All we can do is keep breathing...and seeing patients, A LOT of patients :/!

Wow, work has been CRAZY! Tomorrow marks my last 2 months of community service, which is quite an unbelievable thought... time is such an odd thing, at times it seems to go so slowly (like when you are waiting in the "Customer Service" line at Game), at other times is goes so quickly you barely have time to take it all in (like the perfect ultimate frisbee game on a warm, still day) - if you ask me, I don't think time is constant, it's relative to the situation :) Hehe, anyway, ok, so here goes a quick summary of the last few weeks:

HIGHLIGHT!!! My family came to Hole in the Wall for a week! And when I say "My Family", I mean "MY FAMILY"! My dad, mom, brothers, Linds, and my 2 grans... And can I just say that it was possibly the best family holiday I can remember! Granted, I was working, but I enjoyed the evenings with them so much. I am blown away by my family and feel so blessed (see, using a "charasmatic" word like that just proves it)... I love my family a lot. It was so nice to sit outside and sing along to Dean playing guitar, with Byron and my dad braaing, my grans sitting chatting and drinking wine,and the humorous imprompto 30 Second games which seemed to go on in between everything! I think I hope I will remember that holiday for a while to come - thanks family for visiting me; for the bike rides,good chats, loud laughs, great dinners and much appreciated quality time.


Liz, Sion and Laura came for the last night... So it was my grans hanging out with the "young-ins"

Me, Liz, and Sion went to East London for a weekend. Of course, we went straight to the movies! Linds met us there and the first evening was so cold and rainy... we stayed in a tiny little backpackers chalet, hehe, is was a fun experience! The next day however, me and Linds decided to find something a bit sturdier, so we stayed in a very cosy bed and breakfast, and had some great chats, and as usual, lots of fun exploring :)

Actually, I've had 2 weekends in East London since I last blogged... Last weekend I drove to East London and Linds met me there again for some good Bud-Time. It was a quality weekend! We stayed in Gonubie, and although it rained the entire weekend we still got some good exploring in! We walked around the town, getting lost a bit, walking through peoples yards to find the road, and after about 3 hours popping out a block away from our accomodation, haha fun times! We also went driving around the farm land, and it was beautiful... Gonubie really is an incredible little town. I could very easily settle down along the outskirts I think - anyone interested in being a housemate? Of course, Hippotherapy would be a part of it though so you had better be prepared to earn your keep :) So, it was fun... We also saw a movie, got to stay with Britni for an evening (which is always great), etc. It was a really good, relaxing weekend.


Beautiful Gonubie farm roads :)


We found the Gonubie BOARDWALK! Not quite like PE's, but hy...


Making supper, stirfry, and the next night home-made pizza... goooooood food!


So in between all of that, work has been INSANE! For both the doctors and the Therapists. Marlie and Megan had a car accident, they weren't hurt too badly but both took some leave for a bit after that (it's hard to work as therapists with a broken finger and whiplash). Laura has also been away, so for a week and a bit me and Karen were the only Physios, and WOW, it was hard work! It also happened to be a Clinic week and we had an annual outreach day in there on top of that... let's just say we definately earned our pay in October, and probably for the rest of the year! But, as you know, we also party hard, so amongst all the hard work, we have had a good time braaing and all that :)


Me and Jess stayed in the Pirottes house while they were away, and, ummm... made playdough people. Meet our sad little grandpa.

Hmmm, that's about it. Oh, in other exciting news, our road is looking great! We have signs to the hospital and other numerous near-by holiday destinations (very official looking), with lines on the road and everything! The Coffee Bay road is still under construction, but some of it is now pothole-free, for which we are greatful. Also, me and Asanda are staying in the Le Rouxs house for a week and a bit because they are away, so it's really nice to have my own bathroom and kitchen, and sitting area! Moving is always a mission, but definately worth it :)

So, that's about it. Actually, i'm sure it's not, but that's unfortunately all my limited memory can recall.


A typical Sunday afternoon at the Lamberts :)


The Coffee Bay road... note how many cars you can fit along-side eachother on one lane of pot-holed road - approximately 1 million.


