Alrighty, here is the long-awaited, much-purported(I love using the word "purported") slightly distorted, exported version of the looooong weekend at Joberg for your reading pleasure! I'm going to separate this into "tales" to help you navigate, because the post will be quite lengthy.
Thursday:
The Tale of the Nalgene *sighs*
After emailing in my paper for Urban and Rural Development(all of my lecturers aren't picky about you turning in the paper in class, just on the same day by 4pm--they understand that there are 15+ computer terminals, but only two printer/copiers that can jam up and don't receive the print job until sometimes an hour after you have sent it to them), Charlotte and I grabbed lunch at Flamingos (well, she got lunch, I got chips, because I heard their chips were really good--eh, not really. The chips here locally are mostly cooked soft, and I like thick, crispy chips with soft insides--yes, I've become a chip afiaciando! *laughs* Well, they do seem to come with everything). Anyway, then we ate the food while at the Sugar Bowl(the hangout area at Cornerstone) getting briefed on the trip intinerary(which was totally not followed, but more on that later). Afterwards, I realize my Nalgene isn't around, so I go on a search for it and I can't find it anywhere in Cornerstone. I suspect I left it at Flamingo's and someone took it, but I wasn't sure. Then, when we're about to leave, Charlotte tells me a story: she was talking with some street kids and ended up buying them all cooldrinks(sodas), and one kid lifted up a translucent green Nalgene container with a small black lid and a little bit of water in the bottom and said she could put his cooldrink in there! *laughs* What can you do? I'm sorry, I tried to hold onto it people, I REALLY did, but y'know, at least I know it has a good home now. The street kids don't have a lot, and I know at least he'll get use out of it. I bought a bottle of water to use for the weekend and I bought a more permanent one at Checkers yesterday, so it's all good.
The Tale of the Flight to Joberg and the Backpacker Lodge
We flew Kalula air. They have very zany green-patterned airline seats; I've never seen seats that...colorful. Oh yes, and our flight was delayed so we went to eat at Spur, which is like an American Applebees or Fridays, with the exception that American casual steak places places don't customarily offer garlic butter snails or monkey gland sauce(I don't THINK there are actual monkey glands in it...). I stuck to the salad bar(one stop only, so you really pile up your plate).
Once we arrived at the lodge, there was a braai for us there, which was good, although it was past ten o' clock, so none of us were terribly hungry. The next morning was apples, bananas, corn flakes, and white bread for breakfast--I had brought along some wheat-free, sugar-free muesli, some nuts, and some oatcakes, because I never know what's going to be for breakfast. This morning we learned that we weren't staying at the lodge anymore--apparently there were issues with the people using the cash bar onsite and also rumors of someone smoking marijuana at night--probably not the best spot. So for the rest of the trip we stayed at the Formula 1 Inn, which was the epitome of cheap, clean, and efficient, right down to the self-cleaning toilets and showers!
The Tale of Friday's trip to Soweto, The Apartheid Museum, and the Hector Pieterson Museum and Memorial.
The Apartheid museum...well, it was about Apartheid, which we've been studying all semester. It was interesting to see the actual film clips and footage of various events, including the portest marches and the government propoganda films. One of my areas of interest in Apartheid, and in issues of gross human rights violations and atrocities, is how people can just sit by and do nothing, or even support the oppressive regime. I guess because I'm interested in broadening minds, I want to understand how someone can close them also, because then you know how to speak to people and work with them. If ignorance is one of the main problems when people sit back and allow atrocities to happen, then you need to know where people are at in that ignorance in order to try to bring them out of it. I'm not sure if that makes any sense.
Soweto is actually an acronym for South Western Townships. A lot of the main political action and protests happened here. We toured through it, saw Nelson Mandela's house there(from the bus only--this was after the museums and we were tired by that time). We stopped by this place, Alina's, for lunch, which was really delightful--great food and we were helping out people in the township by supporting their restaurant. Afterwards there were these Soweto dancers, but I didn't stay for that, because they started whistling really loudly and sustained-ly, which about killed my ears--I was literally crying from the pain. Oh, by the way, for those who don't know, I have very hypersensitive hearing.
