Holiday Club!

AH!!!!

That's the typical thought that went through everyone's mind when they would think or talk about Holiday Club*. Every time someone brought it up there seemed to be a collective sigh that went up. It was coming. Oh no. And because of all the stories that people had told us about Holiday Club last year – or how there was 500 kids, unreliable volunteers, and just mass chaos in general, no one was looking forward to this week where kids from all over PMB would gather on the church property. [*Holiday Club is a BCA program that functions similar to a day camp/VBS].

Actually, I know my teammates were dreading this coming time, especially Kyle who was in charge of all the sports (which is one of the main points of Holiday Club). I however, was in charge of catering logistics and "media" related stuff as well. So since I didn't actually have to work with children (i.e. group leader), I didn't really mind that this week was quickly approaching. I actually felt a strange peace about it as everyone around me was kind of in a hectic mood.


I found out the other day that MMN apparently sends out prayer requests and a prayer came through to pray for Holiday Club and my Grandparents – all the way in Manson, Iowa, got it. But I definitely think people all around the world must have been praying for this thing because we had no money for this thing. Catering was going to cost money, transport was going to cost money, everything seemed to be very stressful because we had no sponsors and Thandi (BCA's coordinator) even mentioned something the week before Club that maybe we weren't going to have it. This is big thing for Thandi to say, since she usually has a great, trusting outlook on things. So we had no idea what was going to happen with this week.

In the end, things went amazingly smoothly. BCA decided to ask for donations from kids (not very much, and only from those who could give) and made kids pay for transport – which is the main issue. Because of this we had roughly 150-200 kids every day. But with 50 volunteers, it was definitely manageable and quieter than last year. It was great that the volunteers could spend less time "policing" the kids and more time actually delivering a quality program. As I went around taking pictures of the events, it was really cool to see all the volunteers interact with their kids, and actually know the kids' names in their groups. I am sure that even though there were less kids, the impacted made was definitely more significant.

Also, as far as catering went, things really came through. We had different ladies' cells cater each day, and they pretty much sponsored all of our needs. It was fantastic. We actually got a lot of bread donations from local stores and a really random delivery of tons and tons of butternut squash. (Actually about 50% of it was rotten, so a group of us had to spend a large chunk of Tuesday afternoon chopping out the bad parts and sorting through the rest. Wow it was so gross. But on Thursday, Aunty Phyllis came with this awesome butternut soup. It was great).

During the days, I helped with registration and getting numbers to the kitchen, etc., but my favorite thing to do was take pictures and video of the events and kids. And I discovered that maybe I studied the wrong thing. Or just didn't study enough. I really want to get into media stuff – like videography, etc. So I guess I was in the right stream as far as communications and writing at Bluffton, it just wasn't enough. And so now I am seriously looking into going back to school to get certified in this type of stuff. If I could spend all day behind a camera and actually get paid for it – it would be the best.

So overall, Holiday Club was awesome. Sure it was exhausting and towards the end of the week I was really tired of having children everywhere. But it was a good week. Things went really well, and so thank you to everyone was who praying for us. Your prayers were definitely answered.

It makes me happy. It makes me want to blow my vuvuzela!

I was in the car with Nicole when we heard this on the radio. (Side note: it's still amazing that our car radio actual works now). We weren't sure if this is an advert or some type of radio program. All I know is that we heard this guy with a German accent say "It makes me happy. It makes me want to blow my vuvuzela." We say that occasionally too – or if opportunity presents itself we say the reversal of it. "It makes me sad. It makes me want to put away my vuvuzela." We said that after Bafana got kicked out of the World Cup Games.

I have never been a real fan of the vuvuzela. We have neighborhood kids next door. They have one and whenever they make a lot of racket, the paper-thin wall that divides our houses seems to get even more useless than ever. However, I think I am coming around. I actually now own one thanks to this guy who came to speak to the kids about TB at Holiday Club. It makes me happy that I now own one although I am still not completely convinced that they aren't annoying. But I like them because they are South African.