Memo to me, do NOT leave my car outside the hospital property overnight.

To my Christian friends:
As this year comes to an end, I need to make some very serious decisions about next year. The plan is still to go to the USA in June, which means that I need a job for the first half of the year (which is a tough ask of potential employees). Zithulele is currently trying to open up more Physio posts - there are no free ones for next year, and I am in the process of being interviewed for a job in PE... There are a few other options, but I am not sure where God wants me to be. Please pray that He continues to open and close doors as he sees fit, and that I open my eyes to see these doors and take the opportunities He gives me.

Life is GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!

God has been incredible, I feel like this year is continuing to fly by and I can barely keep up, but the last few months since I have blogged have been great :)A lot has happened, as usual, and I have barely had time to sit down and take it all in, let alone Blog! There have been many highlights, and of course some lowlights as well, and through it all God has continued to grow me as a therapist and a Christian. I think there are a few lessons I have learnt over the last bit: 1) It's worth really getting to know your collegues - especially if you are living within 100m of eachother 2) Never turn down an opportunity to get out of the Nurses Res (my 1 room palace) 3) When the opportunity arises to do something out of the ordinary at work, do it!

So, of course we have had our usual braais and cell group evenings, DVD nights and random dinner dates. We actually had a very entertaining braai at the Le Rouxs, which ended up being a house party with all of us eventually "Walking like a Egyptian" around the kitchen table before we all went off to bed and exchanged embarrassed looks the next morning at work! We have also had some great rugby and braai evenings - complete with locally bought lobster and chilled guitar vibes by moonlight (Bernard and Marlie make a great 2 person band).


The kitchen party crew - Liz, Jess, Kayleigh, Karl


We have the kewlest dance moves this part of the Transkei :)


Christening our newly bought "communal" DVD player - Ian (pharmacist), Jess (OT), Liz (Doctor), Gillian (Scottish Volunteer), Katie (Irish volunteer), Kate (project OT), Lisa (OT), Angela (Mthatha Doctor), Laura (volunteer PT)



I also took some leave at the beginning of August which was great as usual :) Linds met me and we drove down to East London to stay with Britni - a friend of ours who is doing her Internship there... she took us to a beautiful little spot called Lavender Blue for breakfast. It was so nice - it had a farmers market type of atmosphere! We then drove to PE, and I spent a week or so at home. It was my Birthday so it was good to spend it with my family. Me and Linds made a "Pink Hut" Birthday Cake - it was so kewl! Clearly I don't ever get enough of seeing those little houses spotting the hills surrounding me...


Us at Lavender Blue- we were excited about the cake!


Britni, Linds and Me


The most amazing birthday cake in the history of the WORLD!





It was Karen's Birthday at the end of August, so Rog organised for us to go to Hole in the Wall for a weekend, so off we went - about 12 of us; either walking, driving or cycling, to suprise an unsuspecting Karen! It was really an amazing weekend... Me and Laura (a physio who is volunteering for 3 months) rode there - it is a perfect ride, hilly but rideable (which is a novelty here). A whoe bunch walked along the coast, and a few drove so we would have cars to get back in! That evening Jack (Kate's canine companion and the resident Plaza guard dog) tried to eat a sheep, successfully breaking it's neck and thereby providing us with meet for a potjie the next day :) After getting there, we braaied and spent the evening laughing and enjoying eachothers company. We woke up early the next morning for a beach frisbee game, and then we spent the rest of the day lounging around in the sun, exploring, or doing pilates! We watched an exciting game of rugby, then ate the sheep - and it was goooooooood, thanks Jack! Apologies to the poor owner of the sheep - he did get reimbursed for the damage and trauma caused though. The next morning me and some friends woke up and sat on the hill to watch a beautiful sunrise, complete with dolphins and whales playing in the waves. After a lazy afternoon me, Laura, Karen and Lisa rode back to the Hospital, with the rest of the guys driving past hooting or stopping to chat before leaving us in their exhaust dust! All in all a great weekend... Good conversation, good memories, good food - The best weekend yet this year!


Karen, Emma and Gracie taking a ride on Anna


Jess, Sion, Liz and Kate chilling out, catching a tan


Sion, Me, Liz, Jess and Kate watching the sunrise... Laura is behind the camera :)


Karen with her Birthday Cupcakes - she is unscrabbling the conundrum "DRINK THY PAPAYA HERB" - HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAREN


Fun on the beach - the waves were HUGE, we nearly died!


Karl marking out our Ultimate Frisbee court :)


A hard ride back...


Since then me and Laura have gone on some great runs and rides :) On the note of exercise, I am proud to announce that our Wednesday running club has expanded! It is now 5 people strong, sometimes 6, and it's so nice to start off the middle of the week with a bang! On another exercise note, earlier this month I sort of impulsively decided to run White Clay - a 21km race over the hills around this area... it's VERY hilly, but it was so much fun! I was so lucky to have Lisa, Megan, Marlie, Shannon and Jess driving along encouraging me at every possible opportunity! They made a huge sign saying "Go JT" and stuck it on the back of their car, so by the end of the race I was pretty famous! Haha :)

I have been learning so much work-wise this past month. Despite the strike looming again and again Zithulele has continued to function (although somewhat stretched). This week I went to Mqhele Clinic. It's about 45-60 min away and is serviced by the therapy department in a neighbouring hospital, Madwaleni. They only have one physio though, so she is incredibly stretched, so I went to her clinic instead to help off-load her a bit, and it was great - it was refreshing to work with different therapists (even though I really enjoy my collegues)and see different patients! I have also gone on some fun home visits and outings, including one today. I drove a huge 4x4 bakkie over what can only be described as multiple goat paths :) It was fun, yip.

So, in summary, as I am sitting at the table in someone elses house, with Jess skyping in the room next door (we are house-sitting for Bernard and Sarah), and people constantly popping in and out to say HI or borrow margarine, I have realised again that despite the challenges and sometimes loneliness, I am continuing to learn a lot, laugh a lot, and grow a lot... I feel so lucky to be here at this time... GOD IS SOOOOOO GOOD!

To my Christian buddies: God has blessed me. He has provided me with amazing friendships and opportunities to speak with and learn from people. Cell group is so big now that it has split into 2, and it's been great! Laura and I have been forming a close friendship, we are trying to meet once a week during lunch time to have "Bible time" together. Asanda has also gotten a group of young singles who work at ARV Clinic together (4 or so) who are interested in doing bible studies, so we have started a bible talk on Tuesdays during lunch times... God continues to show me that He cares about Zithuele a whole lot, please keep this incredible hospital in your prayers!

June and all the adventures that went along with it!

This entry is dedicated to my OT friend Lisa - your sarcasm towards my previous "blog entry" has been my inspiration to write this PROPER one!

So, i'm sitting on my bed with an empty coffee cup next to me, listening to the Parlotones... I'm supposed to be at work today, but my Sinuses have been quite blocked up lately and after 5 consecutive days of headaches under my belt, I decided it was time to take some time off to recover. Although, I had organised a wheelchair basketball practise for today, so I ran that for about an hour or so earlier, and after many collisions and falls, bloodspills and near foot amputations, I am back in my room, thinking in hindsight that perhaps I need to invest in a Medical Aid Kit for my players!



It has been quite some time since I last blogged, although this is becoming my usual trend. It's funny, when I first got here nearly 7 months ago I thought I would have ample time to blog... In fact, I thought I would have too much time on my hands! I now see that I was wrong, very wrong. It's amazing how busy you can be out in the bush! There are so many movie nights, suppers, frisbee games and bible meetings to attend, I feel like I need an 8th day of the week to recover. No, actually, it is perfect :) As I reflect back on this year, I actually can't think of a better community service placement for me... Admittedly, I have days when I crave the comforts of a city - going to watch a movie at the cinema, walking to Spar to buy a desperately-needed chocolate, driving to the gym for a easy work-out, going for a relaxing stroll down the road without being looked at strangely or attacked by rabit canines! But all in all, sitting on the steps this morning I was reminded again that it is SO worth it... To look over the beautiful hills, to see the people working their land, to hear the birds singing, the sheep "bleh"ing (Ummm, if that's what sheep do), to hear the constant hum of the construction vehicles uprooting the old road and replacing it with a new tar road and the promise of something better... To see the blue-roofed schools, the newly thatched huts and to watch as life continues here, I have realised time and time again what a priveledge it is to work in the Transkei, to be allowed into these peoples lives and onto this land.



