!

Steve - the Ol' Casanova!- One last jaunt with the ladies minutes before Steve ties the knot!

Gorgeous venue-look at the view!

Hester looked absolutely stunning (Lauren coveted her fascinator!!). This was a beautiful moment when Steve got down on his knee before they exchanged rings.





The reception! Fantastic dinner followed by touching speeches and (of course) dancing! A great time had by all!! We wish Steve and Hester all the best!

The South Coast Christmas Adventure

We just returned from our awesome Christmas beach vacation on the south coast. In total we spent about 9 days on the Indian Ocean which was a real treat. The water was warm, the beaches were filled with white sand and we met some really nice people. A BIG THANK YOU to the Rowley family for hosting us for Christmas and letting us stay at their awesome holiday home in Balitto. They were such a nice family and we all shared some really good chats...and laughs!

The Rowley's and friends having some sun-downers on the water. So nice.

The view from the Rowley's balcony.

Some of the scenery along the coast. And don't let this fool you, some of the waves got REALLY big and not safe at all if you didn't have a surfboard!

Near Pennington we found a nearby nature reserve / park. So we decided to have a stroll through to see some animals. Very peaceful and very beautiful and we were told we could walk around, but considering we saw wildebeast everywhere, we decided to stay in the car. We also had a very funny incident with a zebra...see posting below!

Cool shot of an impala grazing by the car.

Geoff also insisted that we stop at "CrocWorld" - which ended up being cool because we actually saw a feeding. And these are no ordinary crocs -they are South African Crocs - some of them up to 20 feet in length!

One of our nights in Pennington at the B&B we stayed at - run by Jim and his family. Very nice to welcome in our 1st anniversary on the 27th.

Zebra Stand-off!

So on our trip around the south coast of SA, we found this nature reserve / park where we could drive and see some wild animals. It was all very nice and entertaining until this stubborn zebra would not get out of our way. Watch the clips below in order...in the end we emerged victorious, but we weren't always so certain that was going to be the outcome. Enjoy!

THE KILLERS!

Not much to say other than they completely rocked it out in Johannesburg over the weekend. The picture doesn't show much, but the lighting and sound system was amazing. And their encore of Smile Like You Mean It was unreal...