water balloon fight ::

With the warm weather comes a few things…sweat (especially with the lack of AC), bugs and of course, water balloons.

We’ve been bringing them out a lot lately at Hope House, and last week at LaunchPad. I was on the unlucky receiving end (or lucky…it was hot on Wednesday, so I didn’t mind–besides spending the afternoon looking like I’d peed my pants).

perceptions of time ::

It’s crazy to me, how our perceptions of time can change in a few months. When I first got here earlier this year, I thought a year was a long time. And when the idea of staying three more years starting floating around my noggin, I thought I was nuts. It seemed like a ridiculous idea and I couldn’t imagine making that kind of commitment to anything. 

A couple months go by and it seems more fesible, but still a stretch. Then, suddenly, it seems okay. Three years didn’t seem like THAT long.

Now, it just feels like a drop in the bucket. The idea of leaving after three years seems sad and like I’d be leaving prematurely.

Who knows what will happen in the future. But, it’s exciting to see how our perceptions change as we grow. I like it! 

 

On a kind of unrelated note, I did find out for sure that my brother doesn’t read this when I talked to him earlier this week and he didn’t know I was staying for three more years [I know! I thought it was crazy too...I guess everyone figured someone else had clued him in...]. It is kind of exciting because I can tell embarassing stories about him without him knowing…oh, it’s and his birthday today. He didn’t answer when I called so I left him two messages, both included me singing different variations of Happy Birthday. 

done.//

five good things ::

I totally forgot about this yesterday, probably because it really didn’t really feel like Monday. I’m all sorts of confused this week! 

So, here are my five good things for, uh, Tuesday…

1) We saw a baby horse being born on Sunday…well, we missed the actual birth (for which I’m pretty thankful…), but saw the horse just minutes after as she was trying to stand. I guess horses usually give birth at night or early in the morning, so this was a rare sight. Pretty exciting!

2) My mom turned the big 5-0 this weekend. I was sad not to be there…but I think she had a good time with the girls. Seriously, how can shopping be bad? 

3) Some of my friends are coming to South Africa December 1…I’m really excited! This weekend we finalized some of our plans for the two weeks I get to spend with them. I love it when plans come together!

4) I had Kraft Mac & Cheese for lunch today….we can’t get it here, so I’ve rationed my stash. But, today definitely seemed like a mac & cheese day, so I pulled out a box.

5) “So you think you can dance” is on tonight. Probably the only show we regularly watch…they’re down to the final 10….

done.//

Busisiwe ::

When I walked into Hope House yesterday I was greeted by Lindo, he kept saying, “baby, baby”. He took my hand and led me back to the babies room. We found 9 day old Busisiwe sleeping in her little bed. She had arrived at the orphanage that morning.

I don’t know if I’ve ever held a baby that small…aww, baby Busi. so cute!

LaunchPad (again…) ::

Here are a bunch of photos from this week at LaunchPad. We taught lesson 9 of 10, it’s crazy to think it’s just one more week and then graduation! This week was on marriage…

LaunchPad ::

My friend, David, is our interpreter for LaunchPad. He usually hates photos…but, he looked at this one and said he actually liked it [he gave me permission to put in on facebook, so I assumed that applied to my blog too...]

When he looked at it, he said, “look at us, we’re going to change the world.”

I’m definitely up to the challenge.

bugs ::

Just for the record, I counted 7 different varieties of bugs in our bathroom a couple minutes ago. This includes a moth the size of a small bat (which will probably try to dive bomb my head later as I sleep). 

done.//

five good things ::

I started this last week…

Here’s to week numero dos! 

1) We had amazing weather yesterday! I spent a few hours outside AND didn’t get sunburned [that's a first...].

2) You may know that I live on a farm, we commonly refer to it as “the base”, but it’s a farm [i figure cows, chickens and being surrounded by corn all fit the description of a "farm"...]. We have horses that roam free around the property. Right now we have a few ponies that have been born over the last few weeks. I walked outside today, and one of them was standing in front of the door…they’re so cute!

3) The rand is still over 10. Whohoo for a good exchange rate!

4) The movie Rent was on TV yesterday. We’ve watched all of our movies a few times, so it was great to have something different to watch. 

5) My friend Kaylen’s birthday was last week. Last night we had a party with a bonfire to celebrate. It was a perfect night for sitting around the fire.

done.//

water balloon toss ::

This progression of pictures cracks me up! There’s nothing like a good water balloon toss…

my generation… ::

Today, I came across some statistics that put things in perspective for me. Here’s the one that hit me hard:

Young women in South Africa face greater risks of becoming infected than men. Indeed, among 15–24-year-olds, women account for about 90% of new HIV infections.

This is my generation of women. These are the girls in my LaunchPad class. These are my friends. 

This is why I’m here. To be part of the change. Because I’m confident there can be change.
 

And here’s another reason we do what we do [pictures from Hope House yesterday]: