Pictures

There are a lot more but I would like to show a lot of them in person. These just showed some of the things we did while there.

Pictures!!! hopefully

This is the hostel we stayed at in Pretoria, it was a pretty amazing place. Tim and Monique were amazing hosts. The fence you see is topped with 6 wires of electric fence and there are also wires across the front.

This is my buddy Ayanda. She rode on my back for probably 3 hours one day. My neck killed!

This is a picture of the rugby game we attended. The Blue Bulls and the Cheetahs. Bulls won.

The Penguin colony at Boulders. There are about 1000 penguins on this side of the beach. I almost stepped on one on the other side of the beach, it was crazy and they smelled horrible.

This is me at the V&A Waterfront. With none of it showing in the picture its funny like that.

5 more days

We have come to the tail end of a great trip. Today we are finishing up on all of the activities on campus. We are having a huge braai (BBQ) with the Campus Crusade group here, we also invited nearly everyone we met with in the past couple of weeks, hopefully many of them show up. If not I am super cool and have some as friends on Facebook...hahaha.
It seems like we have been here a long time but looking back it is hard to believe that it has nearly been a month. It is just one of those wierd things. As a group we feel like we actually accomplished a lot, or God accomplished a lot through us.
The next few days will be crazy, tomorrow we are going on a safari, and we have to get up at 5 in the a.m. That is just crazy but apparently we have to get there when the gates open so we have a better chance of seeing animals. We are hoping to see the "Big 5" which are also the animals featured on the currency here.
Then on Sunday we have nothing happening but all kinds of stuff to do. This is when we will be getting as many souveniers as possible. There is an open air market every Sunday with some really cool stuff.
Then Monday we go to Beam one more time and this time there will be another team there and we are having a giant soccer game. It should be incredible.
Tuesday we have a bit of debriefing and possibly go watch Batman (doubt it) then fly out at 3. Then we will be on a planbe for about 26 hours (jealous? hahaha I really think they should create a way to travel Star Trek style, it would be so much faster!)
SO see you all in a few days-ish and this will probably be the last update (there may be one on Sunday) while I am here. Then like I said pics will be posted. TAFN.

Internet 2 days in a row...I'm freakin out man

Stop the insanity, internet time 2 days in a row, impressive.
Ok so I will attempt to cpntinue where I left off.
We were supposed to be back in town at 7 for a traditional meal, but God had a team building exercise planned instead. One of the guys was on the beach and got hurt so we ran down the hill(I say hill but it was almost a mountain-but I am from Colorado so it is a hill) then we put him on a stretcher and carried him back up taking turns carrying. It was a scary time but also a time when out group came together a little bit and we were able to see some new people step up and use their skills. We waited for the ambulence and then returned to the waterfront because it was about the only thing that was open at the time we returned to CapeTown.
After some intense prayer sessions we heard back from the leader that stayed with him. He was completely fine, only 4 stitches and a couple of scrapes. He was able to come home the same night. I can't say a lot but I will fill people in once I come back, well possibly. Basically we think it was a miricle that he escaped with those few injuries.
We slept in once again and then headed to the airport after lunch, it was another short flight with a couple minor glitches, but over all a smooth transition.
We came back to Joburg and then drove to Pretoria and had to go the the opening day of Missions Week where of course we were labeled the "loud Americans" (people talk really quietly here). We joined in singing worship songs some in English and some were we just kind of hollered at a pitch trying to come up with what they were saying, occasionally sounding like we were going to spit on others during the Afrikans songs. Then a guy from the United States came out and apparently we have an accent or something because we were the only people that understood th entire thing. We did more of the same yesterday and tonight we are going to be at the educator's campus. We are preparing to close out the trip and will finish up our "work" on Friday. Saterday we are going on a Safari and then Begining to adjust back to Life in the States and all of our less friendly less open people. This week will be filled with amazing time to eat free food and enjoy what we have done the past few weeks.
Ok we are officially caught up again. Look for pictures when I get back and TAFN.

Cape Town and possibly a short rant :)

OK first the rant.
Mom decided to tell me that my blogs had spelling errors in them, I know that. But I am only on the computer for so long and I am shooting for content not accuracy. If you can figure out what I was trying to say then it worked didn't it? Love you mom! (but seriously check my spelling on something important like homework or something:)
Second I would love to put pictures up too but have no way to do so until we get back in the U.S. I will do that for sure when I get back so come back to check after we get back.
Now on to Capetown!
This weekend we went to Cape Town for "rest and relaxation" (I think I would have gotten more in prison with a huge roommate named Bubba). We flew so it was not a bad trip, it only takes 2 hours in either direction. I think I have flown more on this trip than I have in my entire life, in fact I know I have. I have come to one important conclusion, I like South African Airlines. They have decent food and better pilots(according to me). In 2 more flights I will be back in the States and you can all see pictures!
Back to Cape Town. The first day we landed and got our vans(called taxis here, vans are pickups, soo confusing) then proceeded to our hostel. The dirve was incredible, and we ended up right by Table Mountain. We had a little bit to chill and then we headed to the Waterfront. This is basicall a giant mall with lots and lots of restaurants. I neglected to mention that we did all of this on Nelson Mandela's birthday. Thankfully we did not go there until later though because I have a feeling a few people were there to make the trip out to Robben Island(that might not be spelled right, mom don't yell). Then we returned to the hostel where I was in a bed that still creaked but at least I didn't feel the iron supports in my back. (Side note: I have a new room in pretoria now too!)
The next day we didn't leave until 11am we headed towards the Cape of Good Hope. We made it all the way to a point where we had to go across the mountains/peninsula because the road was closed. This actually worked to our favor because we were able to see the penguins at Boulders(So cute but they smell like poo) Got some awesome pictures, almost stepped on one, you know the usual. We ate in Simon'sTown and then proceeded on our trip. Entering the park our van pretended to see an animal and slam on the brakes to see what the other van would do, of course they fell for it, but then we actually did see an ostrich. After parking we hiked to the starting point where some people went down to the beach and others went up to the lighthouse(s). I went to the lighthouse and tried to take pictures along the way, but my batteries died, I borrowed some and still got a few pics.
Three of the leaders, Carly and I decided to go to the Point where the second lighthouse is(the one they built lower after the Lusitania sunk) We had half an hour and took off, we came to a sign that said "return hike 1.5 hours" we looked at it and said there's no way, so we took off. It was a pretty brisk walk. We make it out to the point in about 10 minutes, we're good. Then we paused to look and take a couple pictures, then ran away. AND I MEAN RAN we only slowed down so that we didn't knock a little girl of the path and when a group of elderly people got in the way. WE made it bake to the vans with 2 minutes to spare (1.5 hours sign, I scoff at you).
Ok I have to go but hopefully I can continue this later. SO TAFN.

FOOD!

First I appologise for the length of the last post, it was kind of ridiculous:)
The last couple days we have been going to the Education campus of the University of Pretoria and talking to a bunch of guys. People here are so much more open to conversations than they are in the U.S. We can literally just go in to a persons room and start talking about whatever we want to talk about. So cool!
The other thing i want to share about is food. I am a "foodie" so you had to know this was coming. I have eaten at so many different restaurants that it is kind of crazy. I have come to a couple conclusions: first, american food is not that much worse than other countries, the people just work more and have less free time. Second, McDonald's is virtually the same all over the place(here they have a MegaMac which is a bigmac with 4 patties on it, now thats crazyness) Finally, chicken is prized more here, it is actually more expensive than beef.
I am getting ready to go to MickeyD's here in a second anyway.
Today we have stuff going on with the Campus Crusade group on campus and will get to see what it is like in another country, and hopefully see some of the people we have met so far.
Tomorrow the group is going to Cape Town for some much needed rest, a whole lot of people barely woke up this morning. Hopefully we will be able to do touristy type stuff there as well.
Thats all for now I have to leave time to go to the post office and stand in line for a few hours:)

Catch Up Time

Hey everyone, sorry it has been so long since I posted last. But get ready to sit and read because this could tun into a doozie(i am not quite sure how that is actually spelled)
All kinds of things have happened since last time but I will try to keep it semi-organized. We continued our week at Beam playing with children and taking a thousand pictures. Every day when we left they would run along side the vans yelling "shoot me" and waving. (The changes in words are fun for instance, robot, is a stop light) One of the other things that happens at Beam is job creation so there is a group of women that do bead work, hopefully they will have time to complete the order our group placed, so I can show it to everyone. They did incredible work, I got spoons and a bookmark(as long as they can do the order that is.)
The last day we were there Erika and Louie(the people that run the place) took us to a Lion park owned by a guy named Leon(how fitting). About 14 years ago this gy decided that he wanted to have lions. After waiting for permits for 10 years he finally got them and now has 4 lions (Nakita, Rambo, Leon, and Katerina) We were able to see them from about 2 feet (not quite the same experience as the zoo, I am pretty sure my group leader needed a new pair of pants.) It was incredible, right up to the point where rambo tried to break the fence down inducing a few panic attacks. Also not hleping was the fact that Leon was "in season" (apparently that is the nice way to say in heat) so he was roaring and growling at everyone that came near Katerina or him. Then we got to see them eat, and we learned all about their diets, right before we went to eat(bad choice). It was really cool though.
At beam we also were able to show the Jesus Film to the children before we left. (on a projecter that is older than my parents I am pretty sure) (If they are reading this LOVE YOU! and I promise I didn't just call you old.)

