All Good Things Must Come to an End

It's true. On this earth, everything good comes to an end at some point or another. Fortunately, the best is always yet to come! It's the hope I hold onto. Better things are always ahead. Without such hope, what fun would life be?!

Me and my friend Elayna on Robben Island

Two weeks ago, on Thursday, April 18, we took a ferry to Robben Island, where political figures such as Nelson Mandela were held captive for many years. Mandela himself was incarcerated on the island for 18 years, only to be imprisoned for an additional nine years on the mainland. What made the tour especially interesting was the guide that spoke to us when we got to go inside the prison; he himself had been a prisoner there. Conditions were unpleasant as meals were repetitive, Afrikaans and English were the only languages permitted, mail and media were filtered, and one bucket served as a water holder or a toilet--it was up to you. Overall the tour was really cool and I'm glad that we got to go. The ferry ride there wasn't that great as many got seasick, but the ride back was much better.

Shark-cage diving in the Atlantic

On Saturday, April 20, me and 13 others went shark-cage diving in the Atlantic Ocean. We had to leave at 4am to go, but it was well worth it. The drive there took about two hours and the driver got lost a few times, but eventually we made it. I was in the second of three groups to go into the cage and we'd gotten to spend the most time out of anybody in the cage: a whole 45 minutes! Throughout the entire morning we saw about five or six different sharks, which didn't get too vicious but one of them did attack and hit the side of the cage with its tail. As a whole though the experience made me less afraid of sharks, which probably isn't a good thing. Glad I did it though! Definitely overcame some (minor) fears that day. That evening my roommate Sammy and I went to our home stay family's house to make them a delicious Mexican dinner (along with the two guys who were currently staying there); they loved it! It was good seeing them and having a home to go back to; definitely felt like family.

Sunday was pretty relaxing as I spent the morning working on (and finishing) a term paper for our History & Culture of South Africa class. I went on a three-mile run in the afternoon, which felt so good! My right foot, which I sprained a couple of months ago, has been healing well these days; I pretty much don't feel it anymore! That evening I encountered a man named Tacobas who doesn't have a home and has been living on the streets for a while. He'd spent five years in jail but hasn't been in for a while. Aside from telling me that he needed food and a place to live, we ended up sitting down and telling each other about our lives. I could tell that something was different about him; rather than simply begging for food and money he wanted to get to know people. He wanted to feel connected. He wanted to love someone, to hear their story, and to have a friend. At the end of our time together I prayed for him, gave him R20, and went back home. Leaving him I felt completely overwhelmed (in a good way) and couldn't help but think about what God was doing in my life. Tacobas made a bigger impact on me than he may ever know and for our encounter I am extremely grateful.

Exploring the Bo Kaap

Last Monday a group of us went on a several hour hike to the top of a small mountain (or maybe it was a hill... what defines a mountain, anyway?). We had to crawl through some brush and a small section of cave but the challenge was well worth it. The view was beautiful and overlooked the entirety of False Bay. On Tuesday, April 23, we visited the Bo Kaap, a Muslim/Malay section of the inner city. The tour wasn't too long but we visited a spice shop, a mosque, and ate a homecooked meal at one of the homes there. The food was so good: curry, rice, potatoes, and chicken. Talk about a cultural experience! That night we went to theatre sports, where two teams of actors competed against each other in a series of acting games and challenges. It was pretty funny!

On top of Table Mountain, overlooking Cape Town

On Wednesday we hiked Table Mountain, which was no easy feat! The hike for me took about an hour, and while it was strenuous it wasn't as challenging length-wise (time-wise) as I thought it would be. The view at the top was incredible; it overlooked the entire Cape Town area and beyond it too. After lunch I hiked about 30 minutes out to the other side of the mountain to MacClear's Beacon, the highest point on the mountain. Again, the sights were amazing! On Thursday we visited Stellenbosch, touring a college and buying wine for our families. It was my first alcohol purchase!

This last weekend was pretty chill. On Saturday I went and saw some African Penguins and ventured into Cape Town in the afternoon. We ate lunch at the eastern food bazaar and went to the Green Market after that. The sellers were relentless in trying to sell you stuff; it got a little crazy but that's Cape Town for you! I spent all day Sunday studying for our History & Culture final.

