The End Is Near....

Of TBB that is.
On Friday, April 1st we arrived in New York where we met Robin and Andrea. We all piled onto a bus with our loads of crap, and we started the drive from JFK to the hotel which was holding our parents.
That makes it sound like they were being forcibly held, which is not the case at all.
Anyway. It was a bizarre hour or so being in the bus, driving through New York. It was wet and cold, and frankly, pretty bland and dreary. It was just...a weird experience. And it was strange that we were at that point in the trip.
Anyway, we FINALLY got to the hotel on the Upper West Side (my sister tells me it's the best place to buy drugs. Thanks C.), and suddenly parents came STREAMING out of the doors. People were squealing (okay, GIRLS were squealing) and pointing out family members. I saw my parents come out and then I saw my brother--wearing his red sweatshirt and holding the video camera....typical. :) Anyway Josh and I had an awesome reunion where he ran and jumped into my arms--all while holding the video camera. Then he started yelling, "I'LL NEVER LET GO."
He's pretty cool. :)
I hugged my parents and got my bags and headed inside to see Caitlin, Carson, and my sweet niece--she is precious. I am the luckiest aunt in the world.
Anyway, my family was in New York til Sunday afternoon. We mostly hung out, ate good food, and saw How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying--with DANIEL RADCLIFFE. IT WAS SO COOL. And he was fantastic. Such a fun and funny show.
We're now in DC, and today Robin (a co-founder of TBB. he's with us for the week!) talked to us about POLs and graduation...and I realized that we essentially have three weeks left on TBB.
WHAT?! I mean, it feels like a really long time, and I honestly can't believe I've done this trip...it's surreal.
But really, we're almost done??? It's just bizarre.
That's all I really wanted to say for now. Be praying for us as we process and work on our POLs for the next two weeks, and as we continue to adjust to American culture. It is overwhelming.
Also--I hope no one is offended by this, but here is one of the media projects from South Africa. It is a sort of PSA/commercial. My friends Mary, Luisa, Mckinley, and Alex made it. It's funny and it explains the way HIV works. When we showed it to our careworkers from PlettAid, they thought it as SO funny. Enjoy it, and feel free to pass it along! We would all love for it to become really popular! :)
More to come on the blog, by the way--but probably not until after I'm home. Love ya'll, and thanks for the prayers!

Pics from Plett

The bridge I bungeed off of--216m high!

Falling about 180m down. Into the abyss. SOO scary. And crazy.

This is from one of thee of the hikes we went on out at Rocky Road. The beaches here are beautiful.

These are two sweet boys that Mckinley and I met while hanging out at the clinic. We played with them and two girls for about an hour. They were just precious. The boy in the plaid is Inga and the other boy is Yollo. So sweet.
Photo courtesy of McKinley Follett. Thanks!

That's all for now! Hope you enjoyed. :)

Grace

Life in Plett has continued to be full and busy since my last post. We are looking at our last seminar on Monday as well as the last week of work. Only two more weeks here in Plett, and only three left in South Africa.

Time is flying.

I am finding as I work on my media project (a composition of personal writing pieces based on my thoughts and experiences here) that there is a lot for me to process here. A lot more than I anticipated after being here for a couple weeks. I don’t really know where to begin or what it is that I want to communicate about my time here.

I guess I’ll just put it simply: there is great need here. I saw greater poverty in India for sure, but I believe I see greater suffering here in South Africa. And that is what makes it so difficult. There is a need for better healthcare for everyone in the townships. People need treatment, and they need it to be easily accessible. That’s a difficult task for the tiny, understaffed clinics that are packed full of patients. There is a need for jobs—unemployment is a huge problem here. There just aren’t enough jobs.

It takes a lot out of you, working here. And I feel as though I don’t even have the difficult lot. Many of my friends see multiple HIV/AIDS patients every week. I only have one HIV patient who is 2 years old and whom we visit only once a month. While I am seeing suffering, I would say it is relatively less than what my friends are seeing each day.

And yet it is still difficult. I talked to a friend here who made me ask myself, “What if these were my friends and family struggling to get care?” For my aunt who had lymphoma, there would have been nothing the doctors could do. For my Granddaddy who gave up smoking, he would have died a long and even more painful death. My Granny, who suffered from Alzheimer’s would have wasted away without the same care that she received in the States.

It’s hard to think about, but that is the reality for these people.

