A new beginning... Service Sites

Kids at the crèche

So last week we started working at service sites and I have loved every second of it.  I am working with 12 other people at a service site called RivLife.  RivLife does a wide variety of things around the community.  While we’re working there, we get to help out at the crèche (day care), hang out with kids at an afterschool center RivLife puts on, go on home visit around the community with care workers, visit an HIV support group with a social worker, and talk to kids at the local high school.  Our group is split up into 4 subgroups with about 3 people in each one and everyday one of those groups does something different in the morning.  So far in the morning, my group has visited the HIV support group twice, talked to kids at the local high school, helped out at the crèche and helped cook a meal that was given to kids at the afterschool center.  During the day each group does one of these projects and then after lunch we all get together to help out in the crèche, which is basically a daycare.  Then around 2:30 when most of the kids from the day care have left, we head over to the after school center and hang out and play games with the kids there until we leave around 4. 

  

Last week, we were only at the service site Thursday and Friday.  On Thursday, my group visited the HIV support group, which was incredible.  This was my first time meeting people with HIV and I was surprised by how they looked completely healthy.  We don’t hear too much about HIV and AIDS in the states but from what I have heard I assumed people with it were really sick.  But these ladies were walking around and doing normal daily tasks, I would have never guessed they have HIV.  They introduced themselves to us and told us about how long they’ve had HIV and how it has affected them.  I was surprised to learn that some of the ladies have had it for 9 years but have yet to suffer from the infection.  After they finished talking they asked us if we were afraid of them and it shocked me.  My heart broke hearing them ask that and our group immediately got up and hugged them to show them we weren’t.  They later talked about how many people in the community are scared of them because they think they’ll get HIV by simply touching them.  We also learned that many people with HIV don’t publically say they have it because many will think they have made it up or they will no longer accept them.  It saddened me to know that these people who are in a time where they need the most love and acceptance are being rejected.  This experience was one I’ll never forget and it really just showed me how important it is to show love to EVERYONE you see because you can never tell from the outside what someone may actually be going through.  

Kids at the drop in center :)

  After this visit, we went to the crèche and got to play with the little kids and then when they left we headed to the afterschool center.  The afterschool center at RivLife is called the drop in center because many kids just drop in there after school for a meal and a safe place to play.  On our first day at the drop in center we met a lot of kids but they weren’t very comfortable with us just yet. But by Friday that changed.  In the morning on Friday, I got to visit a local high school and talk with about 10 students who were a part of a Christian group that meets during lunch.  I only had about 15 minutes to talk with them but we made the most of that time.  We began by introducing ourselves and then the questions began flowing.  I asked them a few questions but once they answered they began asking me one question after another.  These questions were all very different.  They ranged from what differences I noticed between South Africa and the US, to what my thoughts were on speaking in tongues.  I answered their questions and tried encouraging them as best I could to fight the temptations and peer pressure they deal with on a daily basis in high school.  After we left the high school, we returned to the crèche and drop in center.  This day at the drop in center the kids greeted us with hugs and were much more responsive to us when we talked to them. It was completely different from the day before and it was great getting to know them better.

On Saturday that weekend we went to Durban.  In Durban we spent a couple hours souvenir shopping at the market then we went to the beach.  Unfortunately, it was super windy at the beach but after a couple hours we left to go to a Rugby game.  I was so excited to go to my first Rugby game and cheer on the Natal Sharks, which is the rugby team of Kwazulu-Natal (where I am living right now).  The game was so much fun and I have decided that Rugby is an awesome sport, it’s a much faster pace then football but yet very similar so I loved it!  It began raining during the beginning of the game but the Sharks made it through and won with a 27-22.  We ended up getting back late that night and on Sunday I just relaxed and worked on my paper that was due for Community Engagement. 

