Hello!

The past few weeks have been both stressful and exciting! I was in rehearsal day and night preparing for our preview performance of Count of Eight Entertainment’s ‘A New Perspective’ in Cape Town on the 4th July as well as the opening which opened in Grahamstown in the 7th July 2009!

After driving for 11 hours we eventually arrived in Grahamstown! We went straight to rehearsal and started advertising for A New Perspective. Our opening night went really well! And all the performers had a great time on stage and the audience loved the show! The next day we were all very excited to read our first review!

* National arts festival newspaper. Cue. Vol 23. No 8
“This provocative dance-drama lìves up to its risquè posters. It deals with social ills in urban cultures such as drug use, child abuse and teenage pregnancy. The choreography is immaculate, with polished costume changes. The entire show reads like a theatrical music video and is bound to give you goose bumps.”

I am back home now, and we are preparing for our run of A New Perspective in Cape Town. I will keep you all posted on when and where the show will be running! Hope to see you all there!
I am also in the process of planning my 21st! I can’t wait!

Have a great week!

Peace and Love
Amz J

Well, so far Ghana has been quite entertaining… the trip started off really well, a good flight and a good hotel, which is surprising for a few of us that have traveled into other parts of Africa. We really are thankful that the facilities are good, although Shelley and me are on the smokers floor in the hotel so our room reeks of smoke!

Both the ladies and men have made it into the finals unbeaten. Although we know that a final is a “totally different ball game” as Linds puts it, we are very excited to play and bring home the gold. We will be playing Ghana in the final and the lads will be playing “the filthy Gypos”. Both finals take place on Saturday.

We have two rest days ahead, so tomorrow the plan is to get some interaction between the teams in the form of an amazing race challenge. The teams comprise of 4 people (2 guys and 2 girls) and the race is scheduled to start at 9:30am tomorrow morning. We need to have a team name and actually dress up. Should be fun….running around Accra and taking taxis to odd destinations.  The race ends at our hotel for lunch, followed by  the awards ceremony. As you can imagine, some of the girls are exceptionally excited about getting to spend some quality time with the boys…lol

The games have been interesting as well…
* The Ghanaians play decent hockey and have the whole crowd supporting them so you cannot hear a word on the field.
* The Nigerians get in the way and just break down play…and if their sticks don’t work they use their bodies.
* The Egyptians just hit and run…and log at any given opportunity, so games end up taking so much longer than they usually do to accommodate for all the injury time.
* And the South Africans struggle to hear a thing on the field, as there is a band that fills the stands on the bench side and sings and beats their drums non stop from start to end of the game. We end up walking off of the field rather husky - particularly Jen.

Yesterday was Kim’s birthday and we had dinner at a lovely restaurant, called Monsoon. Today was Shelley’s birthday and for it she scored a goal, whoop whoop. It is hard to believe that this is winter, it is so hot here. The pool sessions have been a blessing and tomorrow i think after our little adventure we will def need a dip in the pool.

So now that you have a vague idea of the trip so far, I hope that you enjoy the pics and get to see how Accra is treating us.

Have a lovely day
xoxo

Today in exactly two weeks time I will be competing in the World Games 2009 Championships. As the competition time approaches, I can’t help getting excited and remembering that this is why I do what I do!

One of the best parts of being an athlete is getting to travel the world, and this time is no exception as I get ready to fly to the land known asTaiwan and embrace its culture, verve and extreme heat! The other thing I love about competition time is that I get to completely ease off in my training, cutting down both the distance and time by half…

There’s no doubt in my mind that being an athlete has its drawbacks, but as I pack my bags and count down the days I can also say without a doubt that these are far outweighed by the paybacks!

Stay strong and don’t give in… Coming from me, it’s definitely worth it!

Bon Voyage!
Jade

Sporting Opportunities invites you to join us on a very unique ride in the Hartebeesfontein Conservancy which forms part of their Open Day. All three distances take you through lush green farm lands within the Conservancy which is at the foot of the Magaliesburg mountains and along the Magalies River. A ride not to be missed.

Date: 2 May
Venue: Mokoya Lodge, Haartebeesfontein Conservancy, NW Province
For more info contact: Robyn on 072 462 1978 or robyn@sportingopportunities.com

The SPAR Women’s 10 km Challenge Series started with a single race in Durban 12 years ago with events subsequently being introduced in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria and Nelspruit. Attracting well over 45 000 women nationally, with Durban leg being the biggest with over 16 000 runners, these races should not be missed.

2 May 2009 will see the series in Port Elizabeth (Kings Beach Car Park). Registrations close 25 April.

Good luck to all who will be participating this year.

For more information and to register please contact: Loynes Jenkerson on 041 581 5643 / 082 644 6422