guess what? for much of yesterday, my room had a massive gaping hole in the side of it. and it was totally intentional. here's the story: we decided sometime last year that the room was stinky-dark. the lack of light combined with the rotting of our beds (yes, there were wood borers in our lovely beds. hah.) was making the room into a mould nest. it didn't smell nice and it was very stuffy. so we decided to be rid of the beds, and put a ha-yoooge window in the side of the room. WOOT! it has finally happened, friends. there is a lovely window now in the wall.. i will even give you evidence that i am not lying.
what it looked like before...
...what it looks like now, on the inside...
...and what it looks like now on the outside!
in other news, last week was basically the best of my entire life... or this year, at least. it was the last week of term, which is always awesome, but even awesomer was the fact that i, along with 8 of my friends from school, got to go to the most incredible performance art festival in the history of the world (that i have been to). it was run by the Grahamstown Foundation - Grahamstown is where Sindi goes to school now, by the way, and it is pretty much the performing arts capital of South Africa, if not Africa. the KZN Schools Festival was part of a series of festivals for Grade 11 students all over the country; it was held at Hilton College, a beautiful school about 3 hours away from our abode... and it was, quite frankly, life-changing. we not only got to witness some of SA's most under-appreciated and enormously talented performers take to the stage, but we actually got to work alongside them in workshops that challenged, inspired and humiliated *ahem* grew us, both as artists and as people. if i'm sounding a little repetitive and boring at the moment, i'm sorry - but all that i've said is true. and then there was this man named Liam Magner... yah. i am basically in love with him. you would be, too, if you witnessed what i did... but we'll leave it there.
this is the main hall at Hilton, which housed the theatre. it was tea time... hence all the students on the lawns :)
this is the Eshowe gang! except for that random girl 3rd from the left in the back... i don't even know where she's from. *shrugs* no matter.
another lovely thing about the festival is i got to hang out with my cupcake, Tayla! she was my class companion, but she moved away earlier this year... i miss her :(
by far the best workshop... my one with Liam Magner, in which i was an addict, a RoboChair, a dog, an escapee, a drunk and a Zulu warrior, among other things.
Mr Magner (pictured below) is part of a comedic duo named The Neon Anthems. they performed last at the Festival, doing a stellar job in a hilarious show they wrote called "TOKOLOSHE COME AND GO". at this particular part of the stage, Liam stood right in front of me. i thought to myself, "Hanny, you must capture this man's amazingness on film, no matter how blurry the photo may turn out!" so out came my camera, and just as i was about to take the photo, Liam looked right at me and said, "Oh! You're taking a photo! Please Facebook that." pssshhh... i have never been more proud of being spoken to in my life. this was the photo that ensued, and i have not only faithfully uploaded it to Facebook... now it's on Blogger, too!
uhmmm. this is Liam playing dead while performing in "TOKOLOSHE COME AND GO". i hope you are starting to understand why i love him.
i got home from the Festival of Coolness on Thursday night, at around 9 PM. on Friday, an hour after school, i was on my way to Durban, to hang out with my bff Cathryn and her family for the weekend. it was uh-MAY-zin', let me tell you! on Friday, i went with Cathy and her sister Roanne to their youth, where we did ridiculous renditions of David and Goliath and the feeding of the 5000. after that we hung out at their house and listened to Jimmy Needham *who rocks my socks* and Relient K... yes, only the coolest band in the world. see, it was already fabulous. Saturday was Roanne's birthday, so we got to do all SORTS of cool stuff! we went to the I ♥ Market, which is a genius little market that is run the first Saturday of each month. it is beautiful... i ♥ the I ♥ Market.
we got to eat these amazing designer cupcakes, and mine had a raspberry on it (have i mentioned that i am a fan of raspberries? oh, yes. raspberries FTW. just sayin'...)
plus, Cathy and i purchased a 100-year-old dictionary of total superduperness. it has some of the funniest words and definitions EVAH.
we also went to the NSA and Bean Bag Bohemia and looked at incredible artworkses!
this was at Bean Bag Bohemia... i loved it there.
we watched Enchanted back at their house and then had a mini-party for Rosie, complete with relatives, cake, ice cream, singing, tasty food and general loveliness. YAY for parties! when everyone had departed, we watched Hairspray... and then slept. i got to go to church TWICE on Sunday - i love church! - and in between, we ate amazing food and watched Just Like Heaven. (we were going to make pancakes but there were no eggs! *sob*) my parents came to the evening service and we hung out - Cathy and her family go to this amazing church called Victory Faith that serves FOOD after evening service, can you believe?! they also have this phenomenal hot chocolate... i am seriously thinking of doing YOYL just to hang out there and drink hot chocolate all day. and to grow as a child of God... yah, that too.
Cathy, Rosie and me... i love these girls SO SO much!
later on that evening, my sister came back from university! she's hanging out with us for this and next week... siiiick.
now i am on vacation till next week Wednesday, and i've been watching movies. Lord Of The Rings movies, to be precise. when they came out, my godmother sent us all the movies - and not just the ordinary movies, but the Special Extended Editions. we watched them all yesterday and today. they are still the coolest. by the way, i am Éowyn.. which makes this hunk my husband.
yesssss... i know. i scored beeg time.
look, we are so happy! aaah... warm fuzziness descends.
i found this online today, and it made me smile. (all credit to Anke Eissmann)
"He [Faramir] looked at her [Éowyn], and being a man whom pity deeply stirred, it seemed to him that her loveliness amid her grief would pierce his heart. And she looked at him and saw the grave tenderness in his eyes, and yet knew, for she was bred among men of war, that here was on whom no Rider of the Mark would outmatch in battle." 
"And so they stood on the walls of the City of Gondor, and a great wind rose and blew, and their hair, raven and golden, streamed out mingling in the air. And the Shadow departed, and the Sun was unveiled, and light leaped forth; and the waters of Anduin shone like silver, and in all the houses of the City men sang for the joy that welled up in their hearts from what source they could not tell."
yes, i adore the love story of these two. it makes me want to cry... thanks for that, Mr Tolkien.
and that is what i have been doing lately! now? i shall go sleep :)
this is the photo of Lauren and her Ted that i have up in my room. isn't she beautiful?
