Awesome Week!

First of all I'd like to say sorry, sorry, sorry to all my die-hard blog supporters, as I haven't posted for over a week! Like what kind of a blogger is that, anyway? Part of the reason for the negligence is because we had no internet in Cape Town. Secondly, when we got back home, the internet was out, and it still isn't working properly, but just enough to get by! Anyway, enough with the excuses, now time to tell you all about my awesome week in Cape Town!
Sunday

We pulled out of the Ikhaya Levangeli at 12:00 noon on Sunday. We made a stop at Spar for some lunch, then on to Total for gas. Some guys were selling mealies, basically big, thick corn cobs, for 8 rands. Mealie meal, a very popular, cheap South African food, is made from these mealies. Anyway, they were selling these things already cooked, with salt, so we each bought one. They were really good! Its not your usual corn, but good none the less. From that point on we drove, and drove, and drove. Most of the scenery was either flat fields or mountains, up against bright blue sky! At around 6:30, as the sun was starting to set, Mark pulled out to pass a big truck with a trailer. As he was just coming up to the back of the truck, the truck pulled right out in front of us, to pass himself. Mark yelled at him as he laid on the horn and pulled back in the lane. When it was clear again to pass, we tried again, and when we pulled alongside, Mark showed his displeasure to the guy. We were slightly shaken from the experience, but soon the incident was forgotten. It was dark as we came through the last mountain before Cape Town. The lights of the city glowing in the midst of the darkness was an unforgettable sight, as we came over the last hill. It took us over half an hour to get through the city, into the town where we'd be staying. A huge church marks the road off the highway, into the nice suburbs where we stayed. Then you go through a round about, pass a posh private school, through a second round about, make a left turn, do a few zig-zags, and voila, your at house #39! Of course, we didn't quite know exactly which house it was at first, but after driving by a few times (getting to know the neighbourhood of course) we finally got the right place. We waited there for a few minutes to get the key from someone. Before long, a dark Mercedes flies around the corner, pulls up on the curb by the house, shuts the car off, and out jumps Peter. Peter is the kind gentleman who owns the house we were staying in. As he got out of the car, he walks over to Mark, shakes his hand and says hello, then moves on to the next person, and so on. To the door he goes next, to unlock it and let us all in. As soon as I walked in, I loved the place. Everything was neat and tidy, the dining room table was black with awesome orange place mat things on it. A comfy black leather couch marked the living room, with 2 lounge chairs directly under a big mirror. Two red patio doors marked the entrance to the awesome, cozy backyard area. The area is covered by green plastic stuff to keep out the sun and also the rain, so you can sit out there whenever you want. On your left when you walk out the doors is a jacuzzi hot tub, cuddled in by the side of the house with cute little plants growing beside. There is cushions all around to sit on like window seats by the house. Inside the house, there is 3 rooms, 2 bathrooms, and a kitchen. We all decided to let Mark have the master bedroom with its own bathroom (and shower), because he'd be the first one up, giving us access to the shower. Elaine and I took the room with the bunk-beds and playpen (we both decided to sleep in the bunk-beds though) while Caleb got the room with the single bed. Peter didn't stay long, but left us to get settled in on our own. It was just after 10:00pm, so we'd made incredible time in getting there. We didn't stay up too much later, and by 11:30 we were all in bed, ready to enjoy the Cape Town experience to the fullest!

Me eating my mealie corn on the way out of Fort Beaufort.

Lovely Mountain/plain views!

Nothing better than a greasy burger sitting in your stomach while your traveling to make you feel great!

Final destination.

The cute little place where we stayed.

Elaine and I's barracks. ;P

More to come soon!

Semourites

We left the house this morning at 7:45am to head to the Ikhaya Levangeli, to prepare for the big day with the kids from Semour. We got half a lamb butchered for the event to braai, as well as curry rice, coleslaw and potato salad. At approx. 8:30, the guys headed out to pick up the troops, Mark in the Condor, Caleb in the bakky. The kids were full of excitement as they pulled up, all the girls were fancied up in heels and dresses. We played some outdoor games, boys played soccer, girls played flying dutchmen for the first little while, until around 10:30. The girls went in the building then, and we played the animal game (aka the fruit  game where you sit in a circle and everyone picks a fruit with the newspaper and stuff) which they all loved. Mark had the lesson next, followed by drawing your partner game and musical chairs. At last it was time to eat, and the plates were loaded with nourishment. For dessert was beer box cake as I came to find out. Don't worry, its alcohol free, but its just made in a beer box. They're really good. Lots of frosting! We got some wonderful entertainment when they all sang and danced (the two go hand in hand) for us with their beautiful voices! They are so amazing! At shortly after 1:00am, they all got into the Condor and Bakky and headed back to Semour. We'd all had a splendid morning, although it seemed to go by way too fast, one that I'll never forget. It's hard to think of all those lives, with so much potential, going through life without Salvation. It makes you really feel the need to pray for all these precious souls.
While all the kids were being taken home, we took the opportunity to do the cleanup. Dishes were wiped spotless, leftovers put in a pot for the dogs, dust was flying everywhere as Gwen took the broom to the floor. We were all pretty tuckered out when we reached our dwelling, so we all kind of laid low for a while. Later on we attacked the Condor, to get it spick and span for the much anticipated trip to Cape Town! We are planning to leave tomorrow right after meeting for the 12 hour drive to Cape Town. I must say, the Condor is looking pretty shiny now! For the 4 days we'll be away, we won't have access to the internet, so I won't be able to put anything on here until Thursday! Well, have to get my beauty sleep for the trip, so I'll end it at that for tonight!

