At least according to Bukho they do, he refuses to accept my interpretation of ‘round and round’. Wednesday was a holiday here (Heritage Day, I think it was) so the kids were off of school. Rita and I decided to take the 14 oldest kids to the Sea, which is only about 45 minutes from here. We sang lots of songs on the way there and just had fun hanging out with the kids. It is way too cold to do anything but play on the beach/sand dunes and look for shells along the shore, so that is what we did. Besides some kids throwing sand in the eyes of other kids, we didn’t have any major problems…until we were about to leave. One of the boys got in trouble and when Rita went to talk to/discipline him he decided to run. He didn’t go too far, but one of the younger kids followed him and they both got in pretty big trouble. Then one of the younger kids decided to pick up trash from the ground and stick it in his mouth, when I asked him to put it back on the ground he decided to lick it. We have a sand thrower, a runner, a follower and a trash licker who will not be going back to the beach with us. On the way home I had a few kids sleeping on me and I eventually shut my eyes for about 5 minutes. I was awakened by a fire extinguisher going off in the van. I would like to say this surprises me, but living with 28 kids in South Africa for a month has already taught me to constantly expect the unexpected. One of the kids was touching it earlier in the drive, so we think it was probably him (we couldn’t get an honest answer out of anyone) we wiped off the nasty stuff the best we could and continued home. We made it home for lunch and then took the 10 kids who were behaving to Iona (the preschool teacher)’s farm! They have lots of lambs right now and the kids got to hold them and feed them, or just talk to/shout at them if they were too afraid to get too close. They also have tons of chickens and they let the kids go around and collect any eggs they found. While they were busy looking for eggs, Iona showed me an empty cage, where apparently a chicken used to sleep with its head out of the cage. The night before a Wildcat got in and bit its head off. She also told me lots of stories about people stealing chickens and other wildlife that has snuck in. I loved visiting their farm! Everything about it was interesting and the kids loved being so close to the animals (and talking to them, my favorite part) and getting out of the house for the day. Always an adventure.
On a side note one of the little girls who is around 4 and named Asanda picked up the phrase ‘oh my goodness’ from me (also it sounds more like ‘oh my gooness’ when she says it). In the little baby room in the house their light goes out if someone turns on the hall light and it happened when I was in there and I said ‘Oh my goodness’. Now she says it every time the light goes out and most times when I walk into the room. The other day one of the mamas asked her if she knows what ‘goodness’ means, to which she responded ‘Oh my goodness’
Love!
kb
ps. two posts! big day. I think it makes sense to post them two at a time so I use less internet time, or some sort of similar logic...
26.9.08
7 Months? Harsh. Also Fake Boyfriends...
First of all I need everyone to know that I defeated a bug yesterday that was basically a worm with wings. It makes a terrible buzzing sound and I thought I had already killed it, but apparently it crawled out from under the shoe that I thought defeated it and was buzzing around again at about midnight. I threw my shoe on it and then pressed down on my shoe a few times and did not muster up the courage to look at it and verify its death until this morning. It is still on the floor, dead, under my shoe because that thing is nasty and I do not want to do anything that resembles picking it up off the floor.
Sicky sicky sick- I was feeling tons better this week until the last couple of days when the throat/cough started coming back (hopefully just as a result of the nasty weather we have been having) and my eye decided to swell up yesterday (because why not?) it was still swollen this morning so one of our driver/gardener/maintenance people drove me to the clinic. The nurse says it’s not pink eye or anything contagious, which is so good because I did not want to give it to the kids or spend another week stuck in my room, gave me some ointment and sent me on my way. On the drive back up to the house the driver was asking me about America-how much things cost, cars, politics, sports, etc. then he started asking about my life back home, particularly if I have a boyfriend, etc. I decided that for all practical purposes I need to have an imaginary boyfriend, at least when talking to men in foreign countries. If nothing else, my summer job with foreign students taught me that the answer to the questions ‘do you have a boyfriend?/do you miss your boyfriend?’ should always be yes, so I have a fake boyfriend.
I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it here before, but we have been having some issues with our water. Apparently the guys have been putting in way to many chemicals (they are supposed to put them in once a week and have been putting them in every day, or something like that) so our water has waaay too many chemicals and is kind of gummy or sticky. That being said, my hair looks dirtier and feels way gross after I attempt to wash it in the shower. Rita went into East London and was able to treat herself to a visit to the salon yesterday and It took them 4 washes to get her hair back to normal and the guy who did her hair said that it looked like she hadn’t washed her hair for 7 months. 7 MONTHS! Needless to say I am not washing my hair in the shower anymore. I’ve boiled some water and put it in a big bottle and will probably try and wash my hair with it tomorrow, God only knows how long it will take for my hair to return to something that resembles normal. Luckily, the kids think it is still beautiful, maybe even more beautiful, when it is disgusting.
I finished ‘Through Painted Deserts’ by Donald Miller last night and it is amazing. Seriously read his books. He has a big brain.
Things are still going great and I am still loving life here. The kids will be home all of next week (they are between terms) and we have a new volunteer coming on Thursday! All I know is that she is a girl and that she is from the US and somewhere close to my age. I am SO excited for her to come. Rita is SO busy, so I spend most of my free time and meal times alone, which is good but also starting to drive me crazy. She is an answered prayer on many levels, so yay for her coming!
Love love
kb
Sicky sicky sick- I was feeling tons better this week until the last couple of days when the throat/cough started coming back (hopefully just as a result of the nasty weather we have been having) and my eye decided to swell up yesterday (because why not?) it was still swollen this morning so one of our driver/gardener/maintenance people drove me to the clinic. The nurse says it’s not pink eye or anything contagious, which is so good because I did not want to give it to the kids or spend another week stuck in my room, gave me some ointment and sent me on my way. On the drive back up to the house the driver was asking me about America-how much things cost, cars, politics, sports, etc. then he started asking about my life back home, particularly if I have a boyfriend, etc. I decided that for all practical purposes I need to have an imaginary boyfriend, at least when talking to men in foreign countries. If nothing else, my summer job with foreign students taught me that the answer to the questions ‘do you have a boyfriend?/do you miss your boyfriend?’ should always be yes, so I have a fake boyfriend.
I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it here before, but we have been having some issues with our water. Apparently the guys have been putting in way to many chemicals (they are supposed to put them in once a week and have been putting them in every day, or something like that) so our water has waaay too many chemicals and is kind of gummy or sticky. That being said, my hair looks dirtier and feels way gross after I attempt to wash it in the shower. Rita went into East London and was able to treat herself to a visit to the salon yesterday and It took them 4 washes to get her hair back to normal and the guy who did her hair said that it looked like she hadn’t washed her hair for 7 months. 7 MONTHS! Needless to say I am not washing my hair in the shower anymore. I’ve boiled some water and put it in a big bottle and will probably try and wash my hair with it tomorrow, God only knows how long it will take for my hair to return to something that resembles normal. Luckily, the kids think it is still beautiful, maybe even more beautiful, when it is disgusting.
I finished ‘Through Painted Deserts’ by Donald Miller last night and it is amazing. Seriously read his books. He has a big brain.
Things are still going great and I am still loving life here. The kids will be home all of next week (they are between terms) and we have a new volunteer coming on Thursday! All I know is that she is a girl and that she is from the US and somewhere close to my age. I am SO excited for her to come. Rita is SO busy, so I spend most of my free time and meal times alone, which is good but also starting to drive me crazy. She is an answered prayer on many levels, so yay for her coming!
Love love
kb
22.9.08
Hard Things, Happy Things
Hard things…
Today I went with Rita to take in one of our little HIV + kids to the clinic. She is beautiful and happy and sometimes calls me Auntie Kwassi which makes me smile A LOT. They had to take some blood to run some tests and I went in the room with her. She did fine when the nurses were looking for veins on her arms but not as well when they made her lay down so they could look for veins on her neck. She started crying and big tears rolled all the way to the floor. It only got worse from there. It was close to impossible to stand there listening to her scream as the nurses held her down and took blood from her neck. The honest truth is that I could not even look and had to cry about it a little bit. There’s just such a huge difference between the cry that comes after a fall or a stolen toy and the cry that comes with true pain and fear. She got some Jellybeans for being such a good girl and all was right with the world soon after but even though she gave me some of her Jellybeans part of my heart is still broken about it a little bit. There are so many times when I notice something or think of something from my childhood and can’t help but think in my head “Every child should get/be able to ______” The blank is usually filled with things like ‘have one adult holding hands on each side and get to fly on the count of three’ or ‘be taught to ride a bike’ or simple things that you could do with one or two kids that you just can’t do with 28. Today I decided that every child deserves to be cried over when they have to have blood taken out of their neck and I was incredibly thankful for Open Arms. I will only be here for 4 months but I can rest assured knowing that there will always be someone here loving on, caring for and crying over these beautiful kids. I have always had a spark in me about it, but I feel a little bit more confident that I will not be able to spend the rest of my life doing typical life things. Something about children crying alone, taking care of other children, living with and dying from untreated treatable diseases, never feeling safe, never being safe, never knowing what it is to just be a kid, seeing and experiencing unspeakable things is wrong. There is something wrong with the way things are. I just don’t understand how I could go back to the day before I realized that and live my life as if I never had. Rita and I often joke that life here is like life on another planet. The truth is that it isn’t another planet, but it’s easier to think that than it is to think that all of these things are happening in our world. All over the world there are children looking for food in trash cans. Food. And I’m sure some of them will die because they can’t find any. It’s just not ok. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist and closing your eyes doesn’t make it go away. On OUR planet there are babies, teenagers, adults, grandparents, PEOPLE dying from things that should not be killing them, things that do not kill other people in other parts of OUR planet. It just isn’t ok.
Happy things…
I got to spend lots of time with Anesipho today. She is 3 months old and about the size of a 3 week old and also ADORABLE. All she does is eat and sleep and cry and poop and I’m ok with that. She is going in for immunizations tomorrow and I will not be attending that event. Oh and I lied! She does something else and that thing is swinging her head around a ton because she is becoming less of a blob child and starting to hold her head up! Exciting.
Also African Salad is not salad, do not let anyone fool you about that ever. I don’t even know how to explain it…think really dry mashed potatoes with absolutely sour, sour milk poured on top. And don’t listen to Sarah if she tries to tell you that it is ok with regular milk and extra salt, it just isn’t. They call the sour milk stuff Maas, which to me sounded like moss, which sounded like something green and salad like. The food is good, I just cannot handle African Salad night.
I hope things are BEAUTIFUL in your life. Also it makes me happy when you send me e-mails and comments and messages because it reminds me that I have a life and loves on the other side of the world.
KB
p.s. I think I might be closer to Antarctica than I am to America, so that is strange.
p.p.s It was raining all weekend so we did typical rainy day things like make banana bread and watch movies and take naps. Also I was SO sick, especially with the bad weather, I was mostly the SICKEST. Trust me. I am feeling soooo much better.
p.p.p.s I was going to try and upload pictures but too many things have occurred in the time it took for me to write this that I cannot do it this time (one of them is that I had to catch some flying bugs in a bottle. It started out innocently. I had every intention of releasing them outside. Then I learned that there was still juice in there and that it killed them. I don’t know if you heard, but Africa has turned me into a bug killing machine. I’m a pretty big deal.) Sorry!
p.p.p.p.s My Dad figured out how to comment on my blogs! yay Dad!