Anyway, enough of that! It has been a busy last 2 months, there have been some soaring highs and terrible lows... But I'll just touch on a few highs for today :)

BROOKE AND LINDS CAME TO VISIT
A friend from the States, Brooke, came across to SA for the World Cup. She has come to SA a few times before, including about 6 months in Cape Town to study. She and Linds know eachother from Cape Town, so they came to visit and we had a great time hiking to Coffee Bay! It seems like that's my favourite pass-time when friends visit :) It was great to be out on the hills again! We stayed at a backpackers in Coffee Bay, Coffee Shack, and then headed off to Durban the next morning.



We braved the water to get across the path at high tide :)


Me, Linds and Brooke hiking through the little forest just after Hole in the Wall


Me, Linds and Brooke somewhere between Zithulele and Coffee Bay!

On the way to Durban we saw snow!!! It was amazing, so cold outside. At one stage the temperature gauge read 0.5 degrees! At that point, I rolled down my window and drove with my arm stuck out, I love the icy bite of really cold weather, it makes everything seem so fresh and alive!


SNOOOOOOOOOOW!


Our putt-putt team: Panda, Carrot Top, Pun Intended and Myself; Bushwacked.

BROOKE, LINDS AND I IN DURBAN
Me and Linds have a habit of not planning trips very well. We headed off to Durban not knowing where we were going to stay, or how long we were going to stay for, and not having World Cup ticket but convinced that we were going to attend a game! So, to cut a long story short... God is good. We stayed with a great single from our Durban Church, and then with a family Brooke is friends with and whom we had just met. AND we ended up watching a game live - Spain versus Switzerland!

The Durban Stadium

It was a real adventure... spending a day waiting in the ticket line, paying an arm and a leg, each, making new friends, wandering around the beachfront amongst the stampede of tourists. By the time we got to the game I was so tired and, possibly suffering from heatstroke, ended up not paying all that much attention during the game, but it was a great experience! That, coupled with driving around searching for laundromats, walking around Shaka Marina not sure if or where we were supposed to pay, being homeless for the last night (until some Saints took us in), playing extreme indoor golf, and strolling on the beach... it was a great trip :)


Me and Linds in our BOX SEATS at the game, Spain vs Switzerland


Durban World Cup fever baby!


I got to drive in a kewl sand car! There were some amazing sand sculptures on the beach - including stadiums, the big 5 and to Lindsays excitement, a horse!

NEARLY EATEN BY A TARANTULA
Again, God is so good. I wasn't eaten... but i could have been! Here's how it went down: I was in bed, lights off, drifting to sleep when I turned over and noticed a big dark shadow on my ceiling. I thought to myself "Gee, I don't remember seeing that big moth on my roof". I got up, turned on my life, and froze in terror. Now, those of you who know me, know that I'm not a fan of spiders, in fact, it's safe to say that I have a bit of a phobia. Luckily, I had Jess. I went and knocked on her door, yes, at 10pm (which is well past Zithulele-midnight), and she came to help me remove the 8-legged murderer. When she saw it, she was quite stressed out too. So there we were, the 2 comm serve Jesses, staring at this hairy tresspasser in horror, wondering how we could make it dissappear. Here's a hint... hitting the roof next to it, throwing a tennis ball at it, shouting at it, turning of the light and trying lead it out with a line of torch-light, and blowing a fan directly onto it DO NOT WORK! But, in a moment of ingenius and once our laughing had subsided enough, we built a spider catcher using a broom stick, plastic container and knife. Jess trapped the spider, and dragged in along the ceiling towards the door, she was a real trooper. Unfortunately we hadn't figured out how we were actually going to get it out the door yet. So we took turns shakily holding the trap to the ceiling with Maximus (an appropriate name I feel like)crawling around inside the container frantically. After what felt like an eternity and me telling Jess that my arms were getting really sore, Jess bravely lowered the trap and rushed outside into the corridor, both of us hoping that Maximus would stay calm and in the bowl like a good spider. He did.


