I'm in Nelspruit - the gateway into Kruger National Park. I arrived last night and am staying at a backpackers' hostel. I've met some Kruger guides and am planning what could become one of the biggest adventures of my life to date. I'm pretty excited - what a great way to spend Christmas! I do miss my family and snow, but if I don't have that, this is about the best I can imagine! I'll fill in on details after the fact.
Merry Christmas to everyone!
jared
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Out of Africa
An echo is heard somewhere in the halls of internet purgatory. A scrap of an orphaned blog post is found and redeemed. Almost two weeks ago I was sitting at a struggling computer at the Pemba Nautilus Casino when the internet went out. This is what I had written
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Hello everyone. It's time for a post. It's different to actually be sitting in front of a computer again - with a working internet connection. Well... I'm using "working" in the generous sense. Every computer that I've encountered since entering the african continent has a unique set of strengths and weaknesses. This particular machine has no ability to display pictures - or so it would seem. So I'm not too hopeful about it's ability to upload them. But so many stories!
Just a few hours ago I returned from a trip out into the African "bush". Just a few hours out from the base where I'm currently staying here in Pemba, and you are into Africa in much more the fashion that it's been stylized in the western imagination. Mud huts with thatched grass roofs. Insect mounds taller than a man. Reports of nearby elephants. Meals of sheep guts with rice and beans.
------------------
That was as far as i got before the internet crashed and my connectivity was a thing of the past. Now I'm in South Africa again. In a Johannesburg suburb to be precise. Yesterday I took the scenic flight from Pemba in the North of Mozambique down here to Jo-burg. I say scenic because we got to see some really seemingly unnecessary places. There was a stop at the Beira airport. This of course involved getting off the plane, getting little "transito" tags and waiting for perhaps 45 minutes before getting back on the same plane to continue the trip. Then in Maputo seemingly the same drill - but unless you were listening very closely to the broken English over the intercom you would have missed the fact that this time we were changing planes. So this time we got to dis board, walk across the runway to be greeted by some women with a "transito" sign. Then we were led into the airport where our boarding passes were studied. Numbers were checked on a list, and our passposrts were gravely considered. Then we exited the little loop out of a door just down from the one we entered and were told to stop. Oh, transito! Don't stop. Go get on that other plane. Only about two hours late we arrived in this the supposed crime capitol of the world. There is a very common saying in this continent. "TIA" people will say. This Is Africa. It's used as an excuse, a shoulder shrug, a joke, a truth. Africa just isn't the same as the Western world and you'll be frustrated until you accept the fact. People have much more time here. People are more willing to stop and talk. It doesn't seem that anybody REALLY is in a hurry and the whole world moves slowly once you're here. Trying to get something seeming simple accomplished can take a whole day - easily :).
All in all SA is quite a change after being in Mozambique for almost a month. When i was downtown today I kept noticing something about all the people passing - then i realized it was the fact that they were all so clean! I'm actually mostly clean again. In Mozi I wasn't always able to shower as often as would be best... Sometimes we had no electricity... sometimes no water. I adjust frighteningly quickly to such life. From the moment I arrived in Pemba I felt quite at home and at ease. I actually never had a bad night of sleep and didn't really mind the rice and beans THAT much. (Though I was spoiled since I could go to the store and buy other supplemental food) I think I can honestly say that my weeks in Pemba were few of the happiest yet in my life. I made some of the best friends that I've ever had.
Honestly It hasn't started to feel like Christmas to me. I can't believe that it's just a few days away! As I'm typing I'm sitting on an outside deck, wearing shorts. This is summer in Africa. None of the sights and sounds have been in anyway familiar enough to trigger Christmasesque thoughts. I guess the most reminiscent thing was my birthday. People heard that it was my birthday. That night was also the last night that one girl was going to be there at the base so she invited a group of people to a dinner party in honor of both occasions. It was a sort of put luck. This was the night that I decided to create the apple pie that I had been scheming for for some time. I bought apples from a store and from a street vendor. I bought spices from Osman's grocery. Cloves were clearly labeled in English. Cinnamon bore a picture of stick cinnamon that i recognized. Nutmeg proved the most difficult. I had to go through a whole pile of bagged spices smelling them until I found the one that struck me correct. Pastry was an adventure here. There was no wax paper so plastic bags cut open did duty. An empty glass bottle served as rolling pin. All butter instead of shortening. It was a chore, but that pie was delightful. When I opened the oven and smelled proper pie, it all paid off. It was cut into about 12 pieces and gladly received all around. When I was about to bring my pie to be eaten I was told that I couldn't but must sit down. My friend Ed attached several matches together and fashioned a birthday candle. Then they carried my pie in and sang to me. My Mozambican birthday was great.
My time in Mozambique was made particularly interesting by the fact that I was living in the guest accommodations where visitors from all over the world come to stay. Many came for less time than I or arrived late in my stay so the cast of characters who populated my experiences was consistently rotating. As I look back on the time each week had a completely different set of friends and experiences. Before I arrived I had been told that a group from Mississippi would be arriving on the same flight with me. In the Joburg airport i ran into them. I heard their accents and knew it had to be. It had been such a while at that point since I had heard Americans talking. I noticed right away. It was a family with their three children, two 20 yr old girls, and a mother with her two young children. Amy, mother of the larger family, was a strong matronly figure and told me quickly that they had adopted me and that I could be a part of their group. Over the next week that they were there I came to enjoy the group quite a bit. They would hold family devotions in the morning and I was always welcomed to be a part of these and any meals that they were preparing. When they went off base to restaurants there was a standing invitation for me to join them. When they're not on the other side of the world Amy and her husband Dave live with their family in inner city Jackson, Mississippi. God told them years ago to sell everything and move among the poor. This they did and God has given them an amazing dynamic impact with prostitutes, drug addicts, and people of all classes. Also there when I arrived was a team from Canada, constructing a playground. I attached myself to this group much of the time and worked most days that first week building a playground. I never would advertised myself as such, but I learned that I'm actually pretty handy with tools. :) At least by African standards. This team was made up of two older men, and two young people in their early 20s. Billy and Allie were companions for a number of adventure - including and abortive attempt at a boat trip. But that would take too much time to explain... Lyle, head of the team was a gracious, Godly man who I loved working with. He felt like a spiritual father figure and while working or at the end of the day I was able to pick his brain about a lot of things. He is a retired pastor and still clearly has a father's and pastor's heart. A man who seems to be finishing his life well rather than just starting strong.
