Nothing out of the ordinary...

What to blog about? These past few weeks have been pretty ordinary.  We have been super busy yet again with classes, homework and service.  Spending time at House has become more and more rewarding.  The kids are starting to really recognize us and open up to us.  Last week we spent some time painting with them…fun but chaotic and messy!

                 I am falling in love with Mandhi and Desiree and all of the other children too.  Mandhi is at the age where he likes to repeat everything you say.  It is so cute.  He also has the slyest little smile.  He is a sneaky little bugger sometimes and he knows it.  He smiles his little innocent smile and gives you a look that you cannot help but love.  Desiree is so adorable too.  She is so quiet and loves to just sit in your lap or hold your hand.

                                  

Desiree, Mandhi and I

Random tidbits:

-On Sunday, Katie and I had breakfast at “Tiffany’s.”  It is a small restaurant down the road.  We had scones and crepes (1 cinnamon & sugar, 1 caramel & banana). Yum! They were so good. 

-On Tues. night we attempted to sleep on the roof while gazing at the stars and being blinded by the magnificently bright moon….we ended up just taking a 3 hr “nap” on the roof though because we got too cold.  However, it was so beautiful. Even though we are in the middle of a big city, the sky is still amazing.  Plus I loved hearing the sound of waves crashing against the shore to put me to sleep.

-We have been meeting lots of new people…people from South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe, and more.  It is so cool to hear stories about other people’s lives.

-A few weekends ago we also got to watch the IRONMAN…it is a world wide triathlon that took place in PE….it was about a 2 mi swim in the ocean, a 112 mi bike ride and then a 26.5 mi run.  Crazy.  It was fun to watch.  We went down to the pier at 6am to get a good spot to watch the start.

Sorry this was all so random.  I wanted to blog before our “fall” break trip so I wouldn’t have as much to write up when I got back.  We leave tomorrow for our trip.  It is our “fall” break instead of spring break because it is fall here.  We are headed with the large group to Cape Town from Fri. April 22^nd –Wed. April 27^th…Then a smaller group of us fly off to Durban where we will spend a night and then drive to the Drakensberg Mtns for a few days.  We will be driving back to PE on May 1^st.  I will have no access to internet during this time so I will talk to you all and let you know how it was when I get back.  We have a lot planned for us (spending the night in a township, visiting Robben Island, climbing Table Mountain, doing a wine tour, going to a market in Durban, and hiking in Drakensberg, and more).  

Please keep us and all of our travels in your prayers. Hope you have a wonderful Easter!

Love & Prayers,

Laura

I am in South Africa!

In case you didn’t know, I am in SOUTH AFRICA.  It just really hit me the other day.  It comes in waves.  I have gotten into a routine here, that it does not feel much different than being at home or at CSB/SJU (I mean other than the fact that there is an ocean right across the street, I am a part of the minority racial group….)  Really though, life isn’t that much different.  We are having great and exciting experiences here but the day to day life kind of starts to feel natural and normal.  A few weeks ago I got out of class and saw that it was 4:55pm.  I thought to myself, “wow, class got out right on time.  Now I have time to run and catch the 5pm bus to SJU.”  It didn’t even hit me that I wasn’t at CSB or that in fact I was on a different continent. 

                Some things, however, do seem unnatural and they do snap me back to the reality that I am living in South Africa.  These reminders are sometimes good and sometimes bad. 

                On our way to our service sites on Mondays and Tuesdays, we pass through the Missionvale township.  We see homes made out of metal scrapes, boards and boxes.  Many of them look like they are quite a bit smaller than my dorm room freshman year.  And there are a ton of these homes.  When you look around the small shacks are crowded super close together.  It looks like they go on forever.  The ground has hardly any grass, it is mostly dirt polluted with garbage.  Scruffy looking dogs, cows, goats and pigs roam freely through the streets with their ribs clearly visible.  It is crazy the conditions these people are living in.  It is crazy to think of how my life would have been different if I were born in one of those homes instead of my own.  It is just so crazy to me to think about all of this.  Poverty is so prevalent in this area.  What is exciting though is that these people seem to make the best of the situation.  When we drive by I still see people smiling and laughing.  Even though they have many struggles, they still find happiness. 

