Three Kinds of Flight

He's Number One!!

This weekend was likely the best weekend so far, especially since it was a little longer than most for me. In our Human Growth and Development class, we had a field trip to Lesotho (luh-SOE-toe), which is the small country completely surrounded by South Africa. We got up at 5:00 on Friday morning to head out around 6:00, since it was several hours away. There are only nine of us in that class (ten including the professor) so we only took one bus. This ended up being really nice because we could then all stretch out on the extra seats to sleep. The trip there was fairly quick and easy; especially since we all slept most of the way.

When we got to the border after stamping our passports, we had to break into two smaller groups to cross the 8 kilometers of no man’s land. This stretch was the bumpiest bit of road I have ever been on, and our driver, Miya, told us we were receiving a real South African massage, free of charge! This stretch then led up to Sani Pass, which is the third steepest pass in the world, and on every turn of the pass, Miya shared what each turn was notorious for. After the first, “suicide corner”, I was a bit skeptical, and by the time we passed “whiskey”, “ice”, “reverse”, “hemorrhoid”, and “God’s grace” corner, I was definitely ready for  “Amen”! Despite this however, it was a very beautiful drive.

Once at the top, we got our Lesotho stamps, and dropped our stuff off in the Highest Pub in Africa. Then, it was outside for our horseback riding tour. I was the first to get my horse, and I am pretty sure I got the best one. He was the only white horse, so naturally I named him Shadow (short for Shadowfax for all you LOTR fans), and he loved racing. What more do you need in a horse? The tour was less of a tour and more of free reigns in the same direction as our guide. So, we were able to fly on our horses if we wanted, and if the horse let us. Luckily, both Shadow and I were on the same page in that regard.

After riding into the mountains of Lesotho for a while, it started to rain and got pretty cold. Our guide just kept going though, so we really had no choice but to follow. We followed him up a very rocky mountain for a good two hours, and after a while we all started to get miserable. The rain turned to hail and the wind picked up, making us even colder. The scenery was beautiful, but the constantly tinkling of sheep’s bells all around us started to get on our nerves. At the top of the ridge, we were finally able to stop our guide long enough to gesture that we were way too tired, cold, and hungry to continue. Turns out he was taking us to the highest point in all of southern Africa, which would have been an extra two-three hours on the overall trek. As I’m sure you can imagine, we weren’t too keen on continuing.

So, we headed back at that point, and were even more miserable than before. Since the mountain was so steep on the way up, we had to all get off our horses and walk them down ourselves. Talking to my horse was the only thing that kept me sane at the point of near hypothermia, especially since I knew we had at least two hours ride back. When we finally got down the mountain, we were able to ride our horses again, which both Shadow and I were ready for.

There was one point when we got to the open valleys near the end that Mitch, Zach, and I decided to race. We were a little bit ahead of the rest of our group, and our horses were rested enough, so we gave it a shot. Also, at this point we didn’t have hills and rocks to try and maneuver around, so we really had freedom to ride wherever. What I loved about my horse was that it took two clicks to get him to speed up. So, once he got trotting fast enough, I would click twice again, and then we would be flying. Nothing was so freeing as hitting that perfect gallop where both Shadow and I were breathing in unison. There was something so beautiful about being in the middle of a gorgeous meadow, flying with the complete trust of a beautiful animal beneath you. Not everyone had this experience unfortunately, but like I said, I got lucky with the best horse.

Zach’s horse and mine were more competitive than any others, and there was one point when we were careening toward a pile of rocks at break-neck speed, but our horses were able to dodge them enough, and we made it back into the meadow just fine. In the end, galloping back towards the pub, with rain from the sixth storm falling on my face, made the entire five-hour journey on the horses completely worth it. My love for those animals was completely renewed.

