WHAT IF YOUR WHAT IF WORKS

This is the motto of my new school, University of Western Cape, and it could not be more fitting for my experience so far in Cape Town. I finished reading “Love Does” by Bob Goff right before coming, and he is a big believer in saying “yes” to everything. I am trying to embrace this idea as I enter this new world that is completely different then my one back in St. Louis. I am going to try to summarize all of the things I have said “yes” to over the past week. 

My group hiked Lion’s Head, one of three big peaks of Table Mountain Range that we are planning on hiking many times. I often share that nature is my favorite way to tune into my faith, and this hike reaffirmed that. I could see God’s hands in the beautiful city beneath us, in the teamwork of everyone in my program, and in the breathtaking view from the top.  I loved getting to know people better and playing Twenty Questions with Kari and Kaitlyn. It took us about an hour and a half to reach the top, where we all sat down and stared into the clouds. It was one of those moments that you will remember forever, you know? For that moment, nothing else mattered except what was right in front of us.

One thing that always makes me smile is that right when you walk out of our front gate, there is a heart that someone drew into the cement (remember, it is the small things).

One of our group’s favorite past times is hanging outside on the side of our house. It is the best sanctuary to go to if you are tired or need to unwind. Nick was kind enough to hang up his hammock on two trees, so that has become the favorite spot. The sun beats down on the side of the house during the day, so we will often sprawl out there to read/layout/talk/paint/journal. Today I laid in the grass and listened to some of my favorite music and it made me very happy.

So you wouldn’t believe the dinner we had the other night! We went to an African Café as a big group including Pearnel (our awesome driver), Melikaya (our program director) and Ethel (our RA who is a grad student at UWC). I got to try sheep intestines, antelope and ostrich (gross, ok, pretty good). There was AMAZING live music and dancing going on at the front of the restaurant and I was the first one to go up and start dancing with them. The best part was when my entire group went up to the front of the restaurant and started mimicking the dancers. The whole restaurant was staring at us as we tried to shake as fast as the dancers and kick our legs as high as they were. It was one of my best memories so far.

I got to finally go to my service site, SAFFI! I was only there for fifteen minutes to meet the six-person staff, but that was enough for me to feel welcome and excited about what lays ahead for me. Every morning they do a morning prayer/devotional and they let me join them when I arrived. We all got to go around the table and contribute and it made me feel right at home. My friend Kari was also kind enough to come with me and I am really glad she did. SAFFI stands for South African Faith and Family Institute and their goal is to stop gender-based violence against women.  They go out to different communities in Cape Town and teach people how to help end the problem. I am not sure what my part will be, but I know God will allow me to use my strengths to help them.

One morning I went on a walk with my friends Cami, Zan and Domonique. We got to explore Observatory more (this is the happenin' area that we live in). We saw an abandoned circus, graffiti spray painted on walls, some men singing Eminem songs (he has a concert here in Cape Town…I might go!). I love how a simple walk here can be an adventure. The whole time you are walking there are huge mountains looking over you, by the way.

We took the train to a beach a few days ago and I very blessed for the opportunity to go surfing. It has been on my bucket list for a while now and it was just nuts. We all rented surfboards and wetsuits and headed out to the ocean with our instructor. He was really patient with us and told us when to get up on our boards. I managed to stay up for a few seconds on my own and I even caught a wave all by myself. Our instructor was nice enough to yell “SHARK” and I was surprisingly calm as I quickly paddled to shore. Turns out he was just kidding. But there are really sharks there; the instructor said there was one the day before we were there. Yikes.

I watched Free Willy because my friend Duke was appalled that I had never seen it. We have a television in our lounge area so we watched it there. Some others joined us and I got to say, it was pretty darn good. The lounge area has some bookshelves with a lot of interesting books (including some psych textbooks), so I am l looking forward to reading those.

As a group we travelled by train to Old Biscuit Mill, a market that is a few stops away. It was the best people watching I have ever seen. Just to show you how friendly South Africans are, I told a lady her pizza looked really good and she offered me a bite. The people here are so beautiful (I am pretty sure they do not even own t-shirts or workout shorts). I would fit in with my skirts and bows I wear at school J

Cami (my friend from SLU) and I found our new favorite coffee place right by our house. It is called Mimi’s Café and I enjoyed the best cappuccino ever even though it was sweltering hot outside. It was really nice getting to know her better and I cannot wait to grow in friendship with an awesome person like herself. And to drink more coffee there.

I have been really enjoying reading the Jodi Picoult book Liz got me as a present before I left. People in my program are very well read and I am determined to read more classics now. Cami has a friend who is trying to read the Bible from beginning to end and I would like to have that be a goal of mine.

