Day 19: Mark's Hometown

Yesterday was our first full day in Kimberley. We finally made it to Mark's hometown. It is pretty cold here! Better than sweating in America though.

First, we went to the new mall in town. It's small compared to others we've been too on the trip, but there was a cool, little skate shop there that Mark bought a board from. He seems happy with it.

After the mall, Mark took us down memory lane. We went to a couple of the skate spots that he and friends would skate a lot. We went to his old house. He says it's nothing like he remembers. There are tall, grey walls with electrical fencing along the top surrounding the house. We took a peek over the fence and Mark said that the house looks the same, but the yard is different now.

An elderly lady (Jason Katz's grandmother) from across the street noticed we were peeking over the fence and told us to stop because she was afraid that we'd get electrocuted. The lady ended up knowing Mark's parents and Mark had a short and sweet conversation with her.

We headed towards the other mall in town and spent the rest of our day there at a Mugg & Bean since it was so cold outside. Kyle and Mark got endless cups of coffee, and we watched the Olympics. Two of Mark's childhood friends, Michael and Alron, came by and hung out for a while. We just sat, talked, and watched more of the Olympics. Gymnastics was on. It was intense.

Alron gave us a ride back to the Parker's (the family we are staying with), and we were greeted with a delicious meal. We met Michelle, Andrew's wife, and their two daughters, Keren and Sarah. They are a really nice and hospitable family. We had good conversation over dinner and later, tea.

The Parkers went to bed a little later and left Kyle, Mark, and me in the family room. Most of the time we just sat in silence. Mark was surfing the web for snowboarding equipment, Kyle was reading Winnie The Pooh, and I was writing for the blog. I actually think we are doing the same exact thing right now. Well, Mark was taking pictures.