End of Festival

The Grahamstown National Arts Festival has finally come to a close and so has my job at a local coffee shop, Homeground Coffee and Roasters. (The picture to the left is of the beans after they have been roasted).
It's been a crazy 2 weeks of working, showing visitors, shopping, and going to shows. I loved all the shows we went to, but I think one of the best was the last one we went to, Man of La Mancha. They put a little bit of a South African twist on the orignial performance. Not only was the storyline great, but the actors' performance was amazing! It's amazing how much talent South Africans have.
Something I'm not good at, but still like to try and do is bargain. At some of the stalls where it is mainly local people it is easy to bargain with them especially on the last day of festival! Everyone is trying to get rid of their stuff so they don't have to transport it home. Over time I've learned that the best way to bargain and get a good price is to be able to walk away if you don't like the price, because usually they will run after you with a lower price. One stall I went to today was selling some beaded bowls and I asked the man how much. He just told me to name my price because he wanted to get rid of them!
I have two weeks left here in South Africa and it's finally quiet around here. I can't believe that my trip is starting to come to an end. It's a bittersweet feeling of wanting to go back to Lynchburg and see friends, but also wanting to stay with family and just being in South Africa.

Bus-ee-ness and World Cup Games

It has been so incredibly busy the last few weeks and even though I have a job in the morning and a local coffee shop called Homeground Coffee Roasters and also that the National Arts Festival is going I hope to slow down a little.
I went to a total of 3 World Cup games. The first one I went to watch was South Korea vs. Greece, the second was Germany vs. Serbia, and the last one was England vs. Slovenia. Although the hype and excitement was huge at each game it was also interesting to see how each team celebrated in there own way.
The 1st game was a lot of vuvuzelas, which if you don't know is a South African plastic horn that is played at soccer games here and makes a huge amount of noise, and Koreans were dancing everywhere. The 2nd game was much more calmer. The Germans preferred to shout and make waves around the stadium. The last game was kinda a combination of the first two. A lot of vuvuzelas, but the British sure do love their anthem, "God save the Queen"!

A little about my job. It's a small little shop with a menu of 8 drinks and a few other coffee items. They used to have more drinks, but it was to much; they used to have a larger sized drinks but it was also too much; they also used to have tables where they could sit down and enjoy their coffee, but it was a hassle. Basically this coffee shop likes to keep things simple and straight-forward :) I've really enjoyed working there though. The 2 owners and the regular customers are so much fun to interact with! I've also been able to meet a lot of the actors and directors that are involved with the Arts Festival.

Funny Story: The National Arts Festival also has a huge hippie fest, which is great! We even walked by a stall today that was selling marijuana bongs today. Anyways, we were leaving the tents for the day and this girl asks us if we have a lighter? Well Sarah randomly had a lighter and gives it to the girl. We look at her while she was lighting it and it was weed! Lol...we were all so shocked we didn't know what to say!

Bible Camps

So the last week and a half we have had a mission team come from Tennessee to work with young boys in soccer clinics during the World Cup. While they're doing that my mom, Sarah, other volunteers and I have been working with the younger kids in a Bible Club. It has been very exhausting, but well worth it to see all these kids get so excited about us being here with them and learning about God. Today was our last day of Bible Club, but last night we had a debriefing/reflection time. I went into this club thinking that I'll change the kids lives and maybe my own, but last night really got me thinking. I starting looking back at how passionate these kids are about God. They get so excited about singing praises to God! They sing and dance and just have huge smile on their faces the whole time! Today was a horrible day too. They high today was 5C (40F) and it was very windy and raining yet we had 16 faithful kids walk through the wind and rain to come and get excited about Bible Club! Then I thought about me and my walk with God. I realized that my faith is not as strong as what these children have. In the Bible it says that we must have faith like a child. I want to have fire in my eyes the same way these kids do! The last week and a half changed me more than I thought!
What got me the most was as we were giving them all a piece of candy and saying goodbye one of the little boys came up to me and ask, "Can we come back next week?" That just broke my heart! He had had such a great time and didn't realize that this was for a short time.

Addo Elephant Park

So I'm finally getting around to writing about our trip to the Elephant Park! This week has been so busy because of some soccer camps we're doing...but that's for another blog :)
So we got to Addo Thursday in time for lunch and has some amazing Fish 'n Chips for lunch. We settled into our tents (they were awesome!) The tents that we stayed in overlooked this waterhole that was on the other side of the fence...they wild side! While we were unpacking we looked over the fence and saw a buffalo! It was just grazing...and this isn't an American buffalo...this is an African buffalo (see first picture).
We went out animal searching for the afternoon, which was really fun! We saw several different animals including a meerkat (Timon) and her little babies and warthogs (Pumba) and her little babies. We saw several jackals as well...this one was turning over rocks looking for bugs!
That night we had a braai (South African barbecue) with springbok, eland and kudu steaks and also springbok boerewors! They were so good!
We went out again the next day to see some more animals, which we did! We were told that there was a lion at this certain waterhole, but by the time we got there there wasn't anything. We stopped by this one enclosure where you could get out of your vehicles and sit hidden away at this waterhole for animals...but there wasn't anything out there. It was an unusually warm day and so when we came around to that part of the park it was probably too warm for the animals.
Sadly we had to leave that day as well. But we saw plenty of animals for the short amount of time we were there!