Jess, using her impecable dexterity and courage to trap Maximus

At that point we didn't know what type of spider he was, I just knew that he definately looked poisonous and I didn't want him coming back into my room! I apologise to all the spider-lovers out there, but we decided to, like Hitler, take the safe and cowardly way forward... we gassed Maximus. He died. The next day we found out that he was in fact a Baboon Spider, and not the poisonous one - only the small Baboon Spider is poisonous - but I don't have any regrets! And so, that is the story of my very terrifying encounter with The Arachnid... I have come a long way since running away from little pinky-nail sized jumping spiders in Cape Town.

Maximus.

To my Christian Buddies
God has been fruitful at Zithulele! A friend from the hospital, Asanda, got baptised this weekend :) She is a great girl, she has such a pure and child-like heart, and she is reaching out to her collegues in amazing ways... We have started studying with another guy here, and are hoping to start a bible talk during lunch time with at least 2 other girls here. There are so many open hearts, please pray that God continues to use Asanda as he is doing, and that he continues to grow and strengthen me, giving me wisdom in approaching people. And that He continues to expand his Kingdom out here!


A friendly reminder :)

Hmmm, I know you are all waiting expectantly in your millions for my next blog entry... To hear about my near death experience with a Tarantula and my World Cup Fever! I just wanted to let you know that I AM PLANNING on blogging by the end of this week, I'm sorry, I must make it more of a priority I know, but so long, please be patient with me :) Have a great week further!

Coastal Adventures!

This blog is dedicated to my friend Kayleigh, who for the past 2 weeks has given me many dissaproving looks and muttered under her breath "Still nothing happening on the Blog front, Jess".. guilt has won over!



So it's been an exciting past few weeks :) Since I last blogged I have managed to swing a trip to East London and home (AGAIN) for a long weekend... That was really fun! Linds, Ken and I managed to meet with the Traditional Leaders of the East London area about working with them in the future, which was a great networking opportunity and experience. A friend from here, Asanda, came with to PE, and we went to a movie - which she has never done before. It's crazy how much us "city bred" kids take for granted. We watched Alice in Wonderland... it was such a fun movie to see with her - all colourful and exciting! Since then we have regularly and publically been calling eachother "fat boy" and "Queeny" :)

Last week a whole group of us from the hospital went to Coffee Bay for pizza at the local restuarant - Papazelas... we were a huge group! Well, about 17, which is big considering, hehe. The pizza was good and the company was great... I travelled with Shannon, Mhla, Asanda and Kayleigh, and we had a good time in the car taking pictures and singing (this is why I don't need alcohol), it was fun! The pizza evening sort of served as a "farewell" party for 2 British Students who had come down for 4 weeks to do their medical electives - Sarabi and Priya. We seem to have a quick turn-over of visiting staff here. In 2 weeks Megan and Joff (the doctor / physio couple who arrived a few weeks after me) will be leaving. But we should soon be joined by another couple and more students! Oh, speaking of work, we have a new pharmacist, which is really great for the Hospital, considering we haven't had one for about 3 months. And more great news... We have our Mobile Clinic back! So the therapy department is back doing clinic outreach - I went to Mapuzi Clinic to treat patients just yesterday in fact :)


Kayleigh, Asanda and I in the car to Papazelas... before I started feeling car sick!


Some of the staff at the pizza evening... Priya, Me, Bernard (Dr), Sarah, Jess S (OT), Shannon (OT), Megan (OT).

