"All Creatures of our God and King, Lift up your voice and with us sing, oh praise Him, Alleluia" -David Crowder Band

This week was a week full of traveling! We went to the Drakensberg Mountains twice this week! The first time was on a Saturday excursion and we did a guided tour at the Sans (Bushmen) cave paintings which is were these people (from many moons ago) lived.
It is always interesting to learn about another people with another cultural standard and way of doing things. They sure did pick a beautiful location to live in, though. The second time we went to the Drakensberg was on Wednesday.
We went to see the Drakensberg Boys Choir which is a boys choir boarding school that is world known. We watched one of their performances which was ABSOLUTELY amazing. This week was finals week for the other students on campus, so things were a little less crazy than usual. Although we still did manage a homecoming dance, another epic dance, late night slip-n-slide in the rain, many coffee dates, movies, late nights, early mornings, tons of ice cream, and lots and lots of animals. We watched an amazing film called Cry Freedom which tells the real story of the apartheid era in South Africa and I recommend it to all. Clinicals were so fun (as usual) this week and I was able to work in an HIV/AIDS clinic.
The people here are so genuine and care so much about the patients. Today I started my day wonderfully with a Skype with my family followed by a cram study sesh, then coffee and a walk to see the animals, and finished off the night with pizza, a movie, and a dance party. As friendships continue to grow, so does the fun. And I have to tell you, the slip-n-slide was just about the most fun ever. So many laughs this week.

"There was never a good war, or a bad peace." -Benjamin Franklin

This past weekend, we went on an excursion! With our history and culture class, we went to visit some of the battlefields of South Africa. Over the weekend, we went to three battlefield: The Battle of Isandlwana, The Battle of Rorke's Drift, and Battle of Blood River. The Battle of Isandlwana (1879-the pictures of the big hill and the picture of the white rock piles) was when 1,300 English soldiers invaded Zulu land and was defeated by 22,000 Zulu warriors.
The English did not return to collect the bodies for a few months after the defeat due to fear, and therefore the bodies were left. The piles of white rocks are where many people died.
The Battle of Rorke's Drift (immediately following The Battle of Isandlwana) was where 3-4 thousand Zulu warriors attacked a hospital with about 150 British in it. No one really knows what happened exactly during this battle, but the English were attributed a victory. In 1838, 10-15 thousand Zulu attacked an unexpecting 470 Voortrekkers at the Battle of Blood River. The Voortrekkers put all of their wagons in a circle and defeated the Zulu without any losses to the Voortrekkers. We stayed at this cute little bed and breakfast which some of the officers of these battles stayed at back in the 1900s. This was a very relaxing weekend without internet or homework, but rich in good talks, great food, and fun times.
I had my last clinical at the hospice center and Thursday I began at another site where we do home visits to people in the community. It is such a blessing to be able to serve these people and share the Lord with them!
Wednesday was probably one of the most fun days so far on this trip. We went to the Indian Ocean! It was so warm and beautiful and, of course, I LOVE the ocean, so this was just a fantastic day. It could not have been a more perfect beach day!
I have not talked much about it, but obviously I am in school too! Many of my hours are spent participating in discussions about ethical decisions that need to be made regarding nursing and medicine in general. And lots of homework - but I am learning a lot!!
This was definitely a week of deepening relationships and my eyes were opened to new ways that I can love on and support this community! Excited for next week!!

What's a Pirates Favorite Letter? Arg, but What about his Love for the Sea?

This past Saturday was termed "Study Day" which meant that we were supposed to stay on campus and "study" on that day. We have some very intelligent men who brought up that on-campus, "Study Day" officially ends at 4pm. Which left us with plenty of time for us to go to the soccer championships in Durban at 8:15. With some charm and persuasion from the men on campus, the leadership agreed that we could go. And did we go. The game was at one of the World Cup stadiums called Moses Mabhida in Durban. It was the most beautiful stadium I've ever been in. Sorry for the blurry picture from the outside, but I could not tell it was blurry at that time. This game was insane. 

The Pirates played the Stars. As soon as we got there, we were surrounded by people. As we were taking pictures, people were taking pictures of us. Everyone wanted a picture with us, everyone wanted to talk to us. It was overwhelming, but really funny at the same time. At the game, other than our group, I saw maybe 5 other white people. The stadium was nearly full. Our boys showed their Pirate spirit by taking off their shirts (culturally not ok, but, hey, we're Americans), painting their chests with a letter that spelled out "Pirates," buying flags, horns, jerseys, everything. We were on the mega-tron SO MANY TIMES. One thing I loved about this game was the energy. 

People were singing, dancing, and cheering (oh did they cheer). We had field-side seats at about midfield for R80 (about $8). The game ended in penalty kicks with the Stars beating the Pirates. But, man, was it exciting. It also rained the entire game, but although completely drenched, I thought it just added to the experience :) This is one of those experiences that I know I will never forget. 

I also continued my clinicals at the HIV/AIDS hospice site this week. This gives me so much joy!! Just being able to sit down and talk with people who are used to being all alone is such a blessing. I find so much joy by being able to bring a little warmth, kindness, and joy to others! We also had the amazing opportunity to do home visits where we actually delivered food to homes of HIV/AIDS patients and were able to see their homes, families, and provide spiritual care through reading the Bible and praying together. When I got to do that yesterday, it was probably the happiest I've been here! I also am learning a little more Zulu each week which makes it that much more enjoyable! Communication is such a gift. 

I also hosted a game night with my D-Group this week and it was so much fun! I am so blessed to have that wonderful group in my life!

This week was full of laughter and joy as well as heart-break and confrontation. It was difficult for me because I do not like confrontation, but was shown that I am a leader here and need to do what the Spirit puts on my heart. The Lord is good and his glory is displayed through all of it!