I really have grown to like soccer as well. I am not sure if this is really true outside of the World Cup (because, as noted before, I really like any type of world sporting event – mainly the Olympics). And although I still hate it when there is a tie or no one scores at all, it is awfully fun to yell at the TV. Every evening (and afternoon), Christian is in the lounge watching the game and thus I have gotten really into it as well. It's fun to be in a country where something like this is happening, even if I am not going to any of the actual games. And I proudly say that I am pretty sure I have seen at least 3/4ths of all the games, in their entirety, half, or at least some parts of them. It's been really fun cheering for the underdog. Or the time when the US was playing Algeria and scored the winning goal during the last 2 minutes thus resulting in Phil literally tackling Kyle. Awesome.

Anyway, there is not really a deep point to this blog besides to say – Feel it. It is here.

Wednesday Tweets

I never really saw the point in Twitter – that is to say, unless I am creepy stalker then yes, there is a point to Twitter. That all changed yesterday when I was looking at the funeral wreath sitting on our kitchen table. I really needed to tell someone this. It wasn't something I wanted to post on one specific person's facebook wall and it definitely wasn't anything to blog about (at the time). Yes, Twitter would've come in handy then. But then I got thinking about how there is a ton of random stuff that happens to us daily and I never blog about any of it. This is really too bad since most of it is comical – or at least falls into that category. (Yeah the funeral wreath is a little dark but it's still kind of funny). So here are some ramblings of the day – some "tweets" if you will. (Although I realize that I could never actually use Twitter. I have way too much to say for that outlet."

There is a funeral wreath sitting on our kitchen table. It was leftover at the church and since these things cost money, they didn't just want to throw it. So now it is here. On the table. I first saw it when I came back from work for our lunch break. It was a weird thing.

It's cold here. It's June and we are freezing. This is a new experience. We sit bundled up under blankets and layers and layers of socks. Since we don't have central heating, I spend a lot of time hugging the oven. I also basically wear the same clothes every single day. It's yummy.

Today is a public holiday. I was not aware of that until yesterday afternoon in the office. It's like having a surprise birthday present. It's fabulous. I've been baking up a storm all day thus far because it is the only thing that keeps me warm.

Our water kettle is under a year warranty. This is the second time it's broke since we got it. It still sits on our counter, waiting for us to remember to take it back to Game to exchange it for another one.

BIRDS. ARE. DINOSAURS! One day in the office Connie told us of how her ex-boyfriend had watched this thing in his 11^th grade science class about how dinosaurs have evolved into birds. We now say this phrase all the time. There was a solid week where I couldn't say that without laughing. But I believe this is true. We have these insane Ibis birds here and they are definitely dinosaurs. I don't care what you say. Dinosaurs are definitely making a comeback in our lives right now. Kyle, who I think is part velociraptor, and I have often make raptor noises and sometimes "velociraptor" Connie and Gabby around the kitchen. It's awesome. Also, above the doorway leading on to the Manse's stoop is "Pro-choice-asaurous." Also another great office moment. We found this plastic dinosaur in the youth office one afternoon. Connie read the type of dinosaur it was (it was written on the bottom) and for some reason I thought she said "Pro-choice-asaurous." (It definitely wasn't called that). Her face is ripped off by a republican. The boys then took her and dangled her above the door frame with duck tape. She has been up there for weeks now.

Dwight is gone. And I am not sad. She was the grossest cat I have ever met. She ran away/got killed/got kidnapped a few weeks ago. She was too expensive for us to really keep, she farted all the time, pooped everywhere and plagued the house with fleas for weeks. (We actually had them come spray again yesterday because Gabby and I were starting to get bit again). I think Kyle is the only one who is emotionally devastated by her disappearance.

