Tea time, church services, & thunderstorms

Well, before I begin today’s entry, I wanted to share a story with you all. As I think I’ve mentioned, we have tea time every morning and afternoon and during afternoon tea today, I had two…well, lets just call them mishaps. First, as I was pouring my tea and adding sugar to it, I dropped the entire sugar packet into the cup. The whole pack. About 10 minutes later, I was eating one of the cookies they set out for us. I was lifting the whole thing into my mouth and right before it reached my lips, it broke and fell directly into, you guessed it, my cup of tea. Oh, and did I mention that both times, I let some profanities slip out? Not my best moment :)

In other news…actually, in very other news, I went to church this morning for the first time since I’ve been here. It was called North Hills and I really liked it. It honestly was not as different as I was expecting. I recognized most of the worships songs we sang. It really just felt like a charismatic American church.

And halfway through the sermon, I realized this church reminded me very much of the church I visited while in England, Soul Survivor. Everyone was so friendly! I felt so welcomed and as though I could’ve gone up to any person there and talked to them. During the worship, it felt like people who were there genuinely wanted to worship the Lord. It was a passionate thing, not forced. And that was something I noticed while in England…their love for Christ seemed to be overflowing out of their hearts. And then talking to people after, you could feel it in the way they treated us and loved on us. During the service, they had a time where people share praise stories for the Lord, mainly of healing that He’s done. And they allowed room for the Spirit to move. Even in the structure of the church here, it is more about relationship than schedule. Instead of planning every single minute of the service, they genuinely wanted to meet with God and allow time for Him to control the service.

And it was interesting to me that it so strongly reminded me of Soul Survivor, because it made me wonder what that says about the church in America. And truthfully, I really don’t know what it says about the church in America, but it just made me wonder…Anyone have any good thoughts? :)

ALSO! I am currently sitting through my first South African thunderstorm!!! It’s the most legit thing ever. The lightning literally lights up the ENTIRE SKY!!!! I can’t even explain it. God is so big and beautiful! What a wonderful gift to end this first week in Pietermaritzburg. I am truly blessed.

With love from South Africa,

Alex

Letters & Patience

Hello everybody!!! It’s another beautiful day in South Africa :) It lightly rained this morning, and is actually almost cold outside, which is a treat.

ANOTHER treat that I found out about last night…man, I’m so excited! In our Zulu class, our professor told us that she teaches at a school full of Zulu students, who are in 11^th grade, and for the next couple months, we are going to write them letters in Zulu and become pen pals! And then at the end of the class, we get to go to their school and meet the person we’ve been writing to! Isn’t that awesome? I really can’t wait. I wrote my first letter last night, which is only like 5 sentences because that’s all I know so far :) but it’s still fun!

On a more serious note, I realized yesterday that I need to be more patient. I think I’ve put all this pressure on myself to make sure this trip is life changing. I’ve been anticipating this semester for so long, and have had so many people tell me how much it will change me, that I’ve been overanalyzing every little thing and trying to force growth in places that it might not necessarily be. So I’m just praying for patience that I can wait on God’s timing and know that He will teach me what He wants to and when He wants to.

And I know I’ve been promising pictures of the AE campus, and those really are coming soon! Maybe even later today. But yesterday, I had a minor freak out with my camera. I thought it was broken…not fun. But I didn’t get a chance to upload the pictures I took of everything, because of it wasn’t turning on. So once that all happens, pictures will come! :) Thanks for your patience!

With love from South Africa,

Alex

Address updates

Okay, so I found out some new info about my address here, so I wanted to let you all know! Just in case you're feeling extra kind or sentimental and feel like sending a letter instead of email! :)

For anything FedEx, send it to the address I gave you before :

African Enterprise Center Attn: Alex Gennaro

1 Nonsuch Road

Chase Valle

Pietermaritzburg 3201

3200 KZN

South Africa

But for everything else (letters, etc....anything NOT FedEx), send to this address:

Alex Gennaro

PO Box 13870, Cascades 3202

Pietermaritzburg, Kwazulu-Natal

South Africa

Beginnings

I am officially in love.