Since Cambodia, and all throughout India, I asked myself, “Why? Why them, and not me, God?’ I could just as easily have been born in Kurland village, have several siblings, and a father who drinks away any money we have. So why wasn’t I? I could be a street kid in Jaipur begging for money every day. I could be a landmine victim in Cambodia who has to work in the rice paddies every day.

Why them and not me?

I’m not writing this to say that I have all the answers, because I most certainly do not. But I have come to realize that all I can do to answer or find peace in these questions is trust in and rely on God’s grace. It is by his grace that I discovered it was about his grace. In India I was seriously struggling with this issue. I sent an email to my mom who forwarded it to friends and family, and I shared my struggles. I was overwhelmed by responses from people who have asked the same questions and have continually found God faithful. I wept as I realized that God did not have to extend grace to me, but he did—praise God! And while I may not understand why I am so blessed in so many ways, I do know that God is always good and that his ways and plans are perfect.

So as difficult as it is to be confronted with suffering here, I am choosing to trust in my good and sovereign God. I was reminded yesterday that his grace is limitless. Unlike my ability to keep going through trials, God’s grace doesn’t only go “so far.” It abounds, it overflows, it is always there. And he will not cease to give us his grace.

I hope you are resting in the grace of Christ. It is a glorious place to be.

Oh and thank you to all of my friends and family who sent me those sweet responses when I was in India—God used them so much to calm my heart, and I am so grateful that I know each and every one of you. I’m sorry it has taken me so long to thank you, but I suppose it’s better late than never.

Kurland, Church, and Bungee Jumping

Well, it's sort of surreal to actually be here. I mean it was surreal to be in South Africa a week ago, just because this is the country I've been looking forward to since Day 1....but to be in Plettenberg for a month, studying and working...that's SUPER surreal.
I'm sitting at a restaurant that has Wifi right now drinking a Macadamia Frappe (it's really good!) in the middle of Plett's main street. There are boutiques and cafes and sports/surf shops all along the road, nice cars, roads that are fully intact. There are ice cream shops and delis and people in cute beach clothes everywhere. It's a relaxed town, a true beach town. I'm about an 8 minute walk from the beach right now. (Mind you it's down a steep hill that is grueling (for me at least) to climb up again--but i'll be in really good shape by the end of my month here!) We have our seminars in a restaurant right on the beach--we hear it and smell it the whole time we're discussing HIV/AIDS and public health. My house, which is also housing Kasha, Mckinley, Alex, Maddie, Eirann, and Lauren, is about a five minute walk from Plett's main street. And it's awesome. There are four bedrooms, a real kitchen, fresh fruit, a pool, clean tap water, a WASHER, a coffee maker...the list could go on. Our "host dad," if you can call him that, is named Bruce. I wish I could describe him....he's pretty hardcore. Bruce is a surfer and loves nature. He has spent time in the South African army, sailed part of the globe on a yacht, lived in Botswana, volunteered with HIV positive patients, and is now working with plant medicines for various diseases. He's been fun to be around, and all of us are enjoying ourselves.
I started work with my careworker this past Monday. My carer's name is Marie, but it's pronounced MAH-ree, not Muh-REE. :) I'm working in Kurland village with McKinley and her careworker Sindiswa. We are having a blast together. We have a couple difficult cases; one man has Parkinson's, and he's so sweet. I am enjoying getting to know my patients.
On Wednesday Marie, Sindiswa, McKinley, and I all went to church at the Methodist church in Kurland. The service was very Methodist, but the music was very African. I loved it. Marie led the singing, and I really enjoyed getting to see how they worshiped. And it was just SO GREAT to be at church!
Yesterday I went bungee jumping off the highest bungee bridge in the world with nine of my friends--SO CRAZY! It was literally the most insane experience of my life. I have some really great pictures that I'll try to post soon. I can't say that bungee jumping is something I will ever do again, but I am SOOO glad that I went. How many people can say they've jumped off the highest bungee bridge in the world?
I can. :)
Anyway. Tomorrow we're hiking Robberg, which is a famous view here in Plett. I am not really looking forward to the hike so much as I'm looking forward to the pictures I'll get. It's supposed to be really spectacular.
I'll post again soon. I hope you all are well--thanks for reading! :)