However, it was still very stormy throughout, so I was sufficiently chilled to the bone. Even after hot chocolate, sitting by the fire, soup, and the best dinner I have had since being here, I was still cold. I honestly don’t think my hands and feet thawed out until morning. It didn’t take long for us all to decide sleeping was a good idea, so we all left the pub and rode a flatbed truck down to the backpacker’s lodge. To end a phenomenal day, we were bid ‘goodnight’ by all the stars the universe could give us. The Milky Way was clearly visible, and even though it was still cold, all nine of us ended the night by standing outside and stargazing. I’m sure you can guess that we all slept incredibly well that night.

When we woke up, we had a gorgeous view of the valley, a delicious breakfast, and very dirty, wet clothes. But that was the extent of our trip, so we got our passports stamped again, and headed down the pass in the open bed of the truck that drove us the night before. This was because the people who were supposed to pick us up just never showed, so we had to arrange a different ride. Oh well. This is Africa. The truck was very old, however, so I was legitimately scared for my life as the seven corner names passed through my mind. We made it safely though, and after getting our fourth stamp, we made our way back to Pietermaritzburg. Driving from Lesotho to PMB was the most beautiful drive I have ever been on, and I rode the whole way back to school with my head out the window, another freeing and flying feeling.

After showering, washing all the dirt out of my clothes, and enjoying a wonderful conversation with my dear friend Debs, I slept like a baby. This morning, the nine of us who were in a different country yesterday were given the opportunity to do the canopy tour today. So we all went zip lining for a couple hours over the tall trees of Africa. It was yet another great feeling of flying, and another amazing day! I think I am running out of adjectives to describe the absolute raw beauty of this place.

Content doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel. God is great, the nature here is full of Him, and I am too. 

Cavemen, Sharks, and Water

These past couple of weeks have been some of the most fun I have had in my entire life! To begin, I found out last week that my computer is a hard drive issue, so I will therefore not have it for the rest of the semester. Apparently this is in God’s plan however, so I’m just going to take things as they come. I've been in good spirits about all of it, although it got pretty tricky last week since the semester is winding down and I had two projects and three 8+ page papers due. I got it all done in time though, and I am ready for finals next week! I can’t believe my semester is almost over already.

To give more detail about the statement above, I suppose I can share what the past couple of weeks have consisted of. On the 12^th, our whole group went to the Drakensberg Mountains in KwaZulu-Natal province. After the two-hour drive, we were all more than ready to hike. So, as a part of the first group to go up the mountain path, we hiked, climbed rocks, stood in a river, and eventually made it to the top where there was a tour of the Sani Bushmen cave paintings. It was interesting to see depictions of scenes that happened centuries ago, but I mostly wanted to climb the rocks, so I did not pay as close attention to our guide. On the way down, we went a different way so that we could walk next to the river. At one point a group of ten or so girls stayed behind to play in the river, in which the current was ridiculously strong. We were there for about half and hour when a group of guys came back to join us. I think they were jealous that we were being more adventurous than they were, so they needed to show us up… or something like that. During this river stay, a small group of six of us (Carmen, Destiny, Jessie, Mack, Tyler, and myself) decided to boulder up this rather large, well, boulder. We then stood atop said rock until the second group caught up with us. Some joined in the river, others joined on the rock, and fun was had by all. We all finally made our way back after being there for an hour or so, and enjoyed the two-hour nap time back to our campus.

The next weekend, on the 19th, we had a trip planned to Durban to go to uShaka Marine World and the beach. The marine world was half water park, half Sea World, and we had a day pass to both, which meant we had freedom to go in and out of the park. We spent the morning at the water park, and did all of the rides, including two slides that were nearly vertical drops. They had ridiculous names like “stomach drop” or “volcano” or something cute and cheesy like that, but I think they should have been named “wedgie” and “bigger wedgie”, because no matter how much material your suit had, it was all bundled into places it shouldn’t have been by the end. Either way, it was a rush, and it may have prepared me a little bit for bungie jumping in the future.