Normally, I’m one of those people who think “love at first sight” is ridiculous, but in the case of me and Pietermaritzburg, it’s true. I absolutely love it here. The first two days, it was very hot and humid…around 90 degrees. Today, it’s currently pouring rain and has been all morning. It’s just wonderful. And this campus is absolutely GORGEOUS (pictures coming soon!) We’re staying at a Christian conference center called African Enterprise and everything is so green! I can’t believe it. And multiple different shades of green, too. Plus, on our campus there is a huge waterfall, a little stream, a watering hole, and beautiful prayer chapel that will surely become a favorite place to sit and journal. I wish every single person I knew could come here and experience the depth of this beauty. It’s nothing that can be captured with pictures or words….but I’ll do my best :)

It’s still just so unreal that I’m here. Yesterday, I woke up at 6am (jetlag) and Katie and I decided to go on a walk through the game reserve right next door. A walk through a game reserve!?!?? It sounds so crazy. I just feel so lucky to be here. That morning, I didn’t see anything but I went with a couple other girls today and we saw a herd of antelope!! Complete with a buck and about 5 baby antelope. :) And then we saw a huge group of monkeys hanging out in this canopy! They were all eating fruit and jumping from tree to tree…it was the coolest thing. I can’t even imagine how excited I’ll be when I see a zebra or elephant or something. I have a feeling it’s going to blow my mind.

Oh, and also I’m taking classes here. ;) Sometimes, its easy to forget but I am actually here to study. Last night, I had the intro to my classes and they all seem wonderful!! They’re very interactive, aka we go on field trips pretty much every week. And my Zulu class is going to be CRAZY!! For those of you who don’t know, I’m taking Zulu for my foreign language requirement, which is one of the tribal languages in this area. It’s already so hard! And it has clicks! We learned 3 last night, and I think she said there were 12. Even though it seems impossible, I’m really praying God will help me at least pick up on the basics. I just think it would be such a powerful thing to be able to speak to people in their own language. To connect with them on that deeper level. So hopefully I’ll do okay with it!

Alright, I think that’s it for today. The Internet here isn’t great but I’ll try to update as much as possible, and post pictures often! For those of you with facebook, I’ll post more pictures on there, just because it’s easier. But I’ll try to put a few on here as well!

With love from South Africa,

Alex

Johannesburg

(I wrote this last night, after our full day in Johannesburg!)

My first full day here has been absolutely incredible. Probably one of the best days of my life thus far. But seriously…

We all woke up and had breakfast at 8:00am, which was delicious! Then we left for a bus/walking tour of Soweto, which is a town either in or near Johannesburg. I’m not entirely sure. J Our first stop in Soweto was at their largest & wealthiest mall. It was beautiful! And I feel weird saying that about a mall, but it really was. We got to explore it a little bit and found some interesting things: a store that looked just like Old Navy, a hair shop that was called “Kinky”, the restaurant Nando’s which I saw in England, and then there was this random blow up pool in the middle of the mall! And inside the pool, there were these huge blow up balls that people could get into and run around the pool, so it was basically like a hamster in one of those toy balls, but HUGE and in water. Some people from our group did it and it was HILARIOUS. Also, my friend Lauren and I were walking around and these two girls, probably 5 or 6 years old, came up and just stared at us. So then we started talking to them and they both really wanted to have their picture taken and then LOVED that they could look at it immediately after. They were adorable.

After that, we went to another stop and saw the South Africa Constitution, which interestingly had a lot to do with equality and peace. One of the laws even said that everyone had the right to “peace and friendship.” J

We drove some more….by the way, in between all these things we’re driving through all different neighborhoods. As our tour guide said, “I’m showing you the good, the bad, and the ugly.” So even though we only got to get out at a few places, we were able to see a lot from the bus. We stopped at a Catholic church, the biggest one in Soweto, and it was gorgeous. Inside, there were a bunch of stain glass widows. My personal favorite was one window that, on the outside, depicted Mary and Jesus as black, and on the inside, depicted them as white, showing that Jesus came to earth for everybody and every race.

We also got to drive past Desmond Tutu’s house and Nelson Mandela’s house, which has now been turned into a museum.

And then we stopped for lunch. Now, I know this is already a long blog but this was my absolute favorite part of the day so don’t stop now! J We pulled up to this little restaurant in the middle of a neighborhood, and our tour guide told us we were going to have to eat cow hearts and intestines. Luckily she was kidding but she had us all going for a while. J The food was actually delicious! It was buffet style so we had a lot to choose from. I tried a little bit of everything, but my favorites were the chicken, rice, potatoes, some type of coleslaw, ice cream, and REALLY good fruit. All the fruit I’ve had here so far has been incredible. At the end of our meal, a group of children came and did a dance for us. It was awesome! They were all so good!!! As my friend Lauren says, “Africans just know how to move!” J And then they announce that they are going to “dance us out” as we leave. Because there are so many of us, not everyone got to experience it, but praise God, I did! It was so cool! This little girl, maybe 8 years old, grabbed my hand and quickly taught me this dance as we walked out of the restaurant. Of course, she was ten times better than I was but she just graciously laughed every time I messed up J And as we were going out, this adorable little boy grabbed my other hand and started dancing with us too!! It was absolutely magical. I loved every second of it. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any pictures of the three of us actually dancing but I think some other people in my group did, so hopefully I can get those soon! In this picture, the girl to my left is the one I danced with.

