LIONS!

Wow! I didn't know that a month could fly by soooo quickly! It seems like just yesterday that I was getting off of the plane, yet here we are with just two days left before we leave to go home. I'm not going to deny that I am uber excited to get home. Just the same I am sad to leave all of the amazing people I am with and the ones I have met. While in Grahmstown I met two really cool vendors named George, who was from the Congo, and peter, who is a part of the Masai tribe. i got to talk with them quite a bit...Peter took me around the market pointing out all of the things that were from his people...this is Masai...and this is Masai...and this is Masai...etc. etc. I also got to talk with a Buddhist monk for close to an hour. What an experience. He was trying to give me some books that were sure to make my spiritual walk (of course any spiritual walk will do) more vibrant. He also did his very best to convince me to become a vegetarian, but i still love my meat...oh well. Anyway, although we talked a lot about Christ and His saving grace it was difficult to tell what came of it. He sees Christ as one of many paths...not the only Way. All I can do is pray. He was really nice and respectful though and I really enjoyed our conversation.

I don't know if I have already told you all this, but the stars in Africa are AMAZING! imagine a whole new set of stars that you have naver seen before...God is sooo awsome. i slept outside on the grass with the crickets the other day which was pretty sweet. However, as I looked at the stars this stinking cat came out of nowhere and jumped right over my head and scared the livin daylights out of me. Speeking of cats, Kali and Laitlin were almost eaten by a lion the other day! How cool is that...oops, I mean how terrible :) We went on a little safari and saw all sorts of animals: lions, hippos, giraffes, kudus, springboks (by the way springbok sausage is delicious), and a ton of other animals. This male lion walked to withen like not even ten feet of our open air vehicle...it would have made short work of Kaitlin and Kali but i told it that if it did it would have to deal with me and it decided that it wasn't worth it...I'll say :) We also got to play with baby lions!!! Crazy! Sorry, Michael, but they were larger than we expected so we couldn't do a restaging of THE LION KING, but I did get some sweet pics of one tearing my hand off..can't wait to show.
Me, Kaitlin, Bert, and Anika (yes i know that that wasn't correct grammer) went to a jazz concert while in Grahmstown. Apparently the group is really well known b/c the place was packed. It turned into a groovin middle aged dance party. African's absolutely love to move to any beat. They are dancing all the time! It was pretty fun to witness, although my own dance moves are still pretty much nonexistent.

We are back in Capetown now. Kali, Kaitlin, Cathy, Laura, Sarah, Tina, Kylee, Mia, and i all took a train to Kalk Bay today to work on our papers...we didn't get anything done...oh well...just means another late night of paper writing tonight. This is our last paper! I am soooo happy!

Earlier today on way from the train station we decided (everybody else decided) that we should take a taxi to get back. i told them that it was not that long of a walk but they wanted to drive so I conceded. We ended up crammed into a minibus. For those of your who have never been driven around in a minibus in South Africa, you are missing out on an important part of life. In short, what could have been a ten minute walk was a half and hour drive all throughout Capetown. Apparently there is more than one Church Street in Capetown. i could barely keep myself from busting our laughing, but I decided not to rub it in to all of those who wanted to drive, although i really hope K and K read this hahaha.


Anyway, that is about all for now.

From Half a World away,
josh


p.s. Molly! i still haven't found a World Cup T-Shirt and it is driving me crazy. i havn'et given up but it is beginning to look hopeless. I will keep trying.