                Exciting side note….the TOMS shoes foundation donates a pair of shoes to people in need for every pair that is bought…well Missionvale is one of the receiving sites…we see many people walking around wearing TOMS shoes. It makes  me so happy.

                One of the more positive things that reminds me that I am living in South Africa is that i am surrounded by animals.  As already mentioned we have Vervet monkeys on campus (super awesome!).  We also have many animal park reserves nearby.  This past weekend we went to SeaView Lion Park.  They have over 50 lions spread throughout the park.  They also had a few tigers and some other smaller animals in certain areas.  The most exciting thing was that the park has giraffes that roam freely.  Our car was stopped because there was a giraffe in the middle of the road about 6 ft in front of us!!!!  I saw about 11 giraffes total.  We also got to pet and play with 3 month old baby lion cubs.  They were so cute.  My apartment next fall may have a new addition to it.  I am trying to find a way to bring Koby (one of the 3 mo. Old lion cubs) back home with me. 

                South Africa is great. It is beautiful.  It is fun.  It has so much to do and to explore.  It helps you find yourself.  It helps you learn about history. It teaches you its story, its pain, its struggle.  You learn to appreciate the struggle and pain that so many people went through because of apartheid and poverty.  It makes me appreciate where I have come from.  It has taught me to trust, to love, to have faith, to be patient, and to be present.

Life moves too fast.

Warning: this is a super random blog…it has little bits of everything in it….

                It has now been over 2 months that I have been here.  We have a little under two months left. Yikes. Crud. That is not good.  Too much left that I want to do.  I need to find the pause button on life’s remote. 

                A lot has happened in the past week, but then again not that much has happened.  We have been kept super busy with class, service, homework (to the extreme…I don’t think I have ever had this much homework..it stinks that I have it now while I am abroad) and just life.  We have spent some time doing homework in the sun on the roof.  We have had some super nice weather, but also some super cloudy and “cold” days.  I even needed to wear jeans instead of shorts with my t-shirt one day because it was a bit chilly. 

                We have met some new people.  We had some friend’s from Lidnsay’s volleyball team over for dinner and then they had us over for dinner on Heather’s birthday.  They are really great. Lauren, Abbie, and Chi Chi are all from South Africa.  They are a lot of fun and have introduced us to a few of their friends. 

                For music class last week we went on a field trip to hear a township musican play some jazz music.  Dudley Tito and his band were AMAZING.  Wow.  I was blown away. 

                I went with a friend to a bible study at another friend’s church.  It was very interesting to say the least.  Ask me more about it if you want to know the details.

                Last Friday we (my flatmates and I ) had a spa day.  We drove to Casa Mia and received a ladies day package.  It included: Indian head, neck and shoulders massage, sauna time, hydrobath, color element full body massage, pedicure, and lunch.  It was the first time I ever had a massage.  It was really nice.  We did this for Heather because it was her birthday weekend.

                House has been fun.  The kids are starting to really get used to us being there.  We are starting to get to see more of their real personalities.  I love it. 

                In bio today we had a lab practical where we went down to a rocky shore to collect data.  We saw lots of cool sea creatures: a blue jelly fish, a mini star fish, lots of limpets, snails of different shapes, colors, and sizes, and lots of other cool things. 

                A lot of the reading we have had to do has been about dark, depressing and disturbing topics.  We are currently reading My Traitor’s Heart for seminar.  The reading this time really hit me.  The stories are horrible accounts of what happened to real people.  I think sometimes we read it and kind of shrug it off as, “oh that was gross” or sad or disturbing.  Not often do I really realize that these things happened to real human beings.  Wow. I got sick to my stomach and my head and heart started to hurt as I trudged through these painful tales.  In Desmod Tutu’s (another author we have read) postscript he

says that you are supposed to be like a dishwasher not a vacuum…don’t suck everything up and hold on to it…you need to take it all in and then let it all out…I am realizing that I am bad at being a dish washer…

well I think that is it for random tidbits of my life right now.  What is going on in your life?  Please inform me.  I miss not hearing what is going on at home. 

Have a good weekend.

Love,

Laura