We hiked Devil’s Peak and it was for sure the hardest hike I have ever done! But also the most awesome. It is like you are doing the Stairmaster for five hours I kid you not. I got to do the “toast” before we started our hike. We all held my hiking stick (a random stick that I found on our first hike that I now hold dear to my heart) and blessed our journey. It was pretty funny. Reaching the top of the mountain was very rewarding and the view we saw was something that can’t even be described. You feel really empowered on top of the mountain. It’s incredible.

My friend Duke and I went to Cocoa Café and grabbed some smoothie drinks the other night and it was really nice to hangout with her more! She is the one who I am watching Shawshank Redemption with because she said I have to see it (I would highly recommend it). She makes a good impression of a baby and Patrick from SpongeBob.

Cami, Julia, and I walked to nightly mass on Wednesday, but when we got there we found out it was Anglican. It was only us and one other person there, and I think the priest could tell we did not entirely know what was going on. It was interesting noting the differences between a Catholic mass and Anglican mass. Regardless, we are going to find a Catholic church nearby to go to next time.

This experience has been like a dream. I don’t know how I am lucky enough to be here in this moment right now. I want to be honest about the hard parts, too, though! It is weird that an experience can be so good and so hard at the same time. There have been times here when I have felt really alone. Especially when I am at school. Yesterday, for example, I was at the university by myself for the whole day and I felt really hopeless, to be honest. I knew no one, I could not find anybody to help me figure out where my classes were, I sat by myself while eating my lunch. But then I told myself that things were not going to get better with that attitude. So I went hunting around for something that makes me happy, and I found myself outside of the offices of the religious groups on campus. The Catholic group on campus is called Assembly for God and I am hoping to get involved there. However, they were not there, so I looked inside the room next door. I saw a boy walk out and I asked him what group this was. He just pointed his finger into a room so I went inside, and soon I found myself partaking in Muslim worship! It was so great. The girls there let me borrow a veil and dress and they showed me how to wash off my body before entering prayer. They then let me follow their movements and the whole time they were giving me encouraging looks. Afterwards, they all gave me their numbers and they said I should come back all of the time! They asked me when I converted to Islam, and I assured them I was Catholic and I was just interested in getting to know their religion better. They said that was great. This is only one small example of how, whenever I get down, I am quickly brought back up. I am telling you, EVERY SINGLE TIME ON THIS TRIP THAT I HAVE FELT BADLY, GOD HAS PUT SOMETHING IN MY PATH TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER. It is amazing how much my faith has grown since being here. This whole experience I have been out of my comfort zone, and this makes me rely on God because he is a constant in my life. I am around new people, I am going to a new school, I am walking different streets…but God has not changed for me. And even though I left behind all of my best friends and family, I have my number one cheerleader, guide, and inspiration with me.

A LONG SUMMARY

Hello from the beautiful city of Cape Town! I did not think I would ever be writing that. Wow a lot has happened so far. Where to begin...

My sister got me a star gazing book as a going away present because she knows how much I love the stars. At night I have really enjoyed looking at it and learning all of the different constellations. Soon I will try to identify them in the sky without using the book.

All twenty of us are living in the Kimberley House, which I can only describe to you as the best place ever to live. Each bedroom is unique and I love mine. I share it with one of the sweetest girls & we have a fireplace, a chandelier & colorful bedspreads to make us feel at home. In the back of the house is a grassy area, picnic table, & a clothesline to dry clothes (no more drier sheets!). The best part of the house is that during the day, the back door is open and a lovely breeze floats through the house. The air smells so good here and it’s the perfect temperature (70s/80s).

Cape Town is unique in that it has everything one could want in a city—busy city life, beautiful beaches, and tall mountains. I think it is like San Francisco and Colorado rolled into one. It is honestly the most breathtaking and beautiful place I have ever seen. Mountains can almost always be seen wherever you look and I could stare at them for hours. The beach we went to today had perfect blue water and white sand and the mountains were our backdrop. I felt really alive there.

 I am also anxiously anticipating going to my service site in a couple of weeks. It is called SAFFI (South African Family and Faith Institute). So far a few people have been able to visit their sites and I hope to go soon to see mine. I got to go with my friend to her service site and I am really excited for her because I think she is going to be able to affect the organization in a great way. It is a place where children can go if they are affected by HIV/AIDS. We got to meet the lady who works there and she was very passionate about making a change and helping the children.

We also went to the United States consulate today, which was a very interesting experience. A husband and wife work there together and they gave us a presentation on safety tips for a stay. They also explained how awesome it is that we get the chance to go to school with students at UWC  because a lot of South Africans do not get the chance to go, and the ones that do our their future leaders. There is a lot of pride and importance put on the generation of people my age and I think that is really neat.

