Throughout the trip, many of us (myself included) have come to comment that often, it does not feel like we are in Africa. We are home. We've come to be a real family here, with Miss Christine's house being our home. There we share naps (& blankets!), plan lessons together, laugh, and share the highlights from our day. And lets not forget the fabulous dinners we all swarm over (sorry mom, but I don't think your cooking is going to taste quite as good after this trip). I am becoming unable to realize what my life would be like without these girls-- they are truely my new sisters.
As much as this place has come to feel like home, there have been a few moments that have made us stop and realize, "oh yeah, I'm in Africa." We experienced a few of these "Africa moments" today. The first came this morning at tea time in school at Samuel Ntsiko. A couple of us wanted to wash up before eating, only to find that the school had no running water, and had not had any for at least as long as we have been in SA. In order to wash our hands, we had to "pre-soap" and then have a buddy pour water out of a basin for us so we could rinse off. As the school also has no heat, you can about imagine how great it feels to have the freezing water poured on your hands. "Will you be my tap water?" has been the question of the day. As I am posting this post now on Thursday, I am happy to add that there is now running water in the school.
Our other "Africa moment" came as we tried to leave our house Tuesday evening. As we went to walk down the driveway, we had to wait a moment as we were blocked in by a couple of donkeys. Only in Africa would we have for the donkeys before we could leave our home. Of course, the donkeys are mild in comparison to the cows & goats we drive past everyday as we drive to school.
Hopefully, we will continue to experience more of these moments as we continue our trip here in SA. I'm sure I can speak for everyone when I say they are moments we will never forget.
~ Jess
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