4.day weekend

Public holidays are quite popular in South Africa. We’ve just made it to the end of a 4-day weekend including Good Friday and Family Day Monday. I think there are about 6 public holidays in the month of April alone, so these people take their rest time seriously. :)

The time off has produced some surprising feelings for me. It’s nice to have the chance to explore some of the areas of Cape Town that I would not otherwise have time to experience, but I feel guilty taking time away from my purpose in coming here. I even experienced a bit of mild homesickness this weekend. When I’m working at the hospital, my purpose in being here is so clear, I am able to focus all my energies on that, and haven’t felt the longing for home. But this weekend my focus was more enjoyment centered and so purpose was less evident, giving me a chance to think about and miss all my wonderful friends and family at home. It felt more like I was on vacation and I wondered why you all had not come along with me! In all my activities I kept thinking about which of my friends and family members would have enjoyed the various moments with me. After you read all the events of the weekend, you can decide for which one I was wishing you would have been with me! ☺

Friday morning I woke up at 6 am and took a cab with my friend Jamie up to Signal Hill. We joined with the little church we had attended on Sunday for a Good Friday sunrise service. It was a spectacular view and a wonderful service. It has been so neat to worship with this little congregation. They have made us feel so welcome and special. They are so excited when we join them and have really made an effort to make us fill at home. I am sure that if we sat down together, we would disagree on a number of doctrinal issues, but I’m reminded of the council given in the scriptures to agree on as much as we can and build from there. So, I have focused on those points we agree on and because of that have truly been able to worship with my brothers and sisters in South Africa. We were sitting on this hill, singing praise songs and I was just filled with a love for them – in awe of how I can feel so at home with people that I hardly know, through the love of Christ. The Gospel brings people together. I can be a world away and feel at home with these people because we meet together and agree on Jesus as our Savior. How much more should we be able to do at home when we meet together and agree on so much more? Yet we often find it hard to worship together. It seems that we so often choose to focus on our differences and those ideas that separate us. I spoke with some friends from home this past weekend who were discouraged and saddened by feeling like they had to pick between 2 separate communion services and worship services this past week – both of which were supported by people they love. When will we chose to love one another, focus on those things we can agree on and allow God to work through us? Just think of the work he could do through us!!

After the service I drove with Tami to the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. We spent the day walking around the gardens, taking pictures of every green plant there was, and just enjoying the beauty and peace of the area. It was so difficult to capture everything with my camera, but I tried to at least take enough photos to spark the photos I tried to remember in my mind.

Our cab ride home taught us the lesson of never talking politics in a taxicab. The drivers are very particular about their views on American politics and the conversation soon becomes very uncomfortable. I must say it was very interesting to hear the views – you would find them surprising no matter what your political affiliation. However, if you know me at all – you know I absolutely hate politics because I feel like they divide people before they even have a chance to listen to another person’s views, so I’m not going to type the content of our conversations. If you really interested, I’ll tell you when I get home. ☺

Day 2 of the 4-day weekend was extremely relaxing and uneventful. Tami, Therese and I took Jamie and Danielle to Camp’s Bay for their first trip to the beach. It was an absolutely beautiful day and we spent it relaxing in the sand. We tried to pass around volleyball, but the one we had felt more like a basketball, so that quickly ended. I did venture into the freezing cold water and even put my head all the way under, just so I could say I had truly been in the ocean. The rest of the time we laid in the sand writing postcards, chatting and listening to the guys who wander the beach selling food and drinks. “Lollipop Ice Cream!” (aka popsicle). “Ice cold drinks from Iceland!” ☺

Easter Sunday Jamie and I walked to church at the little congregation we’ve been attending (this is only our second week going, but that counts for “been attending” ☺). We bumped into Dawn and Diandra on our way. They were the ones we followed to church the first time, so it seemed perfect to walk with them again! I was pretty sad knowing this would be my last Sunday to worship with the congregation (the next 2 Sundays I will be out of town – and the 3rd I’ll be flying home). I wish I could have found them earlier, but I’m just grateful I was able to be with them in the time I was – and that now Jamie will be able to continue worshiping with them. The sermon today discussed Jesus making water into wine and how we each need to be converted into new creatures through Christ. I feel as though I have been changed in this journey and I just hope that it will be a permanent change. Just imagine if the wine would have turned back into water – no good. ☺

After church, Jamie, Tami and I went to Robben Island. It’s the island that held the political prisoners who fought against Apartheid in South Africa. The prison was used for other purposes throughout the years, but most people visit because of it’s role in Apartheid. Robben Island actually only held the Black, Colored, and Indian political prisoners. (note – the term “colored” is acceptable terminology here for and non-black/non-white individual). White prisoners were held elsewhere. This is the prison Nelson Mandela was imprisoned in for so many years. We saw his cell and the cells of so many others. Our tour guide was even an ex-prisoner. It was so interesting to hear the history and stories behind the island. The ex-prisoner told us that they guards used to have different menus for the black prisoners and for the colored and Indian prisoners in order to encourage dissension and segregation among the prisoners. The black prisoners were given less and did not receive things like jams. The guards hoped that this would cause division. But instead, those with more shared with those with less, so that everyone was even. This was their way of showing that they were all in the fight against oppression together. It strengthened their comradery and frustrated the guards. It just goes to show the power of having all things common and the unity that can bring. There was so much more to share with you about Robben Island, but I don’t have the space, so you’ll just have to read up on it yourself. I am so glad we were able to go. It was definitely a must see in Cape Town.

And now we end with day number 4… Today is Family Day. I guess that means you hang out with your family. ☺ We decided to hang out with a Capetonian family and hike Table Mountain. Jamie met a guy named Murray through Mercy Ships – an organization she will be working with after her time in Cape Town. Murray is from Cape Town, so he and his dad, brother-in-law, and friend decided they were up to the challenging of taking 6 American girls to the top of Table Mountain. It was quite the challenge, but we had a wonderful time. The hike ended up taking us about 8 hours. We traveled up the back side of the mountain via Skeleton Gorge. We walked all along the top of the table and then down Platteklip Gorge. It was an amazing hike! Definitely one of my favorites I have ever done. There was such diversity in the terrain. At one point we were scrambling up the rocky gorge and at the next we were standing in a giant dam full of sand. It felt like we were on the beach on the top of the mountain. We were able to reach the highest point in Cape Town and then walk along the top of the mountain. The trip back down was super steep down the gorge, but we eventually made it. Exhausted, but happy at our days worth of hiking. I absolutely loved it!

Tomorrow begins one of my last weeks at the hospital. Many of the kids that I’ve been working with have gone home, so I’m prayerful that God will continue to lead me and open the doors He would desire for me to walk through.

Love you all.