In Motion

Copyright © 2010 by Veronique Kruger

Today I have a little to say about a lot of things, so forgive me if this is choppy and boring. There will be little to no deep thoughts or insights; it is what we call An Update Post.

Firstly, if all goes according to plan, I have precisely 47 days (that’s 1,128 hours, 67,680 minutes, 4,060,800 seconds) until I finish school. FOREVER. After 4,060,800 seconds have passed, I will never have to do anything related to high school again (not counting my potential offspring, but at least I get a decade’s break, you know?).

Secondly, I have completed exactly 61.75 out of 90 hours of horseback riding that is required for my diploma. I can report that these 60-some hours have accomplished the following: 1) I’m not deathly afraid of horses anymore, 2) I can canter without getting a side ache, and 3) I know what those buckle thingies on the bridles and saddles are for.

Thirdly, I am now 19. I just thought I would add that.

Fourthly, my India fund is going well. I’ve received a donation and I’ve sold my bike and am receiving the money in increments, but once I have it all I will officially have R1,350 out of R9,000, or $180 out of $1,300. Once again, any donations and/or prayers are greatly appreciated, and you can email me at africanstardust@gmail.com if you feel like dropping your spare change in my pockets.

Fifthly, I am going to write the South African National Benchmark Tests on Saturday, which include Math literacy and English proficiency evaluations. I’m not too terribly nervous, but I would appreciate your prayers on that day. I will be writing from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm, so please be praying that I stay energized and refreshed and that I can stay focused for all that time. This has everything to do with my admission to UCT, so it’s quite an important day.

That’s all. I thank you if you stayed for all that rambling. If you visit (which is unlikely since most of you live across The Pond and the others, you know, have lives), you will be most warmly welcomed, especially if you bring coffee with you.

<3 africanstardust

Rainbows

I’m sorry I don’t have a picture for you, but Charlie had a bit of an *incident* and I have yet to retrieve all my files from the backup disk thingy, if they’re even there. So no photos. That’s also why the photo in the previous post is apparently AWOL.

I started my classes and I love love love them. Except for Trig/Pre-Calc, but I’m getting a tutor (if you live here and are a math genius, please let me know ASAP, thank-ye) so all should be good very soon. Also, I’ve applied to UCT for a MBchB. I have yet to send all the forms, but I figured I’d get a head start even though I’m planning on attending in 2012, not 2011. You can always defer the application to the following year, but they say it’s best to apply for university the year you finish school even if you’re taking a gap year. Anywho, so far I have a 98 in both Creative Writing and Psychology, a 100 in Chemistry, and an 83 in math, which may sound bad but for me is actually a massive accomplishment.

I’m currently working on asymptotes and dividing variables, which is literally like Greek to me. Seriously, I was good at math until 7th grade, and that wasn’t really my fault. I’m kind of hoping it will all just come back to me or something dreamy like that, but who knows? All I do know is that I have to get this stuff if I want to get in to UCT. Which I do. Quite badly. (See my other UCT posts).

In addition, guess who is going to finally grace the world with her presence in about two weeks? Yes. Kruger junior (who currently has no other name, except princess) is arriving very very soon. I’m working my head off so that the week we’re in Cape Town I can just pace the waiting room or whatever. Needless to say, we’re all super excited.

I also applied for a job at Disneyworld for next year, but I’m thinking I might want to do some kind of internship at Disneyland instead. I’d much rather live in California (East Coast People, who get to be capitalized, scare me). Besides, Chuck Norris lives in Anaheim. Come on.

Oh right. Yesterday I went for a 1.5 hour outride and the horse I was riding, who I haven’t ridden in forever, decided to be full of himself and took off galloping when all I wanted was a canter. Do you have any idea how much of a difference there is between a nice, slow, loping canter and a freaking gallop? Did I mention I’ve never learned how to sit or whatever on a galloping horse because it’s never covered in any kind of horseback riding school?? So what I did was this. I thought of the movies I’ve seen with galloping horses and how the rider sits. I thought of Dreamer and Seabiscuit and Racing Stripes. So I leaned forward, stood up in the stirrups, bent my knees, and held onto Jet’s mane for dear life. I have to say, it was actually very fun. The thing that made me panicky was that I couldn’t stop him and I was supposed to. If I’d been all alone I would have just let him go until he got tired, because the going-super-fast-and-not-having-my-aching-rear-on-the-seat thing was fantastic. The not-knowing-how-to-stop-this-massive-stubborn-animal-while-my-instructor’s-husband-is-watching thing was freaky. Anyway. Now that I’ve told you all about everything and possibly bored you to tears, I have to get back to asymptotes and 2x squared -3x + 1 divided by x – 2.

De-Horsed

I should be exercising, but I’m not. I’m posting a blog post. About, among other things, how terribly I miss horseback riding. Yes, lessons are painful, and yes, falling off is…also painful…and the pressure to be in shows takes a little of the fun out of it. But to just ride through a vineyard and only have the sound of the hooves and have the blue sky above you, and perhaps a peaceful breeze, is the most effective de-stressing technique I have ever tried. Horses are magnificent animals.

In other news, I am seeing my sister who I haven’t seen for five years tomorrow afternoon. I’m also seeing my sister who I’ve seen surprisingly often. Both of these make me incandescently happy (What are you talking about? I have not been watching Pride & Prejudice.)

By the way, our friend who has cancer went to the oncologist, where they drained 3 liters (!) of water that had built up. She feels much better now, can actually eat, and is slightly more in tune with her body. However, she still has a lot of pain and the water will build up again, so please keep her in your prayers.