Close Your Eyes and I'll Kiss You... Tomorrow I'll Miss You...

So we have arrived home safe and sound. I already told you guys all about leaving the orphanage, so all we had to do from there was leave Africa. Our last day was fun. We decided to head to the beach and go out for dinner. However, Jen changed her plans. She wasn't feeling well so she left the beach and skipped on dinner. I, however, nicely burnt my stomach (the only day I burn and its the day I'm jumping on the plane to go home). But, Jen had it worse. She decided to start throwing up five hours before our flight. So I got to pack up the remainder of her stuff, force as many liquids as I could on her and rush off to the airport. There we got a wheelchair for her to get her to the plane. Isn't that sweet, we got to end our trip just how we started it... with Jen needing a wheelchair and a pukebag. Fun Fun. So, Jen and I got on the plane... we took off... Jen decided to recline her seat and try to get some sleep. There was our second hurdle of the night. The interesting Dutch couple behind us. Jen put her seat back and ended up with whip lash. The lady behind her had grabbed her chair and shook it until it was back up right. Jen was feeling horrible so she just gave me a look like "what just happened?". So I told her to try again while I watched the lady out of the corner of my eye to see what was going on. The exact same thing happened. So I turned around, gave her a big smile, and asked for her permission, pretty much, for Jen to put her chair back. She was a very grumpy old women with an even grumpier husband. She told me she didn't speak English (In English) and so I turned to her husband. I explained that Jen was very sick and was wondering if she could put her chair back a little (since the man in front of her had his chair back and the lady behind her had her chair back, it only made sense). He replied, "My wife is sick too," with a smirk (looking like he didn't believe me, which shouldn't have mattered anyways, she should be allowed to put her seat back whether she's sick or not. We weren't asking for special treatment.) Then his wife hit him on the arm and told him to ignore me. So they both leaned back and pretended to sleep (in their reclined chairs). I tried to get their attention a couple more times before giving up. So Jen and I discussed our options. I couldn't switch with her, because the man was sitting behind me, and I wanted to put my chair back too anyways. So I turned around and tried to get their attention one more time. By now they weren't pretending to sleep anymore, they were both wide awake, so it was easy to make eye contact. I got the ladies attention and asked her very politely, still with a big smile on my face, if they minded switching with Jen and I. Then Jen could put her seat back without it bothering this women. She gave me a really annoyed look and then said "Just put the seat back, but only this much (and held up her hands to show about half a foot)." We decided that was the best offer we were going to get so we took it. I just can't believe how selfcentered some people can be. And how polite you have to be back to them, while they treat you like crap, just to get permission for something they don't really have a say over in the first place. I was a little annoyed, to say the least. But I will never know the circumstances that lead to that incident. So I shouldn't judge. I don't know anything about the couple, I might have just caught them on a bad day. And I hope that whenever I get caught on a bad day that people will still have some patience with me. So hopefully things looked up for them.


So we survived the flight to Amsterdam. Jen was feeling better by then, and the plane food hadn't been that appetizing, so we went and bought some pizza. We had a 5 or 6 hour delay, don't remember. But by the time we were getting on our flight to Minneapolis, I wasn't feeling so hot either. I just had a sore throat though. But it was one of those sore throats that it feels bruised and so you can't swallow anything, not even your own spit. It was probably from the planes air conditioning. Air on planes is always so stale and dry. Anyways, about 3 hours in to our plane ride home I started to feel worse. I got a migrane (so I put my sunglasses on even though the cabin lights were out, I think people thought I was a little strange), and my throat was worse, I had an ear ache (both ears), and all my joints were aching, especially my lower back and hips and knees, I had hot flashes, and cold flashes, and sensitive skin. But Jen got the flight attendant to bring me two advil, so by the time we landed I atleast felt funcitonal again. The problem was, my right ear wouldn't pop. So we landed in Minneapolis.. and it has popped a little but not completely. Then we got on our plane to Winnipeg and it wouldn't really pop on the way up or down. So I've had a pretty decent ear ache since then. However, my ear did finally pop on Friday. And I'm still recovering from this cold, but feeling better everyday. What did I really expect going from 30C to -30C?

But all is good now. Jen and I landed safely, with our families waiting to pick us up. It was great to see everybody. I headed home, and showed my family the thousands of pictures that I have of the children. I probably told them a thousand stories to match the photos. I couldn't stop talking about the children. It was so hard to leave them, and I thought that it would be easier now that I'm home, but it's not. I see now, what a lasting impact those 26 children have had on my life.

It was such a great experience. I have to thank everyone, again, for all the support I got. Whether you were just reading my blog and staying interested in what I was doing, or whether you were praying for Jen and myself, or whether you supported me financially. All of that had such a huge impact on my trip, and on the success of my trip. I just want to thank you one more time. The trip really wouldn't have been the same with out you all. So Thank You.

*This is Jen taking a quick nap between flights. (It was nice to actually lay down to sleep)

I Lied... Please Forgive Me

Okay.. I am writing again... and I am not in Winnipeg. I decided to post one more blog before I head home tomorrow. Jen and I just left the orphanage for the last time a couple hours ago. But before I get to that I will just tell you about our shift first.