All the boys with their pop.

Singing a song for us!

Another picture.

Whew! They're all after Elaine!

All the girls in the Condor, waiting for their chauffeur.

The rear ends of the boys getting in the bakky. Sorry I didn't get a better picture...

Flying Dutchmen! (Photo credit: Elaine)

Me and the girls! <3 (Photo credit: Elaine) 

I love this picture! (Photo credit: Elaine)

Gotta love the Semour Crew!

Elaine and I with the girls. Thanks for your co-operation Mark in taking this wonderful picture! :) 

Me and my portrait pal.

Getting right into the animal game. (Photo credit: Elaine) 

Rainy to Sunny Friday

It rained most of the morning here, pouring at times, sprinkling at others. The temperature was actually quite cool, so I had to put on my sweater. I spent most of the morning in solitary confinement doing schoolwork, trying to get caught up from the past 2 days of painting. The sun started to show its beautiful face after lunch, and stayed out for the most part of the afternoon. At 5:15 we headed into town for Youth Club. As we were coming to the Ikhaya Levangeli, it started to pour rain again. It subsided after a while, enough so the boys could play some soccer. Next Mark had the message in Xhosa, and we did a little drawing activity. We moved on to musical chairs, which is a hit here, and ended off with a paper airplane competition. There was about 13 or 14 young people out tonight, which isn't too bad considering it was raining. Tomorrow morning we are planning to go in town bright and early, leaving the house at 7:45am, for a morning with the kids from Semour. I'm sure there will be lots to blog about tomorrow! :)

Nice cloudy, rainy day!

Painting is Finished!

Today I was kindly awoken by Elaine at 7:15- 15 minutes before we had to leave for painting! I jumped out of bed and got ready quickly, meeting Mark on the way out of the flat, who was just coming to check if we were awake yet. I quickly got ready, then went in the house to make myself a fast peanut butter and jam sandwich. By the time we pulled out it was after 7:30, but that's pretty good considering! We went straight to work as soon as we pulled in. No one wanted to have to come back any more to paint, so we went to it with renewed vigour. I started by doing some touch-ups on the ceiling from yesterday, then went on to painting the window ledges. With every coat of paint, the whole house was coming along delightfully! We were pretty tired by the end of the morning, but elated to finally be finished! We ended off the whole experience with nothing better than Champs Chicken! Now to go with the chicken, I had to run over to get the pop for a drink. Elaine and I went together, across the road to the BP Garage. We go to the place kind of a lot, so the young white fellow who works there has an idea of who we are. The last time I went there he asked if we were from America or something to which I clarified that we were Canadians. Anyhow, today when we went in, he told us he had to ask us something. Not sure of what to expect, we agreed to answer. He asked us how old the  guy was who had come in there earlier today (Caleb). Elaine asked how old he thought Caleb was, and he said late twenties Elaine and I looked at each other and laughed, before replying he was only twenty. The young guy was totally shocked! We had a good laugh, before Elaine asked how old he thought we were. He warned us he was going to give his honest opinion, then said he thought Elaine was 24 and I was 20. We were both pleased with his guess, but told him our real age. We al had a good chuckle when we got back with the drinks! We headed back home then, and had a relaxing afternoon. At 5:30 we headed into town to Calvin and Sarah's house for dessert. Calvin's parents were visiting from Durban, so we all had a nice visit, eating the mouth-watering chocolate cupcakes! At around 8:00 we said good-bye and headed home after a long, successful day!

We finished off the painting job with a great feed of Champs chicken! Nothing like a little grease to fix your appetite!

A nice visit at Calvin and Sarah's.

Painting

Today we woke up bright and early, and headed in to the Ikhaya Levangeli to do some serious painting! We put on all our fancy painting clothes, got our paint brushes and away we went. The first task was to scrape away any old paint that was cracked. Next we painted the trim and ceiling a nice, crisp white! We kept the liquids to us, as to prevent dehyration, because it was a warm day. We worked until about 1:30, taking a break for lunch at around 12:00. We each felt a small sense of accomplishment as we drove away, knowing the house already looks better. We have to go back again tomorrow to finish it off with a second coat. At 3:30, Mark, Gwen and Elaine headed back into town for the Young Men's Supper. I made french toast for the kids (again) for supper and we just all enjoyed each others company. When they got back, we celebrated Josie's birthday with a beautiful, moist, chocolate cake! It was delicious! Josie just turned 2 today, she's such a cutie! Well tomorrow we have another big day of painting the second coat. Mark loves having a crew he can work to the bone, so I best get my sleep!

More beautiful pictures of Semour!

2 cute little girls.

The place was starting to fill up!

The Semour kids were all excited to get papers to go to an activity on Saturday at the Ikhaya Levangeli.

Hmmmm. How many guys does it take to strap rain gutters to the back of a truck?

We called in the painting crew at the Ikhaya Levangeli.

I know everyone is jealous of our outfits!

Hard at work with the rollers on the outside.

Painting amidst a mound of junk.

Cold :(

Ok, so when you go to a warm climate to escape the harshness of the winter, you also expect to escape the colds and flus. Well, here I am, third day of not being able to talk like a normal human being. The first symptoms started on Friday, which consisted of a mildly raspy, lower voice. Throughout the day my voice got a bit worse, as did the feeling of my throat. When we went to Winterburg in the evening for a little game of soccer, it didn't help matters any. Sunday morning I woke up to a burning throat, and speech inability. Yesterday, still when I talked, the only thing that comes out was a crackly annoying whisper, but hey, it was progress! Today, I can actually talk again!
Because of the various illnesses being experienced throughout the household, Gwen and all the kids stayed home on Sunday morning. The rest of us (Mark, Caleb, Elaine and I) piled into the Condor and off we went. There wasn't a huge crowd when we started, but after a bit, more people started to dwindle in, until we had a nice-sized crowd. When we got back to the house, we had fajitas for lunch! I loaded my fajita up with peri-peri sauce (a mild hot sauce) hoping it would help with my cold/sore throat. The rest of the day was mostly spent relaxing and taking it easy. As the evening drew to a close, there was an unforgettable sunset! I sat outside staring at the horizon, eating my chicken noodle soup (for my cold/sore throat), and just drinking in the beauty. When the sun was almost set, there was a few flashes of fork lightening that I wish I could have caught on camera, but didn't. I went to bed fairly early Sunday night, once again because of my cold/sore throat. :)
Monday was a nice, relaxing, recuperative day. It was cloudy in the morning, but as the day went on, the sun broke out in full shine.

The sun as it was starting to go down.

The moon came out as the sun was still setting.

"Sigh"

One last view out the window before...

Caleb started putting up boards on the fence. Its really nice now to be hidden a little more from neighbours eyes! :)

Thats one smokin couple!

Me and the girls on Sunday Morning. 

Huge Spider!

When we got home from the Youth Club last night, we walked into our room to find... a huge spider on the curtain! Elaine totally freaked, I thought she was going to faint. I thought it was cool to see such a big spider, so I quickly got my camera out. Elaine told me not to disturb it and let it get away, and called to Mark and Gwen in the house. They both made haste and came out to see the sight. Only when Mark finished munching on his handfull of chips, did he get my brown flip-flops to get ready for action. After telling Elaine how killing the spider could impact the amount of flies we have in the room, he consented with Elaine and went in for the kill. When he first hit the spider, it fell to the ground beside my bed. He handed the flip-flop to Elaine and told her to finish it off. When she got up her courage, she gave that spider a wack he'd never forget! Mark and Gwen left, so we cleaned up the remnents, but Elaine wasn't quite convinced that it was dead yet. I gave it a few more clouts, before Roxy came and ate it. We checked the room before we went to bed that night.

I went to sleep quickly, and without incident. In the middle of the night, I woke up with a start, all I could hear was Elaine YELLING "GWEN!" I opened my eyes, alarmed, and saw Elaine run over to my bed saying there's a spider! I was half asleep, so I just kind of looked at her, before she said, "Oh sorry, it's just my imagination," and walked back to her bed and went to sleep. I lay there confused and slightly worried for a minute, before sleep claimed me and I fell back to sleep. This morning I laughed and asked Elaine about last night. She didn't remember a thing!

We walked into the flat, and this is what we saw!

R.I.P.

Gotta love those close-ups!

Notice the guts.

Remaining body parts from the accident.

Skid marks.

And here are some pictures from Youth Club last night.

Playing rugby before Youth Group.

Then they all took their shirts off to impress their audience- us. 

I just love Mark's set up there. An improvised ladder :)

Musical chairs!

Then we played the fruit game, except we called it the animal game instead.

The only thing about the cake down here is that you never get a very big piece.

Pitiful, just pitiful.