Then Monday we had Community Engagement class all day and I spent the rest of the day, night, and early Tuesday morning writing my paper which was due before we left for service sites on Tuesday.  I finished in time though and surprisingly had plenty of energy for service sites that day.  On Tuesday at service sites, my group visited the HIV support group again and we had a great discussion with them once again.  We were also able to help them with craft making.  They make jewelry, clothes, and many other things to sell as a way of making extra money.  So while they were working on those crafts and talking with us we helped them.  I helped knit a scarf that was being worked on and some other girls taught them how to make some new bracelets.  It was great to just spend time with them, help them with their crafts, and talk. We then finished the day by going to the crèche and drop in center.

Wednesday was Human Rights Day, which is a South African holiday, so we all had the day off.  Instead of going to service sites that day, we got to sleep in and go to Drakensberg to see the Drakensberg Boys Choir perform.  They are one of the best choirs in the world, so we were all really excited to see them and I was excited to enjoy the beautiful drive to Drankensberg again.  After a 2-hour drive, we got there and had a chance to experience just how amazing these boys’ voices are.   

The performance was a couple hours long and I loved every minute of it!  When the performance ended, we walked outside to a stunning lightning storm.  It was absolutely incredible to see this and especially to see it in Drakensberg of all places!  The drive back to campus was stunning because the storm followed us the whole way.  It by far turned out to be the most amazing lightning storm I’ve ever seen.  All the thunder and lightning made it a great end to a great day.

Thursday and Friday we were back at service sites.  We found out on Thursday that the kids at the crèche would be going on a two-week vacation starting next week, which meant that Friday was our last day with them.  So we had to make the most of these two days!  Thursday, I spent most of my time at the crèche but for a couple hours I went over to the drop-in center to help cook for the meal that the kids get after school.  The cooks were coming in late that day so we had to help make preparations to feed 70 kids. We basically just cut up vegetables and prepared all the food to be cooked, so when the cook got there everything was ready for her to begin cooking.  The rest of the day I enjoyed my time at the crèche with the children and cherished the time I had with them.  Friday our whole group spent the day at the crèche, which was great since it was our last day with them.  We took many pictures with them and loved on them as much as possible all day.  I had such a great time with all of the kids but once time to say goodbye came along, I was sad and just wished I had more time to spend with them. Luckily we don’t have to say by to the kids at the drop in center yet and next week we will be doing a project to clean the crèche and make improvements on it.  At least this project will allow us to still love on the kids even when they’re gone.  I will miss them but I’m glad for the time I spent with them and all the memories that were made in such a short amount of time.

I’ll let you know how our project at RivLife goes next week! Hope everyone is doing well, wherever you may be.  Take care!

God Bless,

Yvette

Concert, Safari, Cliff Jumping, and Zip-lining... Fun, Fun, Fun!

Well it's been quite an adventurous week!  It all began Tuesday night after finals :-) 

That night we went to the Jesus Culture concert in Durban and had a blast!  It was great to get away for the night to listen to fabulous music and worship God! I wasn't familiar with Jesus Culture before the concert but I really enjoyed the band and their music.  This was definitely a great way to end classes and begin the new segment of our time here in South Africa.  After the concert I prepared and packed for the big adventure to come on Wednesday... Safari!

Wednesday morning we left for Safari.  We traveled about 4 hours by bus to the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Game Park, where we would be spending the next 2 days on Safari.  Once we got to the game park we ate lunch and jumped in our safari vehicles.  It was so exciting and surreal to be in an actual safari vehicle on an actual safari!  I just couldn't believe this was happening!  It was about noon when we started our drive through the park in search for animals.  Our first animal sightings consisted of many Impala and Zebras but we soon got to see some of the Big 5.  About and hour into the safari we began spotting bigger animals like buffalo, rhinos and elephants.  When we first saw the elephants they were far away but we waited and two of them eventually came up right in front of our vehicle.  There was a pool of water and mud that we had parked in front of, so the elephants came up to it and began to bath in it.  It was so cool to see this take place no more

Our fancy tent

than 20 feet in front of my eyes.  Later one of the elephants even tore down a tree with his trunk!  This was by far the highlight of my day because it was just so shocking how calm the elephants were and how close they got to us.  After seeing more animals that day we made it to our camp and got assigned our tents.  The tents we were staying in were NICE tents, they are permanent tents set up in the camp with their own big beds, bathroom, kitchen, and deck.  I loved that we got to stay in these tents it was incredible, I felt like I was camping but also in a hotel at the same time :)  That night me and my roommate slept deeply and peacefully to the sound of nature.