This last picture is of some beautiful yellow birds that I saw at sunrise this morning by our chapel (it is in the center of a little pond!)

The Endless Summer

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!

"The Sickness"

This past week was another fun-filled, action-packed week!
Saturday we went to a bird sanctuary just outside Pietermaritzburg. There we saw owls, vultures, storks, falcons and many other types of birds of prey (these storks were incredibly ugly). We did our own walk around tour (where we saw the barn owl that APU has adopted :), and then watched a show where they had the birds fly around and respond to instruction. It was incredible to see how intricately and uniquely God has designed each of these animals to be as efficient as possible. We then watched as they fed the vultures their lunch. That was quite the experience. Yuck.
Sunday we were blessed to go back to the local churches for church! I went to the same church that I went to last week, called North Hills. It was an amazing time for worship and communion with fellow South African believers. I even made some friends that asked me over sometime for a "braai"(Afrikaans for a barbecue). We were a smaller group at this church this week which I really enjoyed because we were able to integrate with their own church family better.
People here (the Americans) are very into workout videos. So we have been doing them a lot. Jillian Michael's is quite intense!
Monday my friends and I went on a nice little walk through the nature reserve that is our neighbor. We saw many bucks and many zebras! I love being able to see zebras all over the place!

Nothing else significant happened (just school and homework and clinicals) until Tuesday, when "The Sickness" hit me. And many others. The flu came. And it was not nice. I spend Tuesday night, Wednesday, and Thursday morning in bed. I am still recovering and was feeling a little ill today, but nothing like before. Pray that me and my friends would continue to heal! It is not fun being sick :( My friends and staff here was GREAT, though, and brought food, drinks (not that I was eating or drinking anything), meds, and anything else they could think of to help me. Praise the Lord for them! This sickness was, though, a good time for me to rest and reflect and catch up on all my homework (I don't understand how they expect us to study here...)!
My friend and I are leading a "D-Group" (discipleship group) here, which is basically a Bible study/small group. We are going to focus on Christ-centered community and how to actually learn about how the Lord has called us to treat each other. It will be a journey, a difficult yet rewarding one. Please pray for discernment and wisdom as we choose what Scriptures and discussions to have in our group! I have really been blessed by Romans 12 recently, so I think that we might focus on that :)
"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord's people who are in need. Practice hospitality." -Romans 12:9-13 (read this chapter!)

Sawubona from Pietermaritzburg!

After the one day in Johannesburg, we hopped on yet another flight to Durban (a costal city) and then had about an hour and a half bus ride until we finally arrived at what will be our home for the next ten weeks; Pietermaritzburg. We are staying at a Christian conference center just outside the city called African Enterprise (AE). We stay in what are called "chalets;" basically they are little dorms. Each chalet has a hallway, bathroom, and four rooms (2 people per room). AE is located just next to a little wildlife reserve. Because of this, we go on many hikes and see bucks, frogs, other animals that I don't know the English name for and the Zulu name is far too hard to say let alone write, and ZEBRAS! It is fantastic. We spent our first few days exploring, going to the mall, hiking the many waterfalls that are just outside our chalets (literally-see picture), and eating really good food.
Monday was a very sad day because school started (most of us had
forgotten that aspect of this trip, including me). We have lots and lots of class, but I have 2 great instructors and 13 friends to keep me company :) Tuesday we went on a tour of some of the locations where we are going to have clinicals. We went to the more rural sites and were oriented to these places. There will be more on this when I actually go there for clinicals. We saw cows/cattle who had big horns and utters and were utterly confused (they are a different breed from northern Africa). Wednesday the nurses don't have class, so we went to hang out and help with some local people (about 400) who's homes had been burned in recent fires (see picture). We gave away clothes, made and distributed sandwiches, and just loved on some people. Language barrier was something that I was very frustrated with, and was so excited for our Zulu class Wednesday night. I was not prepared for the humiliation that was to come. Zulu is a very, very difficult language with three different clicks and many sounds that we do not have in English. It was quite overwhelming and disheartening, but I am determined to try to overcome this language barrier! On Thursday was our first official clinical. I am placed at a clinic in Pietermaritzburg. I was placed in the pediatric ward and helped with weighing and vitals for the kids that needed to be seen. Here nurses are called "sisters" and diagnose, prescribe, and administer medication. It was interesting to see the huge difference between American nurses and South African sisters (they also couldn't believe that we pay to go to nursing school-here they get paid to go). I was again mega frustrated by the language barrier, but am not yet disheartened. After clinicals we came back and had a few more hours of class and then went out to dinner to an Indian restaurant. It was so good. I like curry from any country! Today was a day full of class and, of course, tea (we have 30 minute tea times twice a day, everything stops for them). Tonight we are going out for dessert for one of my friend's birthday!

So Where To?

After what seemed like ages, we finally arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa. After a few hours of sleep, food (fish and chips and cheesy SNAILS), and a much needed shower, all 53 of us headed out like jet-lagged zombies to explore the city of Johannesburg. This place is huge (the largest populated city in South Africa) and has a remarkable history.

In 1948, when Apartheid was initiated in South Africa, the whites wanted all of the non-whites out of the center of the cities. Forced out of their places of the living, the non-whites said "So where to?", thus forming the township of Soweto.

Our tour was mainly of Soweto, which stands for southwest township (of Johannesburg). This was the ghetto that the non-whites were forced into during Apartheid. This city still remains a thriving place even after Apartheid ended. We saw the homes of Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Tutu, as well as the Freedom Towers. A variety of economic classes live there, from shacks with outhouses to million dollar mansions. It was interesting and somehow heart breaking to see the first world and third world clash in this township.


We then had lunch at an authentic South African restaurant which consisted of just about everything you could imagine. And they surprised us with entertainment-traditional Zulu dancing!