Is This My Life or a Reality TV Show

Sometimes my housemates and I wonder about this very question. Life in the Bu is simply different from ANYWHERE else. We are certain of that. Unfortunately, it’s indescribable in full, but lets just take this evening for example (but realizing of course that events, happenings, occurrences similar to this and weirder and just random odd things happen almost daily). So we got home around 8 p.m. tonight and there was this massive spider on the ceiling of the bathroom. Spider was busy eating a moth. The spider was first seen this a.m. behind/above the toilet. He hung around all day. So the 3 girls in that room wanted to kill him so they could get to sleep. But how exactly? What would be the best approach? Well, first Gennie (who is not quite 5 feet tall) decides she’ll climb up on a shelf and somehow jump and get the spider or something like that. We decide against that since she’s very short and the shelf would probably break anyway. We decide that Cass, the tallest, will spray the spider with RAID to disorient him and then he’ll get the broom. Everyone goes to their places. I am recording the entire thing on video and so is Kara, Gennie is waiting with another broom in hand, Julie just stays out and watches. Cass stands on the edge of the tub and sprays the RAID, which makes the crazy spider scurry away a bit and then fall from the ceiling to the floor, where Gennie attacks him with the broom. It was all very exciting and there was a lot of screaming and commotion. It was a huge, 20 minute long ordeal. It may not sound that exciting, but I think the size of the spider and the way it was handled made it very exciting. The whole time, there was a gecko on the wall witnessing, but we just left him alone. Then I walk into my bedroom and up to my bed where I see a little lizard run across my bed and jump onto the floor. This freaks me out way more than the spider because I HATE LIZARDS. They move so fast, it’s creepy. So we continue in the killing/capturing of creatures. I’m yelling, so they all run into my room with brooms and the flashlight. The lizard was under my bed and he disappeared into a hole for a while, but finally resurfaced and then Julie captured him in a cup and released him outside. Thank goodness. So after all of that, we were able to go to sleep in semi-peace.
Life just doesn’t seem normal when you find yourself casually saying things like "Could someone please get the DOG OUT of the classroom?" and "Look at how much of my bread the rat ate today." and "The rooster woke me up at 2 o’clock this morning, AGAIN." AND "We can’t play soccer until the cows get off the field." And "Let’s walk to the border in the morning." I am telling you, life in the Bu is like NO OTHER.

Embracing The New

The old has gone, the new has come. I am living in a different house this year with different housemates; our house has rats; I recently slept all night with a gecko in my room on the wall; several people have moved out of Bulembu and some new people have come in; we have started the ACE individualized program at school; our school staff prays together every single morning before school; I saw my first poisonous snake…these are some of the new things in my life this year J It’s going to be a fantastic year. I absolutely love my life in Bulembu. It’s simple in some ways, but complex in others. Problems, struggles, and frustrations are not absent from this place, but dealing with things is different. I have a greater appreciation for just about everything. And every single day, at some point, I think to myself, “I love my life.” So that’s a pretty good place to be. I miss my boyfriend and my family and my friends, of course, but I really do have a life here and I am working and building relationships, so it’s great.
Last week the school was still not finished and so we could not begin the normal school year. So we had a sort of “summer camp” week. We played sports and games, did team building stuff, hiked, went swimming, had a field day with all sorts of relays and such, had a big scavenger hunt, made skits from a parable, etc. It was a super fun week, but we did work really hard to finish our classrooms and make the week fun for the kids. They had a blast. Now school has officially started and it is…interesting. The ACE program we are doing is SO different from anything any of us has ever experienced, so it’s really going to take some getting used to. There are all of these tedious little procedures that the kids have to do, and if they don’t do it all correctly, they get demerits, which are bad…so then they feel bad and it’s all a bit overwhelming!! But we will get through it and get used to it and then it will be great. I hope!!

Wheelbarrow races!!!

Part of our Scavenger Hunt...hanging from the soccer goal

Our waterfall in Bulembu...it's pretty awesome!