It was a good last shift. Our first day, Ed (from Aviva) drove us to Masigcine. We couldn't go in the fifteen passenger like we usually do because the minibuses are on strike, and since our bus looks like a minibus, apparently it wasn't safe. So the police were stopping any buses from going in to townships. But Ed drove us, and then he interviewed us for a video he's putting together for the Aviva website I believe. So that was kind of cool, felt important, yet I'm kind of camera shy as well. Then Saturday was a blast. We had a Valentine's Day Party/Birthday Party. It was one of Michelle's friends birthdays so Jen and I decorated the play room with a poster that the kids and I had made. Along with balloons and another poster covered in hearts the the kids and I had made as well. Jen and I decided to have a big celebration for Valentine's Day as well. We made all the kids cards in the shape of hearts out of construction paper and made them all pretty. Then we stuffed them full of chocolate and candy. So we took the cards down and had all the kids sit down and wait for us to call their names. It was probably the cutest thing I have ever seen. The kids got so excited when their name got called. And Michelle took pictures of them with the card and candy, and all the kids clapped for each child. It was so adorable. We also got all the Sisis a can of coke and some Lindtt chocolates for Valentine's Day. I think they were pretty excited about that too. It's funny how such a little thing goes such a long way here. People really appreciate things here, so it makes it that much more fun to do things for people. Kind of a selfish few but it's true haha. It's just so rewarding to see the kids and the Sisis faces when you go out of your way for them. And they deserve it. So that brings us to today... Jen and I just spent time with the kids today. No big plans particularly.. just get in our last bit of time before saying goodbye. We did go to KFC and picked up chicken for all the children and Sisis for lunch. That was fun. They all love KFC so it was a nice treat. It was Michelle's day off, but she came in to give us a lift to KFC. That was great, because otherwise we wouldn't have been able to have the little lunch party. I told Zubenathi and Lucinda that we were having KFC for lunch today. But I told them to keep it a secret. It was so funny. Lucinda even pinky sweared. I didn't know kids did that over here as well. It was so cute though. All day the two of them would come up to me and say "Mama, we're having chicken... Mama KFC." and then go "SHHHH.. it's a secret." It was too adorable.

So usually we would leave Masigcine tomorrow morning but we went out for supper with Michael and Hilda tonight instead. Just to end off our trip and wrap everything up. It was a great dinner. Really nice to get to spend some time with the people that helped make it possible for us to be at Masigcine. But it was much harder to leave the orphanage then I expected. I knewit would be hard, I love those kids, but I think my heart actually broke. I'm not much of a crier, but I couldn't stop the tears running down my cheeks. So much for the make up I put on for dinner haha. Anyways, I might have been okay if it wasn't for Zubenathi. We took a big group picture right before we left. Jen and I ran up stairs to change for dinner, so we were all dressed up, with make up on, and clean hair haha. The kids never see us like that. So when I walked in to the play room, where we were having the picture Zubenathi stopped me. He said "Mama, where are you going? Are you going shopping?" and Jen and I had decided not to tell the children we were leaving (which I'll explain our logic in a moment). So I said "We're going for dinner, to eat." and he respond "That's it." all the while sounding a little panicked. It just made me break. I couldn't tell him that I was leaving for good, but I couldn't lie to him. All I could do was pick him and start to cry. I'm not a crying person but it wasn't in my control. Anyways, Jen and I had decided not to tell the kids we were leaving because we figured it would be easier on them. We are at Masi three days a week and then off three days a week. So they are used to us coming and going. We figured that this time we would leave and then they wouldn't exactly know when to expect us back, but the days would go on and they would get side tracked with other things and not really notice. However, Michael and Hilda had the Sisis tell the children so they could sing us a fair well song. It ended up being a much better plan then ours. We didn't have the guts to tell the kids, but this way they knew, and then it didn't feel like we were deceiving them. But I was already a wreck by then. Not crying per se, just tears constantly streaming down my face in silence. The goodbye song and dance made it a lot harder. Also, since some of the kids are older they understood what was going on. A couple of them started to cry. It was really hard. Since we're the first international volunteers they are not used to people moving in to their lives on such a permanent basis and then leaving suddenly. I felt bad for Lucinda. She just got to the orphanage about a month ago. I think she took it the hardest because she was taken away from her parents because of neglect. It doesn't seem like she was used to having an adult interact with her, and take interest in her, and play with her. So I gave her a kiss and she smiled, but was still crying. Zain and Masithandaze looked a little devasted too. I'm sure I looked more devastated however, so that might be way they were getting upset. The sisis were so hard ot say goodbye too as well. We've grown to love them, they are such amazing people. And I don't think they knew we were leaving us soon as we were either. So it looks like it caught them off gaurd a little (we have little communication problems, I told some of them this was our last shift and they were shocked because they thought we were here for 6 months, not 6 weeks). So they started crying as well. It was pretty much the hardest thing I've had to do.

Anyways... enough of that. I guess I'm just going to have to come back! That's my new plan haha. Guess I better get home and get a job then.

But yeah, otherwise we went out for supper with Hilda and Michael tonight. Which was a lovely way to spend our last night. We went to the revolving restaurant and got a great view of Cape Town. Just gorgeous.

And now we have one day left and fly home tomorrow night. So I will see you all when I get home. I just have to say this was a great experience for me. I can't express how grateful I am very the support I got. I just want to thank everyone for your prayers, your emotional support, and your financial support. All of that was so vital in making this all a success. So thank you so much.

*The picture above is of all the kids (minus Sipho who is hiding behind me when it was taken, and Banele who was out for the weekend) on our last day.

My Last Day Off :(

So this is the last time I will write to you from South Africa. The next time I leave a post I will be back in Winnipeg. I have some mixed feelings when I say that. This whole experience has been amazing. It's hard to leave a place that has opened your eyes to so many things. But I'm very excited to see what impact this trip will have on my life back home.

So let's see. What have I been up to? I don't feel like this shift has been as eventful as the past one, but still a fun one. Jen and I managed to lock ourselves out of our room... on a Sunday. Which means no one has the key to let us back in. Not exactly sure how we did it still. But we went in to our room for a break around 10:30, and that was fine. Then at 12:30 we went to grab some lunch and couldn't open the door. So we tried any key we could find in the orphanage and finally gave up and called Michelle. We felt pretty bad though because it's her day off and she was having a lunch with some friends. So we told her to wait until she was done lunch, but she ended up coming before it was done anyways. Oops. Thanks Michelle!

I also let the kids listen to my IPOD this shift. I can't remember if I mentioned that in any of my other blogs. But last week I let three of the boys listen to my IPOD. The ones that Jen and I took shopping for school uniforms. I'm sure you probably know the song "Hallelujahs" by Jeff Buckley (I believe that's who it's by). Anyways, it was on the radio when we went shopping (only by some UK Idol I think) and the boys started singing along to the chorus part- that is jsut hallelujah 8 times in a row- really pretty song though. So I knew that I had it on my IPOD so I took the boys aside and let them listen to it. Anyways, I kind of forget that jsut because I can't really talk to the kids doesn't mean they can't all talk to each other. So it was supper time and the boys ran back to the living room to pray and by the time I put my IPOD back in my room and came back down, all the older boys were all pointing to their ears and asking if they could listen. So this shift I brought it out, knowing it would probably be a complete catastrophe. But it actually went well. I let two kids listen at a time, and let one kid look through my IPOD for a new song. And then every 20 seconds or so I would tell the kids all to give the ear phones or IPOD to someone knew. And who ever had the IPOD had to sit on my lap so I could supervise the songs being chosen and make sure they didn't break the IPOD. The 36 hours flight home would be a long one without music I think. So it all went well. When the kids got grabby I would take the IPOD away until they settled down again. They seem to listen a lot better to me when I have something they want. Funny how that works eh?

