This past week has been very eventful. It was finals week for everyone here except for the isiZulu students (our class keeps going for four more weeks). So, the 10 of us went on an overnight trip to Durban. We ended up staying at the Fairmont, and it was absolutely beautiful! On Wednesday we went shipping at the Indian market in Durban and went out to Mamma G’s for some great I-talian food! That night we took this crazy and creepy jungle path and found a salt water infinite pool that overlooked the ocean. The trek to find this in the dark was a little scary since we could not see anything and kept hearing things in the trees and grass, and we felt like we were in a horror movie and that some crazy African animal was going to eat us alive. But we made it and the night time swim was worth it :) Then that night I got the worst sleep I have gotten here in South Africa, but looking back its almost funny... The next day after some coffee we relaxed in the South African sun! The weather was perfect. It was sunny (yep, we all got a little sunburnt) and at times there was actually a breeze. The trip was really fun and I enjoyed spending time with a small group of people. We definitely all bonded and I think class will be even more fun now that we spent this time together.
Battlefield Tour: 4 Battlefields, 2 Days, 1 Night, 52 friends... what could be better?
Friday morning, I woke up too early with a newly packed overnight
bag and we began our oh- so- exciting battlefield tour. The good thing about this part of the weekend was that they got us a luxury bus! When the Brazil soccer team comes here they ride around in this exact bus! How cool is that?! The battlefield tour can be summed up like this.... we drove for a few hours to the middle of no where, climbed a crazy steep hill, took pictures, listened to a lecture in the beating sun, walked around, saw some cows, got back on the bus and to begin nap number two of the day as we drove for a couple more hours, listened to yet another lecture at the next battlefield, bought ice cream, took some more pictures, and drove and slept some more. I know it sounds so exciting that anyone reading can probably hardly contain him or herself. I did learn from this trip that I am not especially passionate about battlefields,
but then again, I probably could have told you this a month ago. All sarcasm aside, we did stay at this really cool hotel in Dundee that was kind of old and cute. Every room had a different layout and the halls had old hard wood floors and I felt like I should have
walked around in a night gown holding a candle for light. For dinner we ate at the hotel and it was one of the best meals I have had here! The butternut squash soup and the dessert was especially delicious! I really enjoyed sitting and talking with the girls at my table. Recently, I have so blessed through conversation!
Day two of the battlefield tour included two more battlefields and many hours of driving. I think my favorite part of day two was breakfast. Let’s just say that Saturday night, it was nice to be home.
Sunday= FunDay
This Sunday was officially declared FunDay. Sunday FunDay included a giant slip and slide, a slip and slide competition (the winning chalet got McFlurry’s, yes the stakes were high!), watermelon for snack and then an intense relay amongst the chalets. My chalet is named Mojolefa, so naturally our team name is the MOJO’S. Mom, I’m sure you would be happy to know our team color is purple, which means I get to wear purple every week on our competition day. Team Mojo got third place in the relay! Only the two boys chalets beat us! We were pretty excited about this! Sunday FunDay was a great way to end the weekend!
Although I am loving all these experiences in South Africa, recently the distance has become more apparent for me and of course I miss many people and things from home. At the same time, it is difficult being not being in control of basically anything here and the limited amount of independence we have can be a struggle. However, God is good and through these things I know He will continue to teach me many things as I am abroad.
No comments:
Post a Comment