Comrades and Durban

Greetings from Joburg. We are back from Durban. John ran the Comrades on Sunday with over 11,000 other people, running from Pietermaritzburg to Durban (89kms). Unfortunately, John got sick and was vomiting, cramping and generally enduring pain. It was also quite hot. I was SO relieved when I finally saw him run into the stadium in just under 11 hours. I admire John for many reasons, but one is his determination and courage to press on even when things are really tough. He did it! Of course, he was disappointed, but I was really proud. I had an interesting chat with another "fan" in the international tent. She asked where I was from. I said, "Canada, but I live in Zimbabwe now." Her response was, "well, those are 2 very different countries. I think Zimbabwe made the front page today - let me check my newspaper. Yep there's the headline, "Mugabe declares war" (on his own people) - oh, sorry about that." Canada never makes the news - it's such a "boring" place to live (and yet so safe and with so much food!) That night we celebrated John's achievement in our hotel room with room service (cheeseburgers). I was so excited! We haven't had room service since our honeymoon! It feels so grown up... :) We also saw the top 3 female winners in our hotel the next day. I felt starstruck. They're all Russian and REALLY fast.

The next day we rested and spent time at the beautiful beach. I LOVE the ocean - seeing the waves crash in and just feeling God's majesty. Then it rained for 2 days. We spent one at a mall (OK, I was amazed and overwhelmed by the cornerstore, with all of its bread and milk products, nevermind a mall!) And then we spent a day at uShaka marineworld. There was a dolphin show, a seal presentation, and we dined with sharks (it's a restaurant in the bottom of a ship with a huge window leading to tank with sharks in it). They had giant seaturtles too. The aquarium was beautiful. The fish were so cool, and there were so many species I'd never seen before. I wish I could show you photos, but we didn't have the camera. All I can recommend is that you come to Durban and visit uShaka. You won't regret it. There is also a lot of food in South Africa. It's nice to see and John thinks we've gained 10lbs since Friday. Now we're in Joburg with our friends til Sunday. Everyone thinks Stacey and I are sisters since we look "exactly alike." She's a lot of fun, and so is her family. I've heard rumours that we're going ice skating tonight...