The Hector Pieterson museum was also very intense--more so than the Apartheid museum, because we had been studying that already and because this museum involved children protesting the Bantu education act that limited their studies and forced them to learn in Afrikaans when none of them even knew the language, sometimes even the teachers! The images of kids being shot at by policemen and the memorials...yeah, still working through that.
Friday evening we supped at the mall, which meant pita-less shwarma for me and sugarfree ice cream for dessert! I don't usually indulge, because I'm not fond of all the junque that makes it sugarfree, but every so often it's nice, especially since I haven't had time to make my own ice cream here.
The Tale of Saturday's Trip to Constitutional Hill, the Voortrekker Monument, and the Union buildings.
Constitutional Hill is where the Constitutional Court(think US Supreme Court) is located--and it's also the former site of prisons. They wanted to build justice where injustice once took place, as a way of making peace with the past and redeeming the future. We toured the prisons--I think the disparities between white, coloured, and black treatment was the worst. I'm just going to highlight three things that really struck me, because I'm still processing this as well. Black women weren't even allowed panties for a while in the prisons--yes, periods and the feminine products they were allowed(pads only) were interesting experiences. On the male side, homosexuality could land you in prison--but within the prison complex, homosexuality was prominent among prisoners, even those normally heterosexual, and the wardens laughed at it and gave creedence to the gang system that used it--but at the same time, you could be flogged if caught practicing it, even in the prison--what the-??? *sighs* People need to make up their minds, or whatever, or I don't know. Lastly, for Christmas, a white prisoner was given a pound of Christmas pudding; a black prisoner was given up a cup of tea with perhaps extra sugar, and milk if there was some available after the whites and coloureds got tea.
We then toured the new Constitutional building. So many parts of the structure were symbolic of new beginnings. It seems to be a pattern in South Africa of new structures, but the same problems they have to work through, because it's all still so new and can't be done right away, and people don't change as much as we'd like to think we do. They have eleven judges representing the eleven national languages of South Africa (though now there's a twelfth: sign language), though each judge doesn't speak a different language. There are three women judges and two disabled, including one blind judge. So interesting to compare to the US system.
Lunch was on the go to the Voortrekker monument, which was quite something to follow up the Constitutional Hill! The monument basically lauds and praises the migration of the Voortreekers from the Cape Town area to the northern and eastern parts of South Africa. The controversy? Well, their relations with the Africans--think pioneers/settlers and the Native Americans. Yeah. It was interesting trying to learn about the history and mindset of these people--that, like the pioneers, many of them weren't evil or anything, and in fact were nice people--just misguided and--yeah, okay, another thing to work through for me. ;-)
After that we bus-toured Pretoria, which they're actually trying to rename "Tshwana" in honor of local tribes rather than the Voortrekker Andrew Pretorious; not much of us paid a great deal of attention at this point, because we were drained. Then we went to the Union building, where we just walked around outside and some people bought ice cream and took pictures.
The Tale of The Braai and the Beer-Guy
Then we went to another braai at a township where one of our Cornerstone aides, Colleen, used to live. Very nice people, very nice braai--they even had maize-meal pizza! We talked and learned and I was tired so I slept on a bed inside after a while. Then, we loaded up to go back to the inn and Janine noticed that our driver--well, wasn't driving. He said that he was too tired from driving us around all day and that the driver was another person from the bus company who knew the area better. Something smelled funny--literally--but we weren't sure at first...and then the guy started being, well, rather unsafe, and then on the highway he burned out the clutch, so we were kind've stranded on the side of the road--don't worry, Janine, Colleen, and Charlotte were totally on his case before this and in control and we quickly moved over to another bus with a different driver. It turns out that the "new driver" was actually our old driver's friend, not an actual employee of the bus company, and he was drunk. Yep.
TIA=This Is Africa. Though I think a similar even could happen in the US as well.
A Brief Tale Of Sunday
Alrighty, Sunday we went to a local church, they had food for us, it was good, we went ot the airport, flew back to Cape Town on Mango airlines(like Kalula, you paid for snacks) and I brought a mini-mango, so I ate a mango in a mango. This made me happy. :-D
But my! There's still so much to process. Praise God for His care!
From Proverbs 3:
19 By wisdom the LORD laid the earth's foundations,
by understanding he set the heavens in place;
20 by his knowledge the deeps were divided,
and the clouds let drop the dew.
21 My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment,
do not let them out of your sight;
22 they will be life for you,
an ornament to grace your neck.
23 Then you will go on your way in safety,
and your foot will not stumble;
24 when you lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
25 Have no fear of sudden disaster
or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked,
26 for the LORD will be your confidence
and will keep your foot from being snared.
Bye for now!
Monday, February 25, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Aaaand it's week 6!
I can't believe that as of tomorrow I will have been here six weeks--time seemed to drag at first, but now it goes sooo faaast--probably the classes and assignments and finally getting with a local church and cell group meetings and making a friend in the building and all of that stuff. Yes, that's right, a friend in the building complex, AND a church--finally! It's been a busy weekend! ;-)
See, the thing was that Orit was going to be out all weekend and I didn't really want to be out all weekend with her, so I wasn't--I stayed home and did homework and chilled out and watched some DVDs. Only I was trying to find a ride to church and it was like God was closing all of the doors. So on Sunday I walked out to the main road and I see a girl in her early twenties walking around with a bible in her hand. So I asked her for directions to a local church and I ended up going to her church instead, the Main Road church. I really like it--there's a feeling that this is where I'm supposed to be, which is nice, and there are a lot of local college students there. Someone got up during the worship service and said God had told him to tell us that there were some in the audience who felt like this polace was an oasis, only temporary and then they woiyuld go out into the desert. He then said that God wanted the people to know that it was okay to encamp at this church. It's really funny, because that's exactly how I've been feeling lately--I need those connections. I went to the cell group meeting and clicked right away. Praise God!
In other news, I'm headed to Joberg this coming weekend--we leave Thursday on a plane and get back Sunday. It should be a lot of fun--I'm looking foward to the break from Cape Town. It's lovely here, but I'd like a change of scenery, even if to jut be able to appreciate where I am more. It's about that time of the semester. ;-) We'll be visiting the Apartheid museum, the Nelson Mandela museum, the Voortrekker monument, and a few other places as well.
Monday I turned in my last assignment for South African History and Culture, so now that class is DONE! It's very nice to not have to worry about it any more--I can focus on my other classes. Today was the special study on the TRC--we actually had someone who was on the Reparations committee guest lecture! It was really interesting to get that kind of first-person perspective. When she was on the TRC, she worked 16 hour days for three years, collecting peoples testimonies about how they were violated. It sounds really intense--we watched part of "A Long Night's Journey Into Day" which is a documentary featuring for case studies on the TRC. Please, look into it--it conveys a lot of the essence of the TRC much better than I could in written format.
Okay, that's all for now folks! Well, except I had my first experience with making custard this weekend--and it turned out quite nicely! Very tasty too, and I sweetened with stevia. Unfortunately, I think there might be an ingredient that didn't agree with me--mehness. Oh well.
Take care all!
See, the thing was that Orit was going to be out all weekend and I didn't really want to be out all weekend with her, so I wasn't--I stayed home and did homework and chilled out and watched some DVDs. Only I was trying to find a ride to church and it was like God was closing all of the doors. So on Sunday I walked out to the main road and I see a girl in her early twenties walking around with a bible in her hand. So I asked her for directions to a local church and I ended up going to her church instead, the Main Road church. I really like it--there's a feeling that this is where I'm supposed to be, which is nice, and there are a lot of local college students there. Someone got up during the worship service and said God had told him to tell us that there were some in the audience who felt like this polace was an oasis, only temporary and then they woiyuld go out into the desert. He then said that God wanted the people to know that it was okay to encamp at this church. It's really funny, because that's exactly how I've been feeling lately--I need those connections. I went to the cell group meeting and clicked right away. Praise God!
In other news, I'm headed to Joberg this coming weekend--we leave Thursday on a plane and get back Sunday. It should be a lot of fun--I'm looking foward to the break from Cape Town. It's lovely here, but I'd like a change of scenery, even if to jut be able to appreciate where I am more. It's about that time of the semester. ;-) We'll be visiting the Apartheid museum, the Nelson Mandela museum, the Voortrekker monument, and a few other places as well.
Monday I turned in my last assignment for South African History and Culture, so now that class is DONE! It's very nice to not have to worry about it any more--I can focus on my other classes. Today was the special study on the TRC--we actually had someone who was on the Reparations committee guest lecture! It was really interesting to get that kind of first-person perspective. When she was on the TRC, she worked 16 hour days for three years, collecting peoples testimonies about how they were violated. It sounds really intense--we watched part of "A Long Night's Journey Into Day" which is a documentary featuring for case studies on the TRC. Please, look into it--it conveys a lot of the essence of the TRC much better than I could in written format.
Okay, that's all for now folks! Well, except I had my first experience with making custard this weekend--and it turned out quite nicely! Very tasty too, and I sweetened with stevia. Unfortunately, I think there might be an ingredient that didn't agree with me--mehness. Oh well.
Take care all!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Greetings--it's week 5!
Yay!
Okay, that exclamation is partly out of joy that I have finally attended more than one day of college, and partly out of relief that I'm not too far behind in studies. I'm really enjoying my classes, even if it can be difficult to acquire the readings. See, they don't really expect you to buy textbooks here--they put the books on reserve at the library and you're expected to sign them out, make the copies you need, and then return the books for the next person to copy. Quickly one learns tricks, such as signing off on a sheet that grants you hand-delivered copies of all of the readings in exchange for the equivalent charge on your student account in copy fees, and borrowing someone else's copies of the readings because they feed through the copier faster. Make sense? Anyway, it's a learning process, as is printing out papers from one of the two fickle copiers--did I mention the computers are rather fickle too? Fortunately, the lecturers are very understanding and the librarian and student library assistants are very helpful.
There's going to be a birthday braai on Thursday for Maren, one of the Bethel study abroad students. I love braais. I think it's really cool how people seem to have braais at the drop of a hat hereabouts. Usually meats of various kinds, including chops, chicken, steak, or boer wors are braaied. Boer wors is a rich, fatty, coarsely-ground farmer's sausage that's absolutely delicious, in my humble opinion, even if it is horrible for a healthy diet. You have to live a little. ;-)
A random fact about South Africa: the tap water is drinkable (at least in city and suburb areas--I can't speak to rural regions). This is an absolute God-send for me, because I inhale water like no tomorrow and it's very convenient to be able to fill up out of the sink instead of pay loads of money on bottled water. The tap water actually tastes better than Beaver Falls tap water (though that isn't really saying much). Another food fact is that feta cheese is available quite easily here--even many convenience stores have it, and a greek salad is a very common side salad option in many restaurants. However, you have to search high and low to find any signs of Mexican foodstuffs, which nixes my idea for using cheap corn tortillas. Tortilla chips here are called "nacho chips" and they are a mixture of wheat and corn. I guess we're a looong way from South of the Border!
Oh, and baloney here is "polony." It tastes the same though. :-p
So yes, I have a 6-page paper due on Friday that I need to write and a group presentation due Thursday that I need to prepare for.
Laters!
Okay, that exclamation is partly out of joy that I have finally attended more than one day of college, and partly out of relief that I'm not too far behind in studies. I'm really enjoying my classes, even if it can be difficult to acquire the readings. See, they don't really expect you to buy textbooks here--they put the books on reserve at the library and you're expected to sign them out, make the copies you need, and then return the books for the next person to copy. Quickly one learns tricks, such as signing off on a sheet that grants you hand-delivered copies of all of the readings in exchange for the equivalent charge on your student account in copy fees, and borrowing someone else's copies of the readings because they feed through the copier faster. Make sense? Anyway, it's a learning process, as is printing out papers from one of the two fickle copiers--did I mention the computers are rather fickle too? Fortunately, the lecturers are very understanding and the librarian and student library assistants are very helpful.
There's going to be a birthday braai on Thursday for Maren, one of the Bethel study abroad students. I love braais. I think it's really cool how people seem to have braais at the drop of a hat hereabouts. Usually meats of various kinds, including chops, chicken, steak, or boer wors are braaied. Boer wors is a rich, fatty, coarsely-ground farmer's sausage that's absolutely delicious, in my humble opinion, even if it is horrible for a healthy diet. You have to live a little. ;-)
A random fact about South Africa: the tap water is drinkable (at least in city and suburb areas--I can't speak to rural regions). This is an absolute God-send for me, because I inhale water like no tomorrow and it's very convenient to be able to fill up out of the sink instead of pay loads of money on bottled water. The tap water actually tastes better than Beaver Falls tap water (though that isn't really saying much). Another food fact is that feta cheese is available quite easily here--even many convenience stores have it, and a greek salad is a very common side salad option in many restaurants. However, you have to search high and low to find any signs of Mexican foodstuffs, which nixes my idea for using cheap corn tortillas. Tortilla chips here are called "nacho chips" and they are a mixture of wheat and corn. I guess we're a looong way from South of the Border!
Oh, and baloney here is "polony." It tastes the same though. :-p
So yes, I have a 6-page paper due on Friday that I need to write and a group presentation due Thursday that I need to prepare for.
Laters!
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Yes, so, well, I was sick...
And I still am--no, I'm recovering, but I probably could still spread it to others. I'm trying to be really careful about that, because there's definitely no joy in this sickness, except the joy that God gives one to endure and heal and rest.
In short: there's a tummy bug going around southern Cape Town, including Cornerstone College. I caught it, and my immune system was low due to being badly sleep-deprived and not eating well and not taking my supplements regularly and because it was in God's will, somehow, for me to endure this trial in order that I might be refined further into the new creation He made me to be. SOOO, yeah, I was skipping Tuesday's class, at home, was exiting the bathroom and whoops! Something happened and next thing ya know, I'm blinking at the splotches of blood on the ground, and I realize it's coming from me, because I fell from dizziness and stuff. I knocked over one of the hamster cages too. Orit, who has been worried about me all afternoon, at first freaks because of the blood, then quickly gets a hold of herself, grabs the hamster and sticks him in the cage, then hauls me (yes, physically, because I had NO STRENGTH) to the ER, where it's discovered that my temperature's 104 degrees. Yep, not good, so I'm dosed up on painkillers and antibiotics and IV fluid, because I'm badly dehydrated(yes, hard to belief, but I was so nauseous even water didn't sound good). I remained in the hospital until 2pm Thursday, when THANK GOD I was released (it was a great hospital--individual TV screens over each bed, really good food, very friendly nursing staff, air-con in each room--but, yeah, I was ready to leave).
Wow. That was really hard to write. I don't think I've fully come to terms with the situation yet--when I do, I'll probably cry or something.
So yes, Thursday evening to Friday evening was spent at Ruth and Manachem's, because Orit has class on Friday and she didn't want me in the flat by myself and she had an appointment to see an admissions counselor at Stellenbosch uni with Ruth on Friday anyway.. It was really restful there--they have a heated pool and a landscaped backyard and lots of comfy furniture to sleep on. It was a nice time of quiet reflection, praying, Bible reading, and journalling, as well as watching food shows on their primo TV and reading magazines and cookbooks. I (heart) reading cookbooks, especially chocolate cookbooks!
It's given me a different look at luxury. I had the luxury of being able to go to hospital, of being able to have antibiotics and afford to rest in facilities that are much nicer than what is available at state hospitals. I had the luxury of not worrying about class work or having kids at home or how I was going to pay for this. However, I did worry about the work and the payment; that's just my inability to trust God. It really convicted me to realize that many people have to trust and thank God in much worse conditions--why on earth was it so hard to trust Him in such "easy" surroundings? Often I floated between being fretful about where I was, thinking about all of those who go through much worse conditions in much more difficult environments, and losing myself in mindless TV programming or picking at the scabs on my lips and chin. Granted, I also did some reading for class and I did pray and journal a lot, but it was HARD to break out of that funk and do something productive for the kingdom of Christ--even if that "productive" thing was just coming to Him and laying all of my burdens and trials and cares at His feet and allowing Him to take away the guilt I felt over having such abundance. Guilt is such a selfish emotion in so many cases--if one doesn't immediately go to God and ask what to do with it, it can so easily fester into self-hatred, when one is supposed to be free of all that junk, accepting Christ's freely-offered sacrifice and God's incredible love and the Holy Spirit's powerful anointing, and giving out that love to others, living in His joy.
