week 1

this first week flew by, just as i suspected it would. mel and i did our "induction" (basically in introductory sort of interview) and have gotten more settled into our roles here at lily. i am back at the school with grade 2-- love them. i am shocked at how many of the children remember me from last year. smart little kidlets.

mel has been working in the clinic doing clinic-y sorts of things.  

mel has been a bit under the weather the past few days but seems to have rebounded nicely and even crawled out of bed today ;)

we spent an evening in Durban last week and i was shocked by how american it felt. i never spent any time in durban last year, as i did not have transportation. i LOVE having access to a car and the ability to navigate. not much else to report ;) will try to be better about posting-- somehow i have less down time this year and will be putting in long hours in order to gain internship credit through Mason for my time here.  even so, i have slept more in the past week then i slept all of last semester combined!

alive and well

mel and i have arrived in decent shape. the travel was somehow exhausting this time, with a 10 hour layover in london, which was basically comprised of trying to figure out how to navigate heathrow airport, the underground, and what we could feasibly accomplish. i felt triumphant that i was able to see big ben, westminster abbey and a few other cool sites during our whirlwind tour of london. i may or may not have been dozing during the tours. it is quite possible.

after a rental car debacle post arrival in durban, we have since gotten everything sorted out and navigated the open roads successfully!

hoping to sleep more and get acclimatized tomorrow. love being back :)

well, this will most likely be my last blog post from s.africa. i have spent the past couple of days in cape town and LOVE it. thanks all for reading and being a part of my adventure. i have had such an awesome time and have learned so much about God and what it means to abide in Him and to trust in Him.
tomorrow i fly back to durban. then to jo-burg. then to amsterdam. then to dc. i should land at dulles around... hmm. i don't really remember. late afternoon sometime.
while i am sad to leave s.africa, i am somehow quite sure that i will be back soon =)

some highlights of cape-town:

view from my hotel room

view from my little trek up lions head

so tempted to do this!!

but i didn't... maybe next time ;)

ha

this was on the way to cape point. out of my taxi window

so pretty

cool

me. and my miscellaneous clothing that i have after giving/throwing away most of it. bahaha!

SO COOL!!!!!

loved.it

my taxi driver exlained that this weather pattern happens when the cold atlantic ocean meets the warm indian ocean. SO COOL!

i love rainbows.

this place was awesome

late tuesday: "i must go" lyrics.

Time flies when you're having fun
And it's flown too quickly for me
For my time has arrived
The day has come, the day I must leave
Where I'll go I cannot barely know
All I see is the road at my feet
I must go, I must leave this place
I have somewhere to go
I have a new road to follow
I must go, and though I wish I could stay
There is something beyond what I see
I must go
And though I feel like I'm losing myself as I fear leaving all this behind me
I will not, I will not lose my faith as I go
For my fears will be vanished in time
And I know that I will be fine
I must go, I must leave this place
I have somewhere to go
I have a new road to follow
I must go, and though I wish I could stay
There is something beyond what I see
I must go
And I will not forget you, I could not forget you
Even though I cannot be by yourside
But life's course has brought us to this place, tomorrow we must embrace
And seek joy in this bittersweet goodbye

i hate goodbyes and am so sad to leave. going to try to enjoy all that i can these last couple of days.

house 19 boys spent the night with us last night and crammed onto that little couch to watch a movie!

quiet time on this beautiful sumday morning

 mbali and i

my view from the drivers seat!

driving to lily.

sunday lunch

managing to look like a giant while trying to see if the chicken was done

lihlie and i watching the boys play soccer this afternoon. 

i knew that my 8.5 weeks here would fly by. i thought i was prepared for that. i wasn't. i cannot believe that i am leaving lily in 10 days. i have finally learned most of the names and broken down some of the walls that the teenage girls put up. i am so sad to leave it all behind, but i know that i must.
i have always thought of myself as being a pretty flexible person who can adapt to new places and situations. while i think that is still possibly true, that is not why i felt so at home here. i felt at ease here instantly due to the generosity and kindness of the people here. and because i think there were a lot of people praying for me...
i was talking to one of the "house dads" here yesterday about how generous everyone has been and he was amused that i had noticed. its just so typical and normal for them that they are outraged when people make a big deal out of it. he was saying how when he gets paid, (he gets paid equivalent to 340 american dollars per month) he is out of money within a couple of days because he gives it away to people who need it. he never saves and seems unfamiliar with the concept. it is just so very opposite from what i do. i have never felt so selfish before. he then started asking me how much money i made and if i was generous with it... i gave a hesitant yes (though i knew it was kind of a lie) and he started asking who i was helping with my money and how i was being generous.
while i don't believe that we are called to give away everything that we have and to become a burden to those around us, i do feel convicted by my selfishness and love of possessions. i have been really praying that God will teach me to have the right perspective and the right heart when it comes to this issue. it is a confusing thing to try to work through. i am feeling a bit frantic to figure it before i return to the hustle and bustle of northern virginia again. its just a different world here. you don't worry about 401k's, raises, promotions, degrees, resumes or student loans. its just a much simpler version of life. in some ways it is easy and in other ways it is very difficult.

anyway, here are also some pictures from the past week or so:

how i feel about having my picture taken

madness! 

trying to get work done in the office. there is always someone who wants to sit in the chair with me!

mbali made a delicious banana bread/cake

 some of the boys with face paint!

the older boys playing soccer in phase II