Otherwise, the big highlight of the shift was probably celebrating Zubenathi and Zain's birthday. They both had birthdays since Jen and I have arrived in Africa but we were off shift for both of them. So we decided to have our own little birthday party for them. It was a lot of fun. We took the two boys on a walk to Shoprite (we've done this with some of the other kids as well). But we walked over and let them pick out a treat and a drink to share. We ended up all getting ice cream and sitting out on the bench and figuring out the messiest way to eat the ice cream. The two boys won. They actually pulled the ice cream out of the cone and tried to get it in their mouths. I'm not sure if they realized at first that the cone was edible. Anyways, I got some really good pictures of the boys covered in ice cream... their faces from ear to ear and the hands up to their elbows. We got back to Masi and rushed them in to the bathrooms to hide the evidence from the other children. I think the kids are smarter than that however. But that's okay, because this shift Jen and I are buying them all KFC. So it will even out. And we also made them valentines day cards (you know when you fold construction paper in half and cut out a half heart so that when it opens its a full heart- yeah we did that) and we put a little chocolate in each one. So I think the kids will like that. We also got the Sisis all some chocolate and a coke. So it will be a fun shift for us I'm sure.

Anyways, I think that's all for now. I will write again, however, when I get home to tell you how the trip wrapped up. Thanks for reading so far guys. I really appreciate the support.

*The picture above is of a bunch of the children crowding around to listen to my IPOD

A Quick Apology

So first, I will try to post something new tomorrow. I have a lot more stories to tell. But I don't quite have the time right now. However, I was just skimming over some of my other posts and I have to make a quick apology. Apparently I haven't been proof reading my posts. So my apologies that most of them are in broken English. I swear English is my first langauge... actually my only language. I'll hopefully get to go over those tomorrow as well and fix them up a little. Please don't judge me, haha.

Anyways, hope everything is going well. Everything is awesome on this end. I'm getting sad that I am coming home soon. It's going to be so hard to leave. But I am missing you all.

Busy Busy

So this past week has been fantastic! We finished our fifth shift at Masigcine, and it was a very eventful shift. I'll try to keep it short though. We arrived on Sunday, so all the kids were home all day.. no school. Jen and I were fairly tired so the day seemed a little long. But it was nice too see all the kids. We don't get to see the older kids as much anymore. Anyways, on Monday we got to visit the primary school. That was pretty fun. It's right across the street, but we have never been in side. So Michelle took us over and we did a little tour and then went to Anale, Kwanale, and Zubenathi's grade 1 class. The kids were all outside on a break so we got to talk to them for a minute. Not sure why I said talking, I actually meant we stood there and gave all the children high fives and such. I noticed, while we were there, that the three boys were pretty much the only kids in their class that didn't have uniforms. Right now Masigcine has 8 children in primary school, but only 5 uniforms for the kids. They have a few more pieces to the uniforms but they are too large for the 3 youngest boys. So Jen and I decided to do a little shopping trip and buy some new clothes. Definitely the high light of the shift. After school, Michelle, Jen and myself took the three boys to PEP. It's the store where you can buy school uniforms. The boys were so excited. They don't get to ride in a car very often, so that was exciting for them. And then once in the store they were dancing around and singing along to the music. They carried around their new shirts, and shorts, and socks while we tried the shoes on them. It was a fun little outing. When we got back to Masi the three boys did a fashion show for us. They put on all their new clothes and showed them off to the Sisis and other school kids and us. They were very proud. We also did a trip to the clinic. Xoleseka (better known as Colleen) has an ear infection and nose infection, so we took him to get checked out. That was an experience! Interesting though. The poor guy had to get some shots and get weighed and such. Actually, he didn't want to sit on the scale so i had to hold him, stand on the scale, and then get weighed all by myself. Fun. The last exciting little chore of the shift was cleaning out the crawl space. They have a storage space under the stairs for all the extra food. However, some little creepy crawlies decided to feast on them. So Jen and I got the privilege of getting rid of them. We got to take each item out at a time to see if there were bugs inside. And mean while the bugs dispersed around us and started climbing up the walls, and up our legs, and up the curtains... and it was so gross. But we got it done.

Anyways, those were the high lights from our shift. It was a pretty good one. Oh yeah, the orphanage also got pets! We now have two bunny rabbits that live in a cage in the back yard. So many of the kids are afraid of animals because they don't get the chance to see them very often. So the orphanage is hoping that having rabbits will help the kid out. They are pretty cute.

So, now for the past three days. They have been pretty eventful too, but I'll try to keep it short. First day, Katie, Alyssa, Jen and myself climbed Table Top mountain... both ways! We decided not to be lazy and actually do the hike up to the top. Then we planned on buying lunch and taking the cable car down. I thought it would be more of a leisurely tourist hike. It was not! It was a 4 km hike of home made rock stairs the entire way. Too make things worse, the wind was enough to blow you off the mountain (no exageration, apparently it actaully wasn't all that safe for us to climb that day, however we saw other hikers). Then we reached the top and realized that since the wind was so strong, the cable car was closed for the day... which also meant that the restaurant was closed. No lunch for us... but we did get another hike! So we hiked our way down. Which was a little easier on the lungs... but brutal on the knees. After we finally got down from our 8 km mountain hike we decided to treat ourselves. We headed straight to the mall... got a cinnabon cinnamon bun and then went to a movie. Probably the nicest movie theatre chairs I have ever sat in. And we got drinks and popcorn and watched the movie (a new release even) all for under 5 dollars Canadian. Not bad eh? The next day we did a little tour. We went to Pat's house. Pat is an 83 year old author, and very interesting individual. I can't so her justice writing about her on here but I'll try to do a quick summary. She wrote the book "A Lion in My Bedroom" and it's about a little bit of her life. Mainly when she owned a lion I believe. Anyways, she has sold the movie rights to her book which is pretty neat I thought. So we had lunch there with her, and some people that work at her house. Then we got to do a tour of her house. She has approximately 35 dogs (saved from shelters), some baboons, a chimp, some monkeys, some peacocks, etc. It was pretty cool. Today we decided to go to Muizenburg. We heard the water is warmer there, and one of the girls is doing a surf school there as her project, so we went for a visit. It's 34 degrees today, so a good day for the beach. However, once we got there it was actually fairly windy. Still had a good time though.

Well, that's pretty much it for now. I have so much more to say actually, but I'm trying to sum it up in something that you will actually have time to read. Hope everything is going well will all of you. See you in like 10 days! Weird.

*This photo is of the boys giving us a fashion show after we went shopping at PEP.

Oh Colleen... our midnight ballerina!

So first of all, I think I should probably explain who Colleen is. Colleen is the name Jen and I have given to the new baby in the house. This baby was new as of this shift. The first day we got there I asked the Sisis the babies name and one of the told me. It started with a C-O-possibly an L then a click... then a string of letters that I couldnt' pronounce. So Colleen seemed much more fitting for this child. Otherwise, I was only going to name em Baby. I thought Colleen deserved an actual name over just Baby. Anyways, this cute little baby was dressed in a slightly femine colour with a pair of little ballerina bottoms and the most gorgeous eyes with big flashy lashes. These tights were grey with little feeties in them. Too cute. On the second day of the shift... Colleen was dressed in blue. Then it came for bath time... if you haven't guessed yet Colleen should probably be changed to Colin... our bad. But as hard as we try we both keep calling the poor boy Colleen. Hopefully we can change that this week. But its just his eyes... there too pretty. And the tights, they through me off. But this baby is so sweet. We have both fallen in love with him. He has two teeth on the bottom and two on the top and can manage to smile and show all of them off fully. And he is always smiling (as long as someone is holding him) and he has the cutest little giggle.

Otherwise, the rest of the shift was pretty good as well. We met Michelle for the first time. Michelle is the manager at Masigcine. She had been on holidays up until last week, so that's why we hadn't met her. But she showed me were the grocery store was, which was good. So Jen and I took a walk over there the next day and we each took a child. It was a really good learning experience. I think I said earlier that we have taught some of the children the Kit Kat song (the whole "give me a break, give me a break, break me of a piece of that kit kat bar... etc, with a whole clapping game thing to go along with it). So anyways, I took Lucunda, a 7 year old who has become very good at that game and has just started to learn english (since arriving at Masi). So I looked high and low in the grocery store until I found a kit kat bar to show it to her. So now she finally knows what her favourite new song is about. It was a fun little trip.

Otherwise, we played with some more bubbles, learned how the storage room worked, Jen caught the flu, I held a plastic bag while she threw up in to it, it was Zains 8t birthday, and the school boys got new pencils and workbooks (that they were extremely proud of). So it was a pretty good week.

Also, I have a little story about Zubenathi again. He grows on my more and more each shift. I am in love with this child (along with all the other children). All of the kids at the orphanage are great, yet Zubenathi always manages to say something or do something that steals my heart. So this week I actually have two stories. The first involves Colleen.... I mean Colin. So we were watching a movie with all the children to help them wind down before bed. All the kids fight to sit in my lap, and none of them will share my lap. So I try to routate the kids through and give as many a chance to sit in my lap as possible. So I believe I had Bablwa in my lap, and then Odwa, and then it was Zubenathis turn. He had waited a little while, sitting patiently next to me, until my lap was free. Then he sat down on my lap and continued to watch the movie. About 30 seconds later Colin started crying. He had been set down on the floor not too far from me. As I said earlier he is the happiest baby... when he is bing held. If you isn't been held and he sees someone who could be holding him he howls. Instantly, however, Zubenathi got off my lap. He picked Colin up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Then walked back to my lap, set Colin in my lap and he took a seat nex to me (where he had been before). He flashed me a quick smile and then rested his head on my knee and continued to watch the movie. Zubenathi had pretty much been waiting in line to sit with me and gave it up as soon as he realized someone needed it more than he did. It just constantly baffles me how a 5 (soon to be 6) year old boy, who has spent most of his life in this orphanage, has developed qualities that I am still striving for.

This second story almost broke my heart. I think most people reading this blog are aware of the attachment I have developed towards Zubenathi, and so you will understand how this one little comment almost brought me to tears. I was sitting outside with a few of the children and we were having a tickle fight (which I always win). Zubenathi came out and joined in. After a few more minutes I was all tickled out and so we took a break. Two of the kids ran off to do something new, one of the boys (I believe it was Mazithandaze) had found a toy near by that he was quite excited about and Zubenathi took a seat in my lap. Zubenathi sat quietly at first, which is odd because he usually wants to tell me a story or show me something. Mazithandaze was showing me this toy and he kept saying "look mama, look". Which all the kids say to get my attention. Once he was done showing me everything this toy could do he walked away to go find something else to do. Zubenathi was still being quiet. About 30 seconds later he looked up at me and said "You're my mama aren't you?" in about a 70% matter of fact tone and 30% question tone. I didn't know how to respond. I just don't understand how this is still and orphan. He is a special gift from God. Jen and I just finished reading The Shack the other day. So I for any of you who have read it, you'll understand when I way "God is especially fond of Zubenathi." All of those children are Gods children, and God is especially fond of all of them, and he is especially fond of Zubenathi I'm sure.

Anyways, I just have to say that I would highly recommend anyone and everyone to come down here and volunteer. It is such a great experience; it is emotionally and spiritually challenging and thats what makes it so amazing. I have never been so stretched and so opened to the world around me. It is funny how coming down here I wanted to make such a difference for these children, and I hope I have, but every time I try to help the kids they seem to help me instead. The more I put in, the more these children make me see things and feel things. They are all so wonderful (which I know I have said, but I can't stress enough). The orphanage has really done a great job. These children, even though they are orphans, have grown up knowing that they are loved and that they are special. That is hard thing to do when kids are coming in and out and there are so many of them. Its special.