*sighs*
I have no answers.
Psalm 23
A psalm of David.
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
In short: there's a tummy bug going around southern Cape Town, including Cornerstone College. I caught it, and my immune system was low due to being badly sleep-deprived and not eating well and not taking my supplements regularly and because it was in God's will, somehow, for me to endure this trial in order that I might be refined further into the new creation He made me to be. SOOO, yeah, I was skipping Tuesday's class, at home, was exiting the bathroom and whoops! Something happened and next thing ya know, I'm blinking at the splotches of blood on the ground, and I realize it's coming from me, because I fell from dizziness and stuff. I knocked over one of the hamster cages too. Orit, who has been worried about me all afternoon, at first freaks because of the blood, then quickly gets a hold of herself, grabs the hamster and sticks him in the cage, then hauls me (yes, physically, because I had NO STRENGTH) to the ER, where it's discovered that my temperature's 104 degrees. Yep, not good, so I'm dosed up on painkillers and antibiotics and IV fluid, because I'm badly dehydrated(yes, hard to belief, but I was so nauseous even water didn't sound good). I remained in the hospital until 2pm Thursday, when THANK GOD I was released (it was a great hospital--individual TV screens over each bed, really good food, very friendly nursing staff, air-con in each room--but, yeah, I was ready to leave).
Wow. That was really hard to write. I don't think I've fully come to terms with the situation yet--when I do, I'll probably cry or something.
So yes, Thursday evening to Friday evening was spent at Ruth and Manachem's, because Orit has class on Friday and she didn't want me in the flat by myself and she had an appointment to see an admissions counselor at Stellenbosch uni with Ruth on Friday anyway.. It was really restful there--they have a heated pool and a landscaped backyard and lots of comfy furniture to sleep on. It was a nice time of quiet reflection, praying, Bible reading, and journalling, as well as watching food shows on their primo TV and reading magazines and cookbooks. I (heart) reading cookbooks, especially chocolate cookbooks!
It's given me a different look at luxury. I had the luxury of being able to go to hospital, of being able to have antibiotics and afford to rest in facilities that are much nicer than what is available at state hospitals. I had the luxury of not worrying about class work or having kids at home or how I was going to pay for this. However, I did worry about the work and the payment; that's just my inability to trust God. It really convicted me to realize that many people have to trust and thank God in much worse conditions--why on earth was it so hard to trust Him in such "easy" surroundings? Often I floated between being fretful about where I was, thinking about all of those who go through much worse conditions in much more difficult environments, and losing myself in mindless TV programming or picking at the scabs on my lips and chin. Granted, I also did some reading for class and I did pray and journal a lot, but it was HARD to break out of that funk and do something productive for the kingdom of Christ--even if that "productive" thing was just coming to Him and laying all of my burdens and trials and cares at His feet and allowing Him to take away the guilt I felt over having such abundance. Guilt is such a selfish emotion in so many cases--if one doesn't immediately go to God and ask what to do with it, it can so easily fester into self-hatred, when one is supposed to be free of all that junk, accepting Christ's freely-offered sacrifice and God's incredible love and the Holy Spirit's powerful anointing, and giving out that love to others, living in His joy.
*sighs*
I have no answers.
Psalm 23
A psalm of David.
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
Monday, February 4, 2008
First day of classes
Actually, the title should read "first day of class" because there's only one a day. Today's was African Worldview. It looks to be a really interesting class--diving deep into African traditional religious beliefs and how they've interacted with the church in Africa, particularly Southern/South Africa. There's really no better place to study it--a third of my classmates have first-hand experience growing up around traditional religions.
Here's an interesting thought too: ancestor worship--only a part of Africa, or in the US? I think I'm going to post it on Facebook and see what responses come up.
