July 7, 2007

Today we spent the day enjoying ourselves, or really enjoying Africa. Titus, pastor at Charity and Faith, is very proud of his country and wants to show off some of the wonders. It is beautiful and breathtaking. The safari pictures are amazing!! To see these creatures so close makes you realize how small you are in the world, but at the same time, helping you appreciate how each creature is special, including piddly, old us, Americans.

All of our pictures are at:

http://photos.gomamelodi.com/
We posted under Go Group the Great 58.

We also haggled at the market for treasures and trinkets to bring home. It is nice to know that math is used in the real world and comes in handy for quick exchange rate calculations.

We are staying at the Hotel Manhattan in Pretoria (the capital of South Africa). It is nice (similar to a Red Roof) and small, but we have beds, heat (sometimes), showers, and toliets, better than the extensions (numbered sections of the shantytowns).

July 5, 2007

The flight was unbelievably long, but we had the excitement of so many things to look forward to propelling us. We left our house at 7 am for a 10:45 flight to Atlanta. Then got on a 4 pm flight to South Africa. We arrived in Jo-berg at 4 pm the next day on July 6th. It was joyous (i'll probably use this word 1000 times). From the passport check, we could hear whistling, horns, and cheers. Our hosts and Charity & Faith partners, met us at the airport with a crowd for a celebrity. That immediately pumped us up, no matter how long we were stuck in one seat!!! There was cheering & dancing at the airport, with our orange shirt mass wave of folks taking over the space!! We went to our hotels, ate and crashed, although we were ready to immediately work.

Hi folks, It has been a few days of struggling with the Internet (connections aren't fast here, uploads are awful)

BUT here are some photos, first is our GO Group with our game drive (2 days ago), where we saw so many cool animals upclose and personal. We actually were behind an elephant chasing a truck. When your guide says lets back up and take this seriously, you get very quiet. We saw rhinos, hyenas, baboons, everything except lions.

Yesterday we had an amazing day staying with a host family from Mamelodi. We got to stay with Lebo, the person we hosted in May from Mamelodi. She is very cool and took us straight to a really cool artist, that we love, Vusi Mahlasela's house. He just finished a concert in Joberg the day before and was eating dinner, but had us in his living room. Earl has to finish the details, I can't tell all!! HOW COOL!

Today we spent working. Earl was a cutie hauling bricks for the orphanage. I was not too busy with IT but did get to talk to so many wonderful folks! There was a dedication ceremony for the orphanage that was amazing and a workout jumping to the African music.

Words can't explain what this place it like, but the most special thing is that these people don't have near possessions or wealth, but they are the most joyful I have ever seen. Just being with them with a little bit, you receive a tiny part of their joy, it is wonderful.

Happy 4th of July

Here is the latest pic of the boys (with swimsuits on)

Countdown, less than 12 hours!! WE are packed though! Getting up in 8 hours, so just practicing posting, so in SA I will be fast!
Thanks for checking in to my blog! I am working on how to download pics! Hopefully I'll have some good shots from activities:
Day 1 rest from jetlag, we get in at 4 pm on Friday SA time, 10 am Ohio time - 24 hrs travel
Day 2 church @ Charity and Faith Mission Church
Day 3 safari and african market
Day 4-8 working - Jim is gardening, Kristie is training with the IT team
Day 9 apartheid museum
Day 10 travel 24 more to come back

(Hey mom, we are never by ourselves, we will always have group and SA escort, we are safe!!!)
Thanks again for the happy thoughts,
Love, Jim and Kristie

July 3, 2007

Hi folks, This is our first blog attempt and we hope to be successful in sharing our trip to Mamelodi, South Africa. Of course we are not packed, but we are excited to finally be going. Our flight is very good compared to others. We leave Thursday at 11:45 am and get to Mamelodi 4 pm the next day.
Bookmark this site for updates, hopefully daily!
Thank you to all of our loyal supporters for the love and kindness!
Love, Jim and Kristie