Anyways, before I get a little too emotional here I should probably sign out haha. I kind of went in to a little rant there, but I do mean it. Masigcine has been wonderful. Tough and demanding in some many ways, but always worth it!

So I hope everything is going well where ever you are. I miss you all and I will be home sooner than I would like to believe!

*The first photo is our Midnight Ballerina/Colleen/Colin/Xoleseka
*The second photo is Zubenathi and I pretending to be Muscle Man

So once again... time is flying... but today, so was I!

So, today I woke up, drove about 45 minutes outside of Cape Town... and jumped out of a plane at 3000m. Haha, didn't see that coming did you (unless you've been reading Jen's blog, then you already knew our plan). Anyways, last week Jen and I drove out there with two of our friends to go sky diving. It was too windy so we had to cancel and reschedule. So today was the new date. I didn't want to say anything about it incase it got cancelled again. But it's official now. And it was awesome! I think I may be addicted, and will need to do it again. Haha. It's such a cool feeling, falling at 200km/h towards the earth. You can see forever, and South Africa is gorgeous. I did it as a tandem. So I was attached to an experienced jumper named Rainer, from Germany. Once we opened the parachute he let me steer for a little bit. So we went round and round in circles as fast as we could till I thought I might be sick haha.

But actually, this 3 days off has been an eventful one. Yesterday we went on a tour with Aviva to Cape Point and some other places. So I saw some gorgeous views of the mountains and ocean, went to a National Park and saw baboons and ostriches. And then we saw some African Penguins! It was a pretty cool day. We saw a lot of places yesterday and learned a lot about the country. After we got back our whole house decided to go out for some Mexican food, to change it up. They didn't have room for us so we ended up doing take out and having a giant mexican picnic in our back yard. The people in the house change pretty often because the programs start every week. But so far everyone I've met in the house has been great. One of the people I ski dived with today is leaving tomorrow. Which is too bad. She's a lot of fun. But she's heading off to Kruger park for a 5 day safari before heading back to the states.

Otherwise, I also took my second mini bus trip the other day. I've talked about the mini buses before I'm pretty sure. They are these 15 passenger vans, with more people than that in them. You just hop on and off as you please for really cheap. But anyways, we got in a pretty good fender bender the other day in this mini bus. It was actually pretty funny because we all saw it coming but the driver didnt. We were stopped (a traffic jam of mini buses trying to leave the station) and our driver (who was about 16) was talking away to the driver in the mini bus beside us. Then he pulled a me (that time I exhalerated through the garage door). He randomly stepped on his gas while the bus in front of us had not moved at all, and he hit him pretty good. Anyways, everyone was fine, except our driver was pretty embarrassed, and the other driver was ticked!

Otherwise, don't know what I'm missing at the moment. It feels like it has been a pretty packed 3 days. But tomorrow morning is back to the orphanage. It's a pretty good balance, the three days off and three days on. When I leave the orphanage I am just starting to feel like I really need a break, but by the time my three day break is up I can't wait to get back to see the kids!

Oh yeah, and there was also another break in. Not at our house though. It was at the orphanage this time. There is 2 orphanages that the people at our house work at. Jen and I are the only volunteers at Masi, and then there are like ten volunteers that are at Bap. Bap is the one that got broken in to and some of the volunteers stuff was taken. So if you could just keep the volunteers safety in your prayers that would be awesome. Thanks guys.

Anyways, I hope everything is going well at home. I'll talk to you all soon... since tomorrow is officially half way through our trip... ah!

Love you all

Time is flying...

So we are almost half way! Crazy. First though, I just want to say thank you to everyone who helped me get here. It has already been such an amazing trip! I feel like I am actually making a difference, and I know this trip is going to have a lasting impact on my life as well. So, much appreciated.

Anyways, Jen and I just returned from our third shift at the orphanage. We have 25 children now. they started school this week however, so the days are a little quieter. We have 7 kids all day along, and then 7 or 8 are in the elementary school, and the rest are in primary school. So some of the kids return home at 2:00 and the others at 4:00. The boys in elementary school have uniforms. It's so precious. They don't have enough uniforms for all the boys so they try to dress them similarly. They wear these little white dress shirts, with some grey slacks, and red sweaters on the days that it is a little chilly. They go to school across the street so we wait at the gate while they walk across the street to their school. they usually turn around and wave back about 9 or 10 times on their 20 secong walk there. This week Jen and i set up some organized colouring with them. That was pretty cool. They don't usually let them play with crayons and stuff because they draw on EVERYTHING. But we rolled out a big piece of paper outside and supervised. it went well. The next day, however, I came down stairs to hang out with the kids while I was off duty, and boy did I regret it. I came down, half of the kids were being bathed, and the other half had already been bathed and were in their PJs. One of the kids had managed to find some crayons and markers however and had handed them out to all the children. There are colouring books sitting within there reach as well, but those were still in place. Instead, they had decided to colour all over the floor... and on some unfortunate childrens heads. it was actually an almost humorous site. About 3 small boys had green marker all over the backs of their heads due to a rascal of a child, Asenathi. Love the little 4 year old, but she knows all the best ways to be destructive haha. So I spent the nect 15 minutes cleaning the floor and I had to use my fingernail and some mr clean to final get it all off. Although some of the kids saw what I was doing and decided to help me out. So that was nice. They weren't actually that helpful, but it's the thought that counts. Otherwise, I also brought some bubbles with so Jen and I took those out for the children. I brought two bottles with.. but the first one I brought out... i turned my back on it for about 4 minutes... it got dumped on the ground. I am slowly learning that no matter how small a child is, nothing is out of reach.

Anyways, I'm sure I will have much more to write about in about 2 days if everything goes according to plan... so I will check back in then. Talk to you all very soon. Miss you

*This photo is of the boys heading to school (which you can see behind them) on a chilly day in their sweaters

Back to Normal...

So I am on my last day off for this shift. It was a good three days off. One of the girls left the house today and went back to the UK. It was sad to see her go. We also gained 3 new people this shift however. All three are Canadians. So we are representing our country well in the house now, I think its like 5 out of 9. The other three girls are American, and the guy is from Norway. We had another girl from Norway as well but she left a couple days ago.

But this shift I was able to organize my life, and put it back together. I went to the mall (Canal Walk, I think its like the biggest mall in Africa) and bought everything I had stolen. So I now have a wallet, some make up, and.... a camera! I feel a lot better now. Just simply ore organized. Otherwise, we didn't do too much this break. Rested up mostly. Went out for dinner with everyone in the house, went to a flee market... thats about it. It was nice.

So I don't have much to talk about from our days off so I'll talk some more about the orphanage. I can't remember if I said, but there are 4 new children from the shift before. So we're at 24 kids now. The orphanage has room for 4 more so we'll see if they have added anymore. The 4 new kids are all siblings. The oldest I think is about 9 and the youngest is about 6 months or so. The kids were wild this week, so this shift off was really nice. I am quickly falling in love with all the children there. They are all such wonderful kids, wild, but wonderful. There is this one boy, Wanda, who is two. He is one of the cutest kids I have ever seen. he is such a little free spirit. Quite independent for a two year old. And there are four sets of twins there. One set of twins, Anele and Kwanele, are adorable. They are two little boys with FAS. They are such happy kids though. They always want to play patty cake with me, but they don't always grasp the concept. So sometimes it just turns in to me slapping there hands and they just stand there and giggle. But they don't want me to stop. And actually all they want is for me to get to the part where we "roll it, pat it, and mark it with a B". For some reason they just absolutely love that part. Lusandra and Babalwa prefer the kit kat clapping game. They finally figured out on the last day of last shift, that since they both know it they can play together, not just with me. Except they still don't know all the words. So I always just hear then repeating "Give me a break, give me a break, give me a break, give me a break". So this shift I will see if they are able to learn the rest of the words. And then there is Zubenathi. If you have talked to my parents lately I'm sure you've heard about it him. I can't stop talking about him every time I phone home or send an email. He's a little five year old boy. His birthday is next month. We have made quite the connection in the past 2 weeks. He just got his cast off, some how he broke his leg, but its all healed up now. He still limps around a bit however. But thats because he didn't have a walking cast, but decided to walk around on it anyways. So he's learned to walk with out really bending his ankle. So each day he is starting to walk more normal . Although, the other day, also not sure how this happened, he fell and scrapped up the entire top of his foot. I think one of the kids maybe pushed him, not sure. I guess you can see why we have such a connection... both pretty accident prone. But he is a very smart kid. He speaks a little bit of English, just what he picks up at school, because otherwise the kids are exposed to English. But he loves to count to me and tell me the colours of his cars. But he's learning really quickly with Jen and I around. He repeats everything I say and has started actually using it. The other day one of the kids came up to me and burped (he does this often) and I said "excuse you". Zubenathi copied me and looked at the kid and said "excuse you". Then he smiled, burped himself, and then said "excuse me?" and looked at me to see if he was right. I was very impressed that he put that together all by himself, however less impressed that I had 2 children on my lap that were burping in my face haha. But still, he is a very bright kid. And just loves the attention. All the kids love the attention actually. But he is one of the only kids that doesn't climb on me like a jungle gym. He always scoots over until he is close enough that he is just touching me. Then when I notice him I will always say "Hi Zubenathi!" and his face just lights up and then he cuddles in just a little bit closer. He's absolutely adorable. The kind of kid that anyone would fall in love with.

Anyways, this is probably long enough. I've fallen in to South Africa time. Everything is at a leisurely rate. I forget that in Canada, no one has hours of free time to sit around the novel I've been writing on this blog haha. But I do have to say South Africa is pretty laid back... and therefore inefficient I might add. So I bought a camera yesterday, which you already know. But the first camera store I went to I asked how much there cheapest camera was... and there response "Actually we're sold out of cameras at the moment." I thought that was kind of funny. They pretty much only sold cameras, and a few camera accessories... so not too sure what there plan for the day was without any cameras.

Anyways, miss you all. Hope home is treating you well. I heard it was supposed to have warmed up a bit. I hope so!

*This picture is of Hlomelang, he is part of one of the sets of twins we have. His twin is Hlomang. He always puts his lips like that when he's wanting attention. He's adorable.

Mama Africa... and if you want to make a comment

Hey guys! So I just got back from Mama Africa. It's this african restaurant. It was so good. I had a mango kabab. Anyways, thats not the point...

I have had a few complaints about people trying to leave comments on my blog. Just in case you have tried... and it didn't work. It should work now. I had it set to the wrong setting.

Well love you all. Wow this is my shortest post yet. haha. Thats incredible.

Shift Two...

Hello everyone! So this one I promise to be shorter. And you can hold me to it this time.

So this shift was a little less eventful... thankfully. We just got home from our second shift at the orphanage. I'm pretty tired today. Jen and I did our first over night shift. Which means we are supposed to just sit until a child needs us. So we twiddled our thumbs for 12 hours. Actually, not quite. It was supposed to be 12 hours but at 3am Jen and I decided to take the last 4 hours in shifts. There only needed to be one of us down there. So Jen took the first two hours while I had a nap and I was going to do 5-7am. Jen, however, for the past 2 shifts has had impeccable timing. Its not on purpose but it just keeps happening haha. She has not changed a diaper yet. I have changed several. So anyways, at 5am she comes up to wake me up and we switch. I walk down the stairs and the Mom (the other lady working with us on night shift) goes "Time to change all the Nappies!" So we got to wake up all the sleepy babies to see what wonderful creations they had left for us. This happened the day before as well. Jen was doing bath time with one of the moms and we switched halfway through. I walked in for a moment and she asked to switch. The thing is that they bath all the older kids first, so now they were all done. So Jen I got to bath all the little ones. Which means changing all of their nappies as well. Fun fun. Actually, it doesn't bother me anymore. But Jen will change a nappie before we leave!

But the kids are great. We have four new kids this shift. A family. There are 2 boys and 2 girls. And they all look the same. They all have this dirty blond hair with greenish eyes, but they are black. They are gorgeous children. The oldest one has become a pro at the kit kat clapping game. We play all the time now. This shift was a little more tiring then the last. The kids just seemed a little more hyper. Maybe thats because there are more kids now. Who knows. But its still sad to leave them at the end of the shift. However, I think they understand now that we're coming back again in a few days.

