Btw.

Oh yea...I'm going to Hawaii!

It's Been Awhile...

I know I haven't been the best at posting on here. But since this blog is not only about my trip to South Africa (ZA, yes im abbreviating cause im lazy) but about me traveling all over, I realized that I need to update! Since I've been home from ZA, my perception on things has been very different. I look at a lot of the things that I have very differently. I am blessed and fortunate to have SO much. Everything that I need is made available to me. This is something that I've always known but I hadn't realized the depth of it.
There have been many times where I've complained about not being able to afford such trivial things, like "the flyest pair of shoes of ever seen", and not taken time to realize....I've never wanted for ANYTHING. There has not been one moment in my life where I have been without what I needed; food, clothes and a roof over my head. I thank God for that! He has blessed me since the day I was born and continues to bless me. I have to be honest and say that sometimes it does feel like I have a heavy load to carry with some of the responsibilities I have but I know that He will take care of me. Always as and always will...

Love ZA Love

As my time in South Africa (ZA) comes to a close and I reflect on my experiences here, I must say that I am sad that my time has come to an end. In these past three weeks, I have seen poverty like never before yet lived (and shopped) like a person of great wealth and privilege. I have heard the most heart breaking stories of seperatism and discrimination yet witnessed the greatest sense of unity and love for ones country. I have never been more of an outsider yet I have never felt more a part of something that was bigger than me. The list goes on and on and on.
There were a lot of firsts for me here as well; first time on a plane, first time overseas, first time eating lamb (it was either that or go hungry), first time climbing a mountain and,well, I could go on forever. I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by some really special people who have all given me a little of themselves to take with me. So, as I prepare to leave, I do so knowing that I will one day return to this great place...Mama Africa.

I climbed a mountain!

I hiked table mountain today. It was hard. Though I fell in some pricker bushes, fell down some rocks and tripped countless times I made it to the top! I am so proud of myself right now that I just felt like telling everybody lol. Once I got to the top (finally) it was the most beautiful thing that I've ever seen. I was truly amazed to see God's creation. The I took some A-MAZING pictures and will post them later.
God bless!

Pictures of my placement: Valkenburg Hospital

The hospital is huge, its not one building but a campus with different buildings. It also has a maximum security ward that I'm trying to make my way to. This is the administrative building with all the offices.




A view of one of the wards.


The dragon man...lol


View of the mountain from my placement



Apparently they don't have firefighters in S.A. cause you have to fight fires yourself


An extremely random poster outside my placement.

Camera update

I bought I new camera for a ridiculously marked up price (arg!) so I will post more pics as soon as the internet stops being so slow. Goodnight!

Placement

I have been at my placement for over a week now and so far it has been pretty interesting. I've been at Vandeburg Psychiatric Hospital working with an organization called "The Friends of Vandeburg". The organizations acts as sort of a support system for the hospitals patients and staff. They run various activities weekly for the patients just as; a store, hair salon, and cooking classes. They also hold events throughout the year to celebrate holidays and show some appreciation for the staff.

The hospital is actually pretty scary looking. It looks like one of those old hospitals from the 1960's (which it is). There's about 13 wards that house patients with varying ailments ranging from voluntary admissions to the forensic wards for the criminally insane. So far I have worked in the salon, the store, the clothing depot and the beauty class ( doing nails and makeup). It has been a pretty interesting experience and I'm enjoying spending time with the patients.

The patients say that I "talk funny" and ask me a lot of questions about "the states". Some of them make up stories about having been here before. This one guy told me that he was in the U.S. Navy and I could register in my head if I wanted to be apart of it lol. I've made a lot of interesting new friends ( like Navy guy) who I'm starting to enjoy working with and actually look forward to seeing every day.

One friend is the Dragon Man. I met Andy the first day of my placement. I was in the van driving towards my placement when we saw a man in a red cape walking down the street. Another person joked that he must have been walking to where I was going. Five minutes after I get to my placement, who walks in but the Dragon Man. Every since then, I have seen the Dragon man almost every day. He's very polite, always speaks when he sees me. Asks me for things like green socks and sometimes just randomly screams. I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship....