Sunday, November 15, 2009

Snapshots

Due to the fact that it's been quite a long time since my last post, that so much has happened in the last few weeks, and that a picture says a thousand words, I've decided to make this a picture-focused post...snapshots of the happiness that is my life. So, hopefully you like them and can get an idea of what's been going on through these images and the explanations that go along with them...ENJOY!

Playing with children at the Family Center in Mpophomeni, one of our four clinical sites...I absolutely adore all these children, and we actually were able to do our final community health project here, assessing children and establishing a system of documentation and referral which can hopefully be sustained as they are getting a full-time nurse to come work there in January!


Angiswe, one of the girls at the family center who stayed by my side the whole day, loved to be held, and also loved making silly faces in pictures.


Riding in the back of the buckee (truck) with Kelsey and Sam on the way to the Israel & New Breed concert... riding back there can be terrifying at times, especially if speed bumps are not handled with caution.


ISRAEL! This was such an incredible concert, and really it was more of a worship session than a concert. While being here I have fallen in love with his music and the passion and energy it has for the Lord.


Once again in the back of a buckee, but this time going around on home visits in Mpophomeni. We were way up in the hills and multiple times while driving the back of the buckee fell open...quite an adventure!


Lots of dust came in the back of the buckee as we drove around, completely coating us with dirt and making it somewhat difficult to breath, so Kelsey (being the genius that she is) decided to use her TB mask as protection.


Phillip is our wonderful driver! And here we are celebrating his birthday! Phillip is quite the joker, and always making funny comments. He told me that he's an "old boy," because according to him it goes from boy, to old boy, to man, to old man...and he doesn't feel old enough to be a man (because according to him men don't have as much fun as old boys)...therefore, he is an old boy.


Melody and I doing out best bird impressions...


Rachel, being Rachel...and me doing my best to imitate her. Behind us are some of the "Bushman" cave paintings. The bushman were some of the natives to South Africa, and we went to this site with our whole group as part of out Culture and History of South Africa class.


My fabulous D-Group! Who I love and adore more than I could possibly say...From left to right: Carrie, Melody (who's co-leading with me), Kelsey E., Kimmi, Britni, myself, Andrea, and Brenna!


Hanging out in the Drakensburg Mountains after our Bushman cave painting trip...I love our group so much.


All the nurses got to go back to the Drakensberg mountains and camp out in a cave! Our group was led by the pastor of one of our nursing professors, and here we are all packed up and ready to go.


I love wide open spaces...especially when they're green. This was taken at the edge of a cliff, about three hours into our hike up to the cave.


So incredibly green...it blows my mind.


Briana at the cave! And the "cave" actually turned out to be more of an overhang, but it was still awesome, and I had never really slept outside like that without some sort of tent or something, so it was a new experience for me!


There was a natural pool very near our cave which we decided to go swimming...the water was absolutely freezing, so needless to say we didn't stay in for very long, but it was still so much fun!


Reagen (one of our student life coordinators, who is ridiculously awesome) driving our safari vehicle! He actually let me steer for a little while, which was quite exciting.


Dung beetle! Actually, despite the conditions of their occupation (rolling dung into compacted balls), I actually find these little guys to be really cool, and kind of cute...I know, I'm weird, what can I say.


Everybody say "awwww" to the baby giraffe. We saw A LOT of giraffes, which have become one of my new favorite animals.


Impala. There were a lot of these as well...they are quite graceful, and very skiddish.


The fabulous girls I got to share in the safari adventure with!


Zebra and impala grazing...I also have fallen in love with zebra while being here. Oh yeah, and I found out that they are actually black with white stripes, because apparently (according to our insanely knowledgeable guide) if you shave them their skin is black.


So gorgeous. Sometimes God literally takes my breath away.


Hippos lurking in the water. They look cute, but they are actually incredibly dangerous... but I have to say, I have a hard time taking them seriously with those cute little ears.


White rhino! We actually didn't get to see any black rhino while we were there, because they're a lot more rare, but they are such powerful looking creatures...I think they're fantastic.


Buffalo hanging out in the grass. It was so amazing to see so many of them together in the herd. They are also quite majestic and powerful looking animals...I wouldn't want to mess with one of them.


Nice kitty.
It was definitely an awesome experience being in an open vehicle so close to lions, but apparently they don't have the ability to distinguish specific people within the vehicle if everyone is sitting down...it is only if someone stands up that the lion can pinpoint them, so I simply stayed seated and was just fine.


I got to sit up in front of the safari vehicle for a while, in the "tracker" seat, which was SO much fun...definitely a better view from up there!


Francis, our incredible Community Engagement professor, and his wife Rose. We are so blessed to have him, and although I am not able to be in the Community Engagement class, I have been so blessed by all my interactions with him and always benefit from his wisdom and experience which he so beautifully shares with us.


Creativity with Rachel's sunglasses...trying to see how many people we could fit into the reflection. We were actually stuck on the side of the road at this time, waiting for one of our vehicles to get fixed, so evidently boredom inspires creativity.

Well, that's obviously not EVERYTHING that's been going on, but that's the basics, and hopefully it won't be long before I can give another written update of all the amazing things that are happening here...God is so good, and He is continuing to work in mighty ways. I feel so blessed to be here and give thanks every day for the opportunity to experience this amazing country! Thank you all again for your support...much love!

1 comment:

  1. That was very fun! Thanks for sharing your pictures and heart! Love you, Marmie

    ReplyDelete