Karkloof Canopy Tours!!

Today was such a fun day! We went zip-lining with Karkloof Canopy Tours! It was about an hour drive from Pietermaritzburg and we split the 53 of us into two groups. The first group left at 6:45 am and the second group left at 9:30 am this morning. I chose the second group for sure! haha...

We all got harnessed up and then we loaded up into the back of this pick-up truck and drove for about 11 minutes on a very bumpy road until we were deep into the forest. Then we all hopped out and hiked up to our first platform. This was a little different from the last time I went zip-lining because we were in charge of our "brakes." That was the only part I was a little nervous about! We all wore super intense, gross smelling, re-used gloves that were a huge necessity for the whole tour. But it was very easy to catch on with after the first time. I believe there were about 4 different platforms that we zip-lined too! It took us a couple of hours to finish the whole coarse.

Our leaders were very nice and funny! Each group had a photographer who was always snapping pictures of us. I must say, however, that many of the pictures were not attractive because our facial expressions were hilarious and looked a little worried or uneasy at times! But it was more of an adrenaline rush than it was scary! It got a few of us talking about how excited and anxious we were for bungee-jumping later in the semester. Zip-lining is just taking baby steps toward our goal of jumping off a bridge and falling 215 meters and a free fall of 9 seconds! So today was some good practice and preparation for that day to come : )
All in all, today was one of my favorite outings that we have done yet! It was fun to laugh and share this whole day with a great group of people and be so adventurous! It was so beautiful all around us... so much green and the view was amazing from how high we were! God blessed us with a wonderful Saturday! P.S. Happy Birthday Mom!!

Fieldtrip to see Drakensburg choir boys and weekend plans!

(Above: Jessica, Becca, me, and Carisa enjoying the show)

On Wednesday afternoon, we all went on a field trip to see the Drakensburg choir boys sing! Haha. It it was such a good concert! It was definitely a cultural experience. They are a very well-known group of young boys that range from about 6-15 years old. It was so adorable! They had the cutest outfits! They wore these nice suits with a white bib around it that frilled out. haha. They have so much talent and sang very beautifully. My favorite song that they sang was, "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson. MJ is definitely a favorite amongst the people of South Africa!

Here is a clip of "Man in the Mirror" :




Today (which is Thursday), was my day off! I love days like this, but the only thing that was not exciting about it was the fact that I had two huge papers to write! But none the less, I was fortunate to have the drive to be productive today. I finished my 12 page Life and Teachings of Jesus paper and got over halfway on my 7-page Intercultural Communication paper! It feels so good! For a portion of the day, some new friends, Bianca, Nicole, and I went to Coffee berry to work on homework. This is a common event that many of us students like to partake in because it is refreshing to get off campus a bit and study elsewhere. Whenever we have the opportunity to get off campus, it is nice because sometimes you get the, "I am stuck in this place" feeling and cannot leave because we can't drive here! Not that we would want to because it would be so dang confusing being on the opposite side of the road! It is so crazy that they drive on the opposite side... just very trippy!

And the cherry on top of my very productive day was that I got my 5 kg package from my mama! Yay! There are so many treats in there that I am excited to eat. It worked out perfect, too, because dinner was absolutely disgusting and so I happily skipped it and went right to my box! : )

Tonight there was a huge thunderstorm and the thunderstorms in Africa are like nothing I have heard before. And I am from the midwest, so I have witnessed some pretty intense storms! The thunder makes it sound like something is shattering!! I always look forward to them here!!

Tomorrow I have class for most of the day and then my Friday night will probably consist of working on my huge Art project that I have not started yet... oopsies. Lame I know... but I have no choice!! But then on Saturday!.... We are Zip-lining (Canopy Tour) and I am so excited! I have gone once before when I was in Jamaica a long time ago, but I am so pumped to go again in Africa!

Alright, ta ta for now everyone! Miss you all and hope you all have a great day!! :]
love, Jamie

Here is a clip of them doing a dance portion of their concert!

Ethembeni: "Places of hope"

Today we found out where each of us will be for service sites! We visited each site once over the past three weeks to see where we felt that God was calling us to serve. There were a limited amount of people that were able to serve at each site so we all picked our top two choices.

I chose Ethembeni, which means,"places of hope," as my first choice and I found out today that it is my service site! I am so excited! It seems that everyone is very happy where they are at, which makes it so great! I just know that God had this all planned out and that we all are meant to be serving at the places we are assigned to. Ethembeni is an HIV/AIDS ministry that has a few different programs within its ministry. One way that the ministry serves the community is by helping to restore and mentor the community by providing help with family care and support for orphans and vulnerable children. The community that we will be serving in has a population of 43,000 and 80% of the population is unemployed, and more than a third of the people are infected with HIV. Saying that last fact is surreal, and it is hard for me to grasp the truth and reality in that statement. I cannot imagine living in a place like this but I am thankful for the opportunity to serve and love on this community.


(Above: I know it is small text, but Howick Community is right above Pietermaritzburg)

Please pray for our group of seven who will be serving at Ethembeni and to prepare our hearts to serve. I pray that we will be able to work as a team and spread the Love of Christ and that we are able to show them a light where there is darkness. I pray for strength, open minds, humility, empathy, and an overflow of love at Ethembeni. Please pray for all 53 students at different service sites, as well, and that God's hand will be working everywhere as we are dispersed throughout this region in South Africa. We will be starting out service sites in about 2 or 2 1/2 weeks!

I found this quote to be very encouraging to serve and love one another:

"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other." -John 15:12-17

This is the website to the ministry at Ethembeni! Check it out, it is very cool: http://www.ethembeni.co.za/

Thanks!! I love you all!! :)
<3 Jamie

Talk about a CRAZZY WEEK!

(Ugly giant monkey above! So thankful these creatures are not lurking around on our campus! The tiny ones we have are a big enough pain! haha)

(Above: Climbing a giant rock during our hike in Drakensburg!!)

Wow so it has been a while since my last entry but that is because I have been SO busy! Goodness gracious we have had loads of schoolwork these past two weeks and it is nearing finals so it has just been intense. Many of us are very stressed out but I have realized that stressing about it won't really solve anything am I right? Yea, I thought so too. So I am surprisingly "chill" in this moment even though I have lots to do! But since I love to procrastinate, I thought i'd write a blog entry. So besides schoolwork, this past week we signed up for our top two choices for service sites! I am getting so excited and no matter where I am placed I am going to go out with a heart ready to serve. So once I find out where I will be, I will let you all know : )

Last Wednesday was Ladies' night at the Keg and Hedgehog Restaurant down the road! It is so fun to go with all the ladies because we get half off all the food! woop woop! So that is a tradition for many of us when Wednesday rolls around. Something quite interesting happened to me and my friends, Tanya and Amberly, the other night. We went on an evening walk after dinner through the game reserve. Now, this was like any other night, except for something very unexpected happened! THE ZEBRAS FREAKING CHASED US! I do not lie when I tell you this. I was about 20 feet in front of Ambo and Tanya and I saw the zebras in the distance.. but I thought nothing of it because we always see them in the reserve and they had never shown any sort of aggressiveness towards us. So as I get about 20 feet from the Zebra, The mama one (I think) looked at me in a really weird way. She seemed very aware that I was standing there and then the other three Zebras joined her in the death stare. Next thing I know, they all start walking towards me. I slowly started walking away... but as I did so, the Zebra pack picked up their pace and now were trotting faster at me. I started running back towards Ambo and Tanya and told them to run. They sort of looked at me like, "Why do we need to run" and I had terror on my face. When they too, saw the Zebras running at us, we all turned and ran so fast down the path! I honestly did not know whether to laugh or be scared for my life.. hahaha! I was in shock and when you are in shock like that, many different emotions come out! The rough thing was, all three of us were so exhausted because we ran up the steepest hills of our lives right before and we had lost a lot of energy. But if we wanted to get out of this situation in one piece, we had to pick up the pace! So I kid you now, we ran for 4 minutes straight, with them stampeding toward us. Finally we ran off onto a side trail hoping to lose them. And we looked behind us and they stopped at the very top of the trailhead and didn't move. We were free! But oh my gosh... It was so crazy you guys! I had never seen that kind of behavior from them. Definitely a crazy highlight of my week looking back on it!



On Saturday we went hiking in Drakensburg to see Cave paintings! It was so much fun. It was super hot and sunny out... so after we loaded up on sun screen and packed our lunch bags, we were on our way! The car ride there was about 2 hours so my friend Becca and I watched the show, "Friends" which I had never watched before and it was quite entertaining. Anyhoo, the hike was pretty easy and all around us was so BREATHTAKING! It actually reminded me a lot of the midwest. There were tons of green everywhere you looked! The clouds looked like fluffy marshmallows (almost fake-looking!) and there was this huge waterfall. The place we went hiking looked a ton like Montana. It made me a little home-sick to be honest, but I loved seeing it in a whole foreign place, too! After taking about a million pictures (no joke) and had thoroughly enjoyed our hike, we headed on home. It was a really fun day and just to be surrounded in all of God's beauty was so humbling.


(The beautiful green hills and fluffy clouds!!)


[Above: Carisa, Angie, and I on our hike posing for a picture!!)


(Above: Some of the cave paintings that were made in the 1800s!!)

It is Sunday today, and I decided to go to a different church this morning. It was definitely the ultimate cultural experience! Our group was definitely the minority...but I didn't even notice because I felt so comfortable with all the people in the congregation. We all were split up amongst the congregation and so I was sitting alone with South Africans I had never met before. They were so nice and welcoming! I pretty much got to know them well because when we worshipped, we all were jumpin up and down together and like bumping into each other. hahaha. It could of been awkward but it totally wasn't! I loved the worship so much and as soon as the first song came on, I almost forgot my surrounding because I was so into just praising the Lord! The whole atmosphere and energy of the place was SURREAL! Everyone was so pumped up and excited to be there and you could tell because they used their bodies to show their excitement in praising the lord. This made it all the more comfortable for me and it made me not even care what I looked like when I worshipped. It was just so "free-ing" in a sense and I loved the service. I am going to return to the same church next week and am already looking forward to it!

Alright, only two more weeks of school! It will fly by I have a feeling, so please pray for all of us with our studies and to kick it in gear these next two weeks. We'll need lots of energy, sleep, and focus to get through. : )

<3Love you all and God bless!!
Jamie Lee

Valentine's Day Weekend!

This weekend was so much fun! So on Saturday we spent the day at the Indian Ocean in downtown Durban. It was a beautiful, hot, and sunny day! We packed lunches and spent the day in the water and eating ice cream. It was so crowded at the beach. I don’t think I have ever seen a more crowded beach in my life. The swimming area was jam-packed as well because they only let us swim in a certain area. Theft is a big issue here so our group of 53 constantly had to be careful with all of our stuff laid across the sand. One person had some money stolen, which was a bummer, but it is definitely a reality check with not being so trusting of everyone.
I didn’t put on much sunscreen because I thought that I had enough of a base tan that I wouldn’t burn… but I was WRONG. I definitely frieddd! Haha (sorry mom). The sun is definitely way more intense here. At least it feels like it compared to California. Anyhoo, it was fun!



