I know its a bit late, but, wow. to summarize my trip to South Africa seems like a daunting task.
My time in the southern hemisphere was rejuvenating, encouraging and exciting! I went to South Africa purely as a vacation trip! Its one of the few vacations I have had without family obligations, mission trip involvement, and no list of things I had to do!
I went to South Africa to visit two different set of friends. The first is a family that I met here in Boston. Ellen and Phumlani Ngcongo were a newly married, South African couple living in Cambridge for a year while Phumlani studied at Harvard Law. Ellen was working at my church part time. Their flexible schedules and close proximity to my apartment allowed our friendship to grow during that year. They also recently added a baby girl, Keitumetse, to their family!!! I was also able to visit Valpo friend, Tyler, who is spending 6months in Cape Town finishing up his master's degree.
Quick Overview of the trip:
Jan 30- Arrive in Jo'burg (Ngcongo family)
Feb 1- 5- Drakensburg Mts
Feb 5-8- Durban
Feb 8-12- Cape Town (Tyler)
Feb 14- Arrive back in Boston
Snippets from my journal
-Can't believe I'm in Africa, I've been dreaming of this for years. Lord, thank you for this opportunity. and Keitumetse- i'm in love!!
-I am amazed at the beauty of South Africa and the complexity of these lands.
-what great friends I have been blessed with, i look forward to the years of friendship ahead
-How i love to eat! thank you for the sense of taste, Lord!!
-what was God thinking when he made a giraffe?! what a weird animal. i think its my new favorite!
-Definitely a "vacation" day today. How i love hiking, relaxing, leftovers and a pool!
-Another great day, and a proposal! I could stay here forever? Maybe I should reconsider his offer!
(note: on this day I was able to go for a two hour horse ride in the mountains, which was absolutely incredible. It was just me and the guide. He was a 23 yr old Zulu man and he proposed to me by offering me 20 cows when the going rate is 11!)
In Durban:
-Who knew a small fan could make a night so pleasant? Enjoying the breeze while i can
-We spent today with Phumlani's family in a township. what an awesome experience of love, acceptance, and culture
in Cape Town:
-Valpo friends really are some of the best friends i have!
-This city is gorgeous. Everything i love in such close proximity- mountains and ocean!
-I wish I had infinite vacation- this is going way too quickly!
-I really don't know much about South African/ African history- i definitely need to read up. There is so much rich, inspiring history that I am ignorant of.
The trip was truly amazing. I lost my heart, mostly to Keitumetse, but to Africa as well. I came home remembering why i chose to go into nursing in the first place and the dreams i still have of going overseas. I also came back rested and reinvigorated to get involved in life here in Boston. It is so easy to get caught up in work and sleeping! The fellowship and encouragement from my friends in South Africa was a nice reminder of the community God built us to desire and need.
While its good to be back in the US, I am already eagerly awaiting my next trip to Africa!
95 Days Til the World Cup!
2 comments:
Sounds like an amazing trip! I know you will go back...and when you do, I would love to come with you! When I was in Tanzania over a summer semester in college, the pastor's son of the church we visited offered cows to my professor for me (he thought he was my father), and he totally went along with it! He told him that we if he had the cows when we came back he could marry me! Luckily when we came back later that week he was not able to come up with the cows, which is good, because this was before Phil and I met, and then I wouldn't be where I am today! But had he come up with the cows I'm not sure what my professor would have done...he could have been a rich man with all those cows...at least the pastor's son was a nice guy, spoke english; he also lead us on a trip up a mountain....guess we better be careful of men leading us up mountains!
Sounds like a wonderful trip! It's so exciting to watch you do such amazing things- and I know there's many more to come!
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