I have decided that I like the World Cup. Soccer is still not that exciting to me but I really love the Olypmics and so this type of world competition feeds that part of my heart. We've watched a lot of games thus far and will continue in this vein. When I don't particularly care about who is playing (aka when Bafana, the USA, Argentina, Paraguay and/or Ghana isn't playing) then I enjoy cheering for the underdog. Last night I cheered for North Korea. It was awesome even though that game was awful to watch. And even though I still want to hate the vuvuzelas I don't know if I really can. I read this editoral on CNN.com (it's now posted on my facebook wall) about how it's kind of awesome because you don't even have to be in the room to know what is on TV. You hear the vuvuzelas and instantly know. I am just glad I am not in the stadium with them. I also wish the neighbor kid wouldn't blow them at 6:45 in the morning – but I guess it's not too bad since that only happens on Bafana's game days.

My stupid computer cord isn't working again. It has moods when it just won't work. It freaks me out. I am afraid that it won't come back sometimes. So I pray that it will and that I will be able to post this blog tomorrow. (Yep. Now it's fine).

Connie is teaching me how to knit. This is exciting.

We might have said goodbye to Joe and Anna Sawatzky yesterday evening. (We may see them in a few days but if not than that's it). They are the first people real "goodbyes" that I have had thus far. It's really strange. They have been like our extended family members. I have been blessed by knowing them. It was a really moment saying goodbye to them.

Andrew Suderman can make Levi Sawatzky (who is maybe 2 or 3) say the World Cup theme (or whatever this is). He'll say "Feel it!" and Levi will replay with "It is here!" It's so cute. One time Anna was trying to get her son to say it and he responded with "I don't want to feel it!"

We have this perfect spoon in the manse at the kitchen. It is the best for measuring instant coffee. I love it. It disappeared after the whole Potjie thing during convention but then it suddenly made a comeback into our lives a few weeks ago. The problem still remains though – I drink way too much coffee! I never used to be this person.

Well these are my very long "Tweet-like" thoughts. I am sure I will have more later.

Birthday Birthday Birthday

Well people, this past weekend was my birthday. And I do mean weekend. Every since I met Jill Enoch that fateful day in August 2005, my life has never been the same. (This doesn't count the time we met at orientation and stood their awkwardly while Keith kept recording our future dorm room). See, Jille believes her birthday is the month of October. And although this is strange thinking – I believe in it. Ever since then, I have decided to celebrate people's birthdays for longer than just one day (because what's the fun in that?) Since this practice, I have now come to the belief that my birthday should also be a long celebration. And so in this 23^rd year, that's exactly what I decided to do.

Here is what we did.

1. Well this first one wasn't technically my birthday celebration, but I count it as because it was close to my birthday and awesome. On Thursday, we went out for brunch/shopping with Christine and Karen (see previous blog). It was so great.

2. Friday, (this also wasn't a "sanctioned" birthday celebration, but it was fun) we went to Imbali to watch the Bafana vs. Mexico match on a big screen at a stadium there. Although standing for three hours sucked, it was fun, especially to see all the fans go crazy when Bafana scored.

3. Saturday (okay this was an official birthday thing), my team "kidnapped me" (like blindfolded me and put me in the car and drove around awhile) and took me to a field at UKZN. We got there, they took off my blindfold and there were the LDs, and the Sudermans (and two MMN related people). Eventually the Sawatzky's came too. It was awesome. We played ultimate Frisbee, which I am pretty sure we haven't played since the end of 2009. I don't know why. It was really fun. Afterwards, we went to the Suderman's house to eat a yummy lunch of haystacks/taco salad and watched the Argentina vs. Nigeria game. And to top it all off, in the evening we went up to Hilton to the LDs to watch the England vs. USA game. Oh man. That was awesome. Confession – it was the first time I've ever seen the US play soccer. Wow. But the fun part was that all the Americans (practically) in the room (so Connie, me and the LDS) were cheering for the US (duh), and then all the Canadians (Gabby, Tim, Kyle and the Sudermans) were cheering for England. And when the States scored later in the game – good dang, did we yell for about a minute. It was the best. And probably the only time I've ever really gotten into soccer.

4. Sunday, Gabby took me out for coffee at Essence in the late morning after church. It was great. I love that place, and that girl, and coffee (although we actually ended up getting milkshakes, but it's fine. I love those too).

