"Shhhh"

I went to Place of Hope today and had an awesome conversation with a five-year-old. I was outside in the playground and she popped her head up from the tall fence and sat down in a tree just behind it, watching everyone play. She had been playing with us earlier but had had to go home. She called me over and started talking so I climbed up on top of the monkey bars across the tall fence from her tree so we could be on the same level. And we talked for 45 minutes. She asked me "how was today" and I said it was good and that I had fun playing with her. I asked how was today for her and she said it was lekker playing. She told me about her school, and her friends at school, and their names, and what she learns, and asked me what I learn at school. We wrote our names to each other in the air with our fingers, and then we went through the numbers, her copying mine when she wasn't sure how to shape it. Then the wind started blowing and she said it was taking away all the things that we wrote. She asked if I was cold and said she was cold, and asked how many jackets I thought she could wear, then counted on her fingers the amount of jackets she thought might be good. She asked me where the wind came from and I said I didn't know. She said it came from the sky and I said that's right and then she changed her mind and said it came from Shaitan! She said the bad strong winds are from Shaitan, who lives down there (pointing down) and we're tramping on Shaitan when we walk. Then she said that the "shhhh" (which I assume to mean good calming winds) are from Allah, and that Allah can see everything but he doesn't have eyes and he doesn't have a face. And that he lives in the sky, he is the sky, and he is everywhere. And that he doesn't have hands and he doesn't have arms like we do, or legs or feet or shoes. And then her cat (she calls him Kitty or Cat and looked at me like I was insane when I asked what his name was...) walked under the tree and she said that she was going to go now. So we said bye and she hopped down to pick up her kitty. It was great. :)

(not much of) Kruger and (mostly) Thoughts

Hi everyone...

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get this blog up. I know some of you have been waiting. I'm also sorry that it's not going to be what you were expecting. I've been wanting to write about our spring break trip to Kruger National Park and Soweto, but it was such a long trip and so much happened that I've been kind of putting it off. Also, I knew that I would only talk about the good parts, the parts that I think people want to hear about. And in a way, I don't feel right just doing that because it makes this entire experience seem kind of glorified. And it's really not. It's just me living here. I mean, I'm getting to experience all these things that a lot of people who live here don't even get to experience, which I'm so grateful for. I do realize how blessed I am. But really, the best experiences that I'm getting here and the things that I'm learning the most from aren't about spotting a lion or getting a picture with an elephant. It's just about life. It's about living in a country different from the one that I've grown up in, a country that is so wonderfully different in so many ways. It's about interacting with the people here and learning about the culture and the way that they live everyday. It's about making a cup of coffee for the car-washer who lives on the street outside our house and taking his advice when he says to look at the mountain because it's looking beautiful today. It's about experiencing diversity in all shapes and forms, and it's about observing firsthand a country that has been through so much, so recently, and getting to watch it grow stronger in itself every day. It's learning about people, about perseverance and struggle and hope.

So basically, I can't write about our spring break trip like I had wanted to and like a lot of you were expecting me to. I will say that it had some really low parts and some really high parts, and if you're curious to know specifically about any of it or have any questions, feel free to ask me. I'm happy to talk about it, I just don't think I'm going to post it online. The pictures pretty much document all the good stuff that happened (by the way, if you haven't seen the pictures and want to, let me know and I'll email you the link...) and I don't feel like I could explain everything else in just a blog post, nor do I really want to try. So...again, I'm sorry if this disappoints anyone, but I do hope you understand...these are the experiences that it's about for me.