Sweating in South Africa

I know. That's a pretty gross title. But hey, that's my life right now! We arrived in Port Elizabeth, South Africa on Saturday, the 12th at about...i dunno, 12pm, probably. We got lunch in the airport while we waited for our driver (I got peanut M&Ms and a Stoney--just for you Danny--and finished off a bag of chips from the plane. Well-balanced, right?), and then spent the next threeish hours driving to Rocky Road. Rocky Road is the home of Willing Workers in South Africa, an NGO who is setting up our stay here. It's about 30 minutes from Plett proper, and it is beautiful here. There's green everywhere and fresh air--such a change from India! The first night we had burgers (one of the best I've ever had probably, and I'm not joking), and since then we've continued to have delicious food. We've spent the past few days mainly relaxing and seeing the area. The beach isn't far, and today we spent the morning walking through Kurland village, which is right across the gorge. Last night, Mary, Kasha, Mckinley, Eirann, and I had an awesome Nerts battle. Mary came out on top and I was second (tryin to make the Nelson clan proud :) haha). On Thursday we leave for Plett and get placed in our homestays. This year is a little different: Because of a shortage of homestay families, we are split into two houses that are accustomed to taking boarders. I am in a house with Mckinley, Rayn, Maddie, Alex, Eirann, and Lauren. We'll meet with PlettAid on Friday and figure out who has which careworker. We are each working with a careworker individually, which I am actually quite excited about. I can't wait to start our work here. In addition to making rounds through the townships with careworkers, we'll be spending two afternoons a week volunteering at a preschool or a women's shelter or something of that nature.
So South Africa is pretty much awesome. We are all loving our time here so far, in spite of the sickness that has yet again attacked about half the group (I think our stomachs are just adjusting from India). I've been fine however, and I'm just trying to take everything in. I'm already in love with this place; I can tell I'm really going to want to come back. The people here are so nice--I love hearing "Hello! How are you?" from complete strangers. I love seeing the South Africans interact with each other. There's a pleasantness about this place, and I hope to capture that spirit and bring it home to the States.
We'll see how that goes. :)
Other than that, I am just anxiously anticipating a phone call informing me that my niece is arriving! We are nine days from my sweet sister's due date, and I am so excited! I know Caitlin is too, so I've been praying that her baby will come out sooner, rather than later. :)
I'll do my best to let everyone know how the work here is going, so hopefully I'll write again soon. For now, know that I am loving South Africa and am in no hurry to come home!
Just kidding Mom. :)
(But not really.)

Cambodia Pictures and TBF

My friends Kasha, Rachel, Mary and Luisa made a website for their media project called Thinking Beyond Food. I think it's pretty awesome, so I encourage you to check it out and read the blogs they have written. They intend to keep up with it throughout the rest of the trip, as well as during the summer.

On another note, I have a computer tonight, so I wanted to put some Cambodia pictures up! So...yeah. Enjoy!

One of the temples in Angkor Thom

Rayn and Rach being silly.

"Tomb Raider Temple"--super cool.

Girl Band photo. Rachel, Mary, Mckinley, and Hannah.
Yeah we're pretty awesome, we know. :)

Top Twelve Things I've Learned in India

Yes this is a top twelve.
Enjoy.

12. It has not been this cold in Rajasthan since 1905. According to my host mom at least.

11. I know how to carry cow poop. I am actually a master at this now. If you need any help making organic fertilizer from animal excrete, I’m your girl.

However, I will only explain what to do, I will not, repeat, WILL NOT, take part in the process.

10. Want to get somewhere? Speak in an Indian accent. It helps get you where you need to go. (Can you see me talking to an auto rickshaw driver in an Indian accent, headbob and all? No? Well I have. And I do.)

9. I am obsessed with peanut butter, and it’s possible that I can’t live without it. (Thanks to Shopper’s Paradise, I don’t have to!)

8. I know how to juice, cut, and gel aloe vera plants. I also know how to slice up my fingers in the process.

7. I am capable of not eating meat for an extended period of time.

6. The headbob is essential for communication. A simple wiggle or shake of the head can communicate acceptance, appreciation, happiness, that you’re fine. Surprisingly though, this form of communication is never used for, “no.”

5. Anokhi is the place to eat. End of story.

4. You must honk your horn. If you don’t, you will get hit by another vehicle, and you will die.

3. You have to go to the bathroom? And you’re male? Don’t worry about walking all the way to a bathroom! Just grab a bit of wall and face away from the road—problem solved!

2. Staring is okay. Like really—it’s fine. You can stare at the foreign white girl walking down the road. Actually, you know what, just go ahead and leer. That’s what really floats my boat.

1. Grow organic. Eat organic…SAVE THE EARTH!