where am i?

Drinking coffee as a bedtime snack? At midnight? Probably not the smartest decision I've ever made. I guess caffeine really does affect me after all. Huh. Perhaps it's for the best though, as I am now updating my blog - something I have neglected for some time. Cool beans.

and then there were four

I remember thinking not long ago, "Wow! We only have THIRTY days left in Africa! That is insane!"

... and now, there's only four. Four days. After three very long months that absolutely flew by, that is all that is left.

cape town

Alarm systems, swimming pools, movie theaters, black maidservants, lectures, and sightseeing. These are only some of the many things that are a part of our lives here in Cape Town. Being here is so different from any other part of our trip. For the first time, we are more of traditional students and tourists than we are simple house-guests.

beginning of the end

It's so hard for me to believe that this is the last month. Am I really in Cape Town right now? Wow.

We finished up free travel just a couple of days ago and have reunited as a group once again to embark on our last homestay. I'm really looking forward to meeting my new host family in a couple of days, but am also nervous that there's no way they'll be able to compare to the last two I have had. Cape Town has already proved to be quite incredible; a good number of us decided to venture around downtown today to check out the sights. The african markets are just bustling with life and calls of "Hello! You are welcome; take your time. It is free to look and touch. I will give you a very good price!" I don't even know where to begin when it comes to buying gifts for my friends and family back home. Another fun thing about this area is the variety of restaurants we can go to! I don't think I've ever been so excited for food... after coming out of Lesotho, anything is luxury. Back to Cape Town though - it is simply beautiful here. Our backpacker is situated right at the base of Table Mountain, which towers over the entire city. Also, there's a cute little park not too far away. It's really nice to walk through.

plett

Quick update! Right now we are staying at the Albergo lodge in Plettenberg Bay. Tomorrow is the first day of free travel, which we are all very, very excited about. Say hello to beaches and restaurants! woo hoo!

Also, today I JUMPED OFF A BRIDGE!!! Seriously. I bungee jumped off the highest commercial bungee jumping spot in the world - 216 meters. It was the most surreal experience... I don't even know how to describe it and I can hardly believe I actually did it! And I'm still alive!

What a great day.

lesotho

28 days. Countless experiences... I don't even know where to begin. I think I fell in love with Lesotho from the first moment we arrived. The African beauty that surrounded us was unbelievable – even breathtaking. A vast night sky full of twinkling stars, little yellow flowers that seem to glow in the golden hues of the sunset, billowing clouds that drift carelessly over towering mountains, bolts of lighting that flash in the distance on a stormy day... these are all pictures that will be stuck in my memory forever.

soweto

There is a red gate that separates my house from the outside world. There's nothing special about it; in fact, you may find more just like it if you take the time to walk around my neighborhood. If you go beyond the gate and walk up our short driveway, you will soon find yourself in my "backyard" of cement. A simple 3-room building to your right, a makeshift doghouse in front of you, and a welcoming, half-open door to your left... a door that brings you into my home.

st. benedict's

The dry, thin air, the intense heat of the sun, the foreign birds flying above, the chorus of African voices joined in song... I am in South Afica. It's still weird for me to think about.

Getting here was long and tiresome, but at the same time it was an exciting adventure. Eighteen straight hours is definitely the longest I've ever flown. Intense. What would otherwise be torture was somewhat softened by free on-demand entertainment, decent plane food, and a cheerful crew. Not to mention, I had the most amazing experience watching a lighning storm from above. There are probably no other words to describe this experience for me but absolutely incredible. If you ever get the chance to do this, I say go for it. All the way.

this is it

No time to write an actual blog post, but I just wanted to say WE'RE ON OUR WAY!! Leaving campus in an hour and will be flying out at 5:40pm. 18 hours later, we will be in Johannesburg. Thanks so much for your prayer and support! Right now I am a mixture of excited and scared out of my mind. fun.

Countdown to take-off: 6ish hours!!!

breathe in, breathe out

I don't even want to think about South Africa right now. Every time I look at my belongings strewn across my floor, waiting to be packed, my stomach does a jumpy little dance. Every time I think about the paper I still need to write, my mind twirls around in circles. When I think about loading up my bags and driving away in my car, I get all.... weird-feeling.

Packing can be so emotional.
... or is that just me?