Within a few days of each other all these friends left. I bonded deeply with several of them, and then watched them go. Ed arrived. He and I hit it off almost right away. There are few people that I can converse with as easily and freely as Ed. We stayed up late into the night talking about cameras, computers, web design, spiritual things... Hiking. All sorts of things. When I first arrived I met Andrea and Nicole, the hospitality coordinators for the base. They were the two responsible for getting everybody to and from the airport, answering questions, making sure people had bed sheets, taking people on bi-weekly grocery runs, etc. Well, as the other visitors were starting to thin out, Andrea and Nicole invited Ed and me over for dinner. Dinner was at Andrea's house, only problem was that the lock on Andrea's door was very broken and the door stuck shut. After Ed and I took the lock app art and tried our best lock picking skills, we just kicked the door down! A dramatic start to the evening... Nicole doesn't cook and Andrea was very tired, so I got to cook much of dinner. I had forgotten that I actually do enjoy cooking when I'm doing it for other people. It's a special adventure when you never know if you'll be able to acquire and ingredient or not... I made spaghetti sauce from scratch and it was a hit. That evening was the first of several such evenings over the next few weeks. The four of us just formed a little band. We all got along with each other so well. Ed is from California, Nicole from Utah, Andrea from London. And here we all were in Pemba, Mozambique. Caitlyn from South Africa joined us one night as well. We would cook together (well, Andrea and I would cook), pray together, listen to Christmas music, clean houses, look at pictures, and just talk about our lives and God. It's some of the best friendship I've ever known in my life. Everybody had such common passions and vision. All of us love traveling and we would sit and swap travel adventure stories. I was the youngest of group, so I suppose it felt kind of like being back growing up with the older four.
It was times like these that made my time in Mozambique some of the happiest weeks of my life. Bouncing around in a LandRover over horrendous roads I would pinch myself to see if this was really happening. I couldn't think of anything I'd rather be doing at that moment. Nicole had a LandRover at her disposal so a couple nights we went out and watched the stars. You can drive out into the Mozambican darkness and then lay on the roof and watch the beautiful African sky. My new friends were even patient enough to let me play with my night photography with them. They having to sit impossibly still for long periods of time as I did experimental photography.
During the afternoons Andrea did school classes with some of the village children who come around to the base. Ed and I started helping out with these classes. Nacimo, a 16 year old Mozambiquan helps translate for these classes. Sometimes things went well for a while, but some days it was absolute chaos. You'd look up and someone would be hanging from the rafters. Fights would break out. Cheating, mocking, you name it, it was there. But there was some learning that took place. One day I saw a boy patiently copying his name on to his hand with a pen so that he could remember later how to spell it. I think it was the first time he had learned to write his own name. These times were both difficult and sometimes rewarding.
My friends also included Jun from South Korea. She sings beautifully and has a ministry traveling and doing ministry through song. There was Ben and Anna, a young couple from Wales in the UK. Ella a black woman of Nigerian descent who now lives in London. Thorsten and Miriam a young couple from Germany who have been traveling the world for the past few months. Raylene from Canada brought her 16 year old daughter Terran for a trip to experience another part of the world and ministry. It's positively dangerous hanging out with so many vagabond souls. Hearing several languages and as many different accents of English before breakfast makes me happy. It can be challenging, and certainly exhausting, but generally happy. Sometimes someone that you consider a friend just doesn't understand you. And you can't make them understand. Cultural and language barriers fly up and you can't reach proper understanding. This is when you realize the curse of Babel. Then other times the differences are just fun.
The hardest thing in Mozambique was to see the power of the devil. I believe that I saw a group of men attempting a rape one day in public at the public beach. This is a part of the Satan infused culture. At night i would sometimes here the witch doctors marching with their drums and flutes. You could sometimes see the bondage in the eyes of children. Especially in children who are clearly stunted and bound to a listless childhood that defies the years that pass. I saw a girl who you might have guess to be 5 or 6 who I learned was actually 20. In one village where I visited there was a mother who brought her daughter for prayer because she was 3 and still not trying to walk. In her eyes you could see a darkness that is heart breaking in a child so young. When we laid hands on her to pray she would suddenly because restless and cry squirming and trying to get us to stop. Her mother took the witch doctors bracelet off of her wrist, but sadly I didn't see her healed that day. There's many things I don't understand about the spirit realm. But much that God seems bent on teaching me as well...
The head of the ministry was often there during my stay. I got to sit and listen to her tell stories from her early ministry. She strikes me as being deeply genuine. It was such a treat to see her in her home surroundings and get to watch what it looks like for her to live out the things that she talks about and teaches. I got to be the official Christmas photographer when she gave out gifts to all the Iris orphans at the base. The energy that God gives that woman is truly miraculous. I followed her for almost 6 straight hours of unrelenting energy. She insisted in giving the gifts to each of the 170+ kids individually and gave the same attention to the very last girl as she had to the ones at the beginning. Truly and amazing thing to get to be a part of.
I'm not sure yet where I'll spend Christmas, but I'm sure it will be somewhere good and memorable. Considering possibly going to Kruger National Park...
Right now I'm staying with a delightful African-American couple who felt called by God to give up everything in the states and move here to minister in South Africa. They've been such wonderful resources of wisdom and Biblical council. Couldn't have asked for a better place to process all that God did in my heart in Mozambique. So much I'm trying to fathom about the Spiritual realm. Realizing that I'll never get my head around it, but wanting so desperately for it to enter my heart. I should go to bed because I believe that I have church early tomorrow morning. I could go on for so many more pages telling about the experiences I've had and the people I've met, but I'll have to wrap this up.
Check out more pictures here: Africa V
Also check out the blog of my friend Ed. Many of the pictures that you see posted there are mine. He had better computer access during our time in Pemba so I shot and he posted
-----------------
Hello everyone. It's time for a post. It's different to actually be sitting in front of a computer again - with a working internet connection. Well... I'm using "working" in the generous sense. Every computer that I've encountered since entering the african continent has a unique set of strengths and weaknesses. This particular machine has no ability to display pictures - or so it would seem. So I'm not too hopeful about it's ability to upload them. But so many stories!
Just a few hours ago I returned from a trip out into the African "bush". Just a few hours out from the base where I'm currently staying here in Pemba, and you are into Africa in much more the fashion that it's been stylized in the western imagination. Mud huts with thatched grass roofs. Insect mounds taller than a man. Reports of nearby elephants. Meals of sheep guts with rice and beans.
------------------
That was as far as i got before the internet crashed and my connectivity was a thing of the past. Now I'm in South Africa again. In a Johannesburg suburb to be precise. Yesterday I took the scenic flight from Pemba in the North of Mozambique down here to Jo-burg. I say scenic because we got to see some really seemingly unnecessary places. There was a stop at the Beira airport. This of course involved getting off the plane, getting little "transito" tags and waiting for perhaps 45 minutes before getting back on the same plane to continue the trip. Then in Maputo seemingly the same drill - but unless you were listening very closely to the broken English over the intercom you would have missed the fact that this time we were changing planes. So this time we got to dis board, walk across the runway to be greeted by some women with a "transito" sign. Then we were led into the airport where our boarding passes were studied. Numbers were checked on a list, and our passposrts were gravely considered. Then we exited the little loop out of a door just down from the one we entered and were told to stop. Oh, transito! Don't stop. Go get on that other plane. Only about two hours late we arrived in this the supposed crime capitol of the world. There is a very common saying in this continent. "TIA" people will say. This Is Africa. It's used as an excuse, a shoulder shrug, a joke, a truth. Africa just isn't the same as the Western world and you'll be frustrated until you accept the fact. People have much more time here. People are more willing to stop and talk. It doesn't seem that anybody REALLY is in a hurry and the whole world moves slowly once you're here. Trying to get something seeming simple accomplished can take a whole day - easily :).
All in all SA is quite a change after being in Mozambique for almost a month. When i was downtown today I kept noticing something about all the people passing - then i realized it was the fact that they were all so clean! I'm actually mostly clean again. In Mozi I wasn't always able to shower as often as would be best... Sometimes we had no electricity... sometimes no water. I adjust frighteningly quickly to such life. From the moment I arrived in Pemba I felt quite at home and at ease. I actually never had a bad night of sleep and didn't really mind the rice and beans THAT much. (Though I was spoiled since I could go to the store and buy other supplemental food) I think I can honestly say that my weeks in Pemba were few of the happiest yet in my life. I made some of the best friends that I've ever had.
Honestly It hasn't started to feel like Christmas to me. I can't believe that it's just a few days away! As I'm typing I'm sitting on an outside deck, wearing shorts. This is summer in Africa. None of the sights and sounds have been in anyway familiar enough to trigger Christmasesque thoughts. I guess the most reminiscent thing was my birthday. People heard that it was my birthday. That night was also the last night that one girl was going to be there at the base so she invited a group of people to a dinner party in honor of both occasions. It was a sort of put luck. This was the night that I decided to create the apple pie that I had been scheming for for some time. I bought apples from a store and from a street vendor. I bought spices from Osman's grocery. Cloves were clearly labeled in English. Cinnamon bore a picture of stick cinnamon that i recognized. Nutmeg proved the most difficult. I had to go through a whole pile of bagged spices smelling them until I found the one that struck me correct. Pastry was an adventure here. There was no wax paper so plastic bags cut open did duty. An empty glass bottle served as rolling pin. All butter instead of shortening. It was a chore, but that pie was delightful. When I opened the oven and smelled proper pie, it all paid off. It was cut into about 12 pieces and gladly received all around. When I was about to bring my pie to be eaten I was told that I couldn't but must sit down. My friend Ed attached several matches together and fashioned a birthday candle. Then they carried my pie in and sang to me. My Mozambican birthday was great.
My time in Mozambique was made particularly interesting by the fact that I was living in the guest accommodations where visitors from all over the world come to stay. Many came for less time than I or arrived late in my stay so the cast of characters who populated my experiences was consistently rotating. As I look back on the time each week had a completely different set of friends and experiences. Before I arrived I had been told that a group from Mississippi would be arriving on the same flight with me. In the Joburg airport i ran into them. I heard their accents and knew it had to be. It had been such a while at that point since I had heard Americans talking. I noticed right away. It was a family with their three children, two 20 yr old girls, and a mother with her two young children. Amy, mother of the larger family, was a strong matronly figure and told me quickly that they had adopted me and that I could be a part of their group. Over the next week that they were there I came to enjoy the group quite a bit. They would hold family devotions in the morning and I was always welcomed to be a part of these and any meals that they were preparing. When they went off base to restaurants there was a standing invitation for me to join them. When they're not on the other side of the world Amy and her husband Dave live with their family in inner city Jackson, Mississippi. God told them years ago to sell everything and move among the poor. This they did and God has given them an amazing dynamic impact with prostitutes, drug addicts, and people of all classes. Also there when I arrived was a team from Canada, constructing a playground. I attached myself to this group much of the time and worked most days that first week building a playground. I never would advertised myself as such, but I learned that I'm actually pretty handy with tools. :) At least by African standards. This team was made up of two older men, and two young people in their early 20s. Billy and Allie were companions for a number of adventure - including and abortive attempt at a boat trip. But that would take too much time to explain... Lyle, head of the team was a gracious, Godly man who I loved working with. He felt like a spiritual father figure and while working or at the end of the day I was able to pick his brain about a lot of things. He is a retired pastor and still clearly has a father's and pastor's heart. A man who seems to be finishing his life well rather than just starting strong.
Within a few days of each other all these friends left. I bonded deeply with several of them, and then watched them go. Ed arrived. He and I hit it off almost right away. There are few people that I can converse with as easily and freely as Ed. We stayed up late into the night talking about cameras, computers, web design, spiritual things... Hiking. All sorts of things. When I first arrived I met Andrea and Nicole, the hospitality coordinators for the base. They were the two responsible for getting everybody to and from the airport, answering questions, making sure people had bed sheets, taking people on bi-weekly grocery runs, etc. Well, as the other visitors were starting to thin out, Andrea and Nicole invited Ed and me over for dinner. Dinner was at Andrea's house, only problem was that the lock on Andrea's door was very broken and the door stuck shut. After Ed and I took the lock app art and tried our best lock picking skills, we just kicked the door down! A dramatic start to the evening... Nicole doesn't cook and Andrea was very tired, so I got to cook much of dinner. I had forgotten that I actually do enjoy cooking when I'm doing it for other people. It's a special adventure when you never know if you'll be able to acquire and ingredient or not... I made spaghetti sauce from scratch and it was a hit. That evening was the first of several such evenings over the next few weeks. The four of us just formed a little band. We all got along with each other so well. Ed is from California, Nicole from Utah, Andrea from London. And here we all were in Pemba, Mozambique. Caitlyn from South Africa joined us one night as well. We would cook together (well, Andrea and I would cook), pray together, listen to Christmas music, clean houses, look at pictures, and just talk about our lives and God. It's some of the best friendship I've ever known in my life. Everybody had such common passions and vision. All of us love traveling and we would sit and swap travel adventure stories. I was the youngest of group, so I suppose it felt kind of like being back growing up with the older four.
It was times like these that made my time in Mozambique some of the happiest weeks of my life. Bouncing around in a LandRover over horrendous roads I would pinch myself to see if this was really happening. I couldn't think of anything I'd rather be doing at that moment. Nicole had a LandRover at her disposal so a couple nights we went out and watched the stars. You can drive out into the Mozambican darkness and then lay on the roof and watch the beautiful African sky. My new friends were even patient enough to let me play with my night photography with them. They having to sit impossibly still for long periods of time as I did experimental photography.
During the afternoons Andrea did school classes with some of the village children who come around to the base. Ed and I started helping out with these classes. Nacimo, a 16 year old Mozambiquan helps translate for these classes. Sometimes things went well for a while, but some days it was absolute chaos. You'd look up and someone would be hanging from the rafters. Fights would break out. Cheating, mocking, you name it, it was there. But there was some learning that took place. One day I saw a boy patiently copying his name on to his hand with a pen so that he could remember later how to spell it. I think it was the first time he had learned to write his own name. These times were both difficult and sometimes rewarding.
My friends also included Jun from South Korea. She sings beautifully and has a ministry traveling and doing ministry through song. There was Ben and Anna, a young couple from Wales in the UK. Ella a black woman of Nigerian descent who now lives in London. Thorsten and Miriam a young couple from Germany who have been traveling the world for the past few months. Raylene from Canada brought her 16 year old daughter Terran for a trip to experience another part of the world and ministry. It's positively dangerous hanging out with so many vagabond souls. Hearing several languages and as many different accents of English before breakfast makes me happy. It can be challenging, and certainly exhausting, but generally happy. Sometimes someone that you consider a friend just doesn't understand you. And you can't make them understand. Cultural and language barriers fly up and you can't reach proper understanding. This is when you realize the curse of Babel. Then other times the differences are just fun.
The hardest thing in Mozambique was to see the power of the devil. I believe that I saw a group of men attempting a rape one day in public at the public beach. This is a part of the Satan infused culture. At night i would sometimes here the witch doctors marching with their drums and flutes. You could sometimes see the bondage in the eyes of children. Especially in children who are clearly stunted and bound to a listless childhood that defies the years that pass. I saw a girl who you might have guess to be 5 or 6 who I learned was actually 20. In one village where I visited there was a mother who brought her daughter for prayer because she was 3 and still not trying to walk. In her eyes you could see a darkness that is heart breaking in a child so young. When we laid hands on her to pray she would suddenly because restless and cry squirming and trying to get us to stop. Her mother took the witch doctors bracelet off of her wrist, but sadly I didn't see her healed that day. There's many things I don't understand about the spirit realm. But much that God seems bent on teaching me as well...
The head of the ministry was often there during my stay. I got to sit and listen to her tell stories from her early ministry. She strikes me as being deeply genuine. It was such a treat to see her in her home surroundings and get to watch what it looks like for her to live out the things that she talks about and teaches. I got to be the official Christmas photographer when she gave out gifts to all the Iris orphans at the base. The energy that God gives that woman is truly miraculous. I followed her for almost 6 straight hours of unrelenting energy. She insisted in giving the gifts to each of the 170+ kids individually and gave the same attention to the very last girl as she had to the ones at the beginning. Truly and amazing thing to get to be a part of.
I'm not sure yet where I'll spend Christmas, but I'm sure it will be somewhere good and memorable. Considering possibly going to Kruger National Park...
Right now I'm staying with a delightful African-American couple who felt called by God to give up everything in the states and move here to minister in South Africa. They've been such wonderful resources of wisdom and Biblical council. Couldn't have asked for a better place to process all that God did in my heart in Mozambique. So much I'm trying to fathom about the Spiritual realm. Realizing that I'll never get my head around it, but wanting so desperately for it to enter my heart. I should go to bed because I believe that I have church early tomorrow morning. I could go on for so many more pages telling about the experiences I've had and the people I've met, but I'll have to wrap this up.
Check out more pictures here: Africa V
Also check out the blog of my friend Ed. Many of the pictures that you see posted there are mine. He had better computer access during our time in Pemba so I shot and he posted
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Mozambique
Hello friends. I'm now safely in Mozambique. I've been working at an orphanage and so far much of my time has been spent helping a team assemble a playground. It is certainly the other side of the world. Temperatures are generally very hot and the sun beats down - especially in the morning. The place where I'm staying is within sight distance of the Indian Ocean and I got to take a swim the other day. A far cry from the cold Atlantic that I visited in Yzerfontein, SA. It feels like bath water here.
As soon as my place first touched down in Maputo, MZ I could tell that I was really in Africa now. Confusion, language barriers, and capriciousness were the order of the day and the difference from that states could be noticed immediately in the details as small as the grass growing from cracks in the airport runway.
Finally i was issued a visa and herded back onto the plane for the short flight to Pemba where I'm now staying. In the Jo-burg airport i met some of the people who have become my frequent companions over these next days. A team from Mississippi was flying in on the same flight. Since being here they've all become good friends. And the Canadians. It's good to hear American accents again. I love Africans, but there's something that's just reassuring about talking to another American.
The Canadian team came to build the playground that I mentioned earlier. Some of the required hardware did not arrive so we have been using out God given brains to come up with so many different ways of accomplishing seemly straightforward tasks. There's Billy, Allie, Grant and Lyle from Canada. Laura, Betsy, Amy, David and family from Mississippi. June from South Korea. People from Pennsylvania and South Africa. And so many wonderful children from right here in Pemba! I wish I could show you some of their faces, but this computer is not allowing any posting of pictures.
Rice is pretty good. Especially when you eat it with your hands.
It's really different to go to the market and be locked in a full hug by a crippled man that you've never met. And then of course asked for food or money. It's different here. But I feel at home here anyway. I'm happy and content.
jared
Link to Pictures:
Africa IV
As soon as my place first touched down in Maputo, MZ I could tell that I was really in Africa now. Confusion, language barriers, and capriciousness were the order of the day and the difference from that states could be noticed immediately in the details as small as the grass growing from cracks in the airport runway.
