South Africa is amazing, beautiful and the people are
awesome. Every single day we are treated to the sun caressing the mountains as
it goes down. Tell me what could be better?
(side note: where we are staying does have the flaw that
there is some kind of goose/duck/bird thing that sounds like a
velociraptor…listen…)
So of course that’s what I call them…
Fun fact! As I’m writing this, I’ve had food
poisoning/stomach virus kinda thing (no details for those faint of stomach) for
the past few days and I’m starting to feel better. Also, my dear, lovely friend
Paige bought me some ginger ale while they were out, so I’m burping like a
fiend, and it feels great!
Fun fact x2! We have a rule here that if you aren’t on time,
you have to do push ups (it’s at 30 for each minute late, I’ll get to the
fitness bit soon), well, I was, uh hum…dealing with the pangs of having a
stomach virus/food poisoning, so I took off running across the tile floor in
socks, and I hit the turn to head into the main room with like 6 seconds left,
and well, the socks didn’t track…so, I fell, and I fell HARD. Well, the last 3
fingers on my left hand decided to try to catch me with only their
knuckles…so…on those 3 fingers, I either have no skin, or a giant bloody spot.
Fun. What makes it better is that HIV is a legit threat here, so I have to
cover up all the time…
(side note, Paige (from above) bought me band aids. Favorite
person here)
Also, the candy here is phenom. But I do find it interesting
that the company I enjoy the most (mostly because they sell dinosaur gummys, and I do love dinos) is called “Manhattan” and their tag line is
“the unreal world of”…I’m not sure the point of it…but does that mean America
and New York is like, a fantasy to them?
Anyway, lets see, some actual substance to this post.
Apparently, fitness is a big point while we are here. Almost everyday we’ve
done something so it’s nice to be getting into shape while I’m here. Like,
literally running up mountains and such. Fitness also includes sports like
soccer, ultimate (score), and rugby. Now the cool thing about rugby is that we
went to a junior world cup game between Wales and New Zealand, saw a “haka”, and
witness New Zealand lose for the first time ever in that tournament. Also,
watching South Africa’s team, the Springboks, is awesome although on tv only.
Sight seeing wise, we’ve climbed Lion’s Head mountain, been
to Boulder Beach (more on that later), and we’ve been to the southern most tip
of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope. Every single one of them has been amazing,
the mall here is also hardcore, like, blows ours out of the water, but that’s
not saying much. Also, saw a whale while driving along the side of a mountain.
=) (Also, we participated in a local tradition of climbing Lion's Head, watching the sunset and eating on top, then hiking down in the full moon light, and while there, Ethan and I got into a lightsaber dual, which some locals stated was the best thing they've ever seen up there.)
So, as far as what we are ACTUALLY here for. For those of
you who don’t really know what it is that I’m doing here, other than being an
outreach mission trip, this is sorta like a school for us, where we learn how
to present the Gospel in and through sports. Not only that, we are gaining a
ridiculous amount of insight into the Bible and our faith. Our leaders along
with the speakers we hear from are ridiculously wise and have so much to offer
us. I’ve grown so much and have a brand new outlook into my future and God’s
will for me. “11 wFor I
know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord,
plans for welfare1 and not
for evil, xto give
you a future and a hope” However, note this DOES NOT mean life
gets easier from here, more likely to be harder and more frustrating. I just
have found and trust an outlet that will help me get through all of that
(that’s Jesus Christ, in case you were wondering…) We’ve had literal mountain
top experiences here, whether it be watching the sunset on top of Lion’s Head
or the day that we were all physically exhausted to the point of crashing
(that’s a secret between us only, sorry), and we were told to pick a rock out
of the river with no further instructions, then we were told to take that rock
and run up a mountain with it to lay it at the foot of a cross (symbolizing us
laying our burdens/sin/ourselves at Christ’s feet). It was maddeningly emotion
and I almost cried, if I were a girl, I would have been bawling. After, all 33
of us sat at the cross in silence watching the sun go down. (pic of that below) It will forever be one of the best moments of
my life.(Also, it didn’t help that myself and one other guy, Trevor, grabbed
rocks large enough to encompass about 7 other peoples rocks combined. It hurt.)
God is moving here, its ridiculous, its awesome, its heavenly (literally).
Have I mentioned that I ate a goat’s
eye? Yeah, Trevor and I got to do that too. It sucked, but I did it.
Finally, to address the title of this
blog…I SAW PENGUINS! Lots of them! It made my day! That was the Boulder Beach
comment. So yeah, mission accomplished.
Love you!
1st Thessalonians 5:16-18
(This is the crew, check out my sassy face yet again ruining a normal pic)
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