In the morning, we went to our new hangout, the Internet cafe, to check email, Facebook, and put more updates on the blog. Around 10:00, Tommie came to visit us and say goodbye because he is leaving to go to a conference in South Africa for the weekend. We thanked him for everything he has done to accommodate us and make us feel comfortable while we are here. He also told us that the students at GSS would be expecting to see us during their lunch break at 1:00.
Sadly, Doug received another email today from his sister and from his grandfather. Doug's grandmother, Jeanne Grimshaw, passed away peacefully at 11:30 Thursday morning. Grandpa and Doug's aunt were by her side when it happened, and Doug's parents had the opportunity to say goodbye to her earlier in the morning. It has been a difficult time, but the family is happy that she is finally at peace.
After working on the computers for nearly 3 hours, we walked over to the school and went to find the students at the cafeteria. It felt nice to be able to just walk on campus, to be recognized by the people there, and to know exactly where we were going. We're starting to feel more and more at home in this city. Unfortunately we'll be leaving in a few days, but we hope to return before too long.
In the cafeteria, the students from the Malaria Campaign greeted us and gave us some gifts that they bought and made. We also got to see some of the other students from the ICT club who didn't get to go on the Campaign, and we met some new students. We took a few pictures and said our last goodbyes. We have all exchanged our email addresses and Facebook info, so we're sure to be hearing from them again soon. We told all of them to visit Burbank anytime they want and we'll make sure they are taken care of.
We also took this opportunity to donate some of our older clothes and travel items we didn't use. The ICT club will find a good home for our old t-shirts, jeans, towels, travel toothpaste and bug spray. We didn't really do this to be charitable, we really just wanted to free up some space in our suitcases for the massive amounts of souvenirs we've bought.
Three of the boys from the ICT club escorted us to the headmaster's office so we could say goodbye to him. He was having lunch with the deputy headmaster, so we spend a little time talking to both of them and thanking them for their wonderful hospitality. We complimented them on the wonderful and well-mannered students we have met at GSS and also told them they are welcome to come to Burbank any time so that we can return the favors.
After visiting the school, we went back to our apartment and ordered some pizza to be delivered. We found a good pizza restaurant yesterday called Debonair's and grabbed a menu from them. We chose their soccer fan special with two pizzas, mainly because we wanted the free vuvuzela that came with the meal. The food came 30 minutes later, but the driver forgot our free vuvuzela. We held onto our money until he returned with the plastic horn 45 minutes later.
We went back to the Internet cafe to do more work on the computers. We are going cross-eyed from all the time we've spent in front of the monitors. We were also hoping to hear from Tommie's wife, Moono, because we wanted to say goodbye to her and their daughters. Eventually we called them and arranged to see them tomorrow evening. At 6:00, we went back to the apartment to get ready to go out for the evening with Tommie's co-worker, Peter, who had taken us out to a few different bars two weeks earlier.
Peter picked us up at 7:45 and took us to O'Hagan's, the Irish Pub we had visited last time we went out with him. We ordered the same drinks, 2 beers and a Psycho Jack, and tried their "Mega Platter." This huge platter included onion rings, fries, a sausage, pork ribs, chicken wings, chicken fingers, spicy chicken mini-wraps, beef strips, beef samoosas, fried mushrooms and salad. Everything was delicious, but we would have needed another person or two in order to finish it all. The DJ's dance music was starting to get a little loud and the crowd was coming in, so we decided to try another bar.
Our next stop was News Cafe, where we had been two other nights earlier in the week. We had not been there with Peter yet, and we heard it was much more lively on the weekend. It wasn't much different from our earlier visits; the crowd was relatively small compared to all the dancers and loud music back at O'Hagan's. We still enjoyed the quieter atmosphere and had one drink before the bar closed at 11:00. We were also visited by another of Tommie's and Peter's co-workers, Albert, who stopped by on his way to an all-night party. Albert was young and fun, and he wanted to take us to the party, but we told him we had a lot to do on Saturday and couldn't afford to be up all night. He said he might try to call us tomorrow afternoon to do something. Everyone here has been so friendly and willing to take care of us. Many people that we barely know have offered to arrange rides to the airport or take us out for the day or evening. It's great!
On our way home from News Cafe, a truck came up behind Peter's vehicle and started flashing it's headlights. Peter pulled to the side of the road and let the truck come up beside him. Two police officers inside told him to drive up one block to the police headquarters and park the car. All three of us were nervous, but we knew Peter hadn't done anything wrong. When we parked the car, the police told Peter that one of his tail lights was burned out. He turned his lights off and then on again, and all lights were working properly. The police were making a big deal out of nothing, and we felt like we were in Burbank again. We went on our way, laughed it off, and got dropped off back at home.
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