We spent the afternoon in the very warm Indian ocean getting battered by waves right and left. The current for this area was also very strong, and I think Mitch phrased it well when he said, “it’s like you’re taking one step forward, two steps back, and three steps left”. It was salty fun! We stayed in this part of Durban until 15:00, when we all left to go to a rugby game starting around 17:00. This gave us just enough time to change and don the war paint for the Shark’s match. We were pretty much in the nosebleed section, but this meant we were protected by the lots of rain that fell for most of the game. It was very fun to try and follow the game, and it was even better that the Sharks won! To top off the great weekend, we watched Invictus on Sunday night. It was certainly fitting.

This weekend, I went on a field trip to Lesotho, but I have to dedicate a whole new post to that because it was so fun. I will be sure to do so in the next two days.

Cheers.

P.S. The people who play rugby are men, and very attractive ones at that. (Patrick Lambie #10.)

The Jungle Takes Over

Again I want to apologize for not posting for so long. With only six weeks of school and not having a computer, time to blog has been slim. However, midterms are finished (after only the third week of school!) and now I have some time to sit and write about this past month.

In one of my classes, we asked our professor what he thought about the summer weather here. When we arrived it rained for the first week, so it really didn’t feel like summer at all. His response however, was that he didn’t necessarily care for it, because the rain and the warmth of the sun allowed the jungle to take over. This statement could not be more accurate.

First of all, it became increasingly difficult to go to classes and do homework once the weather turned warmer. I don’t think I could even tell you how many times I have been on my way to do homework when I see people playing soccer on the front lawn. So, naturally, instead of continuing with my plan to get things done, I dump my school stuff somewhere and run down to my chalet so I can change to play. After playing barefoot soccer (yes… barefoot) till it is just too hot to continue, I will start thinking about school again. But, it is not long before the jungle takes over again, and there is something else to distract me. The jungle also took over my computer, and I have not had if for the past two and a half weeks. Hopefully I will get it back this weekend, but you never know what the jungle has in mind. It has actually been a nice break not having it as a potential crutch though, and people here have been extremely generous. I am very thankful for my roommate Rachel Bidlack, who has let me use her computer for my daily assignments. Finally, we have a game reserve that is a two-minutes walk from our campus, and I find myself in there often, when I should be writing papers instead. In fact, just last night I was up until 1:30 in the morning because I decided to go on a walk barefoot into the game reserve a bit. (I didn’t realize how little I wear shoes until now). Alas, the jungle taketh over indeed.

Every week, we have things to do other than school. On Tuesdays we visit the different service sites we will be working at once the six weeks are over, and it is always refreshing to see God’s hand in some of these after school programs we have gone to visit; not to mention the pre-school kids are adorable. Then, on weekends, we go on field trips as a whole group. Our first Saturday, we went to a Birds of Prey park, and also to a place that had a name something along the lines of ‘World’s View’. Both areas were gorgeous, and it is apparent the jungle takes over everywhere, since both places were so green. Last Saturday, we went to a small shopping centre in Umzinto, and then to the beach for our Intercultural Communications class. Both days were a lot of fun, and it was great to get to see more of the beautiful country in which we now reside. Every morning I still have to convince myself that this is real, because the beauty of it all is just phenomenal.

Other weekly things include trips to the mall, hiking, sitting/showering (clothed) in the waterfall, running, using the 90 foot slip n’ slide, church, eating, eating, and eating. We have three meal a day, and we also have breaks for tea, meaning if we are in class, we will be dismissed for half and hour so that we can eat, drink, and be merry. It’s good we have been so active because we never have a shortage of food to eat, and it certainly adds up!

In all, I think I am starting to get settled into this place. School still is not any easier, because there are so many other things I would rather be doing than sitting in a classroom for six hours. But, I just remind myself that there are only six weeks of school total, and then I don’t feel as bad. I have found a church home already, and a group of us have begun a friendship with the youth there. They even took us to a concert on Tuesday, which was a lot of fun, and good to meet people outside of out API community. I haven’t stopped loving it here, and I cannot wait to see what these next few weeks will bring!