Hello everyone! Glad to hear everyone was okay after Hurricane Irene. Hope you all have power again and are getting back to a normal routine. The hurricane must have been pretty extreme because news and radio stations here were reporting it like crazy. Lots of prayers have been going your way this weekend!

I think I am 80% over my cold/flu I have had over the last few weeks which is great news! I hadn’t been feeling well at all so it is such a relief to have energy again and be able to taste food! (Well, sometimes I am glad I can taste the food!) Still having a few problems sleeping with the noise and waking up itching at times but besides all that things are going great! I am in full swing with volunteer stuff and hanging out with kids in the neighborhood so down time is hard to come by sometimes!

Had a really fun and full weekend! On Friday we took all the Ocean View youth and the Ubuntu boys to Hillsong to see Team Impact. Basically, they were these huge muscle guys that broke apart cinder blocks with their forearms, tore phonebooks in half, broke steal baseball bats, you know stuff the average American do, haha. They actually were Americans (one was from Myrtle Beach!), and some of the girls were loving the huge muscles and accents despite them being in their 40’s. The kids were fired up after seeing these guys in action and it was so cool how they listened intently to these guys testimonies. During some of the songs , I felt like a kid again jumping around near the stage. It got a little bit dangerous though and I decided it was best not to join in the chaos. South Africans don’t really have any regard for others when you are in the space they want to be in, so after I got knocked around a few times I was glad to get out of the craziness. On the ride to and from Hillsong from Ocean View, we rode in this van/bus thing. We all squeezed in. There were 11 of us total in my van. Our driver was a little big dodgy but we all had loads of fun. He had NO idea how to get us to Hillsong, blared the music like we were in a night club, and even pulled over so he could get out and pee off the side of the road. When we rolled up, the youth group was loud and proud that we had arrived, oh the joys of being a teenager.  But ya, Friday was a lot of fun and Team Impact definitely impacted a lot of lives while they were here in Cape Town.

On Saturday, we were back at Hillsong again for an event called Sisterhood. Women of all ages and colors come together for this event to worship, relax, and be empowered. Especially in communities like Ocean View, women do almost everything for their families. Many families do not have males to help at all and it can be such a tough environment, particularly for single mothers. A few great messages came from Sisterhood. 1.) Be yourself and love yourself. Particularly in the white culture, people are really into how they look and compare themselves to others. We all want to be the best looking, have the best figure, be the best at something. The truth is, God created you exactly how he wanted to, so what is the point in wasting time comparing yourself to others or trying to be perfect? Being healthy is one thing but too many girls today put way too much emphasis on looks and weight and having that burden isn’t the way to live. 2.) Be the change you want to see in the world. Simple enough. If you are passionate about a particular issue – do something about it. One lady made up a cupcake program. She goes to schools and all the kids have a cupcake and they all celebrate and have one big birthday party. She teaches the kids how special they are (since a lot are not getting this attention at home). The program is so simple, she likes kids and she likes to bake, and she is changing lives from it. There is so much crazy stuff going on in this world, from human trafficking to starvation, if we all contributed a little bit, think about how much we could all do together. 3.) The biggest message for everyone, especially these ladies, was “Making Excuses.” We all have our pasts and we all have our stories. I have heard so many painful stories of people here as well as people in America. From deaths of loved ones, to abuse and neglect, rape, you name it, it has happened. There is so much hurt, but making excuses won’t get you anywhere. Sometimes bad things happen so you can learn from it and rely on God more than ever. I also believe that you can make a bad thing into something good. If you have gone through something before, you can help others that are going through the same thing. What an impact you can make! “Tell your story for his glory.” Perseverance makes you stronger. Life is short and excuses only waste time.