This is the first time I have had to make all of my meals for myself, and I think I might actually enjoy it! We all went grocery shopping together and I realized that 1) their mangoes are super cheap and delicious 2) apparently their is a lack of turkey here 3) they do not refrigerate milk and eggs. I am slowly getting a routine down and I am learning how to cook from other people in the house. 

A few of us found a coffee shop called Cocoa that is going to become a regular stop! It was recommended to us by Renee (a SLU student that came here before me). We are going to try go to their for brunch after mass on Sundays (we found a Catholic church right up the street). It will not be Cafe Ventana, because no one could replace that, but it might come close.

We had orientation at the University of Western Cape and it was quite the experience. I think SLU is beautiful and this school comes pretty close to comparison. There are so many large trees and the campus is HUGE. It feels so strange to be an exchange student--I don't really know how to explain it. At SLU I feel so comfortable and safe walking around, but now I feel like an outsider and I feel like its really obvious I do not belong there haha. Regardless, I feel SO blessed to be able to attend school there because the faculty seems amazing and fired up to be there. All of the exchange students were together for orientation and I made a friend named Yoka from the Netherlands. She is also studying psychology, which is pretty cool!

Tomorrow we are climbing a mountain and then going to the beach all day. PERFECT DAY RIGHT?!!!!!! I have been waiting and waiting to climb a mountain so I can hardly wait for the sun to come up tomorrow so we can start.

Overall I am still jet lagged and I feel like I am at summer camp. I cannot believe I get the chance to be in this beautiful city that I can call my home for five months. I wish all my family and friends could be here to experience this with me for a while. I still have butterflies in my stomach sometimes because everything is so different and I do not have a routine, but I have found great comfort in the fact that God is doing this all with me. And we are going to have a great time, let me tell you.

I was a little too excited to get a latte. 

READY

the time has come, folks.

i leave in almost two hours for south africa.

this morning I got up at 3 a.m. with my mom to go to the airport. i watched a couple chuckle at my mom for taking pictures of me going up the escalator.

that same chuckling couple sat net to me on the plane, and i learned that they were going on a trip to mexico. i also learned that the lady had motion sickness. i spent the majority of the plane ride to denver distracting this nice lady so she would not throw-up. i did a pretty good job if i do say so myself. 

while flying into washington D.C., i had a mini panic attack when I did not see any monuments, so i consulted my location on google maps to make sure I was not in washington state on accident. I was not. 

now i am sitting in one of my favorite places, starbucks, trying to relax and inhale the coffee beans. I really cannot wrap my mind around the fact that this trip is happening. i feel like my world is about to be turned upside down and i do not know how to react to that! am i nervous? unbelievably. am i excited? extremely. am i ready? yes.

my mom got my sister and i a night prayer book so that we can all say night prayers together while we are separated. even though it is not night time, i don't think the Big Man up there would mind if i used a quote from it right now. 

"make justice your sacrifice and trust in the Lord."

My view of Denver

HEPBURN TO THE RESCUE

last night my mom and I were still wallowing about liz leaving for the philippines. the only cure was some popcorn and audrey hepburn.

in the middle of breakfast at tiffany's, we got a surprise...a skype call from Liz! she told us she arrived safely in japan and was waiting to board her plane for manila. liz looked so pretty & happy and it assured me that this whole separating thing is going to be okay :)

only four more days until i will be in the magical place of cape town that i have been dreaming about for so long. i took some time to reflect on what i know now so i can look back on it after my trip. this is what i came up with:

being a theology major rocks. 

i have found a best friend.

i want to be challenged in my faith.

i really like grilled cheese and tomato soup.

my favorite books are autobiographies.

i will never again take for granted the ability to run.

the campus ministry building is home.

it is okay to be alone sometimes.

i like learning at school.

i want to go on another silent retreat.

i am addicted to coffee (oopsie).

mornings are my favorite.

i aspire to be a hiker/outdoorsy. 

i like being a psychology research assistant.

i want to read every day.

i want to be a campus minister at a college.

i want to live in New York City.

i like to talk to God while i am driving.

i will finish with a quote from breakfast at tiffany's.

“let me make one thing clear. i am not now — nor have i ever been — named ‘fred.’”

just kidding. lets finish with a quote from the bible.

"i know, o Lord, that a man's life is not his own; 
it is not for man to direct his steps" (jeremiah 10:23) 

family photo: my mom, me & liz in Japan via skype

PAALAM

lizzy is leaving in less than twenty hours to go the philippines.

i am so nervous about telling my best friend goodbye.

people always ask what it is like to be a twin. i cannot really explain it. all i can say is that being a twin is one of the best gifts God gave me.

liz is going to shine her bright light while she is gone and i will carry her light with me on my trip.

 "In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16

tonight will involve some vestal favorites: a home-cooked dinner, pajamas, a board game, the Golden Globes & lots of silliness.