These past few days have been busy to say the least. Two days ago I used the train system here for the first time, and rode it to Fishoek Beach. Most people go to Muizenburg, but my friend Anna, said this beach was highly recommended by her home stay family, and for good reason. It wasn’t crowded at all except for a few people playing soccer, swimming, or lounging on the beach. The black flag was out, meaning the waters aren’t clear enough to judge if there were sharks or not, so I just dipped my toes in the cold salty ocean, becoming euphoric almost, finally realizing, South Africa is my home for the next 6 months. I doused myself in sunscreen and yet still managed to get sun poisoning, with welts all over my body, and a need to itch, almost as if I had the chicken pox. Needless to say, I did not go out with my friends to celebrate Anna’s birthday, although I healed quite nicely from a full night of sleep. It was also our RA Jesse’s birthday so we baked him a cake and waited for him to return from his futbol match. Upon his arrival we sang to him, chatted with his girlfriend Sharon who is such a sweetheart, and then I headed to bed. I have been quite proud of myself lately with my cooking and baking skills improving, as my money has gone quite quickly from eating at restaurants frequently. Today I made a smoked salmon sandwich with cream cheese on a roll, yesterday I made caprese salad with grilled chicken, and today peanut butter and apricot sandwich.
Aside from those random facts I wanted to fill you in on, I will talk about my real excitement, which is that of the works of Jesus and the people God has created.
Something that we were told not to do here was to reach in our purses for money, if we want to give someone money we must already be carrying coins in our hands. On the train I was struck by the quietness of the South Africans, compared to the noisiness of Americans, but the whole train car grew quiet at the sound of two voices. A woman carrying a blue cup in front of her was walking forward and people cleared a path for her….This woman’s eyes were set straight ahead, making contact with no one in particular. Behind her, she was holding the hand of a taller woman who appeared to be blind, leading her through the various train carts and batches of people. It was not only the voices of these two women that struck me as stunningly beautiful, stopping any conversation in their tracks, but it was the words of their song, being repeated over and over until eventually they became like a broken record, but the kind you want to keep broken, so the beautiful music is constantly on repeat. They were singing “Jesus, sweet Jesus, you shine brighter, and brighter, than any star, Jesus, sweet Jesus”. Sung in perfect harmony, the song is something that I hope will permanently be ingrained in my memory, as a constant reminder that no matter where I am, in what situation, Jesus is always there, shining brighter than any darkness. The people on the train all dropped coins into this woman’s jar. All that could be heard other then their song was the clicking of coins dropping into the jar at the name of Jesus. These voices of these women were such a sweet aroma, sweet sound, sweet gift to Jesus, he must have been smiling, dancing, clapping his hands in heaven.
I have been gradually meeting more South Africans throughout my journey here thus far. I met two people today who run a tour of the Garden Route which I will be taking this next week, one’s name is Moses and I can’t recall the other’s but I am looking forward to the five day trip coming up. And lastly my favorite experience of this trip so far was going to the Alma Café. Recommended by my friend Whitney, who studied here last semester, I had to see for myself. It was a gem of a place to say the least. The tiny room found in the middle of a street, full of eclectic collections ranging from knitted socks and hats hanging from a string, tin cans everywhere, a small stage at the front of the restaurant, machines for drinks, and tables which were all pushed together. I journeyed there with my friend Hannah and my new friend Lindsey, who I am sure, God brought to me. One of my favorite parts of this restaurant were the tables that were all conjoined, forcing every one to sit next to each other. This place started to become very crowded as people were pouring in to hear the live music that is free for students on Wednesday nights. I grew a bit nostalgic as this wonderful environment reminded me so much of my favorite coffee shop at home, Lemonjellos.
A group of older couples sat next to me on my left, and on my right, were two young men, Stefano and Daniel. Most of the people surrounding us noticed that we were not South Africans and thus began the adventure of meeting and conversing with new people forming bonds that may or may not last. All that I know is I will never forget last night. We got to know Stefano and Daniel and by the end of the night we were all laughing and swaying to the music. The lights were dimmed and all that we had were the sparkling Christmas lights and the voices of the musicians and instruments pumping through our veins. Hearing a band sing so sweetly about Jesus made my heart race into a euphoric beat pumping along with the music. Time went by quickly, and then slowly, as I immersed myself in the music, and the best chicken wrap I have ever tasted. Stefano and Daniel, who are students at UCT offered to give us a lift back to our house, and it was a much safer offer then walking around at night, or paying for a cab. Lindsey came back to our house and we chatted for a long time about God and the dreams he has put in our hearts, the journeys he has taken us on thus far, and what lays ahead of us. It was a fantastic night and left me lying in bed smiling at the memories that were just created, so thankful that my sweet Jesus brought me to this place, still so mysterious to me.
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