Finally i was issued a visa and herded back onto the plane for the short flight to Pemba where I'm now staying. In the Jo-burg airport i met some of the people who have become my frequent companions over these next days. A team from Mississippi was flying in on the same flight. Since being here they've all become good friends. And the Canadians. It's good to hear American accents again. I love Africans, but there's something that's just reassuring about talking to another American.
The Canadian team came to build the playground that I mentioned earlier. Some of the required hardware did not arrive so we have been using out God given brains to come up with so many different ways of accomplishing seemly straightforward tasks. There's Billy, Allie, Grant and Lyle from Canada. Laura, Betsy, Amy, David and family from Mississippi. June from South Korea. People from Pennsylvania and South Africa. And so many wonderful children from right here in Pemba! I wish I could show you some of their faces, but this computer is not allowing any posting of pictures.
Rice is pretty good. Especially when you eat it with your hands.
It's really different to go to the market and be locked in a full hug by a crippled man that you've never met. And then of course asked for food or money. It's different here. But I feel at home here anyway. I'm happy and content.
jared
Link to Pictures:
Africa IV
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Colesberg, SA
The kind matron of Die Kleipot (The Claypot) Guest House in Colesberg, SA let me use her computer and internet connection. My fist priority was to access my e-mail and do some printing. Communications in the Africa continent are not exactly what most of us are accustomed to in the US. For months I have been e-mailing with the staff at the Iris Ministries orphanage in Pemba, Mozambique. I sent them an email to let them know that I was in Africa, and would soon be coordinating my flight to their area. This week the time came right for me to make that jump so I decided to call the number that I had been provided for their center. No go. Tried the second number - again no go. At least this time I get a message in Portuguese and English telling me to try again later... At this point I had already gotten a quote on a ticket and was just awaiting their confirmation before making the final purchase - the ticket agents were cautionary as there was no backing out or refund once I said I wanted to purchase. Also I had reserved a rental car for 16hr drive to the Jo-burg airport where my flight would depart from. When the calls failed I sent an e-mail and expectantly waited all day for a reply. Nothing. Putting off my decision till the very last minute yesterday morning, I went to the internet cafe again and checked for a reply from Pemba. Nothing. I talked with God, and my host Shawn and tried to decide what to do. Finally we agreed the best course of action was to proceed and let God sort out the details as I moved forward. I phoned the travel agent and told her to go through with the ticket purchase. I went to AVIS and picked up my car. I packed my bags and with SA road map in hand I hit the road a little before noon. Shawn gave me advice for the best route and this mostly involved taking the N1 right through the heart of South Africa's Karroo. I pulled out of the Cape region and wound my way through the Stellenbosch wine country. Mountains towered on either side of the road and when you went around bends you could see miles of vineyard filled valleys bellow. Slowly the road crept higher and the climate began to become more and more arid. High on one mountain peak I saw a few tiny remains of my first Africa snow. The mountains began to level and I was soon driving across vast dry expanses of scrub brush and cactus. Sheep and goats foraged in the rough grasses, and occasionally I saw a wild buck feeding. If I hadn't known that I was in Africa, I would have believed without doubt that I was in the American West. Everywhere were sights that reminded me specifically of northern Arizona, southern Utah, or eastern Colorado. In the areas where the highway was cut through rock you can see the exact same veins of light green and purple rocks that fill the mountains in Utah. The three buttes that give the town of Three Sisters its name are what you'd expect to see in a cowboy film. The dry air had parched the ground leaving it in many places a maze of cracks. This is the Karroo. I left the Western Cape and drove into Northern Cape province. By now sitting on the right side of a vehicle and driving well over 100km/hr while passing all over the road feels almost completely natural.
As the sun set I saw ahead a few towering flat topped thunder heads. They were beautiful and majestic as they reflected the rosy evening light. Then the lighting began to flash. With night coming on more and more bolts began to dance between the clouds and down towards the ground. Central south Africa is extremely dark at night, but these flashes would momentarily illuminate the landscape. There is as sparse powerful beauty in the plains.
At around 9pm i checked into Die Kleipot. Shawn and Karien had recommended it highly. As soon as i got my key, my new host advised that I hurry if i wanted to get dinner. The Horse and Mill is a local pub with plenty of character and pretty decent lamp pie. The walls are covered with the signatures of visitors and the rafters with flags and the currencies of just about every nation imaginable.
This morning held good news. In my e-mail box was a response from Iris saying that my Friday arrival should be just fine! Also the e-tickets that I need for my flight had arrived and I was able to print them out. Praise God. Everything SHOULD now be in order. I drive the 700 odd kilometers to Johannesburg, drop my car at the AVIS airport return, check into to departing flights. Hopefully I'll be able to catch a little sleep in the terminal overnight. Then, at 8:40 am my flight is scheduled to depart for Pemba. There I plan to spend the next 2 1/2 weeks before returning to spend some time in Jo-berg area with a paster who works among the black communities of Soweto. What amazing opportunities and experiences I am living.
Love to all. Thanks for the picture comments and notes. It's always wonderful to hear from friends in the States!
jared
As the sun set I saw ahead a few towering flat topped thunder heads. They were beautiful and majestic as they reflected the rosy evening light. Then the lighting began to flash. With night coming on more and more bolts began to dance between the clouds and down towards the ground. Central south Africa is extremely dark at night, but these flashes would momentarily illuminate the landscape. There is as sparse powerful beauty in the plains.
At around 9pm i checked into Die Kleipot. Shawn and Karien had recommended it highly. As soon as i got my key, my new host advised that I hurry if i wanted to get dinner. The Horse and Mill is a local pub with plenty of character and pretty decent lamp pie. The walls are covered with the signatures of visitors and the rafters with flags and the currencies of just about every nation imaginable.
This morning held good news. In my e-mail box was a response from Iris saying that my Friday arrival should be just fine! Also the e-tickets that I need for my flight had arrived and I was able to print them out. Praise God. Everything SHOULD now be in order. I drive the 700 odd kilometers to Johannesburg, drop my car at the AVIS airport return, check into to departing flights. Hopefully I'll be able to catch a little sleep in the terminal overnight. Then, at 8:40 am my flight is scheduled to depart for Pemba. There I plan to spend the next 2 1/2 weeks before returning to spend some time in Jo-berg area with a paster who works among the black communities of Soweto. What amazing opportunities and experiences I am living.
