Its gettin' hot in here! As summer begins in SA, the bugs come out in full force. I like them though, well sort of. As I walked to lectures I stop and stare brightly colored bugs, and remember being a kid reading about walking sticks and wishing I could see a real one. Now I have! Praying mantises and scary venomous spiders in the kitchen, flying ants when it rains, red and black millipedes. They’re beautiful to me. People laugh at me as I stop and watch the bugs, but I enjoy it. Its amazing to me how much I’ve seen here, and I don’t feel like I’ll have enough time to see everything I would have liked. Classes have officially ended and it’s the month of exams.

I’m going to miss walking up the hill to class and being late because I run into friends and stop to talk. (They tell me I got used to "African time" very quickly, I think that's why.) I’m starting to go all nostalgic, but I really will miss dancing in the sweltering heat in the music room, and the sweet people in the dorms who drop notes under my door to say hello, the girls on my floor who ask how I am everyday and like to watch me cook funny food in the kitchen. I’ll miss the lady at the campus coffee shop who knows what I’m going to order and smiles at “Miss America”, and my favorite cab driver who is more like an uncle. I might even miss the ridiculously loud “duf duf” (house) music in the mini buses, and the monkeys running around. But most of all I’ll miss the great friends I’ve made here. Isn’t that always the hardest thing to leave? It’s so bittersweet; I get to go back to wonderful people and lots of love at home. But I feel like I’m walking away from such good people here too. It will be sad to see this adventure end. It has been a growing journey that God knows I needed to take. I’ve learned my own strength, learned to face my fears, and that doing so is very much worth it. I’ve learned about other cultures and other ways of life, I’ve learned about my own soul in the process. I feel so rich for all of it, my life is richer for the people I’ve met and the relationships I’ve made; for the things I’ve seen and felt. Before I left home, I was in such a good situation; wonderful people, beautiful state, good life. But I wanted more. I wanted to see more, to really understand it. My mom said to me, “I knew you wanted to get away but I didn’t think you’d have to go to the other side of the world!” I guess I did. I needed to see life in bigger terms. Every minute, even the hard ones, have been valuable and well worth overcoming the fear. I am so thankful for it all.

I’m heading to Cape Town in a couple of weeks, after exams; very excited to do so. From the moment I got here everyone told me I couldn’t leave South Africa without visiting Cape Town, it should be an incredible getaway!

Posted by Lauren at 12:36 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

What an amazing weekend! Goodness! I went to a drama dept production to support two of my friends, turned out about ten of my friends were in the show, and it was lovely (not to mention quite comical!) Then to the potjie (pronounced poy-key) at my friend Emcy's. She had her dad make the potjie (which is a braai (bbq) stew made in a pot that looks strikingly similar to a cauldron). Yummy! As the semester, and my time here, comes to a close it was so much fun to sit and celebrate with a large group of my South African friends at her house. Good food, good company, good times! Emcy made sure I had potjie and milk tart before I go home, she's been so sweet in explaining loads of Afrikaner traditions to an unknowing mind. Also went to a mall and had tea with a couple of friends, then ran into another group of friends and had coffee with them. For being such a big city, Durban really is a small town :) Finished off the night on Sunday at a friend's church, which I'll get to in a second. Church going here has been very interesting too. First, a good number of churches here have uniforms for members (the Anglican women for example wear white outfits with red trim and large hats of the same), there is a student church which sends buses on Sundays for students at UKZN. I'm actually surprised by the fact that there isn't some sort of Christian of Catholic church or building, since there is a beautiful on campus mosque, a Hindu temple, and a Buddhist meditation space. It’s very refreshing to see the way that South Africa not only embraces cultural diversity, but religious diversity as a part of that. They even leave an hour of the week unscheduled as a prayer hour (not for organized prayer, but just for personal use) and tea breaks too! In the States (and especially on a varsity campus) I feel that people of faith are largely looked at as stupid, or crazy, or both. Here religion is a respectable part of life, nothing to think less of someone for. I appreciate that fact greatly; it’s something Americans would do well to consider. If people sue over, "one nation under God" in the pledge of allegiance, how would they like a Hindu temple on their campus? I for one enjoy both. Also, the progressive constitution of this nation is a piece of beauty. While still establishing legal precedent and case law, the statements of the constitution remain more a dream than the law of the land, but I have high regard for that dream (as does much of this nation.)
Back to a lovely weekend, I'm very excited to hang out with friends and hopefully to make it to Cape Town soon! Just let me tell you, if you ever get the chance to go to South Africa you won't regret it. For all that I am experiencing, all that I am learning, all that I am feeling; this has been worth more than rubies :)

Posted by Lauren at 01:54 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)