I'm alive! I know it's been a while but my brand new computer (2 months old!) broke down on me and has been at the Apple store getting fixed. My experience with them is a prime example of the first world facade here. Walking into the Waterfront in Cape Town and into the Apple store, you feel like you're home in the States. Then you get to the customer service...or lack thereof. I was quickly reminded that, although I am in an iStore in a nice mall, this is not America. There was miscommunication after miscommunication (even though everyone involved spoke English perfectly) and their sense of urgency and customer satisfaction were nonexistent. My mother always says, "The squeaky wheel gets the oil." Let's just say I had to do a lot of squeaking to get my computer back.
Things are good down here on the other side of the world I'm not as homesick as I had thought I would be, not to say that I don't miss my family and friends terribly. I think being so busy helps with that though. Missing my brother and sister's birthdays was pretty tough. Knowing my family was having a fun and undoubtedly hilarious family dinner without me was hard. However, I was able to attend my sister's birthday party via ichat which was awesome! She literally set her computer up on a table at her party and friends took turns coming by and chatting with me. It was so much fun and made me feel a million times better. Another event I had to miss out on was the wedding of one of my closest friends. One of my college roommates, Lindsay, got married this past Sunday. That was a rough one. I would have loved to be there with her and my friends on that day. That is not the sort of thing you want to miss out on. You can't relive that. So Sunday was a sad day. I know that more family functions and friend-filled events will come and I will miss out on them. But I also know that there is no sweeter place than exactly where God wants you. I've never understood this until now. Even with very little social life, few friends and no family here, there is peace. Peace in knowing I am right where I should be. It is not something I can describe. You just know it when you feel it.
Things at the Academy are going well. I'm still getting the hang of this teaching thing and there
is definitely a learning curve that I am still trying to figure out. Finding a balance between being likable and being respected, being fun and being stern, it's difficult. I think Impact partly prepared me for that part, but nothing prepared me for teaching 10th grade Xhosa speakers how to properly use English adjectives and adverbs. And nothing prepared me to properly say one of our new students' names: Nqaba...the q is a click. Go ahead, try it. Harder than you think. Our devotion groups got mixed around due to some circumstances so I lost 2 of my girls and gained 3 new ones. My new group is (in case you have been praying for us!) Zikhona, Nono, Aphiwe and Nomofili. Please pray for us as we all begin a new bonding and connecting process. Also, please pray for our new building as it is just a month or so away from being ready for us to move in! This is a photo of all of our kids, our principal and me in the new building! So exciting!
Things you might like to know: I got my first speeding ticket (which happens often and to everyone so pipe down); I saw my first dead body (which also happens often and to everyone); I have killed an innumerable amount of flies; I have seen spiders bigger than I knew existed (5300D girls...those McComber spiders do NOT compare!); the same day my laptop broke my camera also broke...this has not yet been fixed :( ; I finished 4 books in 6 weeks; and I received my first marriage proposal from a student. All in all the first 6 weeks have been exciting, exhausting and HOT. I'm currently sweating. Gross, I know. Just trying to give you all a visual. Please continue to pray for our students, that they would be focused as we head to the end of our first term. Also, for protection when they go home to Phillipi. For me, wisdom, focus and an abundance of love and patience for these kids. Also, that I don't lose my mind over all the flies. Seriously. Whoa, this is a long post. I'll try not to lag so much next time so you don't have so much to read...or skim;)
LOVE.
