I've always wanted to find a way to keep summer
going, and I've found it! You just have to switch hemispheres every 6 months :)
This week was again full of adventures! One day we
went to the Victorian Market in Durban which was the biggest, cheapest, and
most awesome market imaginable! It was full of vibrant colors, various
languages, and anything you could ever want to buy. We were also introduced to
another huge mammal when we went giraffe finding after church. This was quite
the adventure and I have to admit that I am pretty good at sneaking up on large
game. We also managed to watch both The Lion King and The Lion King 1 1/2 this
week (it was viewed as a necessity as we are in Africa). I went star gazing one
night and realized that I could not identify ANY of the constellations (the
whole-nother hemisphere thing is throwing me off!). Tuesday we were more than
happy to observe the public holiday of Heritage Day (although for everyone here
it was Heritage Week) and therefore did not have any class or clinicals. I had
my first clinical at a HIV/AIDS hospice center which is run by a fantastic
missionary. This woman has improved the center tremendously and works hard to
do all she can to improve quality of life and dignity for her patients. Let me
know if you want more information about this ministry or would like to support her! On Friday we visited UBI (Union Bible Institute) for a day of sports, food, and fellowship. It was very fun to see where the students study and live and to just be able to worship and play games together. They had traditional food there for lunch and I tried tripe! I think it was my first and last tripe
experience. Yesterday we also went on a lovely night hike (where we saw a
snake) and had a bonfire with smores (they don't have graham crackers here, and
their marshmallows are strawberry flavored-very interesting!). Of course this
week was also full of school and homework (when we could fit it in), good talks
with great friends, beautiful walks, lots of singing, and Insanity (a new
workout video that I'm doing!).
"'Make a tree good and it's fruit will be
good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized y
its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For
the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out
of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the
evil stored up in him. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account
on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words
you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.'" -Matthew
12: 33-37
This week, the power of words has been a continuous
theme. One word can make or break someone's day. We are an incredibly verbal
culture and I think all too often words get thrown around without careful
consideration of their impact. Just a thought. Have a great week!
