Well, this week we had our first visitor to our new South African home, Jeremy's friend Roy from Kokomo (they went to high school together). We had a great time seeing all of the sights around the country and also enjoyed all of the goodies from home that Roy brought us! We'll give you a recap of some of the highlights of our first holiday (that's what they call vacation here) and will also post some more pictures later.
So now the pressure of being the first visitor is off and everyone else can come visit us now!
Roy arrived on Friday morning (the 21st) and first on the list was a trip to Pick n' Pay (like a Super Walmart) to stock up on groceries for the week. This is an experience in itself, and there were many "South African" things that we picked up for Roy to try while he was here.
Saturday we started the sightseeing with a trip to Soweto, led by a couple of our new South African friends, Kenneth and Theola Phiri. We visited the Regina Mundi Catholic church, where students organized their peaceful resistance demonstrations in spite of an apartheid government that threw blacks in jail if they were caught in groups larger than two people. The scars of police responses to these gatherings still remain in the church. Also while in Soweto, we visited Nelson Mandela's house, which was a great experience as well. The street the house is located on has the honor of being the only street in the world to house two Nobel Peace Prize winners (Mandela and Desmond Tutu)!
Sunday morning it was off to Cape Town, where we spent three days driving all over the Cape Peninsula. We got to spend some time at the V&A Waterfront, visited Robben Island (where Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years), Cape Point, and everything in between! It was a hectic three days, but we had to make the most of it, since we won't often be able to explore like that. Jake had a blast, getting to swim with penguins and see baboons (both in the wild, not a zoo) within about 30 minutes of each other. We never realized that penguins were native to Africa until then!
Wednesday was a day of rest for us, but Thursday we headed up to the Hartbeespoort Dam for Roy to do a little souvenir shopping. Roy was able to use his negotiating skills at the market to bring a suitcase full of Africa back for his family and friends!
Friday we woke up at 4:00am and went to Pilanesberg National Park, which is a good-sized game reserve about two hours west of Johannesburg. We spent the day driving around there scouting for wildlife and ended up seeing an elephant, giraffes, zebras, impalas, blesbok, baboons, rhinos, wildebeest, and a few other kinds of animals.
Saturday was another day of rest and Roy and Jeremy went to finish up the souvenir shopping at Cambano's, a very nice little curio shop about 45 minutes from home while Tricia and Jake played at the playland at our local mall.
Yesterday, Roy got to attend his first African worship service at our church. It was a service full of energy and Rev. Chuck Lockard brought a great holiness message to all of us. Later that evening, it was back to the airport for Roy and tomorrow it is back to work for us. We are very happy to have gotten the chance to experience a little bit more of our new home country while Roy was here!
Thank you for all of your prayers this past week, as our travels went off without a hitch. We spent a great deal of time in the car and are happy to say that everyone is safe and sound! We now are preparing to head back to work next week re-energized and ready to continue the work that the Lord has called us to do!
Until next time,
Jeremy, Tricia & Jake
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