 

Rhino that charged at us

The next morning we woke up at 4:30 to begin our full day of Safari.  Our goal of the day was to see some cats but unfortunately that didn't happen.  We did however see more elephants and rhinos.  There was one moment when we stopped to look at some Rhinos that were about 15 ft away and one of the rhinos tried to charge our vehicle.  It was staring at us for a while and then it began coming at us but luckily it stopped after our driver had stomped on the gas to get away.  I was a bit frightened after this but I also loved the adrenaline rush!  Even though we didn't see lions, cheetahs, or leopards that day, I still had a great day with my Safari group driving around the game reserve on the search for wild animals.  We also got to enjoy a lot of delicious food that day, which was quite nice!  That night when me and my roommate were sleeping quietly inside our tents, we heard the sound of Hyenas at night walking through the camp.  It was incredible to hear this because I got to realize just how amazing it is that we were sleeping among all this wild life.  On Friday, we had an early start again because we were determined to find some big cats before we left the Game Park at noon.  But sadly, we drove around the whole morning and saw none.  We did however see a herd of giraffe, herd of elephants, and a crocodile.  Also we learned that we had just missed a leopard sighting by a minute.  If only we had been a minute faster!  After a great morning and an experience I hope to never forget, we left the Game Park and headed back to Pietermaritzburg.  Due to Friday traffic we finally arrived at campus around 6pm.  That night we relaxed and got a good nights rest before a fun Saturday to come.

Saturday we decided to go cliff jumping.  After breakfast we packed up and headed to a nature reserve where we could go cliff jumping and have a Braii (South African barbeque).  It was fun to go out on this adventure with a group of about 20 of us and not have to worry about any homework.  Also, I love cliff jumping! So I was excited to for this adrenaline rush :)  When we got to the nature reserve, most of our group headed down to cliff jump, while some stayed behind to make our lunch.  Cliff jumping was great and I jumped from the highest rock about 3 times.  A lot of our time was spent convincing people to jump, but I was glad to see that we got everyone to jump off.  We then returned to the camp to eat a delicious meal of barbequed meat sandwiches, salad, and other snacks.  After lunch those who didn't go down to the river the first time joined us and we got to see some new people make the big jump.  Once we had our adrenaline fix for the day we all headed back to the vehicles to return to campus.  That night our group got dressed up and went to Thai food for dinner.  This was a great way to end such a fabulous day!

Sunday we went Zip-lining!  We drove about an hour away to Karkloof, where we would be doing the Karkloof Canopy Tour.  This excursion was one I had been looking forward to for quite sometime, so I was really excited!  I've only been zip-lining once before and I loved it so I knew this experience would be just as great.  When we got to the zip-lining place we broke up into groups of 8 and went up the mountain, after we had been given all our equipment.  There was a total of 8 different zip-lines we would be doing that day.  The second one was by far my favorite!  It went really fast and it was the first time we got to see the incredible view of the valley below.  I loved soaring through the air and seeing the beautiful landscape of South Africa!  We later went on many more zip-lines with gorgeous views but nothing compares to the first time I saw that view.  The day was great and although it was sad that our weekend of adventure was coming to an end I was excited about what was to come.

On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we were in our Community Engagement class from 8 to 4 everyday.  We had breaks throughout and our professor is incredible, so I actually really enjoyed it.  I have learned so much valuable information from our teacher, Francis, and I am so excited to apply the information when working at my service site.  Francis speaks a lot about empowering communities and how our job in the community is to be a facilitator.  He continually tells us that we are not to go into a community and give, give, give or lead them but in fact walk along side them and listen to what they have to say.  By listening to them and showing them they have all they need to accomplish their goals they can create a sustainable solution to any problems they have.  I have gained so much wisdom about community engagement throughout the past 3 days and I'm so glad we are able to learn from such a brilliant man!

