Rugby Pictures

Busy, Busy, Busy

So I haven't updated in awhile because I have been trying to get my self settled into the semester. I have gone to rowing practice like four times and I really like it, even though I have to get up at 4:15am. Oh, and girls from the MSU 13 keep coming along which is cool, a bit stressful, but nice.
I wen to a water park called uShaka last weekend. It was like an aquarium and water park. They were in seperate fenced-in areas, but they both came with the $10 ticket. I felt like it was a good deal. It was Averee, Kate, Drew, and I who went and we went through the aquarium. then we hit the slides, and we ended our day with a seal and dolphin show. The dolphins were so amazing! I wanted to go swim with them, but that probably won't happen on this trip.
Sunday we went to the Workshop (a shopping mall), but we mainly shopped at all of the stands set up outside the mall. I got some odds and ends: a purse, clothespins, earrings, a necklace, and a mug. Oh and sandals from Mr. Price (a store kind of like target).
The last two weeks seem like a blur! I feel like I am just starting classes, but really I am in week three! That means I have been here for four weeks already.... I am now entering the longest period of time I have ever been away from home. Intense!
Oh, funny thing. I went to the movies with Dani, Kate, and Drew one night and we saw 27 Dresses ( I tried to get them to see P.S. I Love You, but no go). First of all, I am amazed at how far Hollywood has reached around the globe. Crazy! Secondly, the experience was so weird because I felt like I was back in the US. Like I was just chilling in the Ada/Lowell 5 or something. Then whenI came back to reality, it was the most unusual sensation. Kind of like waking up from an intense dream, only to discover that in reality you are laying in your bedroom, not fleeing from your cousins who turned into vampires.

A note about the absence of pictures:
So I don't know if I have done anything worthy of pictures in the last two weeks, so I will check my camera tonight. I am pretty sure I only have a picture of uShaka though, nothing too exciting.

Well I love and miss you all!

Week in Zululand~Orphanage and Village

Outside the AIDs orphange.
Blessing, the guy who co-organized this trip.
This little boy looked soooo tired, so I picked him up when we walked to the tent to listen to a speaker. He fell asleep in my lap, I must get some of those pictures....
The village where we were given a tour and played soccer.
The field where we played soccer. The children in orange was a dance group. They performed for us when we ate.

Weekend in Zululand

Zulu performance by the fire. Watching the Zulu guys make each one of us dance.

When the Zulu guys made a group of us dance.
Posing for the camera in traditional garb. LtoR: Kate, Drew/Sarah, Guthrie, Averee, Dani.
Me all dressed up!
Me and the Zulu dancers.

The hut I shared with Sara G.
A shot of the huts we stayed in. It was cool because they were in almost an O shape around the fire pit.
The hut we ate our meals in. It totally fit all 40+ of us.
Some of the guys all dressed up in traditional garb.

Day to Day life

The little nook between the bedrooms with bunkbeds.
Ashley and Emily's bed. Ashley is on top.
Mine and Drew's bed
The Memorial Tower Building, which can me seen from very far away. I have classes there.
The walk to campus...it takes about 40 minutes and it is all uphill.

Braai and Outreach Visit

My roomie Sarah/Drew....I will get used to the name change...
This is Dani, one of my flatmates!

Me, Sarah/Drew and Kate striking a pose at the Winetasting-Braai on Wednesday last week.

Both pictures are of a bedroom at the orphanage we visited.

The entrance to the girls "dorms" at the orphanage.

Sunday's Adventure

So on the way to the beach on Saturday, Averee and I decided that we would like to go to the Jesus Dome on Sunday morning to check out their service. It so happened that we got there an hour late and we had the luck to come when the church had a guest speaker. He was much like an evangelical man, and the service was most different than any I had seen before. He preached on God's healing and revivalism. The normal prayer and preaching went on, but there was also speaking in tongues, fainting, screaming/yelling, and shaking. Not quite what I was expecting, but interesting nonetheless.






These are just a few of the group of monkeys just chilling by the cars parked at the university. Averee and I were so excited to see all of the monkeys, but John said that we will soon get used to seeing monkeys, and it won't be nearly as exciting.

Umhlanga Beach

From right to left: Me, Sarah/Drew, Kara, Averee

The four of us girls went to the beach together. Guthrie, Julian, and Lyle were with us but they wandered down the beach.