Laura G's best weekend was her Ocean View homestay

This weekend was probably one of the best weekends thus far. We spent the weekend away in Ocean View with a host family. An amazing woman named Chantel organized it all. She came to talk to us on Friday, and her energy was absolutely infectious. She went off on a bit of a tangent at one point about how it’s fantastic that we’re all different and all look different. It was inspiring for me, personally.

I think we were all a little nervous about the homestay. We had no idea what to expect; we didn’t know who our family was or what the plans were. I had a good feeling about the whole weekend, though. My host mom was named Astraid, and my host dad was named Adrian. They have two kids, Amber, 10, and Aidan, 15. They also have an adorable puppy and cat named Basha and Ginger, respectively, that Taylor and I were obsessed with the whole weekend. Both Adrian and Astraid are Afrikaans teachers at a private school called the Waldorf School. They informed us that they actually have them in states!

The conversation with both Astraid and Adrian was amazing. They had hosted lots of people from all over the world before, so they were comfortable with us from the start. We talked about politics at home and here, we talked about music and other hobbies, we even talked about the racial issues at UConn! You could tell that they genuinely cared about what Taylor and I were saying.

Friday we volunteered at a crèche, which was really fun because we got to play with kids. We also got to nap with them at nap time! After that, we had lunch on a farm and went to a beach with Chantel’s “kids.” For those people that don’t know, Chantel helps out at an organization that takes in kids that have been abused and provides them with a way to get away from their family and just be kids. They were the most amazing, loving children and spending time with them was so fun. Even though it was drizzling and cloudy, the beach was so fun. We had a sand castle competition and a dance competition. Seeing the smile on the kids’ faces was so fantastic. It was a really great experience for the kids and us!

 

Laura, Erica, Anna, & Taylor

On Saturday, Taylor and I slept in and ate breakfast with Astraid. We went to Fish Hoek and ate lunch, and then went to the airport, since it was Astraid’s mom’s first time flying! It was very exciting, and an absolutely beautiful drive to the airport! At night, Adrian rented some of Trevor Noah’s old stand up for us to watch. On Sunday we went to church, and then went home for some chicken curry made by Astraid.

Overall, it was a really great weekend! At first I was taken aback that they didn’t have a TV or wifi. I was worried we would be bored since we didn’t know each other. In reality, it was the opposite! The conversation was natural and easy and I’m so glad I was able to have this experience.