On Saturday night I saw Johnny Clegg in concert with some friends. The music was really cool. He sounded a bit like Sting with an African-y Dave Matthews type twist to it. He had a great voice and on top of that – he danced like nobody’s business – even for like a 65 year old. I don’t know how he didn’t tear a hammy!  Back when apartheid was still in South Africa there were 3 types of white people. Some who were 100% for it, some who didn’t necessarily agree or disagree – just wanted peace, and some who were extremist. Johnny Clegg was an extremist. He became a part of the zulu culture (south African tribe basically) and wrote music with both English and zulu lyrics in order to help get equal rights. He totally emerged himself into the Zulu culture and learned the language as well the dances and everything. Interestingly enough, his only audience for awhile were people from his college and zulu townships. Since he had both types of lyrics – English speaking radio stations wouldn’t let his songs on the radio and Zulu speaking radio stations wouldn’t let his songs on the radio. However, England played a few of his hits on the radio (Go Brits!) and that’s how became so famous. Most Americans have never heard of him, but all the South Africans have, so I got some props for going to the concert.

On Sunday, we went to Hillsong yet again for regular church. The story of Jesus feeding the 5000 was told. Jesus was entrusted with only five loaves of bread and two fish yet he turned that offering into a blessing that fed the whole crowd. A quote that is profound reads this: “I know how many seeds are in an apple, but I don’t know how many apples are in a seed.” Two of my favorite people (I won’t say names) have given such generous contributions to the Ubuntu program and I know that that money will  exceed any expectation they ever had for it.

Monday’s are going to be a cool day for my health volunteer stuff because I will be able to see more of the clinical side of things. I shadowed Amy, a nurse at living hope. Nursing is tough work, from keeping medications straight to all their other responsibilities – I have so much respect for all the nurses I know! Since most of the people at the clinic have both HIV and TB they have to take like 15 pills every few hours, kid you not. This Monday was pretty low-key for me but the rest of the Monday’s I will be able to help out with in-home visits and things like that. I can already tell that I have grown so much. The first week when I went to an HIV support group I was freaked out (I know it sounds bad) but I definitely have become more comfortable when I am in situations like that.

One of my favorite little guys, 4 year old Zuun, has a tumor in his head. I only found out when it looked like a huge boogar was coming out of his ear and he told me, otherwise he acts like a normal little boy. I don’t know how bad it is or any details but he has to go to the hospital at some point (not sure why it doesn’t seem more urgent) to get it taken care of. Be praying for him though!

I can’t believe it is almost already September! I know it is super hot over there, but I can’t wait for more days in the 70’s! Hope you all are having a great start to the week! Love and miss everybody!

Oh by the way I forgot to put Sarah and Casey's blog information, visit: http://www.looklistenlove.com/

Hello, hello! Another good week going on at Cape Town! New pictures have been uploaded on facebook that you should all check out. Sarah and Casey also have a new blog:  (___) that you all would find interesting about the area and what is going on! I’m starting to feel a bit better…this cold has been lingering for some time now…yuck! I also have developed either like bed bug bites or flea bites (from the kids )on my left arm that aren’t too cute! Really weird that they are only on one part of my body so I don’t know what that is about but I hope they go away soon! Hope everyone is alright after that US east coast earthquake…how wild! Also, welcome back to school UNCW students!

So, Friday was a pretty chill day. I went to Living Hope for a few hours and finished up the Asthma part of the curriculum. A bunch of kids came over to Sarah and Casey’s house so I played with them for awhile. The high schoolers came over for youth group that night. We unfortunately didn’t get to go to Hillsong but we are going this week. We all watched the movie “Easy A.” You might say it was a little inappropriate for a youth group meeting, but I don’t think they really got everything going on, and hey – it sparked good conversation about dealing with high school stuff. It’s so funny thinking about all the petty stuff that went on during those years. 