5. Monday – My actual day of birth. In the morning, I woke up "earlier" than I needed to and found that Constance had stayed up all night long making croissants for my birthday. Wow they were yummy. I then headed off to Essence to work on some writing stuff and eventually met the rest of my team there for brunch. In the afternoon, the girls (including Nicole) and I, went to the mall to spend the rest of the money my parents had given me for warm clothes. And then finally, in the evening we went to the Suderman's (well they weren't there but we had to take care of their dog so we just stay there) ate Fajitas and cake and watched the Italy vs. Paraguay game or the Chaco vs. the World as Kyle referred to it. It was a great day. Lots of high-fives were given and received.

I had no idea that I was going to spend my 23^rd birthday in South Africa. It definitely makes me wonder where I'll be in a year from now because I have no idea. Heck, I don't even know where I'll be in 4 months. I guess that's just part of the adventure. Okay, 23, let's do this thing…

Debriefing as women

Well, that's what Gabby called it when she came into the kitchen on Monday evening and told us that Christine wanted to get together with us and Karen Suderman on Thursday. It actually had very little to do with debriefing about, well, anything. Regardless, we still wanted to call it that. So while the boys were taking over the lounge that evening watching Lord of the Rings, Gabby, Connie, and stayed in the kitchen and made a "women's issue" list to discuss on Thursday.

Thursday came around, and even though I felt bad for leaving the boys to a normal work day, while we women got the day off, I was super pumped. Karen and Christine took us around the Midmar Meander all day – it was great! (Midmar is this dam/large lake and you can drive around it to all these tiny craft shops. Awesome). We had wanted to go out to breakfast at this Belgium Chocolate Coffee shop (I know, right?), but there was some plumbing issue and so the café part was closed. Instead, we briefly explored the chocolate shop and had a little pre-breakfast chocolate. (Yep, chocolate for breakfast. I knew right away that this was going to be a good day). We eventually found ourselves at this Farm Stall/Café called "Piggly Wiggly" and actually the sign kind of looked like the grocery store in the south. It was beautiful – well at least I think so, but then again, going to get coffee/breakfast is like my favorite thing to do recently. One of the reasons to blog about this day was because of the coffee drink we had – it was a chocolate double expression cappuccino with chocolate mousse covering the top. Oh. My. Gosh. So great. The café was actually part of a "farm store" so the three of us bought great preserves for Sanford, Karl, and Willie (our Dads).

But I think the funniest thing about this day was the fact that Connie had brought the list and we actually talked about "issues" that were on it. It was great. The whole day was very much needed and so much fun. I decided to claim it as part of my birthday celebration, even though it technically wasn't "for" that. I am really grateful for all of those women in my life. And for the ability to eat chocolate with them in the morning.

South Africa is great.

The Beginning of the End

And thus it begins.

This past week was full of our "first lasts" – our last Youth Leaders meeting on Wednesday, our last Kids Klub on Friday, our last youth on Friday, and for me, my last time going to A Rocha (actually that's not true – I didn't go to A Rocha at all this past week. In fact, I wasn't even aware that my last time at those schools was my last time). Actually, I am kind of excited about this since it will free up a lot of our time and thus we can spent more intentional time with each other and other people here.

But, I guess, in a way, it is kind of sad. We were at Kids Klub on Friday when Thandi magically got the kids to settle down and listen to her. After she told them that this was the last Kids Klub until Holiday Club, she had the kids thank us and gave a speech about how much we'll be missed. And Okay, I am not the best with kids so Kids Klub can be overwhelming for me. However, I finally found a good area in which to help out with – the kitchen (making the kids sandwiches) and then taking pictures too for later BCA related reports. So Kids Klub started off as something I didn't enjoy to something that, yeah, was insane most of the time (ha – ask Tim about his group of boys) but good at the same time. I'm really grateful for the chance to be a part of BCA these past few months. And now that is over – well actually not really because (insert eerie music here) Holiday Club is coming. Eh, but it will be fine.

Some Things…

I've been terrible at blogging lately. Oops. And actually I am trying to make this blog have at least 100 posts so I need to shake off this bad habit or not blogging and well, just sit down and write even if it is about nothing in particular. So this morning I decided to fill you in on some RJ happenings that haven't made the blog yet.

