Update 2/25

Classes

Things have gotten really busy here in South Africa, classes have picked up and I have been spending most nights working on homework. It has been a struggle balancing everything I have here but also trying to stay up with people back home. It is a balance that I am still working on but other than that I can’t complain. The classes are very different than George Fox but still challenging. I really appreciate the fact that we have so much diversity in one classroom. We have black, white, and coloured South Africans, Americans, and Europeans. It tends to result in very interesting conversations and I believe I have such a wider picture of how people look at the world because of it.

Internships

I am now working at two different schools doing two different things. On Thursday I am still a counselor at Constantia Primary School and on Friday I am helping a women who does visual motor integration (VMI) at Lourier Primary School. They are both disadvantaged schools and even though I am doing very different work at both I am enjoying them. Thursday is definitely very stretching and more difficult but I think it is a challenge that will be good for me. I am basically on my own doing counseling and I get to organize it however I want, which is nice but a lot of pressure as well. I am currently seeing four boys of different ages and we will see if I see anymore during my time there. The VMI that I am doing at Lourier is way more fun and just working on motor skills with 1^st and 2^nd graders. It is fast paced and instead of having to organize it I am just an assistant, so that has been nice. They are very different but I think they will balance each other out.

Friends, Host Family, and Pieter

I have made some really good friends here and I feel really blessed to be surrounded by such great people. I absolutely love my host family and have created a great relationship with them. I have become good friends with my host sister Robyn Lee and really enjoy spending time with her. My fellow American roommate Monique and I have become good friends as well and really appreciate her dry sense of humor. And things with Pieter are great and I am so thankful for everything he does for me on a daily basis. He has been super supportive of me on the days when my internship has been tough and brings a smile to my face on a daily basis. I have been spending the weekends at his parents house with him and have enjoyed getting to know his family and friends.

Life in Africa

I have become surprisingly comfortable in this country. I feel like I sometimes have to remind myself how far I am from home because it just feels normal to be here now. There are definitely still the “only in Africa” moments but I have fallen into the routine of life here. It is a beautiful place and full of beautiful people as well. It is still a very broken society from the system that apartheid put in place but I have enjoyed learning and being with these people. I have been bad about taking photos recently but I will try to take more and post them soon!

Pieter and I

Since everyone keeps asking for photos of us. We had a little fun after class today on Photobooth. Hope you enjoy :)

African Camping

One of the bottom falls of our hike























Me and the final waterfall of the hike










the final waterfall and pool























I jumped off this waterfall into the pool below















On the right hand side I jumped off near the top into this pool below













On the hike up the creek/river we had to walk through some of the pools, this was one of them





















Some of the people I went with. This is what we hiked through for about 3miles















Robyn-lee and Jerome (my host sister and her boyfriend)

Update 2/13

So South Africa has taken a different turn for me. I am not the type to talk about something like this on a blog but it is going to change my trip here and the things that I do so I have decided to share. I met a man over orientation camp and have begun a relationship with him. His name is Pieter and he is a born and raised South African. I believe most of my close friends and family have all gone through a stage of panic that I will not be returning to the States but I will haha. We don’t know how it will work out when the time comes for me to leave but at this point we are enjoying each other and praying for what God has for us. With that said the first week of school was great. I have classes on Mon-Wed for the next 7 weeks and on Thurs-Fri I will be working for an organization called Life Matters.

Classes

African Worldviews is my Monday class and I believe that it is going to be my most academically challenging course. Growing up with a completely western view of the world it has been interesting to see how people in Africa just see things differently. I know that as time progresses my view of the world is going to stretch and change.

Group Therapy is going to be great. I am the only American in the course, which is different than my other two courses so that will be interesting. I am excited to be able to have a class that I can’t take at George Fox and I believe that it will be a valuable experience for the future.

Study on Reconciliation is going to be the heaviest class. The main focus is on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that happened here in SA after the end of apartheid. I can tell that it will probably lead to a lot of tears and it really will be changeling in my outlook on life. Even so, I am really looking forward to it as well.

My internship is going to be very very very challenging. I have been placed in a primary school as their only school counselor. In SA the need is so great that you don’t need the qualifications that you do in the states. The school is called Constantia Primary School (Elementary School) and it mostly is made up of children of the farm workers. It is a very disadvantaged school and I will be dealing with very hard issues. At first I went through a bit of panic that they were allowing me to do what they have for me but I really feel that God has prepared me for this and wouldn’t have put me in this position if it wasn’t what I am supposed to be doing. I would really appreciate prayers though because I know that I am really going to need them. I begin on Thursday morning, which in CA time is Wednesday night. So if you think of me please pray.

This past weekend I went to Pieter’s parents house and spent the weekend there with them. It was quite an experience in the fact that they really only speak Afrikaans, and only a bit of English. So I spent a lot of time having really no idea what was going on around me. It was interesting though that if I knew the context of the conversation I began to pick up on bits and pieces of the conversation. I now do have the goal of being able to somewhat converse in Afrikaans before I leave, we will see how that goes. I met his three brothers and one of his brother’s girlfriend. I really had a great time and even though we couldn’t talk much, I really like his family. I was also able to meet some of his friends and church family, and able to attend church with him on Sunday, which I enjoyed as well.

Things in Africa are great and I will work on posting some pictures of Pieter and I soon!

Pictures 3

Entrance to Robbin Island














The prison cell of Nelson Mandela



















Walking in the Langa Township















The street signs from District 6 that are now in the Museum












Wall sign outside the District 6 Museum

Pictures 2

Looking down at the city of Cape Town below
















Top of Table Mountain











Me standing on the top of Table Mountain
















Ladders from the Hike up Table Mountain












Kids playing Cricket in the streets of Bo'Kaap

Pictures

For some reason they uploaded backwards but the oldest photos are at the bottom and the move towards the most recent.


Cape Town is behind me and I am up on the side of Table Mountain where there is a Cable Car that can take you up to the top. We took it down after our hike up Table Mountain













Shannan and I at the Cape of Good Hope














The 3 Cornerstone students that took us around. L to R: Jill, Marlyn, and Joanita









Cape Point




















L to R: Jill, Joanita, Shannan, Me, and Caleb (Shannan's husband)








Chapman's peak














L to R: Me, Shannan, Jonita, and Jill in Kalk Bay during the International Orientation












Fish Hoek Beach












Muzienberg Beach














They are changing houses on Muzienberg beach. I liked how they look all lined up.

Orientation Camp/Camping

Ok to add onto my Short Update, Orientation Camp was great and I really enjoyed getting to know other students from Cornerstone. We were staying about an hour from Cape Town at this small Christian camp located in a vineyard. It was really nice to get away and on Tuesday morning I got up very early and ran through the vineyards, if you know me well you know I don’t do that sort of thing, but it was exactly what I needed. I hadn’t had much physical exercise other than walking and Table Mountain so I just needed to get out and move. It was nice to be out of the city, hearing the birds and halfway through I took a moment and sat and prayed. It was neat because I was on top of this hill overlooking the city of Cape Town in the distance. It was absolutely gorgeous and just an awesome time of reflection over the last month. I can’t believe that I have been here that long! I feel so immensely blessed and lucky to have this experience and I know that it has changed me in many ways.

African Camping!

Oh man this was an experience; luckily I was at a campground that did not have any of the scary wild animals so I did not have to worry about that. But it was absolutely gorgeous. It was right next to this river/creek that we hiked up on Saturday. Me being me did it barefoot because it was easier to rock jump through the creek and then I didn’t get my shoes wet but my feet are not too happy with me now. It was really a neat experience though, because as we went up we stopped at little pools and waterfalls. It was a blast too because we jumped off cliffs all around the pools. I am soo glad that I had the experience and now I can stay that I have camped in Africa :)

I start regular school on Monday Feb 6 and even though I am looking forward to it I feel like I am on vacation so it has been hard to get into school mode. I have had to write a couple papers for my History of South Africa class and they have been hard to write. I feel like I am in Africa, why do I need to write a paper but then I remember that I did come here for school. So right now it is focusing on school that is my biggest challenge.

I have grown to love this country, every once in awhile I have to remind myself that I am in Africa but I already feel at home here. I have become good friends with my host sister and she makes me laugh on a daily basis. My host mom is way to good to my roommate Monique and I and cooks us dinner every night. She is just too sweet. My host dad is overprotective and always looking out for us, which is nice to have. I really can’t complain.

PICTURES!

I have decided since facebook access is unreliable I am going to start posting photos so at first they will be old but then they should catch up and be current. That is my project for the next few days so we will see how far I get since the internet here is slow.

Short Update

On Monday I left for Orientation Camp with all the 1st year students here at Cornerstone. It was a typical camp experience but it was also a great experience. I now have quite a few South African friends from all different background and it has been awesome getting to know these people. We just returned and I am using the short time I have here at school to use the internet. On Monday we begin the quarter and I am looking forward to having a more regular schedule.

I also have the opportunity to go tent camping with my host sister Robyn-lee and her friends this weekend, which I am really really looking forward to. It will be my authentic African camping experience with a bunch of South Africans. I can't wait and will fill you in next week on how it was!