Saterday was a day nearly off of all thought, there was a lot of shopping at Hatfield near the hostel. I walked around with Ashton and I think we discovered every store possible. I was looking for warmer clothes (winter here is a lot colder than i packed for). That night we went to a Rugby game between the Blue Bulls and the Cheetas, Soooo COoooool! I got a couple good pictures too. The only problem was that while it has not rained for months and "will not" rain for months, it poured on us for the entire second half. It was a really nice cold rain though, if there can be souch a thing. We all jumped the Bulls bandwagon as they were the local team and figured we should go with the crowd, rather than getting jumpped. Turned out to be a good plan too as they won 31 to 23 (don't quote me on the score though, the important part was that they won)

Sunday we returned to the site where Beam opperates. The land is actually owned by a church and we attended there service (what I will call a far cry from any thing I have ever been to in the U.S.) Think Southern Babtist meets Dance Dance Revolution invaded by white people from the U.S., pretty cool aye? It was amazing they called us up to sing for them and then a few of us spoke(not me) to the crowd, and then James actually gave the sermon which was interperated by Peter who works for Beam. It was incredible, we all had to sit by someone from another group integrating the congregation, I sat by Moses and Francis cool guys. Finally they taught all us white people how to dance at the end, pretty funny. The best part had to be the old lady that someone gave a mic, whenever there was a pause you would hear a wail and then everyone would start singing. I don't think most of the singing was really planned, but it was all good.

Monday the South African Staff for crusade had it planned to do training with us for 8 hours...hahahahahahahahaha, that was pretty funny our leaders talked them down to 3 after which we were all dead anyway. Then we ate lunch (Nando's is possibly the best chicken ever) and they have suckers that taste like candy corn...mmmmmmm. Finally we were able to go to the University where we will be for the next couple weeks, and walk around. Then we headed to the dorm where the guys are focusing their attention. We went down 4 floors, and started as many conversations as possible. It was a pretty successful night.

Anyway Ihave to leave now but you are pretty much caught up, hopefully it won't be another week before I can post again. TAFN(thats all for now)

Pretoria

We have now been in Pretoria for 2 days at a hostel near the Hatfield area. We will be living at this place for the next month so it is a good thing it is fairly nice. (Although I am in a room with 10 guys that is only slightly larger than my bed room at home.) We have been going to a place called BEAM Africa the last couple days. It has multiple functions but one is a afterschool program/aids orphanage, so we have been playing with the kids there (about 120) and it is a good idea to not start something unless you plan on being able to do it to all of them. (A lesson learned the first day, you can only make so many kids fly) I will say that it makes you sleep very well that night.
I really wish I was better with names but I am pretty sure I had all 120 kids tell them to me very early and I only got the one that rode on my shoulders and the people that work there. Ayanda rode on my shoulders for a good 2-3 hours the first day and killed my neck so today I played soccer:).
Another thing we are doing for the centeris goingout into the town to find out information about the new childrens' families. We go out with a group of 3 of us and a volunteer from the center and ask about family background and the children. Things like if they have allergies or not because the center provides a meal each day. Then we get information from their birth certificates and finally make sure that they are able to recieve the aid that BEAM offers.
Going out was a new experience, we would walk down the street saying "hello" to the children and they would start laughing and talking to one another. We asked our guides what they were saying and they told us that they just thought it was cool that a white person was talking to them. My favorite moment on the trip today had to be a group of four boys playing. They were pretending to wrestle like WWE and they had all the right motions down. It is so strange to see a satellite dish on top of a makookoo(ps I might actually learn how to spell that in the next few days). However you spell it, it is basically a shanty house made out of tin or whatever the builders could find. Then most are surrounded by a large fence with razor wire, in town, but out of town it is hit or miss.
Well y'all my keyboard is being special so later and hopefully I can post some pictures in the next one.

The Journey Begins

July 2nd 2008 everyone arrived in Denver. Connie and Ryan were kind enough to give me a ride for the half mile ride to get to the Ramada Inn. We arrived early as ryans father had to go to work. This way we learned everyones names only to forget them and relearn them over the next couploe days. (Side note: you can beat the hand held 20 ?'s game with arm pit, beard, and lamp shade.)
After a night of limited if any sleep the group headed to DIA at 4:30 in the morning. The flight was rough going to La Guardia airport in NYC. THen we had to switch to JFK airport and on to South African Airways. While waiting for grass to grow on the runway we me the people around us and then we were off on the first of 2 eight hour flights, this one to Dakar. 2 movies, a few TV shows, adn countless games of chess, caveman, and poker later, we stopped for fuel and a new flight crew.
They also cleaned the plane and then fogged us(brutal). Then we set off again for another 8 hours or so. I traded seats with Ryan and Connie could have a fierce(like a bunny) competition of UNO. I watched more movies , TV and games then finally fell asleep watching a movie. (Just Add Water...could be good but the first 5 minutes were not enough to judge.)
We landed at J-burg just after 5 in the morning where Thuli met us and then we were picked up by Tony and his drivers. Then headed to the hotel. I rode with Tony and didn't get lost like the other vans.
Finally we all got together again and headed to out awesome beds(anything is awesome after 20+ hours on a plane). But we only got to drop off our stuff and then headed out for supper. (Jet-lag is for sissys). I had a monkey Gland burger and it was pretty good with a can o green creme soda.
More to come later!