Tomorrow we start service sites and I am so excited although a bit nervous too.  I can't wait to get there and see what God has in store for our group to do at RivLife.  Bring on this new adventure!  Well time for sleep, I'll let you know how service sites go after our first few days.  Take Care!

God Bless,

Yvette

Done with classes... now Concert, Safari, and Ziplining :-)

Just finished finals an hour ago!!! Woohoo, it feels so good to be done with classes :) I'm done with three of my classes now, the next one is Community Service and Engagement which is the class we take for service sites.  This class last for four weeks and we're in class on Mondays and then visiting service sites after.  I found out what service site I got a couple weeks ago too :-) I ended up getting my first choice which was RivLife.  When I visited it I absolutely fell in love, so I'm glad I'll be spending the next four weeks helping out there.

Since we just finished classes, the last two weeks have been filled with homework and studying.  But we did make time to visit the beach and do some other fun activities :-)  Here's some pictures of what we did when we weren't studying:

We went to the beach in Durban for a day of relaxation before a tough week of studying began

I had a fabulous dessert night with my D-Group at the mall

We had a little kids dress up Birthday Party for Michelle's 20th Birthday

Aside from these little adventures, it's been all studying for me.  But now that we're done and we will be going on many adventures.  Tonight I'm going to a Jesus Culture Concert in Durban which should be a lot of fun and it is a great way to finish classes.  Then we leave early tomorrow to spend 2 days and 2 nights on SAFARI! :-)  I'm so excited and when we get back we have a soccer tournament on Saturday which should be fun and then Sunday we go ZIP-LINING!  It will all be so fun and I'm really excited! I'll take a lot of pictures and make sure to post when I get back.  Well time to get ready for the concert!

God Bless,
Yvette

Adventures in Africa

I know it's been a while since I updated again, but I'm beginning to realize that it's almost impossible for me to find time to do this more than once a week.  So I hope you guys don't mind but I'll probably end up posting weekly.  So with that said here are my adventures for the week:

Last Tuesday was Valentine's Day :-)  The activities
committee got together and planned a fun day for all of us.  We were all assigned a random valentine for the day, I got a lovely lady named Katie.  The events of the day started after class and we began with setting up the slip n slide.  We used up a whole gallon of dish soap for the slip n slide and probably spent an hour of our time throwing ourselves down the hill in soap.  This was so much fun and there were moments when I

My Dinner Table :-)

went down the hill at insanely fast speeds because we had so much soap.  I ended getting covered in mud and soap but it was quite worth it! After the slip and slide we all washed up went to class and prepared for our Valentines dinner.  The Valentines dinner theme was: "Would you love me if I wore this?"  So we all had to dress up really crazy for dinner.  We had places set up for us to sit with our Valentine for dinner and it was great to get to know new people by having the arranged seating.  Dinner was quite entertaining; we had someone serenade their valentine, some boys went on stage and had a poetry slam, and we all enjoyed taking pictures at the photo booth. Overall, Valentines day was great!!! It's definitely one I will remember!

 On Wednesday, I was expecting to just get homework done, but that soon changed.  My friend was getting her nose pierced that day so she invited me and some girls to come along.  I was excited about this because I had actually been thinking about getting my nose pierced.  I went with my friend expecting to watch her and then maybe set up a day to do my own nose later.  However once we were at the tattoo shop and I saw my friend get hers done, everyone else convinced me to do it too.  So I went for it!  It didn't hurt as bad as I was expecting, it kind of just felt like a long pinch.  But what I wasn't expecting was blood!  Once the needle was pulled out of my nose, blood began to drip out too.  This didn't happen to my friend, so I was a bit nervous.  But the guy piercing my nose said it happens to some people.  After a minute the bleeding stopped and everything was fine.  That definitely made my day more eventful but I'm glad I got my nose pierced when I did! :-) Now I just can't wait till it's completely healed and I can change the nose ring!  Later that day after lunch, a group of us went to Howick Falls and we were able to see a huge waterfall as well as do some souvenir shopping.  It was fun to get away from campus for a bit and the waterfall was absolutely gorgeous!