When I pack to go back to school, I start to realize this is one fewer time I will be living at home. Soon I will be out on my own, fending for myself. It kinda scares me. Actually, it scares me a lot. I don't wanna grow up; I wanna be a Toy-R-Us kid! Wait, whaaa...? Oh, sorry about that. Sometimes random things pop into my head and I say them. It happens.

ten

In 10 days, I will be heading down to Harrisonburg, Virginia. Granted, I'm not exactly getting on a plane and leaving for South Africa in only ten days... but still! Ten days. This is it. I have 10 days to pack, 10 days to work, 10 days to tie things up here in Cooperstown. In 10 days it begins.

Is my stomach twisting into knots? Uhhh... YES.

I really need to crack down and focus on packing now. The only problem with that is that I need to squeeze it in between working a full-time job and finishing up my Covenant assignment. By the way, I decided to read "the brick" again. Am I crazy? Probably. I wanted to refresh my mind and gain a better understanding of the material.

46 hours

I'm not sure if there are people in the world who actually enjoy waking up at four in the morning, but I'm certainly not one of them. However, if that's what it takes to catch a train for a weekend vacation in NYC, sign me up!

New York City... what a place. Before I begin I would like you to know that I was planning to take lots of pictures while I was there, buuuut that didn't actually happen. The photo above is one of four pictures I took. All of the same subject. And it's not even that good of a picture. Sigh, it's an unfortunate truth, I know... I have no good excuse. Let's all hope that someday I will learn from my mistakes.

little pieces of sand

I said it was coming, so here it is. I promise, I deliver. Even if it is almost two weeks later.

This summer has been one of spiritual... dryness. Like a dessert. Well, maybe not quite a dessert. How about this: it has been like sand on a beach. There I am, a little piece of sand. Very tiny, seemingly insignificant, and surrounded by ten billion other little pieces of sand. We're all roasting on the beach, getting stepped on, tossed around, stabbed by shovels, and goodness knows what else. It's not so great being a little piece of sand on the beach. Sometimes you get so irked by all the annoying things people are doing to you, you heat up and might actually hurt people who want to spend time with you. Not good.

tit for tat

Deciding to go sans television for a week has left me with a lot of time on my hands. A lot of time to do other things.... like Facebook! Uhhh... yeah.

Honestly though, I decided I was definitely spending too much time in front of the tube. Potatoes be warned: having Netflix Instant Watch set and ready to go on your tv is like setting yourself up to be destroyed by a black vortex of electronic, brain-melting doom. Too many episodes of too many tv shows, right at your remote-grabbing fingertips. So, the way I figured it: less tv, more productivity.

twinkle toes

Who? Me? I have a blog? What? Waaaait a second...

Sorry about the delay, friends. I wish I could say I've been busier than a bumblebee or something else as important-sounding as that, but the fact of the matter is I'm just not very good at keeping up with things like this. Same goes for my journal, which hasn't been updated in, oh, six months... uh, yeah. Moving on.

Please excuse the close-up of my scary, little, stubby toes.

you should see the other guy

Summer, like everything else in life, comes with it's own list of pros and cons. For example...

Pro: no school! hooray!
Con: friends are far away. bummer.
Pro: get to make some moolah!
Con: have to work to make moolah.
Pro: an opportunity to relax and pamper yourself.
Con: doctor appointments.

Let's be real here: I didn't get in a fight. I can't even say something cool like, "I crashed while doing crazy tricks on my skateboard." No, sir... I can't say any of that.

it came in an envelope

Lord help me. It has arrived.

It. That thing. That 1,235-page book I ordered from Amazon not too long ago. In other words, The Covenant by James A. Michener. For our purposes, lets just call it "The Brick"... for surely if you gathered up enough copies of this novel, you could easily build a pretty decent structure of some sort.

The Brick is a book I am required to read and write a response paper to this summer to prepare for South Africa. Though its size is obviously daunting, I have heard that this book actually isn't a bad read. I guess we'll see about that soon enough! I have yet to start it, but I've already resolved in my head that this is not something I am going to put off until the last minute; baby steps seems like a much better approach to this task.

the beginning

Lumelang, metsoalle oa ka!

     It has begun: the excitement, the butterflies, the twisting I feel within myself as I think about what these next seven months hold for my life. Am I really going to South Africa? Am I really going to take bucket baths? Hike another mountain? Speak an African language? Eat strange, unfamiliar food? See stars that I've never seen before? Wow.