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 :)