Today I went with Rita to take in one of our little HIV + kids to the clinic. She is beautiful and happy and sometimes calls me Auntie Kwassi which makes me smile A LOT. They had to take some blood to run some tests and I went in the room with her. She did fine when the nurses were looking for veins on her arms but not as well when they made her lay down so they could look for veins on her neck. She started crying and big tears rolled all the way to the floor. It only got worse from there. It was close to impossible to stand there listening to her scream as the nurses held her down and took blood from her neck. The honest truth is that I could not even look and had to cry about it a little bit. There’s just such a huge difference between the cry that comes after a fall or a stolen toy and the cry that comes with true pain and fear. She got some Jellybeans for being such a good girl and all was right with the world soon after but even though she gave me some of her Jellybeans part of my heart is still broken about it a little bit. There are so many times when I notice something or think of something from my childhood and can’t help but think in my head “Every child should get/be able to ______” The blank is usually filled with things like ‘have one adult holding hands on each side and get to fly on the count of three’ or ‘be taught to ride a bike’ or simple things that you could do with one or two kids that you just can’t do with 28. Today I decided that every child deserves to be cried over when they have to have blood taken out of their neck and I was incredibly thankful for Open Arms. I will only be here for 4 months but I can rest assured knowing that there will always be someone here loving on, caring for and crying over these beautiful kids. I have always had a spark in me about it, but I feel a little bit more confident that I will not be able to spend the rest of my life doing typical life things. Something about children crying alone, taking care of other children, living with and dying from untreated treatable diseases, never feeling safe, never being safe, never knowing what it is to just be a kid, seeing and experiencing unspeakable things is wrong. There is something wrong with the way things are. I just don’t understand how I could go back to the day before I realized that and live my life as if I never had. Rita and I often joke that life here is like life on another planet. The truth is that it isn’t another planet, but it’s easier to think that than it is to think that all of these things are happening in our world. All over the world there are children looking for food in trash cans. Food. And I’m sure some of them will die because they can’t find any. It’s just not ok. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist and closing your eyes doesn’t make it go away. On OUR planet there are babies, teenagers, adults, grandparents, PEOPLE dying from things that should not be killing them, things that do not kill other people in other parts of OUR planet. It just isn’t ok.
Happy things…
I got to spend lots of time with Anesipho today. She is 3 months old and about the size of a 3 week old and also ADORABLE. All she does is eat and sleep and cry and poop and I’m ok with that. She is going in for immunizations tomorrow and I will not be attending that event. Oh and I lied! She does something else and that thing is swinging her head around a ton because she is becoming less of a blob child and starting to hold her head up! Exciting.
Also African Salad is not salad, do not let anyone fool you about that ever. I don’t even know how to explain it…think really dry mashed potatoes with absolutely sour, sour milk poured on top. And don’t listen to Sarah if she tries to tell you that it is ok with regular milk and extra salt, it just isn’t. They call the sour milk stuff Maas, which to me sounded like moss, which sounded like something green and salad like. The food is good, I just cannot handle African Salad night.
I hope things are BEAUTIFUL in your life. Also it makes me happy when you send me e-mails and comments and messages because it reminds me that I have a life and loves on the other side of the world.
KB
p.s. I think I might be closer to Antarctica than I am to America, so that is strange.
p.p.s It was raining all weekend so we did typical rainy day things like make banana bread and watch movies and take naps. Also I was SO sick, especially with the bad weather, I was mostly the SICKEST. Trust me. I am feeling soooo much better.
p.p.p.s I was going to try and upload pictures but too many things have occurred in the time it took for me to write this that I cannot do it this time (one of them is that I had to catch some flying bugs in a bottle. It started out innocently. I had every intention of releasing them outside. Then I learned that there was still juice in there and that it killed them. I don’t know if you heard, but Africa has turned me into a bug killing machine. I’m a pretty big deal.) Sorry!
p.p.p.p.s My Dad figured out how to comment on my blogs! yay Dad!
19.9.08
Sicky sicky sick sick
I am...drum roll please...SICK. So, that's typical. It started as some little throat issue in Cape Town and has escalated to full blown nasty. I probably have a double ear infection (which is also fairly typical for me, welcome to my world) plus all of the nasty throat/eye/nose stuff that is still going on. Luckily the nurse came today to check on the kids and gave me some meds so hopefully I will be a little less miserable very soon. That would be nice. I have spent about 95% of the last 2 days in my room watching The Office on my computer and only the other 5% with the kids which makes me feel mostly useless and sad, but I want to get better and I also don't want to get them sick.
In other news....
I got MAIL today! So that's exciting. It appears as though anything sent priority takes about 2 weeks to get here, but the cost and the time are nothing compared to how ELATED getting mail makes me : ) Oh also I've gotten a letter from my dad, a package from my aunt and something amazing from lauren. So if you sent something and you are not one of those people, then I have not gotten anything from you, just thought I would clarify so that if you have sent something you're not all like 'yay, she got it' when I actually didn't. ok moving on...
I tried the internet card on my laptop this week. It worked but dries up suuuper fast. I did, however, get to talk to some of my super sweet friends which was mostly awesome. I am still trying to figure out if the wireless is worth it/what I can do on there and not on the office computer.
More interestingly...