On Sunday (Valentines Day), I chose to go to a different church than the first week. I went to an Indian Church and it was awesome. It was in a small air-conditioned building with about 50 of us in the congregation (about 12 of us were from our group). I loved the entire service. Everyone was so welcoming and it was such an amazing feeling to be in this foreign place, while all of us worshipped the same God. It just sort of hit me when I was in there. It was an indescribable feeling to realize that we are all able to come together (complete strangers and different races) and have a common ground of loving God and worshipping Him. At the end of the service, a lot of the teenagers came up and introduced themselves, already inviting us to their youth group and really just reaching out to us. It was so welcoming and I am excited to return to it next Sunday.

Later that day, a few people from our group planned a VERY special Valentine’s dinner and movie night! It was a lovely night and it was fun to get dressed up and take pictures with everyone. I honesty did not think it was going to be as fun as it was but their was a candle-lit dinner with fettuccini Alfredo, salad, and watermelon! So delicious! We turned on some Latin music and many of us danced afterwards. It was just a feel-good night : ) After dinner and dancing, a bunch of us watched the movie, “50 first dates” and ate lots of popcorn. It was definitely the best Valentine’s Day I’ve ever had.

I am a little ancy to finish up these next three weeks of school because I am craving to get out into the community and work at our service sites. But I know I want to soak up every little thing about being here, so I am trying to enjoy all my classes and taking advantage of the information that I am learning. One aspect that I've enjoyed about my classes is that all the stuff we are learning, it relates somehow to the African culture which is so interesting to learn about. I have realized how much I am unaware of in terms of other countries. It makes me sad that I have had no knowledge of what this country has been through before this, but I am glad that I am able to learn now.

The highlight of my Monday so far has been laying out next to the waterfall for a few hours this morning. It was bearable to be in the sun because the waterfall gave off a light mist that cooled off your entire body. I had some great conversations with two awesome people while we sat and enjoyed this spot. I have found that I love having deep conversations. I think there is so much to learn from everyone, and that by sharing and opening up with each other that we are able to encourage and motivate each other that much more. So I thank God for that opportunity this morning to just enjoy laying next to the waterfall and talking with friends. Ok so I lied. I have another highlight of today. I went on a long walk with my friend, Amberly, and had a great opportunity to have another deep conversation with her. She is such a great encourager and really just pumped me up about God! I thank God for those conversations I had today. I hope you all are doing well and that great things are happening in all of your lives!!

A verse that I really enjoyed in church this past sunday:
"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps" -Proverbs 16:9
--> I really found comfort reading this because it is so true for me. I try to plan out the way I want my life to go. I go to college, pick the courses that I want to study in, choose the type of friends I want, etc. But it is God who really determines my journey. It is Him who chooses my path.
<3 Jamie

its the weekend!!! YAY!

I love South Africa! It is crazy how much you learn by being in a whole different and foreign place. I am at the stage where I love Africa for all it has to offer...! I am in awe of the beauty that I am surrounded in every single day.

I just finished my third full week in Africa and I have learned so much about this culture and myself. I knew that this was going to be an experience of a lifetime but I had no idea the turns and twists it would have and how it would transform my outlook on so many things already! I have made close bonds with some great people who are here and I am so excited to see how God will continue growing them.

Today (Friday), was so much fun! For our Art class, we went on a field trip to an Art Gallery! Well, it was interesting for about 25 minutes... not the whole 2 hours that we were there... haha.. There was some really pretty art but also VERY DISTURBING PIECES of art! But all part of the experience, right? Afterwards we went to a coffee shop and enjoyed chocolate cake and other desserts with capuccino's.. It was soo yummy!



It is Friday and I am a happy camper. Tonight, a bunch of us girls did a work out video and it was so much fun to just work out the stressful week! I am double happy right now cause I got to skype with my lovely sister and mama tonight and I love them SO MUCH!

Tomorrow is Beach day and shopping in Durban! I cannot wait! haha ok so this was a really short and random post : ) Hope you all enjoyed it!!

One busy week!

Here are some pictures from the Restaurant/Pub that we went to tonight!! : )

Ok so this week has been a bit overwhelming with a few papers to write... That has been a top priority to accomplish for many of us. While being here, I feel that many of us try to not procrastinate because there are always things happening and going on during the week and on the weekends so when there is an assignment due, I try to start working on it right away to check it off the list of to do's right away. That is very different with the way I went about doing homework back at apu... haha. But I think it is a good habit to get into.

Yesterday, we visited the other two service sites that are an option for many of us to go to for the mission work that we do in a few weeks. I visited one of the sites called, "Walk in the light" ministry, yesterday that really just pulled on my heart. They help out the community in Hanniville, SA, which 60% of the population has HIV/AIDS. All the sites are in great need and I am glad that our group can help while being here. There are a certain amount of spots at each site so we will eventually sign up for where we want to be. Although that particular service site stood out to me, I am praying about where God really wants me to be and where I can be used and molded in whichever way he desires. Please help pray for each individual here and help to not make it about "Where do I want to be serving?" but rather, "Where does God want me to be?"

This morning a few of us went on a run at 6am down the dirt road near our campus. The run down is absolutely lovely (because it is all downhill), but the coming back up of the road is rather difficult and definitely a workout. My goal is to run the entire way down and up by the end of our stay here at African Enterprise ( African Enterprise is the location of our campus). It is definitely going to be a challenge but I am determined to do it!! There are hills everywhere in Africa and it takes a bit of a toll on your joints and especially my knees so I think i'll have to be more mindful stretching.

I really love the chalet I live in here. There are four rooms (2 girls in each room) and I live with the following gals: Kristin, Hillary, Angie, Delaney, Alyssa, and Daniele! It is just a great living environment with everyone. I love the routine that many of us are in... every morning many of us wake up at 6am to either briskly walk or run and it is seriously the best way to start the morning. Also, it is the coolest time of day to exercise. Somedays by 8:30 am it is already scorching hot outside. But many of us continue to wake up every morning to really just take advantage of the our surroundings and being in this amazing place. It is not everyday that you can walk through a game reserve and see Zebra's. monkey's, and antelope.

Today it is about 34 Celsius outside... which is like 95 degrees I believe. It gets really humid and hot here.. It reminds me a lot of summers in Minnesota actually! So it is not a huge weather shock for me, but for some people it is because they have never experienced humidity. Many of us girls have "let ourselves go" in a sense when it comes to styling our hair. There is honestly no point to straighten our hair because the inevitable happens... it always gets big and poofy! lol...

Anyways, today we went to an Art gallery in downtown Pietermaritzburg for our Art class. It was a really fun field trip and the type of art here is very interesting. I found that they use a lot of bright colors here in Africa. Afterwards, we all went to this adorable cafe (reminded me of a cafe in France) and had about two hours to sit and chat in there. One of the girls ordered a Bacon and banana sandwich! Crazy combination right?... but we all tried it and it was very delicious.

Tonight is ladies night at the pub down the street! A bunch of us are going because it is half off for us : ] ... I hear it has really good food and a fun atmosphere so I am excited to go check it out with everyone. I hear they have really good fajitas which I am most likely to get. They pretty much do not have any mexican food here and I am having withdrawals.

Something that I am really getting accustomed to is tea time! We always have muffins/cookies/cinnamon rolls and tea and coffee. It is so delicious... Although, I am trying to limit my intake of muffins and replacing it with granola bars because if you add up all those muffins... it is no bueno if you know what I mean.. ;)

This weekend should be fun and I am really looking forward to it! Saturday we are having a beach day in Durban! That way we can work on some of our tans and it is actually bearable cause we can cool off in the ocean. woop woop. In this heat, it is such a treat to be near water. We also are going to go shopping at vendors where we can get authentic south african merchandise.

Alrighty, I am off to pay attention now as I am sitting in my Intercultural Communication Class! Take care everyone!!
<3 Jamie Lee

A very interesting weekend in Durban!

Alright, so this weekend all 53 of us went to Durban (about a two hour drive from our campus in Pietermaritzburg) for our Intercultural Communications class. Our professor wanted us to experience the Indian community firsthand. That is exactly what we did this weekend.

First let me start off telling you all that this was a very fun, humbling, exhausting, and frustrating weekend all in one. Getting all 53 of us there in 4 vehicles was a mission, let me tell you. We left at 2 pm and arrived at the place where we were staying at 7 pm. Why you may ask? WELL... we probably had the worst luck ever. We ended up having car trouble because one of the vehicles' oil was leaking... so that caused all of us to leave the vehicle in the middle of nowhere and stop and stay at a gas station for about 2 hours. All 53 of us were just chillin on the side of this gas station! So this was just the start of our frustration, even though it was just bad luck...

Then we get to the place that we are staying at around 7 pm that night... ! Went to sleep soon after arriving at our campsite place and then a bunch of us woke up at 4:30 am to watch the sunrise over the Indian ocean. It was SO BEAUTIFUL! It was seriously such a great way to start the day and the smell of the ocean and everything was the most refreshing smell ever. We took a bunch of pictures and just had a blast being in awe of God's amazing creation!! So the whole day we (at least I did) had this idea ingrained in my mind that we were going to be having a full day at the ocean.. Well slowly but surely, events that were planned in the morning started to be pushed farther and farther back time wise. The thing about Africa that I have learned firsthand (especially this weekend) is that time is pretty much irrelevant. They may say "everybody meet at 7:30 am" but we really leave an hour later. So because of no time structure, a lot of our events for the day were constantly being pushed back later and later. But learning to accept this and not be in control of the situation wad frustrating but a learning experience when looking at how this culture works. It is just so different because in our culture, if you are late meeting with someone, that is a sign of disrespect and it is just rude. And for a lot of us, we found ourselves complaining a ton but eventually just having to let it go!





But anyways, that is just letting you in on some of the difficulties we faced for the weekend. But during the day, our Professor took us to a town called Usinkwizo or something like that? lol And we walked through the town and just observed everything around us. It was sort of funny because all 53 of us stood out like a sore thumb. We were pretty much the only white people! Everyone around us were either Indian or Black South Africans. Anyhoo, we walked through the streets (in like 95 degree weather with humidity--so HOT) and it was interesting to just see the types of stores they had and the types of people there. Later we eventually got to go swim in the ocean for a few hours which was definitely a highlight! The water felt like bathwater... so warm. They had a lifeguard that was constantly blowing the whistle telling us to go a certain direction. This beach had a shark net to help lessen the chances of a shark coming in and eating us! So that was encouraging enough for all of us to run and jump in the ocean! hahaha There were tons of people in the water jumping the waves and it was just lovely.



Later that night some young kids/adults came to hang out with us Sat. night from their youth group just for us to mix and learn more about them, and them learn about us. Apparently,many of them said they had never met Americans before and it was fun to ask and respond to questions and answers.. We all shared a meal together and it was fun. The next morning we all split off into different Indian churches to go to and let me tell you that was an experience! The church we went to was the hottest environment I think I have ever been in. The service was held in a old drama room and there were thick carpeted walls and that allowed all the heat to just stay in. It was so stuff so many of us struggled to breath, let alone sweating like maniacs! The thing that was so surprising and encouraging about it all was that the church community would continue showing up every single Sunday, even though the heat was pretty much unbearable. The worship alone lasted an hour and then I believe the sermon was about 40 minutes. Usually, the church service lasted 2.5 to 3 hours!!!! The worship was great though and something that stood out that was so so adorable was to see kids of all ages at the front of the service, dancing and singing there hearts away. Everyone was so on fire about God and I guess I was surprised to see these little children jumping up and down (even in the heat).

