At the beginning of the week i got sick....which was not so fun. i slept for most of the day on Monday, just wanting to be at home, being sick while in another country is not the ideal situation, but i had lots of people checking up on me and giving me meds :) on Monday i got to skype with my mom and wesley in the morning before i slept the day away, and then my mom again at night. i had never been so grateful for the internet! hearing their voices and having my mom pray for me over skype to get better was just what i needed while so far away from home!
Despite not feeling well at the beginning of the week i was still able to visit the fifth service site to see what it was like, and it is getting me excited for classes to be done and for us to start our time at our sites! we let our leaders know which ones were our "preferences" and will find out soon which one we get to serve at! :) but before that i need to TACKLE three more papers, two finals and get to go on a 2 day field trip horsebacking riding to the highest elevation in South Africa!
Wednesday i spent most of the day doing homework for a presentation with Melissa, but still had fun cause we were doing it together and she is just wonderful! The group here surprises me every day at how everyone gets along so well and is there for eachother. it has been so great having good, meaningful conversations with people and being encouraged by how they are seeing God and sharing with me. I am so thankful for the friendships that are being strengthened by being here and the new ones that are forming and becoming strong! I am so grateful for Hilary being here (who is basically like family from doing alpha together!), whenever i am feeling confused or lost we are able to talk about everything and she is such an encouragement to me! God is so generous in how he blesses me with the people here, and it makes me excited for the more great conversations i know i will get to have :)
Thursday some of us from our Human Growth class went to go practice riding horses for our fieldtrip - especially me because i have never ridden one before! but since we left late....possibly got lost on the way there..twice, we got there late and were not able to go and had to reschedule, so we went out to lunch at an adorable cafe in a garden! it was SOO cute and fun to be there with them :) it was a very hot day so we of course got double-thick chocolate milkshakes and some delicious food!! we ended up being able to go horseback riding today with the whole class, and it was SO MUCH FUN! riding a horse is easier than i thought it would be, but still nerve wrecking when the horse starts to trot because they are such big animals, but it definitely got me excited for our fieldtrip thursday!
Friday morning i went on a walk with some of the girls into the reserve and we all brought our journals and bibles to have quiet time :) then most of the girls went back for breakfast and me, hilary and bianca stayed. that morning i had been feeling distracted and not able to focus, i knew i was supposed to just listen, my pen even ran out of ink so that i couldnt journal, but i still could not just be still and listen. hilary and bianca prayed for me and it was such a blessing to be there with them that morning. we all talked for a while about what were feeling while being here and realizing the different things weve been learning, it was so great to sit and talk about what God's doing in our lives and such a calming experience.
We also went and visited a witch doctor on friday, which was a strange experience. they are called "sangomas" (if thats how you spell it....haha) we got to see all of his spices and herbs that he uses for spells, and even though it was a strange experience looking into his eyes and being there, it was a good experience.
Friday night we all had a bonfire and everyone made it so much fun!! we all did trust falls, having to confess something before we did (like in mean girls haha) and just hung out around singing and having s'mores :)
Then saturday we went to the Drakenburg Mountains to hike and see bushman paintings (paintings done a long time ago by the mountain people? ...we learn about it in our history class) but it was the most beautiful place i have ever been! i felt as if i was walking through the lion king with simba!! the drive there was fun with everyone and we hiked up to the caves and had fun exploring and seeing the scenery :) here are some of the many pictures we took that day!
The drive there, SO beautiful with the color of the sky and grass :)
Some of us girls on the hike back down!
enjoying the view from the top of a huge cliff!
me and Hilary standing on the edge :)
the view from the caves - beautiful!
It was such a fun day! Today (Sunday) I went to church at the same church i've been going to and had so much fun seeing the people there and meeting some more of the members there :) i love going to church there and getting to know the people of the church. Now im off to do some more homework since i have TONS to do before my field trip, but i hope you enjoyed reading this - sorry it was so long! i miss you all and think of you often!!
Mom- i saw a white butterfly and thought of you! :) its not the same one that the family used to see but i saw it and got a picture of it!
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