This weekend was really busy and crazy-fun and adventurous. We tried to go to the wild animal park again. This time is was me, Orit, Ruth, Manachem, Orit's two nieces and one nephew, and the friend of one of the nieces. We were all loaded up in the 4x4 with plenty of food for a picnic--and then about a mile or so into the park, the radiator in the 4x4 goes kablooey with a big, smoky puff! *laughs* Fun, eh?
So Ruth calls AA and Manachem figures out how to back the vehicle down the whole way back. It's going at a snail's pace, so Orit and I each grab two kids and head off back to the braai-ing/park/pool area. Orit tries to take a short-cut; I opt for the main road, because I don't trust my sense of direction out here, nor hers particularly. The walk is uneventful, involving pictures and water breaks and mixed nut breaks and lots of talking; afterwards I take the girls out for ice cream at the park tuck shop and, after searching around for Orit, we meet up with Ruth at the playground.
Meanwhile, Orit's gotten lost with the other two kids, calls Ruth, and ends up being fetched by park employees--turns out she was on an old four-wheeler path. They DID get to see a lot of animals up-close though, including zebras and springboks. One of the kids had left their shoes in the 4x4, so Orit had to walk barefoot because she gave the kid her flip-flops! After this whole incident, I was dubbed "Safety Lady" by my two girls. *rolls eyes and smiles* All credit goes to working at Camp Susque last summer. I'm just glad Orit made it out alright with her two kids.
Then we had a picnic, I played with the kids while Orit and Ruth sorted out the car-towing stuff, and then we went back to Ruth and Manachem's, I chilled out on a chair, and then we had a nice braai.
Sunday was spent praying, studying, working on a Vday package for Someone Special, and yeah, more reading and studying.
Load shedding--just plain annoying! I wanted to skype some people today, then Blip! Out goes the power for three hours! Canned tuna and raw veggies for supper--pretty good actually. Life remains interesting here in South Africa. Bye for now.
PS--By the way, I chose Peacemaking and Reconciliation--or rather, I think it chose me. First class is tomorrow!
Here's an interesting thought too: ancestor worship--only a part of Africa, or in the US? I think I'm going to post it on Facebook and see what responses come up.
This weekend was really busy and crazy-fun and adventurous. We tried to go to the wild animal park again. This time is was me, Orit, Ruth, Manachem, Orit's two nieces and one nephew, and the friend of one of the nieces. We were all loaded up in the 4x4 with plenty of food for a picnic--and then about a mile or so into the park, the radiator in the 4x4 goes kablooey with a big, smoky puff! *laughs* Fun, eh?
So Ruth calls AA and Manachem figures out how to back the vehicle down the whole way back. It's going at a snail's pace, so Orit and I each grab two kids and head off back to the braai-ing/park/pool area. Orit tries to take a short-cut; I opt for the main road, because I don't trust my sense of direction out here, nor hers particularly. The walk is uneventful, involving pictures and water breaks and mixed nut breaks and lots of talking; afterwards I take the girls out for ice cream at the park tuck shop and, after searching around for Orit, we meet up with Ruth at the playground.
Meanwhile, Orit's gotten lost with the other two kids, calls Ruth, and ends up being fetched by park employees--turns out she was on an old four-wheeler path. They DID get to see a lot of animals up-close though, including zebras and springboks. One of the kids had left their shoes in the 4x4, so Orit had to walk barefoot because she gave the kid her flip-flops! After this whole incident, I was dubbed "Safety Lady" by my two girls. *rolls eyes and smiles* All credit goes to working at Camp Susque last summer. I'm just glad Orit made it out alright with her two kids.
Then we had a picnic, I played with the kids while Orit and Ruth sorted out the car-towing stuff, and then we went back to Ruth and Manachem's, I chilled out on a chair, and then we had a nice braai.
Sunday was spent praying, studying, working on a Vday package for Someone Special, and yeah, more reading and studying.
Load shedding--just plain annoying! I wanted to skype some people today, then Blip! Out goes the power for three hours! Canned tuna and raw veggies for supper--pretty good actually. Life remains interesting here in South Africa. Bye for now.
PS--By the way, I chose Peacemaking and Reconciliation--or rather, I think it chose me. First class is tomorrow!
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