After church, some of us went to one of the Pastor's houses where they cooked AMAZING Indian food and opened their home with open arms to us. It was such a great time. I swear they made all of us feel like kings and queens. It just really made me want to go home (after South Africa) and open up my home and cook for complete strangers. It was so inspiring that they can be so nice!

So although the weekend was filled with many frustrations, we really experienced what this culture is like firsthand. I am glad we went, suffered through the heat, were forced to be in uncomfortable situations, and continue making deeper friendships within the 53 of us and our Professor!

So this week is going to be intense with School. There are many papers to write and long days of classes. Please pray for good work ethic this week and encouraging one another to finish these assignments!!

soaking it all in

This place is indescribable. Every day, it gets more and more comfortable in this foreign place. The realization that we are here for the next 3 months has set in and I am more than okay with it. I honestly can say that I am happy to be out of the "honeymoon" stage. It gives me the opportunity to see things from a native's perspective. It has sunk in that there are many different races and cultures here within Africa, yet they are all proud of who they are and where they come from. Being different is embraced here and it is refreshing. You can talk about people and say, "Oh they are black, or she is a colored" and there is nothing wrong with it. I love that.

I have already seen God working. New relationships and bonds have been in the process already and it amazes me how he does it. He has already crossed individuals in my path and I know there is no accident by it happening. Before coming here, I knew I didn't have it "all together." I had left some relationships back home that were great and stronger than ever, and other relationships that were left broken and unsettled in a sense. Leaving in an unbalanced state like that left me more weak than I had ever imagined. I have had the opportunity already since being here, to not dwell in what has been "left behind" but turn my past into something that can make me stronger in my faith and as a woman of God. I am in the process of healing, forgiving, and looking forward to all the new things headed my way. But I just thought I'd share with you all that God has been working already since I've been here. I am really just trying to listen and have him be in full control. Something I have noticed in order to grow within yourself, with others, and with God is that you need to be vulnerable. As scary as that can be, being vulnerable opens up so many doors and opportunities. That is what I have learned already... and it opened up an area of healing for me.

While being here, I have been really been trying to journal a lot. Today, I journaled on top of the waterfall on our campus and really soaked up everything in my surroundings. I soaked up the trees, the cloudy sky, the sun on my face, the bugs that were attacking me and my blanket (haha), and where I was sitting. I was sitting on top of a waterfall! That was surreal to me and I really just am thanking God for the opportunity to be in this beautiful place. I took a video of where I was sitting so I hope you all can watch it!!

School has been very intense since being here. Yesterday I had class from 8am to 8pm. OOfta! That was rough. But I keep just telling myself that we only have 5 weeks of this and then lots of mission work. And my classes are actually very interesting.

Like I said earlier, I feel like a few of us here are starting to stray away from the "honeymoon" stage... at least from the food aspect of it all. haha It is so funny because it gets to the point where we all guess what the type of meat it will be for that day and how many times it will be reused and re-cycled in to future meals. Many of us have become skeptical of the meat after we find out later that what we thought we were eating is not what it really was! So every meal a few of us talk about the food we cannot wait to eat when we get back to the States. My friend, Becca, and I decided already that as soon as we arrive in the LAX airport we are driving straight to an IN n' OUT or a Chipotle! haha : ) I am looking forward to that already.

The chalet that we are staying in is named "Mojalefa" and a bunch of us girls are starting this event that we call, "mojo-time." It is where we all hang out and play games and it is soo fun! Lately, playing the card game, "Egyptian Rat slap" and "Catch-phrase" has been a favorite game of ours to play. We usually play games like that to wind up the night and laugh off our very stressful school days.

This weekend we are headed to an Indian Community in Durban along the Indian Ocean. I am so excited to go and hang out with all the wonderful 53 people that are here and do some african style cooking!! I hope it is sunny weather : ) We will be living and observing their way of life. I am anxious to once again be vulnerable and uncomfortable. (I say that now...haha)

Prayer Requests: Good weather and safety for the weekend, concentration in our studies, making more friendships this weekend!