We started tutoring this week with the older kids (I can't remember if I've already mentioned that) but it is going super well. Yesterday they didn't have any so we drew pictures of and wrote about our adventures in Cape Town, which was awesome. We might try and drive out to the ocean tomorrow with some of the older kids, but it was freezing cold today so cross your fingers for no more sickness and good weather! I also really need to clean out my room and do laundry this weekend (also typical).
And before I forget! My aunt is a freaking genius and I meant to mention this much earlier but forgot. Bob (the founder of Open Arms) has a blog that he kept while he did his walk across South Africa to raise money for the home. There are lots of pictures on there from his walk which ended with our trip to Cape Town and tons and tons of pictures of the kids. He is home now and the walk is over, so I'm not sure he will continue it, but there's lots to catch up on there if you are interested. http://alongwalkforchildren.typepad.com/ There's the link. He's written tons of great stuff, plus it will give some of you who are still not sure why I'm in Africa something to work with.
LOVE!
kb
In other news....
I got MAIL today! So that's exciting. It appears as though anything sent priority takes about 2 weeks to get here, but the cost and the time are nothing compared to how ELATED getting mail makes me : ) Oh also I've gotten a letter from my dad, a package from my aunt and something amazing from lauren. So if you sent something and you are not one of those people, then I have not gotten anything from you, just thought I would clarify so that if you have sent something you're not all like 'yay, she got it' when I actually didn't. ok moving on...
I tried the internet card on my laptop this week. It worked but dries up suuuper fast. I did, however, get to talk to some of my super sweet friends which was mostly awesome. I am still trying to figure out if the wireless is worth it/what I can do on there and not on the office computer.
More interestingly...
We started tutoring this week with the older kids (I can't remember if I've already mentioned that) but it is going super well. Yesterday they didn't have any so we drew pictures of and wrote about our adventures in Cape Town, which was awesome. We might try and drive out to the ocean tomorrow with some of the older kids, but it was freezing cold today so cross your fingers for no more sickness and good weather! I also really need to clean out my room and do laundry this weekend (also typical).
And before I forget! My aunt is a freaking genius and I meant to mention this much earlier but forgot. Bob (the founder of Open Arms) has a blog that he kept while he did his walk across South Africa to raise money for the home. There are lots of pictures on there from his walk which ended with our trip to Cape Town and tons and tons of pictures of the kids. He is home now and the walk is over, so I'm not sure he will continue it, but there's lots to catch up on there if you are interested. http://alongwalkforchildren.typepad.com/ There's the link. He's written tons of great stuff, plus it will give some of you who are still not sure why I'm in Africa something to work with.
LOVE!
kb
16.9.08
Hi Beebee!
The honest truth is that I missed the babies while we were gone. I spend every morning with them in the preschool and I usually go sit with the itty bitty ones at night after dinner. I was able to learn about some of their stories/lives before they came to Open Arms and some of the things just absolutely broke my heart. They were so excited when everyone got back and I was elated to see them and hold them and squish their little cheeks again! They are used to me and sometimes flock to me or follow me around and cry when I have to leave the room or put them down but the one thing that just cracks me up is that every time I see them or walk into the room I always say ‘hi baby!’ which actually sounds like ‘hi beebee!’ and when we got back from the trip a couple of them ran up to me saying ‘hi beebee hi beebee hi beebee’ just over and over again with their little hands stretched out for hugs and pick-ups and it basically just made my heart explode. I absolutely love getting to know each one of the kids. It starts with their names and identifying them obviously but I love that now after the trip and the two weeks I have spent here I have inside jokes with a lot of the older ones, I know how to make most of them laugh and I am getting to know their personalities, strengths and weaknesses and desires and stories and I feel like I still have so much to learn about them. I love being around these kids. There are even times when I am in my room at night or in the morning and just can’t wait to see their little faces again! The crying never annoys me and the little laughs from across the courtyard or across the house make me smile real big. I love that my biggest problem today was getting too many kisses from Bukho (no really, he loves to kiss me and will sometimes latch onto me with his arms strangling my neck and his faced just absolutely smashing my cheek) and I love knowing that tomorrow I get to get up and sing songs with them and dance and run and play and laugh and dry tears and wipe noses and make faces and just live life with these amazing kids.
I know that God lives here. I see him in the smiles of children who were abandoned, children who have witnessed unspeakable acts, endured things before they could even talk that no human being should ever have to endure, children betrayed by family members and caregivers. I see him in the tears that are wiped away that are shed for much more than the little trip or the stolen crayon. The more I pray for the Lord to break my heart for the things that break His, I find my heart being broken for these children. I wish that all of you could know all of their names and their faces and the joy of just being around them.
Love from me and the beebees
kb
I know that God lives here. I see him in the smiles of children who were abandoned, children who have witnessed unspeakable acts, endured things before they could even talk that no human being should ever have to endure, children betrayed by family members and caregivers. I see him in the tears that are wiped away that are shed for much more than the little trip or the stolen crayon. The more I pray for the Lord to break my heart for the things that break His, I find my heart being broken for these children. I wish that all of you could know all of their names and their faces and the joy of just being around them.
Love from me and the beebees
kb
Cape Town is for Lovers
That might be false. But it is for us! I made an executive decision while we were driving around there that if I ever went home and then needed a new life I would move to Cape Town. That is a for serious thing. I would love to comment on everything and tell you all about the absolutely comical things that constantly happen in my life on the other side of the world, but I have so much to tell you! So I am going to try and focus on all of the events of our adventures in Cape Town.
Wednesday!
We loaded up the bus! It was a legit bus with a drive and everything. We had to shuttle people/stuff into town and it took a little longer than we thought it would. The driveway is LONG and takes like 15/20 minutes to get up or down (that might be false-I don’t wear a watch or have a cell phone so I never know what time it is unless I am in my room and my talking alarm clock announces the time) and it is like 4-wheeling and if you are in the KIA dirt comes up through the floor. Always an adventure. We took 18 of the kids which worked out to about one adult per child (actually I think we had more adults then children) so there were two kids and two adults in each room. Almost everyone on the trip had never stayed in a hotel, so that was a really cool thing for them. Rita (the director) and I shared a room with Asekona and Sikelelwa (two of the older girls) so it was just like a slumber party every night! We spent the night in a place called Wilderness just exploring the hotel and being goofy. Also after the girls went to bed Rita and I made like….60 ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch the next day. I enjoyed that time because we just spent it chatting about the kids/life here/life in general.
Thursday!
We got up early in the morning and walked along the beach for a little while. At one point I wrote ‘The Beach’ in the sand and took pictures and about five minutes later I walked a little further and saw multiple attempts at the words ‘the beach’ written in the sand by the kids. That almost made my heart explode. How adorable are they? Then we finished up the drive to Cape Town! One of the things that kept cracking me up is that a few of the older boys (mostly Luthando and Kanysa) kept asking if we could go to Cape Town now. The jury is still out on whether or not they know that Cape Town is a city and that we were there. Luthando was my bus buddy for the first half of the trip and Ayabonga (the older one) was my buddy for the rest! Love them. We went straight to Table Mountain (it’s a mountain…that looks like a table…also sometimes there is a cloud on top of it that looks like a tablecloth) and took the cable car up. The view was AMAZING and I had to carry little Thandazwa the whole time. Most of the kids are weary of change and strange experiences and she handles it by being terrified of not being held. The secret part of it is that I was glad I got to focus on her and not how freaking tall/steep our ride up/down was.
Friday!
Penguins! We went to a penguin colony. Yes. There are penguins just living along the beach in South Africa. It’s ok to think that is amazing because I do. The absolute coolest part of Friday was seeing whales so close to the shore! I have never seen a whale in the actual ocean and I saw about 6 of them on Friday. I think I was even more excited than the kids. After the penguins we headed to Cape Point. I fell asleep on the bus and when I woke up I noticed that not everyone was getting off the bus and I had no idea why so I got off, assuming that they were all just being slow pokes. The honest truth is that there is supposed to be a train that goes up there, but that it was broken and everyone knew that except for me, so I blindly followed the group up this big mountain/hill with a lighthouse at the top not knowing that there were any other options. I have no idea how long it took us to get up there but it was BEAUTIFUL. I have never watched waves crash against the shore from above and that has got to be one of my new favorite things. Also at the top of that thing a lot of random people took pictures of/gave candy to our kids and I’m not sure how I feel about all of that (which is why I haven’t written about the ‘stares’ yet). We then headed to this amazing Botanical Garden. Everyone was exhausted (especially the kids without their usual routines and naps and bedtimes) but I got a chance to explore on my own a little bit and it was so great there and to get a little breather from the 24/7 adventure with the kids.
Saturday!
Saturday was the official end of Bob’s walk across South Africa to raise money for Open Arms! We started the morning off at the Aquarium which was great and then took a ferry out to Robben Island, which is where the maximum security prison that Nelson Mandela was kept in for about..16ish years is located. We had a bus tour of the island and then a walking tour of the prison. All of the tour guides who take you through the prison were once held there as political prisoners themselves, so that is kind of intense. Outside of Mandela’s cell we had a little official end of the walk/commemoration ceremony. Everyone laid a rose in front of the cell and we all sang Amazing Grace (which the kids have been practicing for weeeeks) and said a prayer and Asekona read a passage from Matthew (which she has also been practicing for weeks) and she was awesome. The ceremony was meaningful and moving and just great. Also we almost missed the ferry on the way there and on the way back, but that’s just how we roll (how else can you roll with 18 kids in tow?) I saw TONS of sailboats out on the ocean and it made me happy! But also made me want to sail A LOT. Maybe we can get out on the water when my dad and brother come…Rita and I also made 80 sandwiches after the girls went to sleep… oh and there was some famous South African soap opera star staying at our hotel and people kept taking pictures of him. Rita and I kept telling the hotel staff that we are a pretty big deal in the US, but we like to keep in on the DL in South Africa. Funny funny.
Sunday!
The best part of Sunday was that as we were about to board the bus (at 5 am) I ran into one of the kitchen staff guys at the hotel where we stayed for 3 nights who was super nice and asked if I wanted coffee to go. The truth is that I wanted hot chocolate and I was able to get some for Rita too! It’s the little things, it’s the little things. The bus ride was manageable. We drove straight back (which took 13 hours) and I can sum up those glorious hours by saying that I finished reading A Thousand Splendid Suns which is a great, great book and we watched Stuart Little for the 7thish time as we were arriving back in Komga. Then of course I was riding around with Rita back and forth between Open Arms, the Location and Komga to drop off mamas, etc and we ran over some barbed wire in the big fat Quantum. Luckily the garage in town was still opened and they pulled it out and told us that it did not go all the way through, which was obviously very good news. Life here is just so comical. If you are just coming back from a 13 hour trip and you are sick and exhausted and slaphappy and you have to make tons of trips up and down a big, bumpy driveway before you can even go to the bathroom, you should just expect that you will catch some barbed wire with your tire when there are no men around and it is dark and you are in South Africa.