Sundays

So this first picture is of my hair cut...more like a trim...but took a lot off!!!






So part of my parent's job is to go around to different churches each week and encourage them. The church we went to last week and this week were totally different! This second picture is of a really strong church and they're actually planning on building a new building! Anyways, this was definitely a shock to the system! It was supposed to start at 10:30, but only started after 11. The service was a total of 4 hours! We danced and sang and had a great time! We didn't actually even have a sermon...we just had praise reports the whole time.






This week's service was very different (left). We arrived a little late. We told them that we would be there at 9. The first lady arrived at 9:30. Then she kept telling us how the others were on their way...well she finally sent someone to look for them. By the time we got the grand total of 3 women, 1 man (who only stayed for half the service), and 7 children it was 10:45. We had a great time though! If there's one thing you want to bring when you go out to the rural areas it's a ball. Even though my sister and I had to wear a skirt to church we got out there with my brother and some other kids and played soccer till church started!
Anyways, it was different, but a lot of fun!

Small unsaid things...

Each day I'm here I find something else that amuses me or something that I miss...or both! Today my mom and I did a little shopping. My mom parked the car and as we were walking inside a lady with a bright orange vest said hello to us. We were only inside for about 5 mins. Now, when we exited the store we're expected to pay this lady for watching our car...why? Because she said hello and we acknowledge her! Nothing was said about watching our car!
A similar situation happened when Sarah and I had just arrived at the airport. This man came up to us and asked where we needed to go and started pointing us in the direction. He lead us across the floor, up an escalator and pointed us to our final destination...though he said nothing about being payed for his 'services' we were expected to.

Arrived!

So Sarah and I finally arrived in South Africa last night. I've been really lazy today and almost fell asleep a bazillion times. The flight was good though...we had space to stretch out! 

Sarah and I didn't have seats together so when we saw there was space then we moved to 2 seats together. Then when we got to Dakar, Senegal this other girl came on board and we were sitting in her seat and she said she wanted that seat cause it was next to the window. So Sarah and I moved back to our original seats and once we move all our stuff the girl changed her mind and said we could stay there. If she was going to make that much of a deal out of it (and did I mention she had the flight attendant wake us up?) then she should have just stayed there. Anyways...it worked out in the end.

Anyways, we're in Grahamstown now and trying to get over jetlag. Hope we get over it soon!

-This picture is of Sarah and I in the A340 at DC on our way to Dakar!

Preperation

So it's coming down to the last few days before I leave and I'm getting butterflies in my stomach. I've already left Lynchburg and am now in Yorktown congratulating my cousin on his graduation and counting down the last 55 hours of being in the States. There's so much to think about before I go with packing up and getting everything together and balancing out my suitcases so they don't weigh a ton! But there's also the mental preparation of leaving which, I think, is the most difficult for me right now. There's a lot of emotion going into this trip. There's the excitement of finally seeing my parents and brother after 1 1/2 long years! I miss them all so much! I can't wait to see Grahamstown, our house, my old room and to see our cat and dogs all of which I haven't seen for 2 1/2 years. But there's also the fact that I'm leaving Lynchburg and very close friends. I've lived in Lynchburg, including summers, for the last 2 years and it's starting to feel like home. I'm truly going to miss it and all my friends I'm leaving behind...even if it's only for 2 months (I'm an emotional person if you haven't figured that out yet).
Another thing that adds to the emotion is the fact that I would have graduated yesterday with so many of my friends, but didn't. Because I'm starting the Aviation Mechanics Training in January I have to stay an undergrad to use my scholarships. So yesterday I celebrated the end of my BS, but will not have my diploma or walk for another 2 years.
Please pray for me as I prepare for my trip over the great Atlantic!

Beginnings...

Although I have already set up my blog I'm not planning on updates until closer to my departure date...18th May. There are so many people that I would love to keep updated about my summer and so I thought that this would be the easiest way to inform everyone!
I'm really excited about this trip as I have not seen my parents and brother for almost 1 1/2 years and haven't been home in almost 2 1/2 years. I'm going to spend 2 wonderful months there with family and old friends. Sarah and I are planning on taking a trip down to Cape Town and maybe we'll try and take another trip as well.
Not only do I have to prepare for my trip over there, but I also have to pack up my apartment, because I will no longer be under lease once I get back. It is kinda overwhelming to think of everything that I need to get done in the next 23 days, but I know that I can do it.