The Ubuntu boys got another win on the road on Saturday. We went to this real ghetto field to play. In past games, some of the boys had heard gun shots at this place (nice!). The field house had barbwire all along the fence and there was trash everywhere, but soccer is soccer, and it doesn’t take perfect conditions to play. A bunch of younger neighborhood boys kept getting me to kick with them even though all I really wanted to do is hangout. I felt bad though and would go with them because I couldn’t let them kick with a ball without me there. (The balls aren’t mine to let them steal, eek.) After the game, Michael (one of the coaches) and I went out to lunch with a few of the boys. One in particular is a kid named Josh. This guy needs lots of prayers, so be praying for him! Casey and Michael have gone out of their way a number of times to get him to come to practice. They go to his house to ‘fetch’ him but he never comes to practice anymore. He has had a really tough upbringing with both of his parents being possible alcoholics and he lives in a shack with ten other family members. You can see the anger radiating from him. For some reason he wanted to come to the game on Saturday. He was upset when he didn’t get played and both of the coaches explained how it wouldn’t have been fair since he hasn’t been at practice. I thought after going to lunch with him and Michael talking to him about everything he would have been more willing to come to practice, but he has missed both practices this week. So basically at this point he has dropped out. It’s upsetting that he won’t let himself take advantage of such a great opportunity and how much potential he is letting go to waste. The coaches are still hanging on and going over and beyond to reach out to him. The fear is that if they don’t then this kid will end up in a gang/in jail so quickly, but is it fair to keep this kid on that doesn’t pull his weight when so many other boys would love to have his spot on the team? 

After lunch a few of the kids came over to Heidi’s house. Two of the girls did my hair (haha). I promise I didn’t make them, they wanted to! It turned into a mad house. Tomica put so much makeup…everywhere! On her eye lids, under her eyes, and ON MY BED! She was a sight to see with purple and pink all over her face as well as her burned scabby lip. Zuun, the cutest 4 year old boy, loves hanging with his older girl friends, and instead of doing hair and makeup like the rest of us, he decided to touch literally all my stuff. I only had a mild freak out when my camera lens got a little bent. All is not lost though, the camera still works, my hair got straightened, and I didn’t want that box of cereal they decided to eat anyways. 

Saturday night was so much fun. We went to this really cool bar/restaurant place right over the waves and rocks. I tried to get some pictures of the waves but it was too dark. The dancing is a bit different than in the US, but the music was really cool. It was this African band playing all the classics. I am so glad that NC has smoke free restaurants and bars though, because I was dying by the end of the night. I got to spend the night out with Rose at this really nice house (she’s house sitting). 

On Sunday, we went to Hillsong Church. It was really cool. For all the Wilmington people, it is a lot like PC3 but bigger and the preacher is Australian. The building used to be this huge night club. The bathrooms even have saunas in them; I bet that club was outrageous! The message was really good, it was about giving. It was quite rejuvenating as well. Sometimes I get distressed and anxious about seeing everything here and being away from friends and family, but it helped me to realize that giving my time like this is actually a brave thing to do, so I shouldn’t be so hard on myself when I’m feeling not so brave. Another message is that obedience brings blessings and God brought the best for you so you need to bring your best for him. 

After church, we walked around the Cape Town Waterfront. The mall there was way nicer than most malls I’ve been to in the US. We ate lunch at this German restaurant. I have no idea what I ate but it tasted pretty good. I even got a free beer-lemonade mix. Note to all: beer-lemonade still tastes like beer. Michael, Rose and I hung out at the nice house for the rest of the rainy afternoon and watched Slum dog Millionaire. I forgot how much that poor guy goes through!  

On Monday I went to the Primary School up the street for Ubuntu afterschool program. The field was actually a basketball blacktop. I was super afraid that one of the kids was going to smack their faces on the cement, fortunately they didn’t. It was quite the site to see all these boys trying to pass and dribble around cones with their school uniforms and dress shoes, but yeah, they kind of did it. We also had our first bible study for the high school girls on Monday. Six girls showed up so that was pretty cool. Since we are studying the book of Esther (who becomes Queen) I had us all make crowns. Kind of silly I know but they all thought it was fun and some of them even clipped them into their hair and wore them! I asked them if they were queen, what was something they would change/do with their power. I was happily surprised that all of them had quite mature responses that involved helping other people. I am glad to know that even when they act silly and immature, they understand different needs going on in the world. I have a feeling we are all going to learn a lot through this study.