Random things you might like to know: my room smells a lot less like a sewer. Murray who does all of the maintenance shtuff put some sort of stink chimney (sorry I only know the technical name for it…) up behind my room and it seems to be working. Also I have not received any mail yet, so at this point we know that priority mail takes at least 2 weeks…I am sick but fine. Some sort of little bug is going around with a sore throat and cough…the internet card is almost a happenin thing. Rita and I are going to be sharing the one that we have and from what I can tell it is slow and expensive and we will just have to see about that…
And that is everything! At least for now….I commend you if you read this whole thing. You should leave a comment so I know you read it and then I can see your comment and be all like ‘wow, cool, he/she is awesome. I love him/her’
You are BEAUTIFUL and I love and miss you very much!
KB
Wednesday!
We loaded up the bus! It was a legit bus with a drive and everything. We had to shuttle people/stuff into town and it took a little longer than we thought it would. The driveway is LONG and takes like 15/20 minutes to get up or down (that might be false-I don’t wear a watch or have a cell phone so I never know what time it is unless I am in my room and my talking alarm clock announces the time) and it is like 4-wheeling and if you are in the KIA dirt comes up through the floor. Always an adventure. We took 18 of the kids which worked out to about one adult per child (actually I think we had more adults then children) so there were two kids and two adults in each room. Almost everyone on the trip had never stayed in a hotel, so that was a really cool thing for them. Rita (the director) and I shared a room with Asekona and Sikelelwa (two of the older girls) so it was just like a slumber party every night! We spent the night in a place called Wilderness just exploring the hotel and being goofy. Also after the girls went to bed Rita and I made like….60 ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch the next day. I enjoyed that time because we just spent it chatting about the kids/life here/life in general.
Thursday!
We got up early in the morning and walked along the beach for a little while. At one point I wrote ‘The Beach’ in the sand and took pictures and about five minutes later I walked a little further and saw multiple attempts at the words ‘the beach’ written in the sand by the kids. That almost made my heart explode. How adorable are they? Then we finished up the drive to Cape Town! One of the things that kept cracking me up is that a few of the older boys (mostly Luthando and Kanysa) kept asking if we could go to Cape Town now. The jury is still out on whether or not they know that Cape Town is a city and that we were there. Luthando was my bus buddy for the first half of the trip and Ayabonga (the older one) was my buddy for the rest! Love them. We went straight to Table Mountain (it’s a mountain…that looks like a table…also sometimes there is a cloud on top of it that looks like a tablecloth) and took the cable car up. The view was AMAZING and I had to carry little Thandazwa the whole time. Most of the kids are weary of change and strange experiences and she handles it by being terrified of not being held. The secret part of it is that I was glad I got to focus on her and not how freaking tall/steep our ride up/down was.
Friday!
Penguins! We went to a penguin colony. Yes. There are penguins just living along the beach in South Africa. It’s ok to think that is amazing because I do. The absolute coolest part of Friday was seeing whales so close to the shore! I have never seen a whale in the actual ocean and I saw about 6 of them on Friday. I think I was even more excited than the kids. After the penguins we headed to Cape Point. I fell asleep on the bus and when I woke up I noticed that not everyone was getting off the bus and I had no idea why so I got off, assuming that they were all just being slow pokes. The honest truth is that there is supposed to be a train that goes up there, but that it was broken and everyone knew that except for me, so I blindly followed the group up this big mountain/hill with a lighthouse at the top not knowing that there were any other options. I have no idea how long it took us to get up there but it was BEAUTIFUL. I have never watched waves crash against the shore from above and that has got to be one of my new favorite things. Also at the top of that thing a lot of random people took pictures of/gave candy to our kids and I’m not sure how I feel about all of that (which is why I haven’t written about the ‘stares’ yet). We then headed to this amazing Botanical Garden. Everyone was exhausted (especially the kids without their usual routines and naps and bedtimes) but I got a chance to explore on my own a little bit and it was so great there and to get a little breather from the 24/7 adventure with the kids.
Saturday!
Saturday was the official end of Bob’s walk across South Africa to raise money for Open Arms! We started the morning off at the Aquarium which was great and then took a ferry out to Robben Island, which is where the maximum security prison that Nelson Mandela was kept in for about..16ish years is located. We had a bus tour of the island and then a walking tour of the prison. All of the tour guides who take you through the prison were once held there as political prisoners themselves, so that is kind of intense. Outside of Mandela’s cell we had a little official end of the walk/commemoration ceremony. Everyone laid a rose in front of the cell and we all sang Amazing Grace (which the kids have been practicing for weeeeks) and said a prayer and Asekona read a passage from Matthew (which she has also been practicing for weeks) and she was awesome. The ceremony was meaningful and moving and just great. Also we almost missed the ferry on the way there and on the way back, but that’s just how we roll (how else can you roll with 18 kids in tow?) I saw TONS of sailboats out on the ocean and it made me happy! But also made me want to sail A LOT. Maybe we can get out on the water when my dad and brother come…Rita and I also made 80 sandwiches after the girls went to sleep… oh and there was some famous South African soap opera star staying at our hotel and people kept taking pictures of him. Rita and I kept telling the hotel staff that we are a pretty big deal in the US, but we like to keep in on the DL in South Africa. Funny funny.
Sunday!
The best part of Sunday was that as we were about to board the bus (at 5 am) I ran into one of the kitchen staff guys at the hotel where we stayed for 3 nights who was super nice and asked if I wanted coffee to go. The truth is that I wanted hot chocolate and I was able to get some for Rita too! It’s the little things, it’s the little things. The bus ride was manageable. We drove straight back (which took 13 hours) and I can sum up those glorious hours by saying that I finished reading A Thousand Splendid Suns which is a great, great book and we watched Stuart Little for the 7thish time as we were arriving back in Komga. Then of course I was riding around with Rita back and forth between Open Arms, the Location and Komga to drop off mamas, etc and we ran over some barbed wire in the big fat Quantum. Luckily the garage in town was still opened and they pulled it out and told us that it did not go all the way through, which was obviously very good news. Life here is just so comical. If you are just coming back from a 13 hour trip and you are sick and exhausted and slaphappy and you have to make tons of trips up and down a big, bumpy driveway before you can even go to the bathroom, you should just expect that you will catch some barbed wire with your tire when there are no men around and it is dark and you are in South Africa.
