i am living in south africa. what?!

We are all settled in on campus. I am almost done with my first official week of classes. We arrived to our campus, African Enterprise (AE), on Sunday and began our classes on Monday. I am continually so blessed by the country of South Africa. It has been so great to be back. Our campus is beautiful. I wish I could capture in a picture, but it is simply not possible. I have never seen so many different shades of green covering so much land. It is summer in South Africa right now so we have some tropical weather. It has been really hot and humid. The other day it poured all day, a bunch of people went out and played mud soccer. It is nice being away from the hustle and bustle of APU. We just hang out here, when we are not doing homework. It is nice to get away from the business for a bit.




the monkeys are little devils. the other day Paige and I went for a run and on our way back we got circled by about 15 monkeys. we ran, but they chased us. hah. on the first day a monkey came through our window and pooped all over our room. haha. the boys have started a fun new game of shooting the monkeys with a paintball gun.

All of us are required to take Intercultural communication, History and Culture of South Africa, and a community engagement course. Besides for those classes, I am taking 8 units of Zulu. My isiZulu class is intensive, and it going to be really hard but I am getting really excited about it. I am hoping to be able to speak a little bit of it by the time I began working in the community. All of us have class all day here because we are doing a whole semester’s work in six weeks, classes go for at least 4 hours each. It is much more intensive than I had anticipated but so far I am really enjoying the things I have been learning. I don’t have Zulu until four at night, so my day usually consists of a run in the morning in the game reserve, then doing some homework outside, and relaxing. It is so lovely.


When I first got to Pietermariztburg it was weird to be here again under such different circumstances than my last trip here. Last summer I stayed in the townships, and this time we are in a really nice neighborhood, up in the middle of nowhere. It is good though, I am learning a lot about contentment and balance here. I have to continually remind myself that I did come here for school. God is so good though. Every time I get anxious about being here and find myself wanting to be elsewhere God sends me such encouragement. The first day we got here I walked into our little hang out room on campus and found one of my favorite guys, Alfred, from Haniville (township I worked in last summer) standing there playing pool. Alfred was someone that my team and myself really connected with. He is working with this dance ministry called foxfires and he was here for his training. I was able to spend an hour hearing how God brought him here and what is doing now. The transformation that has happened within him is incredible. It was such an encouragement and blessing.



Earlier this week I was at the mall, feeling overwhelmed, and walked into a store and saw my friend Toby working there. I was able to catch up with here and hear what is going on back in Haniville.




God is faithful. He has constantly been reminding me that he is in control and that this is not my time, my trip, my experience, it is his and he is going to use it for his kingdom and his glory. I am excited for this semester and what it has in store.

I am living in a chalet with 7 other girls. Each one is amazing and lovely. My roommate is my best friend from school, Paige. I am blessed.

Our campus is a playground. So much fun to be had, and so many adventures to go on daily.

Sala Kahle!
Al.

helllo south africa.

I am in south Africa. I feel like I am home, cheesy, I know, but in some ways true. South Africa has shaped who I am in so many ways. Looking back at my last trips here, I am reminded of the ways in which South Africa has challenged me and shaped me into the person I am today. I am still getting used to the idea that this will be my home for the next seven months. It is both scary and exciting. My prayer for this semester is humility. It is interesting doing a study abroad program to a place you have been before. The people, the city, and the cultural differences are familiar to me. I have experienced it before, but the program itself is something so different. My prayer is that I will be able to truly approach this entire semester as a learner. I am trying to learn what it looks like to live in South Africa as a student, not necessarily here just for missions. It is this weird process of learning how to reconcile that I am here for both missions and school. My prayer is that I am able to truly learn what it means to live a missional lifestyle. That is my hope. To learn what it means to live missionally, to love continually. I want to soak it all in. I have so much to learn from my peers. I can’t wait to begin to hear their hearts and the journey that brought them to South Africa. This semester is going to be different than any other trip I have been on to Africa before. Before we left the states, our program coordinator challenged us to think in a new way, he told us to begin to realize that everyone matters. I loved that. That is something that I have been trying to focus on, that I have been trying to constantly replay in my head. I am but a vessel for Christ.

We spent our first day out in the city of Johannesburg today. We got the opportunity to travel around Soweto, one of the fundamental cities in the breakup of apartheid. We walked the streets where the Soweto shootings occurred, and saw the place where Hector Peterson was shot. We drove past Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela’s former homes. It is just so surreal to think that it has only been 15 years since apartheid. I am so excited to learn from the South Africans I encounter. I am so fascinated by the culture and also by the reconciliation that has already begun here. In some ways I feel like south Africa has come much farther than America in the struggle against racism. Here in South Africa people are proud of their race, and embrace the differences, but also come to each other as humble learners, willing to talk about the differences and move forward together. It is incredible.

We start classes on Monday, which is going to be great. We are taught by South African professors. I am taking history and culture of South Africa, 8 units of Zulu, intercultural communication, and global engagement. We do our first six weeks in Pietermariztburg (PMB), taking classes and we work at a service sight for a month. After that we head to Capetown of the last month. From there most of the students will fly back to APU, then I will fly back to PMB and continue working at a ministry, Walk in the Light, until mid August.

missing all of you.

goodbyes

i leave for south africa tomorrow. i cannot wait. i am so ready to get on the plane and start this journey. Me and my friend Paige, who is also coming to South Africa, were talking today about how this has been the longest goodbye. This past week has gone by so slowly, and it has been one, long, drawn-out goodbye, and i am beyond ready to get on that plane. we leave tomorrow, well technically thursday, at 230 AM. oh man, i cannot wait.

all the trees of the field will clap

And I heard from the trees a great parade.
And I heard from the hills a band was made.
And will I be invited to the sound?
And will I be a part of what you've made?
And I am throwing all my thoughts away.
And I'm destroying every bet I've made.
And I am joining all my thoughts to you.
And I'm preparing every part for you

i am getting ready for africa. i dont want this experience to be about me. i want God to use this for his kingdom more than anything.

love. love.

"If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."
- 1 Corinthians 13

this is what my break has consisted of, and i absolutely love it.

i have been spending most of my time reading and it has been so lovely.

i love my home. i love being away from the hustle and bustle of school ... i am reminded daily of the small joys that surround me.

dear south africa, i will be joining you shortly.

In less than three weeks i will be back in South Africa. Oh man, time has flown by. I am anxious to get back. I am excited to see what this semester has in store.

I am already so thankful for this adventure i am about to embark on.