South Africa

Well, I survived my trip to South Africa! But I returned to power rationing and jacked up internet, so I haven't been on the internet since I left a week ago! Hooray!
So now I'll try to summarize the trip...basically we met a lot of new people. Doesn't sound so bad, but ok you know that uncomfortable first few hours of knowing someone where you ask all the usual questions and try to find some common ground to relate with? We did that like 20 times in one week. And across cultural barriers also, which just makes finding something comfortable to talk about all the more difficult.


Well, let me back up and tell the story properly. Jessica, Heath and I got to Nairobi on Thursday afternoon and stayed with a Bethany grad who's working in Nairobi. So, introduction number one! but it was an easy one because we're all Americans and we're all from Bethany and plus she was just really cool! haha! So, we stayed with her until the next morning at 3AM when we got a taxi to the airport. We arrived in Johannesburg sometime in the morning and when I reached the immigration desk, I realized I had left my Yellow Fever vaccination card in Grssa!!!! BAD NEWS! So the very unhappy lady told me to go back through the line to the medical clinic and get vaccinated there. Lame lame lame. So Jess and I walked back and sent Heath on to get our bags (and I thought to meet our ride from the airport, but apparently that wasn't communicated). I got to the clinic and the lady told me it was 600 Rand or 90 US dollars for the vaccination...oh goodness. I was not a happy camper. It was so hard not to take out my frustration on them, especially for milking tourists for vaccinations they are forced to receive on the premises. The next problem was that I have no US dollars left (I haven't seen a dollar in months!) and I hadn't been IN South Africa yet to get any Rand! So I got the shot then had to wait with a lot of very grouchy travelers for someone to come and escort me to the ATM.


Finally after about an hour and a half, we went through security with my shiny new Yellow Fever Vaccination card and I paid my debt, only to discover that we hadn't connected with the people who were meeting us there yet. So now, we're 2 hours late and we can't find anyone with a Bethany sign or anything. Sigh. I went up to the police men, because at that point I had no idea what else to do, and asked them what we should do if we couldn't find our ride. They asked do you have an address? No. A phone number? No. Then Heath was like, yeah we have a phone number! Ohhhh! We should have just called them in the first place! So, we called them and the lady picking us up had gone to the car to get our flight information because we were so late. Finally, we found her and a boy who was with her and walked out to the car with them.


Introduction number two! This one was a bit more awkward...we didn't know who she was and she didn't even know Jaco, our South African friend who arranged all our housing for us. She was picking us up as a favor for her boss. So eventually we got to the house and plopped on the couch (remember, 3AM taxi ride...little bit sleepy by this point) and watched Stuart Little 2 with the boy, still not sure where we are or if we're staying there or what. Then the lady comes in and says she's done with work and is leaving, but the boy's family will be home soon-so we finally figured out that it wasn't her son and that the house belonged to her boss and they were the ones who knew Jaco! yay! One by one we met the rest of the family as they came home from school and work, introductions 3-6, and we met a teacher and friend of the family also, number 7. They took us to the mall that night, which was a major culture shock! It was like we'd gone home to America for a week...so strange. The next day we went to this boys/girls scouts fundraiser thing the family was a part of and met the husband of the lady who picked us up from the airport, number 8. And that night we went to the movies with the teacher friend and met all of her teacher friends! But we'll just count that as one intro-number 9.


Ummm what was next...oh yes, the next morning a guy came to pick us up and take us to where we'd be staying for the rest of the trip, but yet again we had no idea who he was or what the connection to Jaco was! By the end of the hour long car ride we'd figured out he was a friend of the pastor we'd be staying with and didn't know Jaco, number 10. We stepped out of the car and met the pastor, who actually greeted us in Swahili! That was cool! He'd spent some time working in Kenya and that's how he knew Jaco's family. Oh yeah, that makes him number 11. Then we met the whole church! hahah! Not intense at ALL! The service was in Afrikaans, but the man who picked us up translated most of it for us, which is not an easy task. So the church was number 12, then the pastor asked if we'd like to speak at youth group that night! So we met the youth, number 13, and got to share our testimonies of how God called us to missions and such. They were a really cool group. They didn't separate by age though so there were college and middle school aged folk in one group! Afterwards they took us to McDonalds for ice cream! yay!!! Then we sat awkwardly as we all ran out of questions to ask. :) They actually came over a few more times, but things got progressively less awkward. Plus I got them to play Have You Ever-a game where one person stands in the middle and asks 'Have you ever...'fill in the blank with something you've done. Then anyone who's done it has to stand up and find a new seat. The last person standing has to ask the next question. So that was a lot of fun and helped break the ice.


Let's see...the rest is kind of a blur...oh yeah, this guy from the church used to be a tour guide and he too us to the Sterkfontein Caves, which is where the oldest human skeleton has been found...or something like that. It's in the 'Cradle of Humankind' where people think all life began and all that jazz. It was pretty, but I'm thinking the garden of Eden was a bit further north, somewhere in the Middle East maybe. ;)


Then we went to this cultural village place where some of the South African tribes were like acted out with all their traditions and such. That was interesting...and depressing at the same time. It was so touristy and cheapened and bleh. And then we ate food there and everyone but Jess got food poisoning! Hooray! So I spent that night and the next day being just about as sick as I can ever remember being in my life. Not fun. So that man was intro number 14.


Then we went strawberry picking with the senior citizens from the church, number 15! SO AWESOME! hahaha! It was fun for real. And the strawberries were really yummy. That night we drove to the airport and flew into Nairobi at like 5AM. After some frustration with the visa officers, we got new visas for the next three months and met up with Jason. Ok, so I exaggerated by 5 when I said we had 20 of those awkward get to know you moments in one week. We had about 15. It was a lot.
But now we're back home safe and sound! Back to work!