Random things you might like to know: my room smells a lot less like a sewer. Murray who does all of the maintenance shtuff put some sort of stink chimney (sorry I only know the technical name for it…) up behind my room and it seems to be working. Also I have not received any mail yet, so at this point we know that priority mail takes at least 2 weeks…I am sick but fine. Some sort of little bug is going around with a sore throat and cough…the internet card is almost a happenin thing. Rita and I are going to be sharing the one that we have and from what I can tell it is slow and expensive and we will just have to see about that…
And that is everything! At least for now….I commend you if you read this whole thing. You should leave a comment so I know you read it and then I can see your comment and be all like ‘wow, cool, he/she is awesome. I love him/her’
You are BEAUTIFUL and I love and miss you very much!
KB
9.9.08
Give the people what they want...
This is going to be short. Packing for 18ish kids to go on a trip for 5 days is proving to be a challenge. I stole away for a little while because I am exhausted. I have been with the kids all day and it is late for me (8:51 pm. i know, right?) and I am getting grouchy. We are leaving for Cape Town super early tomorrow morning and we still need to finish packing the kids, make sandwiches and I need to pack for myself (think typical family vacation on CRACK). We will drive for 6ish hours tomorrow, spend the night somewhere and finish up the drive on Thursday. To Cape Town we are taking a big bus with a drive and everything and we are taking most of the Mamas and leaving the babies. I am excited! More tired, but I'm sure I'll get there.
My Dad requested some follow up details on the Zoo trip (he actually used the phrase 'the people want to know' I don't know who 'the people' are, but I will give them what they want...). The zoo was typical for a small city in South Africa. It was small, but happy and about matched the attention span of our kids. We were only there for about 2 hours and we saw monkeys, lions, birds, snakes, otters, giraffes, more monkeys, ducks aand...that about covers it. Also we get around in our trusty little kia (pictured) and the quantum so we are pretty legit. They are basically just big vans. I have yet to drive one. Maybe eventually. Also: There is currently a sewage problem somewhere near my room...so my room smells like a sewer, but what can you do? You can't smell it after you've been in there about 10 minutes anyway...Also my dad bought me some ridiculous alarm clock that announces the time every hour and does nothing at the time when the alarm is supposed to go off, so I'm going to try and do something about that eventually...
I need to go help get ready for the trip! Also I am tired and I didn't proof read or edit this and I just refuse to, so please refrain from judging me.
LOVE
kb
7.9.08
Amile
Church, zoo, airport and PIZZA. Big day. All morning I kept asking the kids if they were excited for the zoo and they just kept telling me they were going to eat pizza! We took all of the kids but 4 so getting anywhere with that many is an adventure, but they all made it there and back with only minor injuries (mostly from eachother) and lots of smiles. One thing that I hadn't thought about until we went out was the stares that we get whenever we go somewhere. I think I will just write a whole post on that sometime.
Anyway, the thing today that made the whole trip worth it: Amile's laugh. His laugh sounds a lot like his cry, so it is hard to tell if he is elated or terrified whithout seeing his face. He is a pretty simple guy who seems to still be trying to figure out how he feels about everything and the most random things make him laugh. We were waiting outside for everyone to get out of the bathroom so that we could come home after a loooong day at the zoo and I just kept attacking his stomach and making crazy noises and he was cracking up. So great. I can't give you a good description of his laugh, and if I could put a recording of it here, I would, just know that it is amazing. Also, that is him in that picture, in case you don't have good skills.
Today was long and I am tired. I also decided to wait until after Cape Town before I get an internet card (so at least another weekish, probably more) but look! Two posts in a row!
Love love
KB
6.9.08
Pancakes in Komga
Yesterday was great. We had trillions of things to buy (have you ever tried feeding/entertaining 28 crazy kids all day every day?) so we hopped along from store to store as I tried to take in East London. South Africa is an interesting place, as far as I have figured it out the white people have money and servants and the black people don't have money and are servants. Obviously that's an intense generalization, but there are a lot of remnants of apartheid looming around. As Bob puts it, "things are getting better, but the white people had a 100 year head start. " We met up with a local priest for lunch (at a great restaurant where I could see the OCEAN!) who taught me all about ostriches and how small their brains are and how they have human hands tucked under their wings and how they will rip you down the middle if they are going to kill you and how to not let them kill you. No really. He also made Rita and I have something that is basically a milkshake with alcohol in it. The drinking age here is 18, so turning 21 will be anti-climatic for me. We got home in time for playing in the yard before dinner. Last night was Friday Night Movie Night and the kids did not like Happy Feet very much. They were engaged for about the first 10 minutes, got lost somewhere in the middle and appreciated the ending when we finished it up today. It is long and the plot is driven verbally, not enough action or singing and too many penguins : ) They just asked me if I have Narnia, so if someone wants to get them that and send it here with my dad…just kidding…but seriously. Today Rita and I tried, TRIED to make pancakes, we had moderate success. The kids liked them because they were doused in syrup anyway. I don’t think they’ve ever had pancakes before. After that we were off to the Komga Public Library with some of the older kids and Bob gave me the grand tour of Komga and the Location after that. During playtime outside today the things to do were climb me like I am a tree and make my hair beautiful. It is beautiful to say the least. Also a little slimy, but loved.