Reunion

Coming back into Bulembu and seeing everyone was pretty exciting. Sometimes you don’t realize how much you miss someone until you see them again. I was so busy in America that I didn’t really miss people all that much…but then you see all the people again and it’s so wonderful! We actually didn’t get in until kind of late Friday night….it was HECTIC. On Friday, someone was meant to pick us up around 10 a.m. from the hostel. We had to leave the room by 9 or they’d charge us another night. So we left our stuff in their office (which wasn’t locked and there were people in and out) and went to find a phone to call our ride and make sure they were coming. No answer-left a message on the mobile phone. We talk to them at 10ish and they say it’ll be half an hour. They had not been to the place we were staying, but Candice had given them directions and it was right off the main road anyway. Well at 11:15 they still weren’t there, so we called again. Said they couldn’t find us and went to run an errand and it would be an hour. About 12:30 (we’ve been waiting 3 and a half hours at this point. Just sitting outside the hostel with our luggage in the Africa heat waiting) we talk to them again. They had a flat tire. Then the girl’s purse got stolen out of the car. Then they went to the police station, etc etc. So to make a long story shorter, we waited 7 HOURS. Sitting outside of the hostel for 7 hours. I was impatient. But anyway, we made it back safely and that’s the most important thing. Saturday was super fun because I got to see ALL THE KIDS. The girls from Jacaranda house, the ABC ministry kids, everyone. Plus all of the teachers and other people in the community. It was wonderful reuniting! I am all settled in to my new house now. There are 5 of us instead of 4 because Kara’s friend is here for 2 months. There is Julie from Georgia, and Kara, Gennie and Cass from Boston. It’s a fun house. The only problem is that we have rats. We have been putting out poison and they ate some, so maybe they are dead now. We are not sure.
We’ve been super busy working to get the school and everything ready for Monday the 5th. Unfortunately, things in Africa don’t usually go as planned or expected, so the desks we need for our new teaching and learning system weren’t even put in by the workers until Thursday and Friday…and they weren’t completely finished and done right. So basically we will still start school officially on Monday, but this week will be more like a summer camp program because we can’t use our classrooms right now. So we’ll be doing sports, swimming, team building, hikes, relays, etc. It actually will be way fun, so I’m looking forward to the week. It’s crazy hot though!!
Monday we had a big braai and I think the whole town was there! It was super fun. All of the kids were there and just loads of people. I enjoyed spending time with the girls. I feel like my relationship with these girls is deeper now-since I left and came back. They just seemed closer to me and were talking so much and staying really close by and wanting to sit together and everything.
In the month that I was gone there were 2 babies born and Megen and Carl’s baby is due in 3 weeks!!! It’s awesome. It’s actually shocking how much has changed though. So many people coming and going. Several people have had to move and we have some new families in as well. Very interesting. It is sad though because the people that have left/are leaving were a great part of the community. It’s too bad things have to change in that way sometimes. I suppose that’s how life goes.
We still need about 15ish scholarships for our kids…they will come to the school but we are hoping to see this money come in. It’s a lot of money-about $600 each for the year on this new Accelerated Christian Education program. It’s subsidized for the students, but that is what the actual need is for the curriculum, pay for the local teachers and monitors, and for the school and materials. So please keep us in your prayers! Be blessed.

Back to Africa

I am in Africa again. It’s so beautiful!! Mountain after mountain covered in green grass and trees. It looks nothing like Texas! I am on a bus right now as I write this on my laptop. It’s a pretty bumpy ride, but the bus is nice and clean. It’s a private bus, not like the stereotypical African overcrowded ones. Candice and I are headed to a town called Nelspruit, SA. We are staying the night there and in the morning someone from Bulembu will fetch us. I am excited about getting back now, but much work lies ahead.
We have next week to prepare and then school starts February 5th.
I don’t really have much to say now. The past 5 days I was in England and it was wonderful. I had forgotten how much I loved it there. I miss it very much. I got to go on a couple of long walks in the countryside, which was always one of my very favorite things to do when I lived there. And pubs!!! Oh pubs are so great. They are so warm and quaint. I miss them very much too! Well not all of them. Some of them don’t have any character, but the ones in the little villages in the country usually do. So great. I caught up with lots of people too, which was fab. Got to spend some good quality time with Emily and Lisa Mellgard, whom I used to live with. I also got to visit with two of my favorite kids from the youth group-Emily and Robin. Another family who has moved on happened to be there visiting for the week, so I got to catch up with them also. Went to the women’s bible study group I used to attend and it’s a whole new group. The area and church is always transitioning and I really saw it in that group. But it was so nice to see those familiar faces and do some catching up. The fundraising has been excellent as well. I knew God would provide because He always does, no doubt. He has provided well for me and for many of the children in Bulembu. I am blessed to have very generous people in my life. That’s it for now.