Well, we’ve been here for nearly a week and it’s been great!
I will admit to sometimes when I felt completely out of place and awkward and
thought to myself “WHAT AM I DOING HERE???” After spending two months in Europe
this is a culture shock in the biggest way. You have to tip people a few rand
everywhere you go, which can be stressful when you have no change. You feel
constantly grimy and hot. Other kids make fun of your athletic abilities or
lack thereof. But all in all, there are so many things to love about this
place!
We’ve been to the Seed of Hope three times now, and I’m
really looking forward to spending more time there. The kids are adorable!
They’re so smiley and eager to play and talk to you, even though most of the
time they can’t speak any English. On our first day we sat in on Simunye time
for the younger kids, Simunye meaning “we are together”. It started off with
singing, which wasn’t exactly music, mostly just organized hollering on
different notes. It was beautiful either way. I made friends with a round faced
boy who’s smile is a big as his face who kept on giving me the thumbs up, and
trying to say things to me in English that didn’t make sense, like “who’s watch
is this?” He was super cute and hilarious, like they all are. We also played on
the playground with kids for a solid 2 hours yesterday, a couple of rubber swings
and wood pieced together can entertain these kids so easily! They’re so fun and
cute and hot and smelly, but great. I’m excited to get to know a few of them
over these next couple of months.
Today when we went, we helped our new friend Karen prepare
for a year end party for the Live Out Loud group, which is a group of high
school students chosen as leaders in their community to be sort of mentored by our
new friend Karen, and grow within a group. We set the tables, washed dishes,
and served food, which was great, but actually getting to hang out with the
students was the best part. We stuffed all eighteen people into three cars and
took them to the Galleria Shopping Center to take them for their first time
bowling. It being their first time, I assumed that I was going to have a chance
to shine athletically. That was not the case. They got really into it, and were
surprisingly talented! And let me tell you, bowling with South Africans is a
whole lot different than hitting the Deerfoot Mall bowling alley with some
buds. Bowling tonight involved jumping, dancing, high-fiving, squealing, rolling
on the ground, moon-walking, leap-frogging over the ball return, hugging, and a
whole lot of laughter. It was a blast, and they were all so much fun, and very
eager to talk to the Canadian girl. A boy even asked if he could marry Lauren.
We said we’ll have to think about it. Haha
After bowling, Adam and Lauren went to a youth group while
Mum, Dad and I went to help out with the dinner for the kids. It went well and
listening to them talk about how the group had changed them was inspiring and
made me get a little teary. It’s so cool when people can come together and feel
like a family. It made me miss camp a little bit. Mum freaked out when it was
time for dessert, because the chocolate sauce was gross and liquidy, but then
at the same time really chunky and dry, it kind of looked like dog poop on top of
ice cream. If you know my mum, she is a Jedi Master at planning events, and she
likes things to be done right, and hey, what’s wrong with that? Bossy yet
effective. In the end, the kids were happy with their dessert, and mum didn’t
develop any kind of ulcers. The evening ended with pictures, bongos, singing
and dancing. I think I’m going to like it here. :)
I enjoyed this entry, as it provided our first real glimpse at your day-to-day life in South Africa, and a glimpse at the culture shock, which is fascinating material. Sounds like South Africa could be your most fulfilling experience yet and I'm excited to hear about it, through this blog. 8.0/10.
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