This past weekend was really great! Linds, Byron, Kuda and Nyasha decided to come visit my side of the world for the weekend seeing as Nyasha is heading off to Brazil. It was a long drive to come for the weekend (from PE), so I was very grateful. Jean and Don very generously let is use their holiday house, which is about 2 hours from my hospital and in a game reserve called Dwesa. What a great time we had! Getting there was quite eventful... wrong turns and poor cellphone reception make for a poor combo. We eventually got there on Friday after dark, and found that we couldn't start the generator, so we were without light or running water that evening. A lady who works there, Elsie, was incredibly helpful and showed us where everything was and prepared our beds etc :) Saturday was cold and rainy but it was great weather to just relax. We sat on the veranda, chatted, read, and just generally relaxed. Me and Linds went exploring for a bit too, which is always fun! The Lamberts have a beautiful spot on the coast. That evening us girls made a very nice candle-light dinner for us and the boys (and ate some very good home made bread thanks to Elsie), and just relaxed more otherwise. By this time we had both water and electricity, but the water was cold, so we still elected to boil water and bath out of a big bucket! Sunday morning me, Linds and Nyash woke up early to watch a beautiful sunrise, and after more relaxing we headed back to the hospital for a braai! On the way back my car got a flat tyre - it only took me 4 months hehe! The boys did a great job changing it, and then we were off again! As we were driving I realised again what a beautiful part of the country I live in and how lucky I am... God is so good.


Just chilling on the veranda, watching the kids play, the cows walk past and listening to the waves.


Linds feeling right at home with her beefy companions... on the beach!?


Our lovely little dinner - mood lighting was ruined by a very strong flash.


We watched a beautiful sunrise over a very powerful sea!

Anyway, so that has been the past month in a nutshell; minus the Ultimate Frisbee mishaps, Scottish dancing evening, home visit wanderings and Body school laughs :)


It was a hard day at the Mapuzi clinic. Must... have... food...

On a quick side note, I have been sick for the past week or so - I have a painful tooth infection and irritating sinus infection - please pray that I am back on top of my game soon! Have a great week... make footprints that matter!

Wow, it's 13 April 2010 ALREADY! I'm nearly 1/3 of the way through my Community Service year... it is definately time to blog again! Well, there is no way I'm going to be able to tell all of you about the past 6 weeks, so instead I will mention a few of the high-lights, low-lights, and lessons learnt:

THURSDAY 18 March my brother and Lindsay arrived at Zithulele. We stayed at what is called a "Home Stay" (basically a rural B&B) and headed off to hole-in-the-wall and then Margate with Nomfundo and Asanda (my friend here at the hospital studying the Bible)the next day. That weekend we had a singles retreat near Durban with the Durban, PE, Mthatha and Joburg Church of Christ singles, it was so great to see old friends, make some new friends, and enjoy a weekend of good lessons, good fellowship and good competition :) The theme was "3 G - Good to Great with God" and the speakers' really just encouraged us to get to know God and spend time with Him. We had some good time of sharing as well, and it was so nice to hear that we often all struggle with the same things and are therefore not alone in our desire to seek improvement in our relationships with God, so it's was great to brain-storm and offer advice to one another.

So the next week 15 - 19 March I was back at work. I had leave planned for the following week so Lindsay stayed with me. It was SO GREAT to have her here! It's really nice to be able to show those you care about back home what life here is like... Linds played Ultimate Frisbee (and got a super nice gaping wound below her knee to prove it), run the hills of my home-turf (and her Asthma nearly killed her - haha, sorry bud), see beautiful Lubanzi beach (and walk along it and play on the rocks with me) and meet all the people I keep speaking about!


Lindsays KILLER wound, hardcore!