Timia (who is Tomica’s sister – don’t know why the names are so darn close) came over after that and I helped her with her homework. It is so much easier to deal with one kid and not five. She’s really cute and wants me to go to school with her one day. She also wants to have a sleepover at my house and to go shopping. Oh yeah, she also wants me to pay! I told her that it cost me about 7000 rands to get here and that I was broke. She said she was going to faint thinking about how much money that was (uhhuh me too girl!). She comes over everyday now and is relentless about me coming to school with her and is even giving her teacher my email address lol. 

Tuesday is Kid’s club day. I’m glad to announce there was no KNOWN drugs on site at this particular kid’s club. There were these really elaborate paper guns some of the boys brought though. The paper guns really were phenomenal and it had to have taken some intelligence to make. It is a shame that that brain power wasn’t used for any good though. Tuesday night I had my first legitimate curry. Can’t say I am the biggest fan of this food but it was edible and a real African experience/(isn’t it from India?) hm who knows. I have been eating some random foods, some that I know what it is, some that I have a guess of what it is, and some that I have no idea. Still alive and kicking though!

So this is crazy…my new friends Michael and Rose (who are brother and sister) are from Zimbabwe. My good friend from UNCW, Tinashe, is also from Zimbabwe and they all went to the same high school. What a small world!  

Pretty much all settled in now so I don’t have nearly as many “oh, sh*t” moments anymore lol. God is constantly showing himself in so many different ways and I love the lifestyle of hanging out and volunteering all day. I know I must get a job and pay bills once I get back to the states and in no way do I want to neglect my responsibilities, but for right now it is nice not having to worry about the hustle and bustle of the busyness of the US. Don’t get me wrong, there are many worries here, but they are way different and it is a good change of pace for awhile. 

Thank you so much to all of you who I have been getting emails and messages from. I miss you all and am always thinking about you! Hope you have a great rest of the week! 

Love, 

Amanda 

Hello All!
Hope you can take a gander at the pictures I have recently put up on facebook and hopefully I can take more and put them up in a timelier manner! The weather this week has been crazy! From 80 degrees and sun to 40 degrees and rain. I had to buy a jacket to be better prepared for the weather! The store I bought it from in the mall kind of looked like a small Kohl’s and then in the back there was a Harris Teeter…how weird and convenient! 
On Wednesday I met with one of the managers of Living Hope. We talked about what I was going to be doing for the next 2 months involving the health curriculum. I am going to get great experience with this project! Most of the information is already there, I just need to change it from a 12th grade reading level to about a 2nd grade reading level. The curriculum is for the facilitators and members of the HIV support groups. The people that are using this information are not dumb, English is there 2nd language and they also lack education on most of the topics. Many did not complete school and do not have any other channels to get information for their health. Isn’t it crazy that it is second nature that we already know about all this stuff? Some of the topics are quite surprising. Like the US, they will be learning about high blood pressure, diabetes, nutrition, exercise, tobacco, ect. Some random topics include foot care and eye care. There is no law here that says you have to wear shoes. People walk around everywhere, stores, schools, soccer games, with no shoes. You can get sick and crazy infections if you don’t keep your feet clean! So…keep that in mind! 
On Thursday, I went to day number 2 of kids club. Kids club lasts from 3-4:30. From 3 to 3:30 we play outside with the kids. From 3:30 to 4:30 we go inside, sing some songs, have a few games/crafts, and then give them a sandwich and fruit. The kids are ages 3 to 13, I normally help with the elementary and younger aged kids. Boy, were the kids rowdier than ever today! One boy decided it would be super funny to spray me and the other leader, as well as the other kids, with a little water gun in the face. That gets old real quick in 45 degree weather! This kid thought it was oh so funny that he still didn’t listen when he was told to go home after several times of asking if he could put it away. That was a bit frustrating. Another kid, probably like 12/13 years old, decided to pull out his “source of income” he called it. I’m glad the younger kids were so involved with their outdoor games that they didn’t see the marijuana this kid was showing his friends. Lots of punches were exchanged between kids as well. There seems to be so much corruption already, it really is sad. There is always light at the end of the tunnel though. Once we turned on some fun Christian music, 90% percent of them jumped up, and started dancing, clapping, and singing. Some of the kids can be so cute. They are all seeking guidance, attention, and most of all love. You can see with their eyes that they are taking so much in. I am glad for an hour they can see God’s love for them, instead of all the negativity in some parts of their community. It breaks my heart that some of these innocent kids have to go back home after kids club to hardly any food and unconstructive lifestyles. 
The coordinator of teen club and kids club is this big guy named Nathan. We were talking the other day and he said that yelling at kids doesn’t get you anywhere. They are always yelled at at home. I don’t know how to get 30 crazy kids to listen to you. Yelling doesn’t work, not yelling doesn’t work (what do you expect they are kids after all). I do know one thing, though. Kids are drawn to love, like everyone else. They may not know what the leaders are saying, especially me, but they know that we all love them. We all will give them a hug if some other kid hits them with a ball or tell them how nice their drawing looks. They are drawn to compassion. We all are if you think about it. Compassion and love is what draws us all to Jesus after all. 
Nathan’s favorite punishment is having the kids stand up with their arms straight up in the air for like ten minutes. I haven’t tried it but I can tell by the look on the kid’s faces that they do not enjoy it! I’m glad my dad made us write lines or run around the house if we misbehaved! 
Hope everyone is excited for a fresh start for school or work coming up soon! Miss you all! 8 more weeks until I am back in the states! 
Love,
Amanda