1. Two Mondays ago we decided to take off to the Drakensberg (this mountain range in SA). Mondays, as you may know, are our days off and usually we're so exhausted that we generally do nothing. However, since I am trying to use my time wisely here and not do awesome stuff due to lack of motivation, I suggested we go. And it was great. Actually, it was about a two hour car drive there but we picked up Spar's donuts on the way out of the city (our RJ "family tradition") and relaxed in the car as Kyle, the driver, pointed out all the signs that said "Berg" on them. [Berg is his surname]. Even though the drive was long, it was just nice to relax with everyone in the car. Our radio magically works (it hasn't this entire time we've been using the Ballade) but we don't have an antenna, so we sang along to whatever we could get to come through as it faded in and out.

We got to this place called Monks Craw close to noon, paid, and spent the rest of the afternoon hiking. Okay, so I love the idea of hiking. It's really nice. But in reality, I hate it. I am trying to get over this though because it is really a nice idea – you get exercise and you get to see cool places. However, I am super out of shape and although we got to do cool things like see a waterfall and dip our feet in this freezing stream, we were all wiped out at the end. Connie and I actually made "Goodbye parents" videos on my camera because we were so dehydrated that "we didn't think we were going to make it out of there alive." (The videos are really funny and I'll post them as soon as I get back to the States). Overall though, South Africa is beautiful and it was a great "Family forced fun" time for all of us – even if we almost died. Ha.

2. This past Sunday, Kyle, Gabby, Christian, and I caravanned with the LDs (Phil and Christine) to watch the Comrades Marathon – an 89K race that starts in PMB and ends in Durban. 89K!! That roughly translates into 55.5 miles!!! I didn't even know that was humanly possible. A solid time for this race is like 10 hours or so. It takes us an hour to drive from PMB to Durban, going up and down all these rolling hills. Yeah. South African runners are insane. Wow. I am actually not sure why more people don't die during this thing. (I don't think anyone did die this year). I know I wouldn't even make it out of the city – that's for sure. Anyway, we stopped several places along the way to cheer for the LDs friend, which, of course, resulted in us cheering for complete strangers. And although Kyle and Christian did strange things (i.e. cheered for each other or Gabby and myself as if we were running), it was really fun. A lot of the people got excited when they saw this crazy bunch of North Americans/Africans cheering very loudly for them. People's names were written on their number so if they were close enough to us we could cheer for them by name. If not, I tended to look for people with specific things on their shirt – this resulted in us cheering for a lot of Canadians, Americans – including a guy from Wisconsin, Japanese, Australians, the University of KwaZulu Natal, an Athletic club called "Florida" who all had neon pink shirts, "Blood donor guy" who had a giant stuffed "blood donor awareness creature strapped to his back, Hawaiian shirt guy, and people who did strange things with their hair/wore funny hats. And there was even some guy who dressed up like a rhino to "save the rhinos" and run a marathon at the same time. Insanity. And since we were "following Joe" (the LDs friend) we saw a lot of the same people over and over again – so that was really fun.

3. I might have blogged about this before but going to the movies at the mall in PMB on Tuesdays is super cheep. And awhile ago Connie and I realized that it is a complete waste of our time here if we aren't going to the movies every single Tuesday. In fact, we have failed because this whole time we've been here (well prior to this realization) we had only gone like 4 times. What have we been doing? Seriously? Especially since when we first got here movies were only R10 on Tuesday – and even now they are R16 (which is about $2.something), it still is a waste not to go. So we go. This past Tuesday was our forth week in a row of movie watching. So far so good. On Tuesday, we took Yonela with us and Pastor Irvin (who is here for the week from Bloemfontein) tagged along as well. We ended up going to two fairly mediocre movies, but that's fine. It's still fun to go every week, to sit by Constance in order so we can share commentary the entire way through (yep, we're those people), and watch movies. It's great.

Well this is long. But that's what we have been up to lately.