Love to all. Thanks for the picture comments and notes. It's always wonderful to hear from friends in the States!
jared
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Yzerfontein, SA
When you're living on the road there's an enchanting game that you get to play that I call "hunt for the switch". Each new home that you're welcomed into has a totally different light switch arrangement. "And here's the bathroom that you can use", says your hospitable host. The first thing that usually comes to your mind isn't generally, "and where might i find the light switch?" The rules are ever changing and dynamic. Here in SA there's a new and fun twist thrown into the game. The standard switches in the country are much flatter and don't stick out as far from the wall (this making them more elusive to a preliminary hand sweep of a wall). Next, it is standard practice in SA to put a light switch outside of the room concerned. Occasionally far outside... And on a panel with multiple switches. The fun never ends!
Couldn't resist that small aside. SA continues to amaze and enthral. I've not started to bounce around the country. After getting my legs with Shawn and Karien, I've now gotten comfortable enough to take to the road and start really getting to know new people. In Strand I rented a car and began my education on driving in the rest of the world. Thankfully I was able to rent an automatic, because I would have been lost if I were on the wrong side of the car, on the wrong side of the road, and shifting with the wrong hand all at once. Amazingly the transition has been rather quick, and appart from a few brief terrifying moments, it's all gone by rather smoothly. My little white VW has taken me to places like Malmesbury, Langebaan, Paternoster, and Yzerfontein. It has taken me into the lives of people like Carel & Litisha and their family. Awie, Benita and their boys Ruan and Abrie. Ricardo and his little band of brothers. It's taken me to a lot of joy - and to some sorrow. To the best of West Cape Boer hospitality and to the reality of boys less than 10 living and sleeping on the streets.
There are many things that I'm always noticing as different here in south Africa. Some of the things are as small as the fact that South Africans usually grate rather than slice their cheese into a sandwich rather than slicing it. Some are a little bigger like the fact that drivers here pull onto the shoulder of the road and drive there when a faster moving vehicle wants to pass - and then the grateful passer signals his thanks with a quick rotation of his four-way flashers. And then some are as big as the fact that some of my new friends would never think of dating a girl of a different color. My guide books taught me a lot of about this country, but there's so much more that I can only learn by walking in the shoes of the South Africans. The shoes of these people whom I have sofar found to be warm, hospitable, and giving irrespective of race, and class. As an outsider I've gotten the best though - I get to experience so many of the joys, without having to live so many of the pains. It boggles my mind as I begin to understand the challenges that this young country is grappling with. There are so many hundreds of years of undoing that must be done before the doing can really begin in earnest. Yet, it's like the old story about the school - where they decided to build the new school on the foundation of the old one - but couldn't afford to have a lapse in classes. It would be great to just have a time out - call everyone together and sort things out. But you can't. Everything has to keep going, and changing at the speed of history.
My friends have introduced me to Johnny Clegg. Back in the days when such things weren't done, white Johnny began making music with the black Zulu people. In a unique hybrid he create music that can be equally embraced across SA by people of many colors. He sings about the beauty of Southern Africa, about the sky, about common experience. It is the perfect soundtrack for a drive through Western Coast farm country. It's the kind of music that can feed a sort of euphoria when it's combined with the perfect and inimatable visuals that inspired it. But then as quickly as you can be brought from 120km/hr to a dead stop by a road construction zone - a face and story can bring you down from the soaring of "African Sky Blue". On the beaches of Paternoster I met some of the most delightful boys of my life. Down where the colorful fishing dories where camped on the sugar sand beach they were playing, running, and jumping with a careless vitality. We fell into conversation and soon we were taking pictures together. Finally I had met some people who possibly enjoying taking more than I do myself. They wanted to pose for one more and one more. When I started taking individual pictures they insisted that each one must get as many shots as the last. "Take three of me! Take three of me!" Finally we parted - each thanking the other for the pictures. As I walked away tears of joy came for the beauty of the moment. But then, something else happened. Over on the other side of the small town I ran into one of the boys again. He began excitedly pointing me out as the one who had taken the pictures. He was walking with an older woman and she explained to me what was happening. His father had been killed some time ago and his mother had found a new boyfriend. She was now pregnant with a new child and as pregnant mothers often are she had a craving for a drink. Her boyfriend had gone out to the store for her and was later found dead. This is the realities of the life of the small boy who so joyfully played with me just a few hours earlier. He and his friends had crowded around me so happy - so trusting. As we reviewed the pictures together they all pilled over me - putting their hands on my shoulders, and arms. Leaning on me and so recklessly entering my space. Oh, the joy and beauty that I have seen - and then the sorrow as numbing as the icy atlantic water that drives against the beaches here in Yzerfontein.
God has brought me down the most interesting of roads. I don't question for a minute that he brought me here and established this road in his imagination. There is so much to learn here - to feel, and see, and live.
More picture here:Africa II
Couldn't resist that small aside. SA continues to amaze and enthral. I've not started to bounce around the country. After getting my legs with Shawn and Karien, I've now gotten comfortable enough to take to the road and start really getting to know new people. In Strand I rented a car and began my education on driving in the rest of the world. Thankfully I was able to rent an automatic, because I would have been lost if I were on the wrong side of the car, on the wrong side of the road, and shifting with the wrong hand all at once. Amazingly the transition has been rather quick, and appart from a few brief terrifying moments, it's all gone by rather smoothly. My little white VW has taken me to places like Malmesbury, Langebaan, Paternoster, and Yzerfontein. It has taken me into the lives of people like Carel & Litisha and their family. Awie, Benita and their boys Ruan and Abrie. Ricardo and his little band of brothers. It's taken me to a lot of joy - and to some sorrow. To the best of West Cape Boer hospitality and to the reality of boys less than 10 living and sleeping on the streets.
There are many things that I'm always noticing as different here in south Africa. Some of the things are as small as the fact that South Africans usually grate rather than slice their cheese into a sandwich rather than slicing it. Some are a little bigger like the fact that drivers here pull onto the shoulder of the road and drive there when a faster moving vehicle wants to pass - and then the grateful passer signals his thanks with a quick rotation of his four-way flashers. And then some are as big as the fact that some of my new friends would never think of dating a girl of a different color. My guide books taught me a lot of about this country, but there's so much more that I can only learn by walking in the shoes of the South Africans. The shoes of these people whom I have sofar found to be warm, hospitable, and giving irrespective of race, and class. As an outsider I've gotten the best though - I get to experience so many of the joys, without having to live so many of the pains. It boggles my mind as I begin to understand the challenges that this young country is grappling with. There are so many hundreds of years of undoing that must be done before the doing can really begin in earnest. Yet, it's like the old story about the school - where they decided to build the new school on the foundation of the old one - but couldn't afford to have a lapse in classes. It would be great to just have a time out - call everyone together and sort things out. But you can't. Everything has to keep going, and changing at the speed of history.