Yesterday morning we had that final. It didn't go too well (our professor later told us that we didn't fare very well) but it sounds like we'll all still get good grades in the end. Our professor is a pretty chill guy and won't be too tough on us, especially considering we're at the end of our trip and have been on vacation mode for a while now. Today we had reorientation at the University of Cape Town, which involved reflecting on the semester and preparing for home and reverse culture shock. It's all so unreal, everyone going home. Especially since about 20 of us aren't going with them; we're staying in Africa for a bit longer. Some are going to Kenya, one guy is going to Uganda, and one girl is going to Malawi; talk about world travelers!

I'm going to spend the next couple of weeks at a hostel in downtown Cape Town. Tomorrow evening we're going to a soccer game at Cape Town Stadium, which should be really fun! I'm not sure what we're doing for the remainder of the time but we'll figure it out as we go along. I'm excited to be on vacation and to travel on my own; the joys of growing up! My last two days I'll spend with my home stay family before flying home to America. Although I'm stoked to go home I'm excited for these last couple of weeks too!

This semester has been beyond incredible. I have been challenged in so many ways and learned so much over the last four months. To relay everything would take forever. Overall I am extremely grateful for this experience. Africa is a beautiful country with incredible people and I have no doubt I'll come back here one day.

And now, to the next: independent adventures in Cape Town.

Let's go.

Life in the Cape.

The last two weeks have been extremely busy: on Saturday, April 6, we left Pietermaritzburg and our campus for good. We spent the next five days making our way to Cape Town, taking the long route and making plenty of stops along the way.

On Saturday we drove for ten hours, stopping in East London for the night. Unfortunately we'd arrived two hours later than expected due to some issues on the road, but the dinner awaiting us made up for it; there's nothing like a delicious meal after being on the road all day. That night we walked down to the beach, hanging out and playing games. We played a game called "lap tag", which involved a lot of tackling and running around. Needless to say it was a great end to a long day.

Watching the sun rise in East London

We only drove for a few hours on Sunday, arriving and staying in Port Elizabeth around 1pm or so. We again spent most of the day at the beach, swimming in the (now freezing) Indian Ocean and checking out the surrounding area. There was a skate park, playground, a small market, and a myriad of restaurants. That night I had fish and chips for dinner, which I hadn't had in a long time. After that we walked around, checking out a water and lights show and all the surrounding shops.

Bungy-jumping at the Bloukrans Bridge, the world's highest bungy bridge

Monday was the day that we'd all been waiting for; it was the cause of much dread and anxiety, yet excitement and anticipation: it was bungy-jumping day. It took us a couple hours to get there, which didn't help the anticipation. When we arrived there were about 15 of our peers that had already bungy-jumped as they'd arrived earlier and wanted to get everyone out there to jump in a decent amount of time. I was in the second group to go out to the bridge and ended up being fifth to jump (out of about 20 of us in that group). To explain what it was like, there was pump-it-up music blasting, everyone was dancing, and one by one they called us up to get harnessed (or bungied, I should say) and ready for the jump. Although you wore a harness on your upper body, there were cuffs around your ankles that were tied together tightly, which was then attached to the bungy cord. It probably isn't comforting to tell you that the bungy cord is nothing more than a bunch of rubber bands strung together. Hah. When it came time to jump, two workers lifted you to the edge of bridge, since your feet were tied together and you could only hop to get around (which you probably don't want to do at the edge of a bridge). They counted: "5...4...3...2...1...BUNGY!" and all I remember thinking was, "I'm going to jump off this bridge." Sure enough I did, and I endured the craziest few seconds of my entire life. Although there was a total of four seconds of free fall, the initial jump and first second or two of falling were the most terrifying. After that I couldn't really feel anything, except an unexplainable calm and peace. It was quiet, God's amazing creation surrounded me, and I couldn't help but feel incredibly close to my humanity. Needless to say it was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had and the adrenalin rush was insane. Definitely glad I did it!