Otherwise, don't know what else to say. Just on our three days off so I'm sure I'll have an exciting story by the end of it. I'll keep you updated. Love you all, and miss you all. Thanks for your prayers.

*This photo is of Lussan. The second yongest of the four kids that came in. Does anyone else think she looks like Brittany Willacy?

You know what... I still love South Africa

So, for those of you that read my last post... I PROMISE to make this one shorter. A little more to the point.

So first, this post is pretty much a little story. It is about how all the little activities in my day all came together for one final Hurray! So to say. So yesterday Jen and left Masigcine in the morning for our three days off. It was very hard leaving the kids, because we couldn't explain to them that we were coming back, and they didn't realize we would be leaving. So they looked a little crushed, and it broke my heart.

So Jen and I got back to our place around 9 or 10am. It was a blistering 31C so we headed to the beach. We went with another girl from our house and she showed us how to use the "mini buses" (aka a 15 passenger that stalls constantly and actually has about twice as many people in it). But crazy cheap! So we piled in and headed to the beach. It was a lot of fun. We got some colour, some smoothies, and a lot of sand in everything. Then we headed back home. Jen and I were exhausted from three days with children and now being in the sun all day so we had a very relaxing evening. We made ourselves some pasta.... and had a little dinner date outside. Then we headed to our room (its only the two of us in our room at the moment, then five in the other room across the hall, and one in the last room- thats the boys room). So Jen and I curled up and read for a bit before drifting off to bed. Jen was in the top bunk by the window, and I was in the bottom bunk in the middle of the room. Not sure why, but thats where we were. So Jen and I were feeling a little bit warm since it was 31C that day and we had gotten some colour. There is no air conditioning, but always a nice breeze. So we usually open the window at night. Our house is surrounded by an 8 foot concrete fence and then about 3 feet of barded wire that has an alarm attached to it if anyone touches it. So we are pretty safe to sleep with our window open. So anyways, I finished reading for the night and went and put my reading glasses back in to my purse (which sat in the far corner of the room on a chair). I dont usually listen to my music at night cause I fall asleep so quick, but I was still kind of mentally awake. So I decided to listen for a bit. I listened to about 3 songs and was then tired enough to go to bed. So I took it out and put it beside me. I have been having problems sleeping for some reason at Aviva. So I am getting used to randomly waking up in the night for hours at a time. Not sure why that is, but I think its the whole community living and it being a fairly noisy neighbourhood. Anyways, last night was no exception. I suddenly awoke at around 1:30am. I woke up startled but couldnt put my finger on what startled me. Either way, once again I was wide awake. Then I realized that one, it was very bright in the room (and no, there wasnt anyone taking my picture again), and two, there were a lot of bugs. I turned over and realized that the blinds (and these are these heavy stubborn blinds) were open. Jen and I had left the window open, but just feel better when the blinds are closed. And I knew we had closed them before we went to bed because it took both of us and was quite the procedure. Anyways, I figured that Jen had opened them because it was still warm in the room. About an hour later the blinds crashed shut. I was still awake, and I knew that they blinds had just simply fallen shut like they sometimes do. It startled Jen awake however. She asked what the crash was, and I explained that the blinds closed on there own. She asked why they were open.

So, I got out of bed and turned the light on and we had a look around. Everything was in place. Then we started killing all the bugs in the room. We were about to crawl back in to bed but Jen wanted some hand sanitizer out of my purse... however my purse was no longer on the chair in the far corner of the room.

I spent the next 5 hours, or so, pacing the house looking for my purse. I knew it was gone but I was still hoping. Finally in the morning I had to report it to the police. It ends up that one of the girls across the hall had been on the phone sitting in front of the house by our window until around 1:15. Then when she came inside she heard people walking around in our room but figured it was us. I awoke about 15 minutes after she came in the house, but some how someone had gotten over the fence, through our window, opened the ridiculously awkward blinds (without dsiturbing us), slipped between the two foot gap between the bunks in the dark, made it to the opposite side of the room, and snatched my purse.

The cops, however, did a sweep of the surrounding area in the morning and found my purse and all of my cards. The thief had sat outside our house and sorted through the contents. He took each card out of my wallet before deciding to keep my wallet and the money. Then he took my camera.. not the camera case... just the camera (with all my pictures :( however) and some other odds and ends. But Jen and I are very lucky I must say. I think it would have been too much of a fright to wake up with someone in our room, more so then just knowing someone was in there while we were sleeping. And I am very thankful for those cards back. It is alwasy frustrating when things get taken that are of no use to the other person, but are so vital to you (like my health card!). Anyways, I had already cancelled my visa and debit... so now I have no money! But hopefuly I will get that figured out soon.

But, my deepest apologies. I promised this would be shorter... and then I got carried away. But I will end it now. I am doing great still. A little scare, but no real harm came from it, so we'll chalk it up to a learning experience I guess. With that said, I would really appreciate your prayers for our safety. This is the second time in two weeks that something has been taken from our house. The first was a camera sitting on the ledge of the window. This time they came right in. So obviously they are getting braver. We're hoping we can put a stop to it quickly though, before it becomes a trend. But yeah, I would appreciate your prayers, and maybe if someone could give my mother a hug! I think I scared her a little with my middle of the night hysterical phone call.

But I miss you all! And I'm loving it here!

*This photo is of Jen trying to sneak in to our room the way that the robber came in.