Another interesting and fun weekend in Ocean View!  On Friday, I went with Treswill in a cab and train for a meeting with someone interested in aligning their soccer league with Ubuntu. The cab was this long, narrow van. Inside we fit about 20 people in there. It was a sight to see. One white girl, a bunch of coloured people, and extremely romantic songs like “A whole new world” going on in the back ground at 10am, it was quite comical if you ask me. The train was fine. We were half way through the ride when this train worker came by and told us we had to move to a different kart or pay extra money. Treswill decided to argue with the guy saying that he had made up rules and we were allowed to sit there and all this stuff but they worker demanded that we move and I heard my first set of African swearing. The train ride back there was even more chaos. About 100 of us smashed into the kart. The pushing and shoving was unbelievable. I definitely stuck out like a sore thumb and this older guy made a point to laugh at me and point at me and all this stuff. It was the first real time I felt discriminated against because of the color of my skin. It was a humbling experience. Luckily, we both made it out alive and with no injuries, which is more than an old granny could say that had to jump out of a moving train! The meeting went well. We met with this 21 year old guy who had a soccer league going on in a nearby community called Capricorn. He too knew the importance of instilling life skills to these kids. Unfortunately, due to lack of volunteers and time he was having a hard time maintaining the teams and needed help with that aspect.
On Friday night, the youth from the next door church came over. There were about 12 kids that came, all except one was a boy, aged 13 to 18. I shared a little bit about myself in hopes that if they kids knew who I was and where I was coming from, then they would be more willing to open up and accept me. After I spoke, we all then had to draw a picture about an event in our life that changed us. The youth at first didn’t understand what to do, or so they said. Many were really immature and kept on laughing. We gave them some time to come up with pictures. Most of them took the activity seriously. You should have heard some of the stories. A few different times I just wanted to cry for them. One girl shared about her experience as an orphan after both her parents died. One girl shared about having to give her baby up for adopting. One girl went to talk about her picture, completely broke down, and didn’t talk for the rest of youth group. Another girl talked about how she felt so blessed to be able to live in the flats (really rundown apartments.) And another girl talked about how her grandparents, who were her parent figures, died, and she felt like she didn’t have a place in the world before. It was so sad and so crazy. For many of the girls, it was the first time they had really opened up about what was going on inside and what they were feeling. All of these stories were devastating to hear and made me appreciate so much all the blessings that I have.
On Saturday I went to an Ubuntu soccer game. The team they played wasn’t very good and they ended up winning by like 7 points. After the game, I went to my first African ‘braai.’ It basically is a cookout where you grill different meats on the grill. All the food was pretty good. I’m still not the biggest fan of sausage – American, English(thanks Dan for the bangers lol), or African.
On Sunday I moved into Heidi’s house. It is actually like 2 smaller houses with a courtyard. Heidi and her husband live in the back and her mom and I live in the front. I have been having a great time living here so far and the best part is there is a bed warmer!  Casey and I went on an 8 mile run. After 2-3 miles of straight up a mountain I was basically dead and so glad to have it over with! Later on a few of us went a concert and then to this Mexican place called ‘Fat Cactus.’ I couldn’t get over the fact that I was eating Mexican in Africa lol.
On Monday, I woke up feeling quite sick. I bought a bunch of Vitamin C stuff and took some crazy African stuff that hopefully will kick in soon. It was basically like a hot emergen-c but still kind of odd! I met with some of the people that run ‘kid’s club’ and then hung out at the Ubuntu practice. Hopefully I can load some pictures soon because I took some funny pictures of all the hoodlums piled into the car.
On Tuesday I went to the grocery store and worked at kids club. The kids are crazy and always going about a million miles an hour! Some of them are really sweet though and love getting attention. Speaking of crazy kids, my twin, Tomica, burned the sh@t out of her lip when her and another little boy were playing with a lighter. Luckily it was only her lip that got burned but it is so sad that she wasn’t being watched and that had to happen to her.
Hopefully by the end of the week I will be able to figure out my full schedule! I’ll be back in the states in less than 2 months! Miss you all…keep me updated with what is going on with all of you!

Hey everybody! Hope you all are having a great week and ready for a nice weekend! It has been an interesting few days here in Ocean View with a lot of exciting updates!

I met my host family who seem really nice. My new host mom, Mrs. Heidi, seems like a lot of fun and will be good company. I’ll only be living a few houses down from Sarah and Casey so it’s really convenient. I’ll get my own room and share a bathroom with my host grandma so that isn’t bad at all. My room has a nice set up with a bed and a couch and everything so if anyone needs a place to crash you are more than welcome to here in Cape Town! Lol.

On Wednesday, I also had a meeting with the Volunteers Coordinator from the health place I am going to work with. He was a super nice American dude and I am so glad to be able to see direction for the next two months. For a few weeks I am going to try everything out and then zone in on what I really like doing.

With Living Hope I am going to be… 1. Shadowing Sarah’s friend Amy. Amy works as a nurse for Living Hope so we will go to visit patients at home as well as support groups and eventually I will be helping with promoting healthier eating habits and that sort of thing. 2. Make a health curriculum for programs to be used later on. 3. Do “Kid’s Club” a couple days a week – basically a ghetto YMCA with a bunch of hooligans, some games, and a little bit of Jesus thrown in there.

I’ll still be helping with Ubuntu…I’ve been going to practices which are quite fun and the boys, although some a bit shy, have all been quite nice to me. As Casey puts it, “They need to learn to be around women and respect them so they don’t become womanizers later on.” Touché lol. There will be a fundraising event next month that I’ll be able to help organize as well.

I am really pleased with all the experience I will be getting and I’m hoping that it will really help me to see what I am passionate about and hopefully find a job in that area once I get back to Raleigh.