Everyday at the end of the day I make a point of picking one thing from the day that made the entire trip worth it to remind myself why I am here and focus on the good things when the kids are acting a little bit less good. So far it is difficult each day for me to narrow it down to one. Yesterday it was Kwakhanya proudly showing off some deflated ball (which is good because no one will try and take it from him), we kicked it, threw it and eventually he wore it as a hat. That almost made my heart explode. And today it was Thandazwa (who is itty bitty little and the one in the light blue in the picture that I stole from Sarah's Facebook) sucking the jam off of her toast. Direct quote from Bob ‘there are many ways to eat toast, Thandazwa has chosen the suction method’. The toast is about the size of her little face and she was not licking it off, she had it suctioned, parallel to her face and she was sucking it off. She (and basically all of the kids) ended up with maple syrup and jam all over her hands and face (…and feet and arms and legs and clothes and hair…)
Also the sunrises here are absolutely amazing. I mean seriously. My favorite part is hearing all of the birds and cows and creepy other creatures making more and more noise as the sun gets closer and closer to coming up. The view from Open Arms is absolutely amazing.
Sorry these blogs are rambley. I basically sit down and write whenever I am free and the computer is not in use and don’t have a lot of time to collect my thoughts. Please keep sending me e-mails and comments and other happy things. Oh! And let me know if you want the address to send me snail mail because it will take like a month but also make me very happy. I still don’t have internet on my laptop, but maybe eventually and then I can write stellar posts and put pictures up and check my e-mail more. Maybe, maybe not.
I’m going to take a nap. The days are longer when the kids are home all day. Church and zoo tomorrow!
Love yall
KB
Everyday at the end of the day I make a point of picking one thing from the day that made the entire trip worth it to remind myself why I am here and focus on the good things when the kids are acting a little bit less good. So far it is difficult each day for me to narrow it down to one. Yesterday it was Kwakhanya proudly showing off some deflated ball (which is good because no one will try and take it from him), we kicked it, threw it and eventually he wore it as a hat. That almost made my heart explode. And today it was Thandazwa (who is itty bitty little and the one in the light blue in the picture that I stole from Sarah's Facebook) sucking the jam off of her toast. Direct quote from Bob ‘there are many ways to eat toast, Thandazwa has chosen the suction method’. The toast is about the size of her little face and she was not licking it off, she had it suctioned, parallel to her face and she was sucking it off. She (and basically all of the kids) ended up with maple syrup and jam all over her hands and face (…and feet and arms and legs and clothes and hair…)
Also the sunrises here are absolutely amazing. I mean seriously. My favorite part is hearing all of the birds and cows and creepy other creatures making more and more noise as the sun gets closer and closer to coming up. The view from Open Arms is absolutely amazing.
Sorry these blogs are rambley. I basically sit down and write whenever I am free and the computer is not in use and don’t have a lot of time to collect my thoughts. Please keep sending me e-mails and comments and other happy things. Oh! And let me know if you want the address to send me snail mail because it will take like a month but also make me very happy. I still don’t have internet on my laptop, but maybe eventually and then I can write stellar posts and put pictures up and check my e-mail more. Maybe, maybe not.
I’m going to take a nap. The days are longer when the kids are home all day. Church and zoo tomorrow!
Love yall
KB
4.9.08
Stinky Girl
I am here! and safe and happy and still exhausted and a little bit confused. Rita and Bob picked me up from the airport late last night. Everything after that is mostly a blur as we drove through the dark, I settled into my room and obviously slept very well, as it was the first time I was able to lay horizontal in around 35 hours. My flights were fine. I sat next to a missionary from Nimibia on the long flight named Charlie and we were basically bff. I should write a whole post on him sometime. I also made a South African friend in the Airport who wanted to watch the office on my laptop with me. Today I got up (ps. it is freaking freezing cold at night and that is the truth), got breakfast and met the loves of my life. I have only been here for one full day and already know that it will be the worst thing ever to have to leave these beautiful faces in 4 months. I helped in the preschool! also ps. they got a new teacher! She has only been here a week and I finding it difficult to manage the class (there are two four year olds and then lots of little ones), but is doing great things, so I am excited to be working with her. After lunch I needed a nap, because I'm a pansy girl and when I woke up the older kids were home. They are hilarious and one of them (I don't know his name yet, names are hard, I officially know 4 of them) keeps coming up to me and telling me I'm a stinky girl (which may or may not be true- I haven't been able to shower yet because the water/electricity in my room were not working this morning and it was waaaaay too cold for that silliness last night) to which I respond "I'm a clean girl, you are a stinky boy" and then trick him by telling him to look at the airplane in the sky when there isn't one, and running away. Needless to say, I am fitting in well. They sometimes call me Auntie Sarah, but there are not many other human beings I would rather be confused with. The older kids told me to go get her and make her come here. They love and miss you for sure Sarah! My life here will not resemble life I have ever lived anywhere else, and for that I am thankful. The internet on here really is painfully slow, so until I get an internet card for my laptop (maybe tomorrow? cross your fingers) I might not be updating too often. I am headed into East London for most of the day tomorrow with Rita and Bob to hopefully pick up a few things. Also I need you to know that as I am typing this the girls are BELTING out Amazing Grace from their room, which we are going to sing at Nelson Madela's grave (or at least that's what Bob told me). They make me smile. I have tons more to say but it is starting to get cold and I need to go shower and drink tea and read and sleep before tomorrow's adventures.
Love love
KB
Love love
KB
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