On Friday, I went rock climbing!  I wasn't expecting to do this but about 20 minutes before leaving I found some friends who were planning on going, so I went too!  I love rock climbing but I haven't done it for a bit over a year.  We discovered a rock climbing gym in town that we could go to and after spending a long time finding it, we finally began climbing!  There were many options on the wall but I stuck to some of the easier ones.  I made it half way up a harder one and all the way up an easy wall.  I also got a refresher lesson on how to belay, so after that I was able to belay for some of my friends while I rested.  We spent a good hour there but next time we plan on staying longer since we know where it is already.
 

Isandlwana

Over the weekend we had a trip to see some South African battlefields planned. The place we were headed was about a 4 hour drive away so we would spend the night at a hotel on Saturday night.  Saturday morning we all jumped on a big charter bus and began our long drive to see the battlefields.  The bus ride turned out to be a lot of fun!  The seats were very comfortable surprisingly and we all had a lot of fun chatting.  About an hour into the drive, we began playing games with most of the people on the bus. We played truth or dare and make it or break it.  It was fun to play these games with everyone because everyone got really into them and we were able to get to know everyone better.  These games helped pass the time and after about 4 and a half hours on the bus we had finally arrived to the first battlefield!  Our first battlefield was Isandlwana, at this site the British attempted to attack the Zulus.  The Zulus however had seen the British coming and were able to attack them instead, which lead to their victory.  We next visited the Rorkes Drift hospital.  The few remaining British soldiers from Isandlwana escaped to this location during the battle and prepared other men for Zulu attack.  The Zulu later crossed onto British territory to attack them at this location.  The Zulu were able to defeat many British soldiers and surrounded them inside of the hospital but after a long battle

jumping on the hotel bed :)

they retreated and returned to their own land.  After visiting these two sites we arrived at our hotel for the night.  The hotel was absolutely gorgeous and is actually one of the oldest buildings in the town.  We were served an incredibly delicious meal for dinner that night and eventually went back to our rooms to sleep.  The next day we visited one more battlefield called Blood River.  At this site the Zulu attacked the Afrikaans, but prior to the battle the Afrikaans made a vow to God that they would honor that day as a Sabbath if He aided

Blood River

them in their victory.  The Zulu eventually attacked them at this location but the Afrikaans were victorious.  It was determined that 3,000 Zulu warriors died that day, which is why the river is known as blood river, but not a single Afrikaans died.  This amazing defeat blew my mind when I heard it and the Afrikaans stuck to their vow because they continue to honor that day every year.  Even though battlefields aren't the most exciting things to see, I had a fantastic weekend.  It was great to be at the places were history occurred and picture the events take place.  The places we visited were absolutely gorgeous, I had a great time on the bus ride playing games with everyone, the food was delicious, and it was great to get away for the weekend!

Since this weekend there haven't been too many adventures, but I'll keep you updated!  Hope all is well!

God Bless,
Yvette

The Most Beautiful Place on Earth

On Saturday we woke up early to go to Drakensberg and go on a hike there to see some Bushmen paintings.  I had no idea what to expect and was a bit cranky because I barely got sleep the night before.

About an hour and a half into the drive though all my feelings about the day began to change.  When we left campus it was cloudy and rainy but suddenly we passed through the clouds and the whole scenery began to change.  It was sunny now and we had made it into the mountains, where there was green grass and rolling hills everywhere.  Once I noticed this change in setting, I realized the day was about to be much better than I expected!

For the last half hour of the drive we drove through a valley with luscious green fields and hills all around us.  We drove by little villages on the way and many people were waving at us as we passed.  There was one moment where we drove by three little kids jumping on a car and waving at us.  They were so happy to see us and it overjoyed me to know how happy these kids were despite their circumstances.  I wish I could have got a picture of the kids jumping on the car but I have a feeling that will be an image that stays in my head for a long time.  We continued driving through the valley and up hillsides.  There was a beautiful clear flowing river in the middle of the valley and I was just dumbfounded that such beauty could exist.  I had already thought South Africa was gorgeous, but this drive made it even more beautiful than I thought possible.