I got to go to an HIV support group on Thursday. Luckily, Sarah came with me and helped me feel more comfortable. (I swear she feels at ease with everyone).  It is a bit unnerving being in a group like that for the first time but I am definitely glad that I went. I couldn’t understand much of the conversation because they weren’t speaking in English for a lot of the time but I did catch a few things. Some of the people didn’t even know how they got HIV. They thought they had gotten it from TB. I couldn’t believe it. In a country where HIV/AIDS is such a huge issue, how can adults not know how they got it? It was worrying to think if people do not know how it is spread, it will just continue to get spread, and they also will not even be able to educate their children about prevention. It almost seems hopeless but I know with God all things are possible and although people may not be as educated and/or as healthy as we would hope for them to be, they still deserve and can give out such love. The message I got from the leader today was that we are responsible for our own bodies and as long as we respect them and keep them healthy than we can use to help and love others, which is really what matters after all.

Later on in the afternoon, I got to hangout more with the Ubuntu boys. While soccer is the name of the game and Casey and the other coaches (Mike and Treswell who are super cool) put much time and effort into improving their skills, they do it for such a bigger cause. The crazy thing is, is that these 12 year old boys get that. Some more than others, but they understand that they have been given such a great opportunity. Although some of the boys have grown up in nice homes and nice families like you and I, many have not. Many have seen things that no one should ever have to see, in places that no one should ever have to live, and they know that they could so easily fall into the streets like so many others have done in their same situation. Coaches and supporters give these kids the opportunity to succeed by putting them in a great school (if funds are available), feeding them after practice, as well as engraining characteristics of being successful. It is such a God thing that these boys can come together and look past their different backgrounds and gain such success. Literally, they actually are ranked top of their league, way to go coaches!

A big thanks to Daniel for putting my blogs up, since I have limited internet and can’t upload things. Hope all the UNCW soccer boys have a great preseason and ready to beat some you know what! Good luck with the early morning practices (boo!)

Miss you all, please come visit J

Lots of Love,

Amanda

 

Settling in at Ocean View

The past few days have been great. I’ve started to settle in and have gotten used to some of the differences between South Africa and the USA. I’ve had a really good time hanging out at Sarah and Casey’s house. They are quite popular people, especially their 2 year old daughter, and kids are constantly coming around to play. It can get a bit overwhelming at times because not all the kids are the best listeners, but they all can be quite loveable once in awhile(just kidding). I do know one thing though; I have listed to one of Dora the Explorer’s songs like a million times already and I am going a little crazy lol! I have developed a “Siamese twin” which to be honest, I have no idea what her name is, but she likes to come around in the morning and jump all over me all the time and she asked if I could stay here forever so that was quite flattering.

I’ve seen my first legit African animal…a baboon! Baboons in Africa are like our deer I feel like. There are Baboon crossing signs on the roads and there are actually “Baboon watchers” who actually wave flags if they see a baboon crossing the street. Talk about an interesting job.

On Sunday we went to the Church next door for an 8am service (cold!). Sarah gave a great sermon about trusting God completely and how he isn’t done finishing our story. It was a great message to hear at the beginning of my journey and a message we can all connect with. It was especially effective for the people of Ocean View because they haven’t been dealt the easiest of hands and the message pointed out that God has you where he wants you to be for a purpose and that should inspire us all to keep going. If you give God all your hardships, he can use them for his glory. Sarah paralleled the message with Bethany Hamilton’s story. Bethany Hamilton was training to be a professional surfer when one day out in the water, her arm got bitten off by a shark. Of course she was frustrated, but she trusted in God and he made an inspirational story out of her misfortune. She still became a professional surfer, and she also brought the story of God’s love to millions of people worldwide. She wouldn’t have been able to do this if she still had two arms. So always remember, God isn’t finished with any of us yet. Later on in the day we went to Hillsong Church. There are a few Hillsong churches around the world (look it up!). We saw this really cool band play some good Christian songs with a bit of an African twist to it. I felt like this concert was a representation of South Africa. People of all colors and nationalities gathered together. There was so much energy and joy in the room. Despite some horrible conditions in this country there is hope and new life in its people. On a lighter note, the concert reminded me of an extreme Shaggy concert and I felt like I had the worst rhythm in the whole room lol!

On Monday I got to hangout and practice with the Ubuntu boys. It was quite fun, but made me feel so old. I thought I was all grownup when I was 12 like the age of these boys, but 12 sure is young! They were all a little squeamish around me –I’m sure they aren’t used to older American girls coming around all the time. This trait worked in my advantage recently when I bought a sim card for my phone. I think the cashier felt sorry for me being a stupid American (I didn’t even know my own address) and he gave me a sim card for roughly a quarter!

Tuesday was a special day in South Africa. It was Women’s Day. That’s right, Women’s Day –I can’t believe we don’t celebrate this in the US! Haha, but really it was a national holiday, kids were out of school (most were out of school on Monday as well) and even the grocery stores closed early. Apparently South Africa has a lot of national holidays – I can get used to that. Unfortunately, the boys in the community didn’t want to celebrate with me because they totally stole the beach ball I let them play with. I have faith that it will randomly show up in the next few days though. 

More updates about my volunteer work and host family will be soon to come! Miss you all and hope you all are having a wonderful week!

Lots of Love,

Amanda

 

Made It to Cape Town!

Hello Everyone! After hard goodbyes and a super long flight (total flight time 21 hours!) I have made it to Ocean View, Cape Town! Despite tough travel conditions I am glad to be here. It is hands down the most beautiful place I have ever been. The scenery is simply amazing and hopefully I will be able to put up pictures soon.
I am seriously jetlagged and can hardly sleep I'm feeling good though -It must be because of all the stored up sleep I have gotten this summer lol! The last few days have been quite cold (it is winter here), especially at night, and since there is no heat I have been layering up to go to bed, so all you kids sweating your butts off in the usa...consider yourselves a bit lucky!
The last 2 days we have just been hanging out and unpacking and stuff. I am staying at the Prince's house until they find me a host family to live with. It is quite fun because all the kids come and play, literally all the time. They can speak english, atleast the older ones, but their accents are so strong that we both have a hard time understanding each other. I am living in a coloured community (look it up if you don't know what it is) so with my light hair I look quite different from most of them and they all think I'm like 13...haha what else is new I guess? Alot of these kids grow up in a rough environment with no dads, moms who do drugs, aduse, neglect, the works, and you can tell what they have been through a lot by their behavior. One little boy who is seven was actually super quiet and quite the good soccer player for his age. Instead of climbing all over me like some of the other ones, (you would have thought they had never had a piggy back ride lol) he patiently waited for me to pass him the ball and even when another little boy strangled him (yeah, I literally had to yank him off the other one) he didn't retaliate. When we were sitting down he pulled out a coin. I asked if I could look at it (I haven't really seen the money here yet). When I gave it back he said that I could keep it. To all of you who are reading you are probably like, oh cool big deal, but these kids are super poor and I bet that was all the money this kid had. It was so sweet - and for the record I gave it back! lol
I am starting to make a list of things I will never take advantage of: heater, dishwasher, sleep, unlimited internet, friends and family. I have already met some amazing people, people from all around the world, and know I will meet many more but I definately miss all of you and it is humbling and at times uncomfortable hardly knowing anyone.
Next week I will be starting my volunteer work and will hopefully be able to practice soccer with the Ubuntu boys and a local women's team. Can't wait to see more of this beautiful place and its beautiful people! Haven't seen any crazy animals yet but there is a baboon crossing sign close to the house! Crazzzy
Miss you all!      

Goodbye USA!

Last time in the US for awhile! So grateful for seeing so many of my friends over the past week...you guys rock! Love you all and miss you already. Cross your fingers I don't go insane over the almost 18 hour flight from DC to Johannesburg!
Pray for Benny as well as the Ward family for the terrible loss