8/25/2010

Bri and I were asked to help out at an Athletics meet today. We figured we would just help make sure the kids stayed where they were supposed to or something. When we got there, however, we found out I was an official score keeper and Bri was a judge on the field. Neither of us had any idea what we were doing at first ;) And for my job, there wasn't any room for errors without a whole school getting mad. We were also told that it was going to be very cold today, so we went to the meet in our winter gear. It was actually REALLY hot today, and we were baking in the sun. Thankfully, I keep sunscreen in my backpack, but with this African sun we burn in about 10 minutes. It is amazing what a day in this hot sun will do to our energy! We are both ready to pass out and it's only 6 in the evening. Allen was telling us that the girls, especially Nosi and her sister, have been asking about us all week. We are very excited to get back to school and spend some time with them tomorrow. Please continue to pray for our time with these girls!

This one is for my Dad. This is their version of coffee... it is a powder that you mix in with water (kind of like hot chocolate) They usually put about half a cup of full cream and 2 scoops of sugar with it ;)

This was the official table where I spent my day doing a lot of writing and cheering on the Rivermead kids.

Bri's second trip up for my sunscreen.

South African's LOVE their cooking oil. This is a picture of an aisle in their grocery store. I have never seen so much oil!

Steers is South Africa's version of McDonald's.

Bri and Gloria waiting for their food.

Here they eat everything with a fork and knife.

They even have little plastic forks to eat chips (french fries) with.

8/23/10

This morning both Bri and I woke up and felt terrible. Our whole bodies ached. We ended up staying home, taking some Tylenol PM and crashing for the rest of the morning. By the afternoon, we were both feeling back to normal. I think we just needed some rest. We have been running all day everyday this past week, and we haven't been sleeping very well at all (because of the dogs and the construction). We wanted to go to school, but we figured that we should just stay home, get rest, and be ready for the week.

Later today, we went to the children's home that Nerina works with called Home of Comfort. These kids were so sweet and loving! Most of the children are orphans, but some are not. Those children that are not orphans have been removed from abusive / neglective homes. In some situations, the children are HIV+, but the biological parents won't bother to give them the medication. In South Africa, one a child is abused, abandoned or neglected, the biological parent loses all right to the child forever. Home of Comfort is set up so that there are 4 houses. Each house has a boys room, a girls room, and one or two babies. Each home also has 2 home mothers that are in charge of the children in their house. The home can hold a maximum of 57 children, and right now it is completely full. The stories of each of these children just breaks your heart. Each home mother is trained on how to take care of the medication for HIV+ children as well as the requirements for their special diet.

This little girl was attached to us from the moment we picked her up :) She is a cutie and has such a sweet smile.

These group of kids sang us a song.

This is one of the little babies.

She loved playing with Bri's hair! She would pet it and pull it - she even pulled out a couple strands ;)

He LOVED the camera

This little girl is a twin. Her and her brother weren't supposed to live when they were found (they only weighed a couple of pounds each), but they are growing bigger and stronger each day.

8/21/2010

Today we had a pretty relaxing day. We were supposed to climb Mt. Currie today with a group of boys from church, but it was re-scheduled due to a last-minute school fundraiser (yes, another one). We were supposed to be able to sleep in this morning, but, like every morning we are able to get a little more sleep, the dogs come and start barking right next to our windows. So sleeping in meant 7 instead of the usual 6. After hanging up our laundry, we went to town to see some of the pavement shops and to visit a couple of stores that Allen and Gloria wanted to take us to. It was very interesting to see the variety of items that you can buy on the pavement here. Later this evening, we went to have tea with a family from church. They were very nice. We had a lot of fun talking with them about the differences between the US and South Africa.

This is one of the little shops on the pavement.

Allen and Gloria took us to this little cafe for lunch.

The owner of the cafe is a Christian. This is the bottom of the menu.

If you look back to the pictures of my trip to China, you will see a picture of some of the food I had to eat. A lot of people have been asking us if we have had to eat anything really weird, so we thought we would take a picture of our lunch that we had at the cafe today. It is a cinnamon and sugar pancake (aka crepe) with glazed apples :)

This is the family that we went and had tea with today.

8/19/2010

Today was a very slow and wet day. It is supposed to snow later this evening, and I believe it! It has been so cold all day. Today we were invited over to Oma's house for a cup of tea and some prayer time, so we didn't go to school. Even though we didn't have to be up early, both Bri and I got up at 7 (apparently our bodies don't want to through our schedule off). We have been going to bed around 8:30 and getting up around 6:00 everyday. I think Bri forgot to mention that 2 nights ago we had a scheduled power outage that went longer than scheduled. We were supposed to have another one last night, but we never did lose power... who knows, this is Africa ;)

We went to the store this morning and had fun taking our time and looking at all of the different types of food. They don't have a whole lot that is that different from what we eat in the US, but there are some pretty funny things. We are looking forward to having an authentic South African dinner before we leave. Most black people over here eat what we would consider mush, because they cannot afford anything else. There are a ton of people who beg for food, even people who work in stores will beg while you are shopping. Over here stealing is a HUGE problem! The black culture sees stealing as a good thing. The only thing bad about stealing is if you get caught. If someone gets caught, they are considered really stupid (if they were smart they wouldn't have been caught). It is hard, but we have to keep reminding ourselves that we aren't here to change a culture - we are here so that God can use us to change one heart at a time.

This is our Oma Drinie. She is such a sweet lady! When we left, she told us that we better be back to visit our Oma before we leave :) (Note our winter attire!)

This is their version of a garbage truck. I don't think a tractor is very efficent, but again, that's Africa ;)

It only rained off and on today, but apperantly any rain and the businesses close down... They couldn't believe we were out walking around. If they only knew where we come from ;)

The roads here are all torn up. Today we went out and there was a big pile of gravel in the middle of the road. This one looks pretty good compaired to others. They just move the dirt from one side of the road to the other. There is usually one guy running the bulldozer and 20 guys sitting on the side of the road doing nothing.

8/17/2010

Hello everyone! Today I was able to talk to Mom and Rick, which was a great treat :) As Bri said, yesterday was a very busy day. Today was a nice change of pace for both of us. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Gloria stays home to do laundry, run errands, and have a women's Bible study. We decided to stay with Gloria today since Bri needed to go shopping for "tekkies" (tennis shoes), and we needed toiletries. It was really eye-opening walking around town and seeing all the different ways they do things. They sell live animals all over on the "pavement" (sidewalk), and the pavement is full of random things that the blacks are trying to sell. Over here they have 3 different groups of people, and then MANY sub-groups within each group. There are the whites, coloreds and blacks. The whites are seen as the "highest" group, then coloreds, then blacks. Allen was saying that one of the best things that happened because of the world cup is that the different groups all started playing soccer together, which NEVER happened before. Soccer was previously seen as the "poor" sport and Rugby was the "rich" sport. Bri and I have really enjoyed learning the things about their culture here.

After shopping, us girls went to a ladies Bible study. It was such a blessing getting to talk with the ladies! Two of them are in their 80's, and they told us to call them granny :) So we now have a Granny Pat, and a Granny Drinie. They are so sweet! Granny Drinie told Bri and myself that she has been praying for us since January, and always will be. She also wanted us to know that we have people all around the world who are lifting us up in prayer. After Bible study, we had a relaxing afternoon talking with Gloria, spending some alone time with God, and baking goods with Gloria. We picked lemons off of a lemon tree and helped Gloria make homemade lemon bars! They are so good! We also helped hang-up our laundry to dry outside today, a first for Bri ;)

Our lemon tree for our fresh lemon bars ;)

Where we live. Nerina's house in on the left in this picture. Nerina is the lady that Allen and Gloria rent their place from. The building on the right is split into 3 flats. Allen and Gloria are in the middle and we are on the left. Nerina's son, Chris, usually lives in the flat we are staying, but he is going to the US on Friday.

The four of us today

This is Chris, Nerina and the 2 of us

This is the Bible study group that we went to today. Erica is in the back on the right, Granny Drinie is in the back middle, and Granny Pat is in the back right.

We are here!

Hi everyone! We are finally in Kokstad, South Africa! The flights were very long, but good overall. In Jo'berg we made our flight with only 6 minutes to spare! Thank you for all of your prayers :) Last night we stayed in a B &B next to the airport. Both Bri and I crashed right away and slept through the night no problem. We had an amazing breakfast this morning and then headed off to a church in Durban. The accents here are very fun - they are like a mix of Australian and Brittish. It is funny because everything over here is opposite of the US - literally everything :) (from driving on the left side of the road to the toilet flusher...) Well, we have a lot to unpack, but here are a few pictures so far.

On our first flight of the 36 hours of traveling

The 16 1/2 hour flight... Bri was sleeping and the guy sitting in front of us asked if he could take a picture ;)

I guess there is a story behind this guy in our rooom, but we haven't heard it yet... All we know is that he stays in our room and we can't pronounce his name. We call him Xander because that's as close as we can get ;)

These dogs like to stick their heads through our window (literally, through it) and say hi :)


This is a quick picture of our room

Going Away Party

I can't believe that Bri and I leave for South Africa in 3 days! Our Monday night prayer group gave us girls (Bri, Moriah and myself) a going away party. It is such a blessing knowing that so many people have been, and will continue to pray for all of us. I am so thankful for such a supportive church family.

The girls leaving... plus Shannon ;)

We are going to miss our Mo

Prayer Group

We would love your prayers for safe travel, especially for Bri's migraines and my back! We will be traveling for 32 hours going and 36 hours coming home, with our longest flight being 19 hours!