After these breathtaking views we eventually arrived at our stopping point.  Our group split up into two groups to go on the hike to the Bushmen paintings.  So we ate lunch and then began our journey.  The hike was easy and pretty short but we took much longer than necessary because we were stopping every two minutes to take pictures of the incredible beauty.  When we made it to the caves where they have the Bushmen paintings, a guide joined us and told us a little about the paintings and the meanings behind them. Unfortunately, it was very difficult to understand her

Bushmen Cave Paintings

through her accent so there aren't any facts I can recall.  Once we saw these paintings we continued on the hike that would take us along the river and back to where we started.  When we were walking along the river, I was in a state of complete bliss.  I don't think I could have been happier!  I was at the most beautiful place I've ever been, in gorgeous sunny weather that wasn't too hot, and with incredible friends.  When we were hiking my friends and I kept talking about how we wouldn't mind if we got lost or left behind there because we would love to spend the rest of our lives living there.  Some of us stopped along the river and played in the water.  We had a fun photo shoot with someone's waterproof 

camera and used up every minute of time we had in Drakensberg. We then returned to our meeting spot just in time to use the restroom and buy some souvenirs at the gift shop before leaving.  It was sad to leave such a beautiful spot, but I told myself I’d be back someday.  The place where we hiked is called Giants Castle and they have chalets that can be rented out, so I think it would be amazing to someday return and spend a week or more there enjoying God's magnificent beauty.  I wish I could better put into words the beauty of this place but I don't think even the most carefully selected words could describe how I felt being at this gorgeous place called Drakensberg.  

Hopefully these pictures help you understand the beauty of this place but believe me even these don't compare to the real thing.

 

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!  Most of them were taken by friends but I figured I would show you the ones that best exemplify the beauty of Drakensberg.

God Bless,

Yvette

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

We are now half way through the academic portion of our time here in South Africa.  We only do our main classes for 6 weeks and then the rest of the time is service learning and touring around.  I can't believe it's already been 3 weeks! And it's been more than a week since I've posted on this blog so lets get to it...

Most of last week and this week I've been busy with homework during the weekdays but weekends are always full of adventure and sometimes our weeknights can get adventurous too!

Adorable Cuttle Fish!

Saturday we went to uShaka Marine World!! uShaka is in Durban so it was about an hour drive away but it was well worth it!  We began our day at uShaka by visiting some sea animals and going to the aquarium.  There were many cute sea creatures and even some scary ones.  When we were in the aquarium, we were looking at some fish and noticed that some people were scuba diving and snorkeling with them.  We decided we wanted to do this! So we made plans to go snorkeling after lunch and headed to the water park.  The water park was so fun and we went on a really hot day too, so it was perfect to cool off on water slides.  uShaka has the tallest water slide in the Southern Hemisphere so clearly I had to go on it!  I was a bit nervous about this at first because once you get up there you realize just how high

highest water slide is on the far left :)

up you are but I went for it!  It was really thrilling but most of the way down I was getting water splashed in my face and once I reached the bottom... major wedgie! Haha, but luckily I had shorts on :-)  Anyways we went on many more slides later and went through the lazy river.  We had lunch and then headed over to snorkel with the fishies.  Once we paid and got out snorkeling gear the guide just said to get in and he would call us when it was time to get out.  We paid for 30 minutes so that was plenty of time.  The place we snorkeled was huge and we were so excited to explore and see all the fish.  About 2 minutes in, all 4 of us popped our heads out of the water and yelled "shark!"  We didn't realize it but there were many sharks in the water we were snorkeling in.  We were a little frightened at first but

Sharks we were snorkeling with

realized the sharks weren't too big and everything would be okay.  So we continued exploring for well over 30 minutes, until we decided it was time to get out.  Swimming with sharks was definitely the highlight of my day!  After we finished we all went down to the beach for the hour we had left.  I instantly got in the water with some friends because I was so excited to touch the Indian Ocean for the first time.  The water was surprisingly warm and I loved it!  One of my friends was surfing and he let me try.  My first time trying to catch a wave, I got one and was able to get up on my knees.  It was so fun and I'm determined to stand up next time!  I think I'll be renting a surfboard next time we go to the beach :)

SNORKELING!

