Indian Ocean!

This weekend I went “camping” for an Intercultural Communications field trip in a city called Pennington which is past Durban. Apparently, camping for this trip did not mean sleeping in a tent and sleeping bag. We were at this camp site and stayed in chalets which had beds and even a TV. The weekend began with a drive that was supposed to take 2 hours, turning into a 5 hour drive. It was one of those days where things just kept going wrong! However, we did make it to our destination on Friday night and went to bed early because the next morning some of us wanted to see the sun RISE over the Indian Ocean! 

 

So, Saturday morning we woke up at about 4:30 am and yes, we watched the sun rise over the ocean and it was beautiful! We took lots of pictures and a few of us were reminded that although the sunrise was great and all, we really aren’t morning people! 

On Saturday, our first cultural experience of the weekend was walking around an Indian marketplace. All of us 53 white, American students definitely stood out as we walked along the street. Also, an extra element I have yet to mention about the weekend was the heat! This weekend and so far this week has been VERY hot and humid! It definitely is summer here! We literally never stop sweating! The upside to this was that at every gas station we stopped at (which turned out to be quite a few considering our bad luck with driving) we bought ice cream! There is nothing better on a hot South African day than ice cream :)  So... seeing the marketplace was pretty cool and I enjoyed talking to a few of the people there and getting a little taste of the way they live. 

One of the highlights of Saturday was going to the INDIAN OCEAN in the afternoon! We were all very excited for this and as soon as we got to the beach we all jumped in the water. We had to stay within a certain area of the water because they have shark nets and also the water in the Indian Ocean is very salty. My eyes started burning because of the salt, but of course we stayed in the water for awhile despite our red eyes. Going to the beach with 50ish people is quite fun and a few of us took the most epic jumping beach picture ever! 

On Sunday, I went to an Indian church in the morning and it was such an amazing experience! Inside the church it was about 90 degrees and the service was supposed to last 3 hours but it only lasted about 2.  Worship alone lasted over an hour but it was incredible. It was amazing to see the passion these people had and what devotion it took for them to come to church every Sunday knowing how hot it was going to be. I could truly feel God’s presence and although I was uncomfortable, I am so glad that I got to be a part of this. The Indian people at the church were so welcoming. They all greeted us with sweaty hugs and I was reminded of how big the kingdom of God is!

After church we went to the pastor’s son’s house and they cooked us Indian food for lunch! It all tasted so good, especially the curry, and they treated us with such hospitality! There was so much food and they continued to serve us asking if we wanted more Coke or ice cream and if we had had enough to eat! The pastor then told us that if we came to South Africa and needed a place to stay we were welcome to stay with them! I will never forget the kindness and hospitality of the Indian people. 

 

This weekend I was challenged because there wasn’t ever a set schedule and we never left on time to go anywhere and I never knew what was going on. To be honest, this was very difficult for me and I found it pretty annoying (especially when you are waiting somewhere in the heat!). However, this taught me a lot about the Indian culture and I saw firsthand how relationships and community is much more important to them than a time frame. Being thrown “into the deep end” this weekend was something that I will probably always remember and I am so thankful for everything I experienced!

If you are still reading this, you must like me a lot or be really bored! So thanks for reading about my intercultural weekend!