Climbing through the Cango Caves

After everyone had bungied, eaten lunch, and bought any souvenirs they'd wanted, we traveled to Carmel, a Christian conference center that would become our temporary home for the next couple of days. It also found itself on the beach, and before dinner many of us hiked down to the beach to explore and check everything out. The next morning we went to the Cango Caves, where most of us went on an "adventure tour" and climbed about a kilometer into the depths of these caves. Some spaces were incredibly small and it got pretty hot in there; we had a good time though. In the afternoon we went to the Cango Wildlife Ranch, where many of us pet cheetahs, lemurs, tigers, and other African creatures. I myself got to pet a cheetah, which was pretty cool as I'll probably never get to do it again.

Petting a cheetah

The coast of Fish Hoek

The next day, Wednesday, we drove the rest of the way to Cape Town. We actually arrived in a small town called Fish Hoek, which finds itself a little ways outside of the Cape Town inner-city. We arrived at Wellwood, a bed and breakfast that we'd be staying at for the rest of the semester. We spent the rest of the day exploring, and for many of us we touched the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. The following day we were split into five teams and sent into the heart of Cape Town on a sort of scavenger hunt, finding places such as the Slave Lodge and the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. We discovered that Cape Town is in the top ten best-run cities in the entire world; what's even crazier is that the Queen Mary 2, a massive cruise ship that goes on a 102-day tour around the world, stops in Cape Town for three days--that's the longest she stays anywhere! If that doesn't testify to how well-run Cape Town is, I'm not sure what would. When the hunt was over we prayed for and said goodbye to our program director, Reg, as he was heading back to Pietermaritzburg where he works for most of the year.

Devil's Peak (left) and Table Mountain (right), from the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront

On Friday we had our History & Culture class from 9-12 and chapel after that. We basically hung out the rest of the day. That night we went to a small town called Ocean View to meet our host families; half of our group (including myself) began home stays that night. Home stays were five days long, and while half of us were staying at home stays, the other half would stay at Wellwood. My family was Thelma, the mom, Lantor, the dad, and Xavier, their 11-year-old son. Although we'd return to Fish Hoek for class or excursions while we were staying at home stays, during the weekend of our home stay you would stay with them the entire time. On Saturday we slept in, went to another home stay's house for lunch and to hang out all day, then went to another home stay that evening as my host brother had worship practice as his pastor's house. A bunch of us APU students ended up hanging out, which was pretty cool. It was nice seeing familiar faces. On Sunday we went to church with our host family, went to the farm (where we tasted cheeses and visited a snake park) in the afternoon, and hung out back at "home" that night.

On Monday we had class again in the morning, during which we presented what we'd found and learned during the scavenger hunt the previous Thursday. Yesterday we spent the day in a township, touring it and learning about it as it's a part of a huge renovation project that Cape Town is undertaking. We had lunch at a meat market called Mlozi's Meat Market (I believe it's called; it's famously known for its meat), then headed back to Wellwood where we hung out and did whatever we wanted before we headed back to our home stays around 5pm. Although my roommate had to leave our home stay early (he left after dinner last night due to an early doctor's appointment), we enjoyed our last night with our home stay family. They'd been extremely hospitable and took good care of us; we were blessed to have gotten to stay with them. I forgot to mention that all of the home stay families were Afrikaans-speaking Coloureds. They did speak English though, which broke down the language barrier that could've been one.

Driving through the township

Today we went to the Cape of Good Hope, exploring and hiking around. Me and two others ended up hiking through dense brush for a ways in order to get to the lighthouse at the Cape. Although there was an actual path laid out and a road that could've taken you there, we decided to go for the adventurous and more exciting route. Unfortunately the weather was less than pleasant; it was cold, windy, and rainy, which especially didn't benefit me as I've been sick for the last few weeks.

And that's been the last two weeks. Although I had a great time at my home stay, it's nice to be back at Wellwood where I'll hopefully be able to sleep more and kick this sickness to the curb!

Two weeks from today our program officially ends and the majority of our group will fly home to the United States. Around 15 of us are staying late, however, and will be doing who knows what during that extra time. Me and one other guy are staying (in Cape Town) the latest, four days after most of everyone that's left will leave. We're still not sure what we'll be doing, but I guess that's the fun part of it all. I'm sure it'll all work out somehow; now, if I can just get over this sickness, that'd make everything much better.

Two weeks left of the program. Four weeks left in Africa.

Let's go!

Goodbye, Maritzburg... hello, Cape Town!

From the last two email updates I sent out. Enjoy! :)

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Sanibonani!

I hope you all are having a great Easter weekend, and a great Easter, too!

It's crazy how fast time is flying by. As of today, we have less than a week left in Pietermaritzburg before we leave our campus for good and travel to other parts of the country. This Saturday we'll leave, taking a week or so to get to Cape Town. That week includes bungee-jumping (next Monday!), sight-seeing, and much more--can't wait!

Last weekend wasn't too exciting, so I won't bore you with the details. I basically spent the entire weekend "relaxing" and working on my term paper for our Community Engagement class (and by "working" I mean putting it off, of course).

We had class on Monday again for the entire day. We spent a little bit of time reflecting on our service sites but mostly talked about the processes that go along with community engagement. Tuesday through Thursday were days spent at service sites. My group was at the creche (preschool) on Tuesday and Thursday, which was much less exhausting than it was the first time we were there. A third of the kids were gone on Tuesday (only 22 or so out of 35 were there) and only 14 of them were there on Thursday due to it being the holiday weekend. Good Friday is a national holiday here in South Africa and a lot of places close down for the occasion. On Wednesday my team did manual labor, though the guy in charge of it wasn't there so we had a hard time not having any explicit directions. We ended up plowing some and pulling weeds, which was fun. We really enjoy doing manual labor! (Not kidding, we really do.)

Friday was an incredible day. We had chapel in the morning, when select students shared about Christ's seven last sayings on the cross. After that our director began the first half of his Revelation seminar (which is tradition for the South Africa semester) but had to cancel the latter half because his wife was in the hospital (she's okay though, nothing too major). After tea time a good number of us walked a couple miles to Flavour Café for coffee and to relax. It's a really nice café with has a nice garden area and a little hole-in-the-wall shop attached to it (like what you'd find in rural areas). We made it back for lunch, after which we had a giant slip 'n slide on the lawn; it was probably the most fun thing we've done as a community so far. After slipping and sliding for a while things got a little crazy and turned into a mud fight, which was also really fun! To wash off we all went down to the waterfall right by our campus, which felt refreshing. We didn't do a whole lot for the rest of the day until after dinner when we watched "The Passion of the Christ". I'd just watched it a few weeks ago, which almost made me decide not to watch it again (I feel you can't watch it too much too soon; it takes quite the spiritual and emotional toll on you); I did though and I'm glad I did.

Yesterday we went back to Victoria's Street Market in downtown Durban. I got some pretty sweet stuff, but for the sake of surprises I won't say what I got since people on this email list could be receiving something. ;) After the market we spent a couple hours at the beach, which was a lot cooler than it had been the first time we went. It was nice to be in the Indian Ocean again for what might be the last time for a while (we might be at the Atlantic when we get to the beach next, i.e. during travel week). 15 of us left early to go to a farmhouse which belongs to some of the guys from the home group a lot of us go to. We had a brie (BBQ), hung out, and played some fun games; it was another good time to relax and enjoy each other's company, especially since we won't be seeing the home group people after this week (since we're leaving Maritzburg).

Today is Easter and not a lot is planned. A bunch of people went to an orphanage but I didn't go since I've been getting over sickness and have a lot to do today. I'll be going to church tonight though, which'll be good. What was cool about today though was that 21 of us hiked to the top of the game reserve (right next to our campus) to watch the sunrise, read the resurrection account, and worship. Waking up early was definitely worth it.

This week we've got our last three days of service sites, Tuesday through Thursday. Thursday's going to be an emotional day; we can only hope that we make an impact on the community and the people we're engaging with, but the truth is that they have an even bigger impact on us. It's going to be tough to leave them. I've heard tomorrow's a community day, probably pertaining to our class. I'm not sure what's in store but it'll be fun, whatever it is! Friday should be a relaxing day as we'll be packing up and getting ready to leave Maritzburg.

