Keith getting ready to take on Nadal

Bernd and I on the way to Miami Beach

Some Catch Up 3rd-23rd December

The past few weeks here have been eventful. Yesterday I went to miami airport to see my boetie who was stopping over on his way to Berlin from Managua. Johan, Mike and I made a mission in the morning and we met up with Bernd at lunch time. We ended up going down to miami beach but the weather wasn't great so the beach wasn't that good. We took the train back at around 5 o' clock and finally got home at about 730 after getting ourselves a bit lost.

Last week Wednesday I went to stay at Darryls place in coconut creek. I pedled my way to the bus on my red bicycle and caught a bus with him after work. We ended up going to a young adult church service at calvary chapal. The church is really really big. It looks a bit like a mall 'cause each department has it's own building. It has a restuarant and soccer field with flood lights. The service was really professional. The preaching was great and they had a really good band playing praise and worship.

Now it's almost Xmas time. The people here are quite fanatical and really get into the festive spirit. They put reindeer horns and red noses onto their cars and most of the cars I park at work have jingle bells or something like that playing.

I also went to a Portuguese service with One of the guys I work with(Marcel). That was quite an experience. The service was 3.5 hours long and in Portuguese. The singing was nice and the people were all really friendly. They invited me for supper and one guy sat next to me and translated the whole message.

I am going to an ice hockey game tonight which should be interesting. One of the members own a NHL hockey team so we were sponsered some tickets. Apparently the players are allowed to fight so that should be entertaining to watch. Steven Is also coming to visit for a while today.

Will try put some pictures up after this post.

Merry Christmas! Or as the Portuguese say: "Perlis Navidad"

Week 3: 26th November - 2nd December

Hat Shop, Bayside Waterfront

Miami Forrest Gumps bench

Me and Denver (South African guy who works at a Golf course nearby)


Forrest Steinhage

Johans 21st Birthday Present Johans 21st

Boca Pointe Golf Course

Golf at Boca West (Resort where Darryl works)

Outside the Hard rock cafe at Bayside Waterfront, Miami. Jomar arrived last week from Pretoria, he happens to be a quite a hard rock himself :-)

A Hat shop at the Waterfront

Miami

Miami

The third week here was pretty action packed. On Monday some of us South Africans took a bus to downtown Miami. We went to the Bayside waterfront and spent the evening there. The buildings and ships there are really big, Apparently it's not that huge compared to New York but it was still amazing and a very scenic experience. Ate a nice Steak roll there and visited the hard rock cafe and strolled through a bunch of tourist shops. Nothing to different from our Waterfront, except all the people are American.

Teusday, Wednesday and Thursday were great days for me as I got to play golf on each of them. Teusday I played with Luciano, my boss, at Boca Rio (course where I work). And then Teusday evening we had Bible study again. We went through the book of Jonah and Mike and I played a few songs aswell so we had some praise and worship going. Then Wednesday myself and Mike played with Denver (a South African guy we met here) at Boca Pointe. And Thursday with Darryl at Boca West. So I've been smiling the last few days because before this week I havn't played much golf.

We also had Johan's 21st which was a surprise party. Apparently a bunch of his friends gave him pink massaging slippers and pretended that that was all he was getting for his birthday. So he was quite down most of the day, until later when he got a huge surprise party thrown for him. We had a good time partying. A group of us got him a guitar and signed the back.

This weekend should be good. Visiting Darryl on Saturday in Coconut creek and then going to a portuguese church on Sunday night with a friend from work. Should be interesting as the service will be in Portuguese.

I finished work early today so now I'm off to the gym for a bit and then to the tennis courts with Roger to get my butt kicked again. Mike will probably come too if he's back from visiting Kayleigh...ooh :-)

Week 2: 19th - 25th November

Our Valet Suits Christopher's

Some of the SA girls

Lee-Roy's Birthday

Lee-Roy's Birthday

Workaway Party in Fort Lauderdale

Apartment 609 : From left to right: Jomar, Lee-Roy, Keith, Me, Mike and Johan

Workaway Party Venue

Some of the SA boys

I’m pretty settled in here now and starting to get used to the American culture which is nice in many ways but also not so nice in other ways.

The complex we stay in has a gym, a heated pool and tennis courts with flood lights. This is really nice as I get to work out and play tennis almost every night. This is good to stay in shape and not fall into the lazy lifestyle many people live here.

We’ve made 2 outings so far. The first was to a huge shopping center called Sawgrass Mills where I found a nice pair of shoes. And the second was the workaway party which was really cool. We had a great time jolling with over 700 South Africa in a club in Fort Lauderdale.

We have Bible study every Teusday Night with Pastor A.J. who is one of the bosses at work. I really look forward to Teusdays as it has been my spiritual home here so far. I am still looking for a church in the area where I can go worship but for now Teusday night is enough spiritual food to keep me learning. Anyways its been a long day. I worked until 10 and now I'm off to bed.

Week 1: 11th - 18th November

Our work hats. No comment on this please.


Sipping on a Bud at Porter House down the road

Leaving Cape Town international



Michael and I arrived at Fort Lauderdale airport at about 7 in the evening after 33 hours of travelling. Even though its winter here it was still about 25 degrees when we arrived and very humid.

We then went to our apartment to settle in and meet the other guys staying with us. We are 6 South African guys staying together in apartment 609 in a housing complex called Crystal Palms in Boca Raton, Florida. The apartment is very nice. It is fully furnished with a washing machine a dishwasher and all. I’m learning to fend for myself here which is pretty cool although sometimes it would be nice to have mom do the washing and ironing.

I started work on Friday at Boca Rio Golf Course which is an exclusive Golf resort with only 150 members. The golf course is not open to the public so only the members and their guests may play. The membership fee is round about $200 000 and then another $30 000 per year. The members are really wealthy and all drive super larny cars. I got to do Valet tonight so I drove some Aston Martin’s, Mercedes’ and a lot of other great cars.

I work as a golf attendant. The work so far has been pretty cool. I have been doing most of my work caddying and in the bag room, getting members Golf Carts set up and ready to play. The caddying is very nice because you get to spend time with the members and get to know them as well as get some tips.