Man, it's been awhile

Hay hay hay! Geez, it's been too long since my last update. Ten days actually. The internet here is slow- sometimes you can get on and it won't even load up a page. This is the first time I have gotten blogger to even load. Either way- I'm here safetly. We are mostly in Qumbu living with a priest, who by the way is absolutely hilarious. However, we do go to Mthatha which is about 50 km from here. There we stay in an area called Ikhewzi Lokusa. There is a compound run by nuns who take in the handicapped (both physically and mentally), teach them skills, such as: Sewing, Leather working, Pottery, and more. The nuns also have an orphanage with children ranging between the ages of 3 months and 4 years old. I really want to work in the orphanage when we go back there for a few days.

It really is sad to see so many disabled people, some of whom were shot in the back, hit on the head with a pipe, or ate bad pork to become that way. It is inspiring, however, to see how chipper they are and how much they do for themselves. I have heard not one single complaint- amazing! I doubt I would be like that. They play soccer very well and enjoy every minute of it.

Here in Qumbu, we are currently scraping the roof of the church so we can paint it as one way to seal it. The church has had some water damage, so we are trying our best to seal the roof. The next step will be painting. Then we will apply some sealent to the random holes and cracks in the tin. There is a lot of work to be done here AND in 10 outlying churches- but I doubt we will make it to many of them due to the time constraints.

It's funny, when I told people I was coming to South Africa to do work they said "South Africa isn't like Africa." And to be honest, even though I have been to South Africa before I too believed that. BUT....in Mthatha, 77% of people are unemployed. Here in Qumbu it is much the same. People do not have money. They have to walk sometimes miles to get water. So South Africa is very much like Africa. People here are poor. And it isn't safe- although I can't say people aren't obviously intimidated by my bod.

Anyways, I am going to try to be patient and update this as much as I can- but since it is dial-up and the priest pays for the phone bill, it's hard for me to spend a lot of time on his internet. I miss all you guys and miss home- but am really loving my time here and feel very grateful to be able to come back and see with more mature eyes what I, and all of us really, take for granted. I have been in such a good mood here and am happy, which is very good- hopefully I can bring this back to the States! I can check emails pretty easily so if you guys want to send me some emails I can see them and write back. Please update me on VT football. I saw we beat GT! niiiiice.

Miss you all- hope all is well there.