Cape Town

Great friends, weather, food & scenery... our mid-year conference has been so fun and relaxing already! We are so thankful to have Dave travel all the way from UC Davis to bring us encouragement and spiritual guidance this week. Plus, we get to hang out the entire week with the Port Elizabeth team - I couldn't be more excited!

a sweet note.

I love this penguin card by Sycamore Street Press . Nothing is more romantic than a penguin with spectacles, right?

girl's night out.

We've started a new tradition between the four girls that we each plan a surprise night out. Last night Lauren kicked it off with the most amazing dinner at an Italian restaurant, Craft. This lovely hidden gem serves brick oven pizzas, homemade pastas, and scrumptious desserts. We had the best time people watching and laughing at how unenthusiastic our waitress was to serve us. I love spending time with my three girls!







Tomorrow we leave for Cape Town for our mid-year retreat and conference. I am so excited to hang out with the Port Elizabeth team for a week!
Hope you have a great weekend!

my new friend

This sweet little boy's name is Fundo. He lives at Heart-to-Heart, the orphanage we have been helping at the past few weeks and even though he doesn't speak a bit of English, we became best friends! He loves to bust a move and more than that, he craves attention from the camera...how could you not want to take a picture of his precious smile?

Yummy!

After talking to Brant about our favorite breakfast foods, I was inspired to treat two girls and myself to my favorite chocolate croissants! There's nothing better than this delicious warm, chocolaty goodness paired with a mug of french pressed Dunkin Donuts coffee.
Students are on winter break and summer project is going home...time to breath! We have a few days to relax before our mid year begins in Cape Town. I'm thinking it's the perfect time to learn how to make a tart. The girls gave me the most amazing cook book for my birthday and I've found a raspberry tart heart recipe that looks perfect. I'm so excited to spend some time in the kitchen finally! Hopefully the results will be decent enough for a picture or two!

A cultural weekend

This has been one of my favorite weekends of the year! It began with seeing The Lincoln Lawyer at the cinema with some summer project girls. Saturday, we took a seven passenger blue SUV, we call the Cookie Monster, to a Zulu wedding in a township about two hours away. Bafana, Lelo, Mdu, Anele, Lauren, Erica, and I had quite a wild ride (I had no idea just how loud Zulu guys could be).
Then today, Sean and Mandy invited us to a horse auction at Sugar Hill stables in the mountains. We spent the afternoon viewing beautiful fillies and having the most delicious food! Much to our surprise, one of the horses went a bit crazy and broke free from the trainers..we nearly died! We had so much fun- I love spending time with our South African family!

This is the horse that got loose!

Beautiful South Africa

something new

It is officially our last day on campus for the semester. Students are finishing up their exams and heading home for the winter break. While they are on holiday, my team is partnering with the summer project students from the USA by serving in the community.

Earlier this week we spent time at an orphanage in the Valley of a thousand hills. Not only was the landscape breath taking, but the people there made a lasting impact on our lives. About 50 loving little kids greeted us with hugs and "Sawubonas". I can't explain how precious those little kids are! It took everything in me not to take them all home at the end of the day. We taught them how to play basketball, helped them with their homework, we even learned some Zulu words! I also had the chance to walk around the community, with a couple other girls and one Zulu women, and meet some of the people living in the area. We were able to pray with one women who is in need of a job to support her family. She does not have a husband and solely relies on her mother, who is aging quickly, for food and money. She told us she believed that Jesus Christ was her Savior and knew that he would provide!

It's so fun having the summer project here to experience the culture with! I feel like I've learned more about South Africa these past two weeks than the previous four months. I can't wait to discover more these next two weeks.

Here's a few pics from our time in the community this past week.