Masigcine

So I just returned from my first shift at Masigcine. It was an experience. I am so excited about the orphanage. I understand now how draining it is going to be, but it will be so worth it. The kids are great! There are 20 of them, ranging from Michaela the 4 month old to Zain the 8 year old. It is supposed to be an orphanage for kids six and under but they jsut got a social worker on staff in Novemeber so they haven't had time to find them homes or another orphanage yet. But the older boys are great. I thought they might be little tyrants, but they have been so helpful. You can see that hey have taken it upon themselves to help out with the little ones. And they are so loving. They also go to school so they have learned some english. None of the other children speak english so its nice to have a few kids to translate some of the simple stuff for us so we can keep some sort of order with the 20 kids. But Jen and I are also learning some of the their langauge so that we can communicate some stuff with them. So far I have learned sit down, lie down, be quiet, hair, and spit. Haha I know the last two dont fit in but they were important words to learn. I learned hair because none of the kids have hair, and the moms keep theirs completely wrapped up. So they have taken quite the interest to Jen and my hair. I think they have all managed to rip out a piece of my hair and keep it for themselves. So I have started saying "no inwele" and they seem to understand. I learned spit because we are teaching the kids t brush their teeth. All of the kids want to eat the toothpaste and drink the water. So we had to learn spit (two-fa) so that they would realize it wasnt food. It was really cute to see them all learning to brush though.

So thats kind of a little peak in to what we have been up to so far. I didnt realize the orphanage has its own website and I think you should really check it out. We watched a video about it yesterday to see whats been going on in the orphanage in the past 2 years. The video is on the website too if you want to take a look. But pretty much the orphanage was started by the church in the community back in 1989. Then in 2007 another group came in and saw that the orphanage was in really rough shape and decided to help out. The kids were all malnurished with no sense of hygene. They were all sick, none of them were in school and they all were dressed in dirty clothes. The mothers there were doing the best they could with the kids (which I believe because the moms are all exceptional women) but they didnt have the resources or the knowledge. So this group of a few people from Cape Town did some renovations. They took all the kids and the moms and set them up in a hotel on the beach for four days. The kids got to go on outings and went swimming and ate as much food as they wanted. I saw some pictures and it was really something special. While they were there they had 200 volunteers come in and completely transform the home. Everything was donated. They put grass in the yard for the kids to play on with a play structure, they gave them each their own bed with a stuffed animal, gave each bedroom air conditioning, and they just completely transformed the place. I think Jen and I are actually getting a little spoiled haha. The home is very nice. After that they sent all the moms to some workshops to learn about hygene and discipline and things of that nature. Also, its nice to see that this group is still involved. They let the moms still run the place and run things there own way, but they are helping to maintain it. They have hired a garden to keep up the outside appearance, they hired two social workers, they have taught the moms about the food guide so the kids are no longer malnurished. There are only two children that still have the big bellys and that is because they are new.

Anyways, so yes, Jen and I came to Africa and we are living in our own room with our own bathroom, and a tv (for movies) and air conditioning. doesn't sound to rough eh? When we first got there the children were out on a walk so we got a chance to settle in and see the place without them there. My first thoughts were along the lines of "why are we at this orphanage? It really doesn't look like we can be much help here, they have everthing under control." But when the kids got there it was a completely different story. I'm not sure if I mentioned already but having long term volunteers at this home is new. We are actually the first ones ever! We are pretty much an experiment haha. The moms have done a great job with these kids, but I see now how short staffed they are. They have enough people to keep the place clean, the kids healthy and fed, and to keep the kids orderly tos ome degree. Not enough staff however, to play games with the kids, organize activities, and give them individual attention. I am really excited about this program. There is lots of potential to make a big impact on these kids lives.

I have so much more to say on the subject, and stories to tell, but I fear that you will probably stop reading soon if I keep rambling because I am aware that this is getting quite long. (okay I just reread that sentence, my apologies if the whole blog is like that. I have been reading Twilight during the kids nap time and apparently I am starting to talk like the main character haha). So yeah, I miss you all at home. Everything is going great here. I am pretty tired because we are working 14 hour days, and Jen and I have both been a little sick (good enough to work, but not good enough to eat much). So if you could keep us in your prayers I would really appreciate it. And if you could also pray that we continue to have an impact on these children. They have come from such devastating circumstances and they just really need love. So hope everything is good at home!

Amanda

PS- the website is http://www.masigcine.org.za/

That was the longest flight of my life...

So first, jen and I had quite the experience getting here. I just finished reading her blog, and I think seh tells the story much better than I ever could. So please go read it at parkerinafrica.blogspot.com. my flight was actually quite good, minus the fact that my body hated me after sitting for 30 hour. Jen had a bit worse luck then myself. Really, you should just go read the story off her blog.

But we're here now. Pretty much all settled in. We got here at midnight last night. I couldnt fall asleep until about 3 am, and then I woke up around 7:30. Actually, I woke up to the wierdest thing, but I was too tired to process it at the time. not exactly sure what happened. But I woke up to a camera flash. It was completely dark in my room. There are three sets of bunk beds, and there were 4 people in our room last night. But yeah, I woke up to this flash, opened my eyes, and saw someone dart out of the room and close the door behind them. So, my conclusion is that i think someone took a picture of me sleeping... not really sure. Anyways, mom, I'm sure your reading this. Don't worry, it was probably just someone who was leaving early this morning (a lot of people did leave this morning) and they just wanted a picture of the room they had stayed in or something. I know you are worrying, but its actually a lot safer here then I thought it would be. or I'm just oblivious haha. Kidding kidding. South Africa has had a lot of changes in the past 50 years. We heard a few horror stories today about things that have happened in the past, but the changes that are being made are incredible. And the people are all still so friendly considering what they have lived through. I know I'm really gonna like it here. And the kids here are SO CUTE! And I havent even gotten to the orphanage yet. We had these kids dance for us today (we were on a tour and these kids are called Happy Feet). Anyways, they were so adorable. I have a video of them dancing so I'm hoping I can download it at some point.

Anyways, Jen and I need to find a market. We need to buy some food for ourselves... and possibly some clothes for Jen. (Read her blog to find out why she doesnt have any clothes). But Jen is really handling it well. I thought she would be a little bit more upset by this point. I think I would. But shes wearing my clothes... which maybe arent the best fit. So well see what we can find. We've already been told the Mr.Price is where we should go for cltohes. its really cheap and pretty nice.

Well i'm gonna stop my rambling there. Im still really tired and I haven't been making any sense for the past 4 hours. So I hope this message is some what logically. Either way I promise the next one will make sense. Right now I am going to pick up some food at the market and then head home for a nice early bed time of 9:00pm. Miss you all!

*This photo is us with the kids from Happy Feet after they danced for us.