South Africa -- Day 10

This morning, Sunday, was our dedicated shopping morning! We rose, got dressed and went to Fournos for breakfast. My brother dropped his car off to be washed while we were having breakfast. I was teasing him about getting it completely washed, inside and out, trunk, tires and all every week, until he told me all that was done for the equivalent of about $8.00! How jealous am I about that?! I had three cappuccinos at breakfast and that just about woke me up. We were off to shop for the day.

Our first stop was at the recommendation of Mart’s friend Lufuno, a place called the Burma Market. It was like a giant indoor flea market, the type you see even in the States. We looked around, but it wasn’t what we were looking for. These were mostly things we could find at home. I did manage to score a cute dress, though. We left there and headed back to the Rosebank Mall to go to the rooftop African Craft Market. We synchronized watches and split up, as my brother did not want to be stuck doing the hardcore shopping with Jess and I. He headed off to get a Thai massage (hopefully without happy ending!), and Jess and I headed off to shop. She found her lady from last Sunday and bought the bracelets she had been looking all over for. We then asked the lady where we could find fabrics and she said, “Oh you need to go downstairs in the African Craft Market.” We were like, we thought we were in the African Craft Market? Apparently not! We followed her directions and found a whole other marketplace with even more real and authentic stuff. We got all kinds of great things – sculptures, jewelry, trinkets. On our way back to meet Mart, I found my score of the trip – a beautiful wall hanging for the house. I would describe it here, but I know Cyn is reading and I don’t want to ruin the surprise. But it was beautiful and perfect. We even met a couple while the salesman was wrapping my purchase that were from the States. The girl was from Virginia and the guy was from Philadelphia. They were both in South Africa for work. I was so concerned that we were late to meet back up with my brother that I didn’t even think to ask them for a card or something.  We met back up with Mart and headed home.

We had dinner plans with friends this evening. We were running a little late coming home, so we stopped back by my brother’s house to just change into nicer clothes real quick and run back out the door. I decided to wear my new dress. We headed into a ritzy section of Johannesburg to meet Steven, his wife Toa and the family. Her mom was there, as well as her sister Inunge and their baby Zawadi. Also, her stepson. We chatted around the pool and grill outside before sitting down for an amazing dinner – rump steak, lamb, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, spinach with garlic, cauliflower and salad. It was a wonderful feast. Steven apparently came to South Africa on holiday 12 years ago and never left. They have a beautiful family and a very nice home. We stayed and watched some of the Masters for awhile before returning home for the night.