Man Arms

Today I was told by two of my first graders that I have man arms. Or monkey arms. Or maybe even man monkey arms. Why, you ask? Is it because of my flexible, finely toned, incredibly strong arms? Of course not! It is because my arms are "so warm". Let me put it another way. "Only boys have that much hair on their arms! Oh! It's like a monkey!" Ahhh...you can imagine that as I sat there with these two kids petting my arm my confidence just shot through the roof... :)

It has been pointed out to me that I should update my blog more (thanks Janita :) so I apologize for slacking off. I will do my best to recap the past week or so...Last Friday we left school early and Larry, Susan, Aimee, and I headed off for South Africa. I had such a great weekend! We stayed with a South African missionary couple, which was really neat. Their house was awesome - it was up on a mountain overlooking more mountains and a lake...the view was beautiful! And they had the cutest dog, Josie. She had a brother, but he died recently...he was bitten by a mamba. Comforting thing to hear within the first ten minutes of arriving, eh?

Saturday, we drove around to a lot of different places. We went to this one place up on a mountain called God's Window. The view was AMAZING. All throughout the day it just kept hitting me...I'm in Africa. AFRICA. On top of a mountain, gazing at the vast expanse of AFRICA. wow. Anyways, we went to see a few other places as well, including a short hike up to the Bridal Veil - a really pretty waterfall. I found a fun tree on the way up that was full of crazy vines, that of course I had to climb up and sit on...I was a little nervous of the drop back down the hill on the other side of the tree, but I made it...maybe the monkey arms somehow helped. It was really a great day of exploring and experiencing God's beautiful creation. The day only got better when we got back to the house and had pizza braai. I've never had pizza made on a BBQ grill before. They were the biggest pizzas ever! I was in heaven...sitting outside eating monster pieces of pizza while looking out at the beautiful landscape of AFRICA. What a day.

Sunday, we went to church, which was great. Then we went out for lunch with the family we were staying with. After lunch, we went to the mall for a little while, then drove to Marloth Park which is right next to Kruger. We stayed at Marloth overnight - it's really cool, there are animals in the park that just wander around freely...impala, warthog, zebra...fortunately they moved all of the lions across the fence to Kruger. As I walked around I was trying not to think of the possibility that they may have perhaps missed one... We got up and left by 5:15 to get to Kruger when it opened at 6am. We spent the whole day there, which was so fun! We saw tons of animals, and 4 of the Big 5! Elephant, rhino, buffalo, and lion! We were just missing leopard. But it was such a great day. I made friends with a funny little squirrel. He must have been used to people feeding him, because he climbed up my leg and even ate some muffin off of my hat! I semi-freaked out when a funky looking hornbill came flying at my face. He must have gotten a whiff of the muffin. Last time I feed wild animals on an African safari.

We headed back Monday evening. I had to apply for another visa at the border, which was nuts! There was a huge mass of people pushing and shoving and waving their passports and money at the guy working behind the counter. Of course there was only one guy who tended to disappear for extended amounts of time. And it's kind of weird because I applied for, and PAID for, a double entry visa, and the paperwork I got with it said double entry...but they actually sent me a single entry. So I had to buy another one. Oh well, gotta do what ya gotta do. We got back around 8, and I had a killer headache so I just settled in and went to bed. I was up during the night cause my head hurt so bad, and ended up staying home from school Tuesday and sleeping a lot. It is finally mostly gone today...

I would just like to say that I never thought I'd be freezing in Africa. Monday was SO hot - about 100. Today feels like winter. I'm wearing sweats, socks, and a hoodie and I still feel like curling up under all the blankets on my bed. crazy...

This week has gone pretty well. I know I keep saying it, but I can't believe how fast this is going! This is the end of week 5! Only 3 left. It's really an awesome experience and I'm so thankful to have this opportunity. If you feel like it, I would love some prayer about guidance for the future. I have been praying about it a lot lately, wondering what God has next for me, after I graduate. It is hard to explain but recently I have had this building anticipation inside of me, like I know I'm going to find out soon what He wants me to do. I totally am trusting Him - whatever He tells me to do will be great. Sometimes it's just nerve wracking not knowing. But He has been clearly telling me "wait". I have been asking for Him to show me what He wants me to do, and He keeps saying "wait". I am thankful to hear Him, but if you would like to, you could pray that I would have patience and would really be listening for when it is no longer time to wait.

Well, the kids were really funny throughout today, so I thought I'd close with something Gabriel said...We were talking about getting angry when someone does the wrong thing and Patricia said something about your mother not being happy when you do the wrong thing. Gabriel goes, "She'll smack you with a slipper! You have to be careful with your father and mother...BE CAREFUL!" Haha, this of course launched the class into a very animated discussion of the various instruments mothers use to smack you with when you are doing the wrong thing. Needless to say, it was extremely entertaining. What a week. <3