I made it to South Africa! And despite laryngitis drama that has kept me
in my sleeping bag for most of the first 7 days, I’m loving it.
We flew into Johannesburg and had a night
off where most of the squad went to the local mall and treated ourselves to new
clothes – because we have been living in 80-120 degree weather for the past 6
months and when we landed in Jo-burg it was all of 30 degrees. Not complaining though! We were all ready for the change in
seasons. So, we shopped and ate some
good food before heading to our ministry site.
I am living with the Xhosa people. In their language, there are really
interesting click sounds, so you pronounce ‘Xhosa’ by slapping your tongue
against the roof of your mouth to make the click noise, while simultaneously
making a hard ‘k’ sound, followed by ‘oh-sah’.
So, for us white folk new to the land, we just say “Khosa”. But it is fun to listen and try to repeat the
language! It’s my favorite language on
the race so far. It’s mostly Black
African people here interspersed with a few White African (the white African is
pronounced Af-ri-Kahn). The area we live
in is called Coffee Bay and it’s GORGEOUS.
The rolling hills and plateaus of South Africa.
The view from my tent.
Coffee Bay is mostly tribal grounds. We are absolutely blessed to be staying on a
backpackers resort on the beach.
Literally on the beach. Our
ministry is unbelievable – surfing and soccer!
So, this month I get to camp out in my cute tent:
on the beach, and play soccer and
surf. And I’m doing it all for
Jesus!
The second day we were here, they had a
welcoming ceremony for us. The men and
women did awesome tribal dancing. They
had drums and loud singing and the men did a style of dance that reminded me of
stomping the yard and all that, and the girls did a traditional dance that
reminded me of Beyonce! I’m not kidding,
these girls can move their butts and just about every other muscle and
extremity! It was so entertaining! Hands down the best dancing I’ve seen on the
race.
Of course I got caught up in all the excitement and shook
my booty with the best of them!
To make sure all the kids are able to
participate in surfing and soccer this month, we went around to all the local
huts and had their parents sign a form.
I loved walking up and down all the hills and meeting their
parents. They were very inviting and
excited for us to be in their community.
The Xhosa people live very communally and simply. They’re rural people and expect everybody to
share if someone has a surplus and someone is in need. All of their huts are the same size and
color.
The rolling hills.
A typical hut for the Xhosa people.
Here’s some
fresh little faces that I’m sure I’ll be seeing a lot of this month : D
Surfing – Soccer –
Beach – Cool weather – Yep, I think I love South Africa.