My friends have introduced me to Johnny Clegg. Back in the days when such things weren't done, white Johnny began making music with the black Zulu people. In a unique hybrid he create music that can be equally embraced across SA by people of many colors. He sings about the beauty of Southern Africa, about the sky, about common experience. It is the perfect soundtrack for a drive through Western Coast farm country. It's the kind of music that can feed a sort of euphoria when it's combined with the perfect and inimatable visuals that inspired it. But then as quickly as you can be brought from 120km/hr to a dead stop by a road construction zone - a face and story can bring you down from the soaring of "African Sky Blue". On the beaches of Paternoster I met some of the most delightful boys of my life. Down where the colorful fishing dories where camped on the sugar sand beach they were playing, running, and jumping with a careless vitality. We fell into conversation and soon we were taking pictures together. Finally I had met some people who possibly enjoying taking more than I do myself. They wanted to pose for one more and one more. When I started taking individual pictures they insisted that each one must get as many shots as the last. "Take three of me! Take three of me!" Finally we parted - each thanking the other for the pictures. As I walked away tears of joy came for the beauty of the moment. But then, something else happened. Over on the other side of the small town I ran into one of the boys again. He began excitedly pointing me out as the one who had taken the pictures. He was walking with an older woman and she explained to me what was happening. His father had been killed some time ago and his mother had found a new boyfriend. She was now pregnant with a new child and as pregnant mothers often are she had a craving for a drink. Her boyfriend had gone out to the store for her and was later found dead. This is the realities of the life of the small boy who so joyfully played with me just a few hours earlier. He and his friends had crowded around me so happy - so trusting. As we reviewed the pictures together they all pilled over me - putting their hands on my shoulders, and arms. Leaning on me and so recklessly entering my space. Oh, the joy and beauty that I have seen - and then the sorrow as numbing as the icy atlantic water that drives against the beaches here in Yzerfontein.
God has brought me down the most interesting of roads. I don't question for a minute that he brought me here and established this road in his imagination. There is so much to learn here - to feel, and see, and live.
More picture here:Africa II
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Baboons and things...
People in SA often refer to the rest of the continent as "Africa". "This is Jared and he's hoping to go up into Africa". It's spoken of here as a very different and far off place. There's almost an identity breech the separates this place from that. If geography doesn't something still can. Even though I can get on a bus and ride there... This sometimes seems very reasonable. Most Americans would likely be shocked by the completely urban nature of Cape Town. As much as it is beautiful, it is also metropolitan. The mall that I visited is probably one of the largest of my life - and I'm told it's the small one by comparison. But then there are reminders that this is indeed a part of the African continent. My new friend Adrian drove with me out to Cape Point where I got the chance to see the meeting of the oceans and the windswept point that demonized and defined so many mariners of past centuries. Along the road a troupe of baboons played on and by the road. It was so completely foreign from my experiences, while yet being on a road between towns that would probably fit more with our imaginations of Europe.
I left my camera behind when I came to the computer today, so no new pictures, but there will be a lot of good ones coming soon.
Stay well!
jared
I left my camera behind when I came to the computer today, so no new pictures, but there will be a lot of good ones coming soon.
Stay well!
jared
Monday, November 10, 2008
Report from Strand, SA
Dear friends,
I'm here at PC08 at ComputerLand, the most affordable internet cafe in Strand. Right now the Rand (SA's currency) is hanging at right around 10 Rand to the US dollar. This is very good for me, and also good for the country my friends tell me. It makes tourism and travel like mine quite affordable. With the exchange so near 10, prices can easily be calculated in my head by just moving the decimal point one place. Some things here are are quite close in price to what I'd find in the states, but some things such as food, are quite a bit cheaper. Paying $3-5 for a full restaurant meal would not be uncommon. But I don't really care to dwell on economics.
From the moment I was picked up at Cape Town International Airport I have been whirled into another world. There is so much familiar, and yet so much that is absolutely mind boggling. Every time that I hook my GPS unit to my camera and see the coordinates load, I almost do a double-take. The coordinates have a south component rather than a north. Summer is just beginning rather than winter starting to creep its way in. In the airport restroom i was somewhat surprised to turn around from washing my hands and find a young man waiting with a paper towel ready torn for me. This was the opening salvo for the barrage of new racial and cultural experiences that has intensified in the ensuing days.
In the morning i'm getting used to a first meal consisting of tea with milk (the south African way), rusk (a dipping food that lives somewhere in the divide between biscotte and short bread), and Weet-bix or Tiger B-fast. So far I've enjoyed all the foods that I've been given. Biltong is a jerky like product very popular in the country, and for good reason. Boereworst is a lovely sausage served hotdog style in a bun with your choice of chutney, tomato sauce (ketchup), or mustard. Or maybe it will be served up with a gravy made of tomatoes (say it toe-ma-toe) and onion. Overall the food doesn't seem to venture often into the truly spicy side, but there is a nice assortment of flavors, and Indian curry or sweet chilly are probably the most common "spicy" flavors.
In the past few days I've met such an array of people. Andrew is a fighting coach who teaches jujitsu and would someday love to fight UFC. He is a passionate worshiper of God and only wants to fight if God wants it. Dean is a jolly round man of Afrikaner background who has an infectious smile and spirit. When he greats you he hugs you powerfully and says "blessings, blessings". Jean Baptiste is a Rwandan Tutsi with complexion so dark that even his eyes are dark colored. He escaped the killing as a boy when his mother hid him in a hot brick oven. Kate is a fair skinned English girl and Heinrich is a man with light brown complexion and a heart so very large. Mark is from the UK and moved here to be with his fiance, and Stefan, who is about to take his law exams is a true kindred spirit and in the course of an evening felt almost like a brother. This is the delightful cast of characters who are populating the my time here.
And Cape Town and it's environs are breathtaking! I've gotten to have a wonderful non-touristy tourist experience. Shawn, my host, was scheduled to speak in Hermanus a small town about an hour and a half south of Strand. He took me along for the ride, and what a ride! California's Highway 1 may still hold the place as the most beautiful drive of my life, but it is now facing stiff competition! A serpentine road writhes along the coast with light colored palisade cliffs rising on one side of the road and the deep blue ocean stretching away on the other. Large colorful Protea flowers jumble along the roadsides. Hermanus, our destination, is a quaint seaside town known for its excellent whale watching - known as some of the best land based views in the world. And I was in for a treat. Although the whale season is well advanced, i was able to see a whole handful of whales swimming, raising their tails, and breaching playfully from the cerulean and ultramarine waters. The powerful mammals sank back into thewater with a massive splash of white raging foam. It was one of the most beautiful sights of my life.