The REAL HIGHLIGHT of that week was the weekend though. After work on Friday me and Linds packed our backpacks, including a few snacks, about R400 and a few changes of clothes and headed off towards the sea, veering left (those were all the directions we needed, apparently)! The plan was to hike to Hole-in-the-Wall and then Coffee Bay, stay over, and hike back the next day. Wow, it was truly a beautiful walk! It also turned out to be extremely eventful... we hiked to Hole-in-the-Wall without any problems (besides the endless array of young up-and-coming entrepreneur kids who fancied themselves tour guides - although they were EXTREMELY helpful, we just couldn't pay them), had a very fun swim in a beautiful gully - it seemed so far removed from civilization we could have skinny dipped for sure! (but we didn't, don't freak out). Anyway, then we got to the Hole-in-the-Wall Hotel around 5:30pm, with an hour of daylight to spare, and thinking Coffee Bay and our already-booked accomodation was just over the hill! I was wrong. Very wrong infact. It turns out that Coffee Bay is a further 3 hour walk. Wow, oops. So, long story, but basically we ended up staying at the Hole-in-the-Wall backpackers which cost R240, eating supper which cost R140 (we did a huge amount of Maths that night to make sure we had enough money to survive the next day), eating breakfast which cost R4 (toast :D), and then headed off to Coffee Bay along a beautiful, serene and untouched coastline. Once there, we dipped our feet into the Coffee Bay beach water, turned around, bought Bar Ones and water for lunch, and headed back to the hospital, with 4 hours of daylight, R12 and an adopted dog, who we lovingly named Finn. It was an incredibly fun adventure, I cannot describe the freedom we felt, hiking up and down those incredibly steep but amazing rolling hills, with nothing but untouched beauty surrounding us and the bags on our back. We could have walked those hills for days.


Me and our first set of really cute tour-guides, I don't think this bunch asked for any money, just photos :)


Me and Linds, just a downhill away from "Hole-in-the-Wall" beach


The view from a VERY windy hill!


We didn't really know where we were supposed to be going... so we just walked and took pretty photos :)


(see comment above)

That Sunday we headed off to PE to pop by my family for a week-long "suprise visit" - they were suprised all right! That was a great week, I enjoyed it so much! I got to meet some VERY extended family in Jeffreys Bay from my mom's side - the Worsleys are a really good spirited bunch, I like them a lot :) It also happend to be over the Easter weekend, which means... no, not Easter Eggs... it was the Splash Festival at the beachfront. What a great vibe! One evening me, Linds, Byron, and Ibs headed down to the Pier to watch the fireworks display, then wandered around through all the stalls and concerts, went and ate some pizza and gambled our R12 at the Casino left over from me and Linds' hike... We won R10! But then we gambled that away too. Sigh, I should have listened to the signs, "Winners know when to stop." and we could have bought soft serve ice-cream with our winnings, oh well! All-in-all, it was a really amazing week at home with my family and friend... and as a bonus I got to watch a movie, and crank it in Guitar Hero :)


A great time with my family in J-Bay!


Us down at the Pier just after the fireworks


Ibrahim had drunken too much coffee, I apologise.

So this past week I have been back at work. Our usually 7-strong therapy department was down to 2 therapists, me and Shannon, so we had A LOT on our plates! It was great though, I learnt so much and had lots of fun being stretched actually, upon reflection, hehe. I enjoy being busy as it makes a usually-long work day go super fast! Me and Linds went to the Lambert's over the weekend, and it was Linds' Birthday on Friday so we had a great time making and eating cake, watching TV, and chatting to Don and Jean - I am so greatful for their ongoing hospitality! I dropped Linds off at the Bus Stop on Sunday, and headed back to the hospital... sad times.


Linds' Birthday Cake, decorated by... ME! yes, I am now open for business.

So that's been the last 3 weeks in a nut-shell, it has been a time of great fun, companionship, deep conversations, good laughs, hard work, and growth, and I am so looking forward to the chance to have more adventures and meet more people (old and new)!

To my Christian Buddys

1 Peter 5:8-10
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

I have been thinking about this scripture a bit lately... It is interesting that our resistance to Satans' schemes should come from our knowledge that we are not alone, that other disciples are standing firm too - power in numbers! I am so greatful for all of you and the role you play in my life. It's because of you, that I am able to withstand Satans schemes! We are all spread out across the world, but let's remember this... We all serve ONE GOD, through our Faith in Him we are Unified.
Ephesians 4:4-6
There is one body and one Spirit — just as you were called to one hope when you were called — one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

JUST A FEW RANDOM PICS:


A really pretty "driving-in-the-car-so-let's-keep-busy" photo on the way to Mthatha :)

The showers on my floor at the hospital accomodation have been taken over twice this past month by bees who come in by the hundreds and then just die... wierd.

We cleaned and re-arranged our therapy department in March, clearly Jess was working hard in this picture;)