That’s right, Nick and I fly out of D.C. to Johannesburg on
November 12th. Strangely
enough, we will fly out where it all started just over 5 years ago; Nick and I
flew out of D.C. as strangers in July of 2011.
After 18 hours of watching movies in sync, talking about beets, and
sleeping/drooling on one another’s shoulder, we became inseparable and now this
time we get to fly out of D.C. as a married couple. It’s truly wonderful and crazy how things
change. When we started thinking of
honeymoon destinations during wedding planning, we threw dozens of ideas out: pub-hopping
in Ireland, an all-inclusive resort on an Island, backpacking through Europe…these
were just a few of our ideas. Each time
we talked about our honeymoon though, we kept going back to Africa. We thought about how neat it would be to go
back to where it all started. While we
were lucky enough to have some of Nick’s host family and friends come out
(thanks again for traveling so far!!), no one from my village was able to come
and not everyone from Nick’s was able to make it. Eventually we decided there was no other
place to celebrate our recent marriage. Despite
the rather long flight, it couldn’t be a better choice and we couldn’t be more
excited…we get to see everyone from our time in South Africa again, we get to
explore some new parts of Africa, and we get to experience summer as it begins
getting cold here...hellooooo tan!
During our African honeymoon (check out pictures on
Instagram with #DipDownToAfrica and look for a blog post afterwards) we will
spend our first week in South Africa. We
are going to spend a few days jika-jikaing in my village, a few days catching
up in Nick’s village, and a day or two in Joburg/Pretoria to visit with our third
host family – Sue and Eddie Beddy and family. We
cannot wait to reconnect with our host families, our villages, and our schools. I personally cannot wait to reconnect with
magwinya (fat cakes) and South African Coca Cola! Nick cannot wait to reconnect with cool time
and mayo in the taxi rank. Following our
week in South Africa, we are spending a week in Madagascar…figured we had to
spoil ourselves a little bit for our honeymoon.
Nick and I had always wanted to travel to Madagascar while we were in South
Africa, but on the Peace Corps stipend, couldn’t quite swing it (heck, I couldn't swing buying chocolate!). We will be taking a week’s guided tour which includes checking out different species of lemurs, frogs, chameleons, and birds; hiking;
and enjoying the delicacies (specifically vanilla!) the country has to offer. We are beyond excited!
Now, as many of you know, Nick and I both worked with the
schools in our villages. We are both
eager to see how are projects are progressing and to talk to the teachers and
students there. In addition, we are
looking forward to bringing them some much needed school supplies. On our honeymoon, we will be taking two large
suitcases with us…one full of clothes and other necessities for our trip
(mainly bug spray and sunscreen), the other jam packed with items for our families,
friends, and schools. If you happen to
have any school supplies lying around or anything else you’d like to get rid of,
we would be more than happy to take those items off of your hands. As my blogs showed during my time in the
Peace Corps, both of our schools and our villages were in need of many things. While we can’t very well pack desks or
computers in our luggage, we can bring some smaller items. Please feel free to let either Nick or me know
if you would like us to take something over, and maybe in our empty suitcase
back, we will have something for you from our travels! :)
Okay, that’s all for now…better go brush up on my Sepedi and
Xitsonga…it’s a bit rusty. I should
probably tell my husband to practice
as well!
Le rata,
Meg
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