Indian Ocean :)

Playing games at the Braii

After we got back that night, some of us went to a Braii.  A Braii is a South African barbeque.  Some people from one of the churches was putting on this Braii for us, so about ten of us went out to their home that night.  It was great to meet new people and hang out with people who live here in South Africa.  We've been spending so much time with just our group lately that it was so refreshing to finally see what life is like for people my age that live here.  We ate some

Hanging out with new friends :)

delicious foods at the Braii and all played a group game similar to "catch phrase."  I got to know some girls that go to the church I would be going to on Sunday.  Somehow we got talking
and they decided to teach me and some friends how to drive on the left side of the road while we were here.  Sadly to accomplish this task I will also need to learn how to drive a manual car but I'm so excited to learn and will hopefully be doing it in a few days!

Sunday we went to church.  This was the last church out of my three options that I haven't been to and I really enjoyed it.  It was nice because it was smaller then the church I went to the previous week but it wasn't as different as the one I went to the first week.  I think I will be sticking with this church because it is the perfect combination of the other two churches.  I feel like this church will challenge me, provide me with great spiritual growth and they also have a great community of people I'm excited to get to know.  After church we went back to campus and had a volleyball tournament.  My team lost our game but we were just playing for fun and definitely not expecting to get far.  We'll see how we do in the loser's bracket next week though.

During the week I got busy on homework and studying!  I had a 7 page paper due Friday and a Midterm to do by Saturday, so my brain got a bit fried.  However this still left time for some adventures during study breaks.

RivLife :-)

On Tuesday we visited a new service site called RivLife and I fell in love with it! I have just been so moved by all these visits to service sites and can't wait to take part in them.  At RivLife they help children without parental support develop skills to get far in life.  They help them with homework, play with them, and teach them any skills that could help them out.  At the site we walked into a room filled with little kids and I was brought to tears by their joy.  I sat down with the kids and didn't want to leave after seeing them.  One of the ladies in charge asked us when we were coming and I wish I could have said "now".  I know we will help when we are done with classes but it just saddens me to know that they need us now and we don't have time to help them.  Even though I loved RivLife, we are visiting one more service site next week and I know I will be happy to serve wherever I end up.

I also went to Home Groups on Tuesday night.  Home Groups is a group of college age students from one of the churches here that get together each week for a Bible study.  This was my first time going and it was great to meet a lot of new people again.  I really enjoyed having this interaction with South African's my age and will definitely be going again!

My delicious dessert at Ladies Night

Having fun in the mall :)

Thursday night, most of us ladies went out for dessert after dinner because it was 50% off at a restaurant in the mall.  It was fun going out and getting away from campus for a bit.  After dessert some of us girls ran around the mall and took pictures on the kiddy rides.
 
And then it was Friday... I finished my 7 page paper on Thursday and got that turned in, then I studied most of the day for my Midterm and took it after dinner.  I'm not sure how well I did on my midterm, but I'll take what I got.  It was difficult because it's for my online class I'm taking so I didn't feel as prepared as I usually do for tests.  Then that night we had a D-Group hang out.  D-Groups stands for Discipleship Groups and it's basically small groups that get together each week to talk about issues and encourage each other in their spiritual growth.  At our hang out us girls had a blast talking about random things and then we even got to hear a couple of life stories.  I love hearing and telling life stories because it helps everyone get down on the same level and truly understand each other.  After the hang out I was planning on going to bed but some of us decided to go on an adventure.  We were trying to decide what to do and then somehow the idea of going on the slip n slide came up so we brought out the slip n slide and had fun sliding around in the middle of the night.  When we were done slipping and sliding we went down to the waterfall to rinse off and the water was surprisingly warm!  This was a great way to end the week and start the weekend!

I'll try to post more often this week but until next time!

God Bless,
Yvette