As far as prayer requests go:
- Pray for spiritual and emotional strength as we enter our last few days of service sites and leave our campus for good this week
- Pray for continual good health (everyone's pretty much over being sick)
- Pray for unity
- Pray for smooth preparations for what's to come and an easy transition into it

Thanks again for your continual prayer and support--you're a blessing!

Happy Easter! He is risen!

Sala kahle, (Stay well,)

Gary

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Friday, April 5, 2013

Sanibonani!

It's the last time I will greet you in Zulu as we are leaving Pietermaritzburg, the province of KwaZulu-Natal, and the eastern side of South Africa tomorrow morning. This time, it's for good. We finished our Community Engagement class this morning, during which we had our final presentations about our service sites. The video for my own service site, RivLife, should be on Facebook (or somewhere online) at some point. Keep an eye out for it!

Last Saturday we went to Durban, enjoying the market and Indian Ocean for the last time. It was a great final weekend in Pietermaritzburg, full of bries (BBQs) and fellowship.

Monday was a community day, which ended up meaning that we hung out all day. Some of us played volleyball, others relaxed, and we pretty much hung around campus all day. It was great to relax before things get crazy.

Tuesday through Thursday were our last three days at service sites. On Tuesday half of us went to the HIV support group again while the other half ran a holiday club (a kid's day camp sort of thing) at the creche. At the HIV support group we sang, danced, played games, and hung out with the kids there. I made sure to take in every moment as it was going to be one of my last times there. At the end of the day we all came together and began our legacy project: building a toy chest that would soon be filled with new toys for the kids at the creche and drop-in center. We went to the store, bought everything we needed, and took a long time building the chest (we were limited on materials and didn't have the right tools we needed so we didn't get much done that day).

Wednesday we all went to Nomvula's, the woman who runs the creche out of her home and feeds those in her community. There is also a gogo (older women) support group that occurs there. She made us Zulu bread and fat cooks (fried balls of Zulu bread) again, which were delicious! We spent a lot of the time hanging out with the kids there, talking with the gogos, and singing and dancing (as usual!). At one point I tried doing the Zulu dance but fell on my butt in the process, so that end pretty quickly. Haha. We spent the end of Wednesday working on our toy chest some more, though again it took a while, despite the extra tools we'd acquired. Screws were breaking, unnecessary wood panels wouldn't come off, and a lot of us couldn't do much since we were limited on supplies.

On Thursday morning we finished our toy chest, painting it and adding the final decorations. We also used the paint (wall paint, might I add) to paint the chest with our handprints. The downside to this was that the paint was near impossible to wash off and ended up staining our skin. Woops! I was genius enough to put it on my face like a warrior, only for it to start burning and me quickly realizing that that was a terrible idea. Note to self: don't put wall paint on your body! We spent the rest of the morning back at the HIV support group, doing the same things we'd done on Tuesday. This time though we had some of APU's board and staff with us (including our very own President Jon Wallace!), which made it all the more fun. We got to share with the women from the support group and vice-versa, thanking each other for touching each other's lives and making an impact on each other. It was an incredible time to share and I am so grateful we got to spend the time with them that we had gotten to. The rest of the day entailed hanging out with the older kids at the creche who were out of school; the preschoolers weren't around all week as they were on holiday and the creche was closed for the time being. This was sad for all of us as we didn't get to say goodbye to the preschoolers we had grown so close to! We did however get to present our toy chest to the kids whowere there; it was a mad frenzy as they trampled each other to get the toys we'd brought them. Every inch of pavement was covered in chalk, water fights broke out, and one of the balls we had gotten them popped. Overall it was a great last day and I am extremely grateful for the time I got to spend serving at RivLife.

Today and tonight we'll be packing up, cleaning up, saying goodbye to some of our church friends who are stopping by, and enjoying this community for one last time. I can't believe we're leaving Maritzburg already! This place has become our home and I know most if not all of us don't want to leave. But, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. I thank God we get the good times though!

I'm not sure how internet availability is going to work over this last month or so of my time in South Africa, but I should have access. I may not update you as frequently but I'll do what I can! Travel week over the next week includes beaches, hotels, bungee-jumping, interacting with African animals, and much more! Can't wait!

So, for the last time in Pietermaritzburg...

Sala kahle!

Sincerely,

Gary

Me with a kid at the HIV support group