Shawn preached that night to a youth group. His message was mixed between English and Afrikaans. Though I can only understand a few works of this Dutch infused language, for some reason it doesn't really sound foreign to me. I feel so completely at home here, that it doesn't seem strange at all. I have been spending time with family members, really and truly. There is a bond that I'm always amazed at - instant and more complete than that which takes years to form much of the time. With brothers in sisters in Christ there is a connection that spans oceans, miles, cultures, and continents. Humorously I've found that Shawn has often told people the story of our unusual meeting in rural Arkansas. So now when I'm introduced, it's often as "remember the guy in the story that I told you?" Apparently there are some cultural things that I was unaware of upon that first meeting. When Shawn was told that there was a man who was "traveling between California and Florida" he immediately thought of the vagrants in South Africa. When a person truly has no place to stay and is on the road and looking for hand outs, it's common to say that you're "traveling between this place and that place". He thought that I was like this and almost refused to meet with me. There was something in his spirit that told him to do opposite of his first impulse... and the rest is history.
Shawn is back to pick me up so I'll be signing off. Many more stories to come. Love to all.
More pictures posted here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2021316&l=e3236&id=83500385
I'm here at PC08 at ComputerLand, the most affordable internet cafe in Strand. Right now the Rand (SA's currency) is hanging at right around 10 Rand to the US dollar. This is very good for me, and also good for the country my friends tell me. It makes tourism and travel like mine quite affordable. With the exchange so near 10, prices can easily be calculated in my head by just moving the decimal point one place. Some things here are are quite close in price to what I'd find in the states, but some things such as food, are quite a bit cheaper. Paying $3-5 for a full restaurant meal would not be uncommon. But I don't really care to dwell on economics.
From the moment I was picked up at Cape Town International Airport I have been whirled into another world. There is so much familiar, and yet so much that is absolutely mind boggling. Every time that I hook my GPS unit to my camera and see the coordinates load, I almost do a double-take. The coordinates have a south component rather than a north. Summer is just beginning rather than winter starting to creep its way in. In the airport restroom i was somewhat surprised to turn around from washing my hands and find a young man waiting with a paper towel ready torn for me. This was the opening salvo for the barrage of new racial and cultural experiences that has intensified in the ensuing days.
In the morning i'm getting used to a first meal consisting of tea with milk (the south African way), rusk (a dipping food that lives somewhere in the divide between biscotte and short bread), and Weet-bix or Tiger B-fast. So far I've enjoyed all the foods that I've been given. Biltong is a jerky like product very popular in the country, and for good reason. Boereworst is a lovely sausage served hotdog style in a bun with your choice of chutney, tomato sauce (ketchup), or mustard. Or maybe it will be served up with a gravy made of tomatoes (say it toe-ma-toe) and onion. Overall the food doesn't seem to venture often into the truly spicy side, but there is a nice assortment of flavors, and Indian curry or sweet chilly are probably the most common "spicy" flavors.
In the past few days I've met such an array of people. Andrew is a fighting coach who teaches jujitsu and would someday love to fight UFC. He is a passionate worshiper of God and only wants to fight if God wants it. Dean is a jolly round man of Afrikaner background who has an infectious smile and spirit. When he greats you he hugs you powerfully and says "blessings, blessings". Jean Baptiste is a Rwandan Tutsi with complexion so dark that even his eyes are dark colored. He escaped the killing as a boy when his mother hid him in a hot brick oven. Kate is a fair skinned English girl and Heinrich is a man with light brown complexion and a heart so very large. Mark is from the UK and moved here to be with his fiance, and Stefan, who is about to take his law exams is a true kindred spirit and in the course of an evening felt almost like a brother. This is the delightful cast of characters who are populating the my time here.
And Cape Town and it's environs are breathtaking! I've gotten to have a wonderful non-touristy tourist experience. Shawn, my host, was scheduled to speak in Hermanus a small town about an hour and a half south of Strand. He took me along for the ride, and what a ride! California's Highway 1 may still hold the place as the most beautiful drive of my life, but it is now facing stiff competition! A serpentine road writhes along the coast with light colored palisade cliffs rising on one side of the road and the deep blue ocean stretching away on the other. Large colorful Protea flowers jumble along the roadsides. Hermanus, our destination, is a quaint seaside town known for its excellent whale watching - known as some of the best land based views in the world. And I was in for a treat. Although the whale season is well advanced, i was able to see a whole handful of whales swimming, raising their tails, and breaching playfully from the cerulean and ultramarine waters. The powerful mammals sank back into thewater with a massive splash of white raging foam. It was one of the most beautiful sights of my life.
Shawn preached that night to a youth group. His message was mixed between English and Afrikaans. Though I can only understand a few works of this Dutch infused language, for some reason it doesn't really sound foreign to me. I feel so completely at home here, that it doesn't seem strange at all. I have been spending time with family members, really and truly. There is a bond that I'm always amazed at - instant and more complete than that which takes years to form much of the time. With brothers in sisters in Christ there is a connection that spans oceans, miles, cultures, and continents. Humorously I've found that Shawn has often told people the story of our unusual meeting in rural Arkansas. So now when I'm introduced, it's often as "remember the guy in the story that I told you?" Apparently there are some cultural things that I was unaware of upon that first meeting. When Shawn was told that there was a man who was "traveling between California and Florida" he immediately thought of the vagrants in South Africa. When a person truly has no place to stay and is on the road and looking for hand outs, it's common to say that you're "traveling between this place and that place". He thought that I was like this and almost refused to meet with me. There was something in his spirit that told him to do opposite of his first impulse... and the rest is history.
Shawn is back to pick me up so I'll be signing off. Many more stories to come. Love to all.
More pictures posted here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2021316&l=e3236&id=83500385
Thursday, November 6, 2008
I've arrived
I'm here in and internet cafe in Strand, SA. I haven't yet been able to post pictures so that I can show them here, but here's a link to a facebook album:
Africa
I'm safe and sound and will be posting more later.
jared
Africa
I'm safe and sound and will be posting more later.
jared
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Africa
God willing I will depart for Africa in just a few hours. This is the site where I hope to post updates and occasional pictures from this trip. E-mail me at jared@jjkohler.com or just comments on my blog posts.
Much love,
jared
Much love,
jared
Saturday, November 1, 2008
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