After lunch, our Soweto tour was over and we went to the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. It was crazy thinking about how recent it all was. If I remember correctly, it was only declared illegal in 1994. That’s during my lifetime. And it was all so political, so public. I just don’t understand how so many other countries ignored it for so long. It also made me wonder how South Africa reconciled so quickly. I mean, when we were driving around today, nearly every black or colored (that’s an appropriate term here) person we saw waved at us or smiled or danced for us…they all just loved us. They have this joy that just radiates from their hearts onto their beautiful faces. It isn’t about possessions or wealth or status. Their joy comes from deep within. And even after everything that white people have done to them, they still loved us. It amazes me how quickly they forgive. Those are two things I’ve already seen in these people that I want to emulate…their forgiveness and their joy.

In Invictus, there is this great line Matt Damon’s character says about Nelson Mandela. “I was thinking how a man could spend thirty years in prison, and come out and forgive the men who did it to him.” In the Apartheid museum, there is a whole section dedicated to Nelson Mandela. He really was one of the most remarkable humans to ever live, and his humble ability to forgive is something he passed on to his followers. It was so neat to get a glimpse into this culture, this world. And it was so encouraging to see the restoration God has already done in this country.

Alright, so that was all yesterday! Now we're in Pietermaritzburg and it's absolutely GORGEOUS. I've never seen anything more beautiful. I know this blog is already a novel though, so I'll save that for tomorrow! Thanks for sticking this one out! I'll try to upload more pictures tomorrow, but the internet is really slow right now. Love you all!!!

I'm here!

Well, I made it!!!!

After one of the longest flights I’ve ever experienced (it was ridiculous), we are in Johannesburg! We met up with Reg, who is basically in charge of this whole program, and he seems wonderful. We’re staying in a hotel tonight and then tomorrow, going to an apartheid museum, which I’m really excited and anxious for. It won’t exactly be easy, but I’m excited for the understanding it will bring about my surroundings and this culture I’ve suddenly been planted in.

We spend the night at this hotel again tomorrow and then Sunday morning, head to Pietermaritzburg! I’m REALLY excited to get there. That’s going to be my home for the majority of this trip and I can’t wait to see it. I’ve heard it’s absolutely gorgeous. I’ll be sure to post pictures!

Tonight, after we all got settled in, a large group of us went to a restaurant called Rawhide and we all tried little bites of each others food. I had spinach pie, greek salad, grilled brie & jam...and it was all delicious!!!! Plus, Coldplay was playing in the background :) It was a nice mix of both cultures

I have to say…it’s really surreal finally being here. After the months of build up, and two days of travel, it’s crazy that I’m really in Africa right now. Sitting, typing on my computer, in Johannesburg. It’s unreal!!! I know this is where I’m supposed to be though. God completely confirmed that through the insane amount of joy I felt when we first stepped out of the airport.

It’s going to be a crazy ride! I can already tell, and it’s only the beginning. Alright, I’m FINALLY going to go shower and then try to get some sleep! Love you all and I’ll try to update again soon!

The Beginning

My adventure has begun!!!!

Well, sort of. I'm back at Azusa and we had orientation today. We have a few more training type things tomorrow, and then leave tomorrow night! Well, technically, at 2am on Thursday but it'll feel like night. :)

I have to say, I am SO EXCITED!!! I mean, I always have been, but being here has sent my excitement levels through the roof. I walked into the meeting room today and was reminded of all the wonderful people going on this trip with me. I think that's partly what I'm so excited for! All these amazing friends will get to experience this adventure with me...it's a cherry on top of an already beautiful blessing.

In orientation today, they talked a little bit about the culture of the place we'll be staying for the first portion, Pietermaritzburg. This city is in the Kwazulu-Natal region of South Africa. And what they told us today is that South Africa has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in all of Africa, and the Kwazulu-Natal region has the highest rate in South Africa.

I've been praying for the Lord to open my eyes and allow me to see His people the way He does. It's a rather scary prayer, when you think about it, but I really hope He does. After today, I'm realizing more and more that this will be an experience unlike anything else in my whole life. And with the Lord's help, I feel ready.

This will probably be my last blog from America. Tomorrow is really busy with final orientation stuff and last minute packing, and then we head out at 2:00! I'll be flying FOREVER so, next time you hear from me, I'll be in my new home!!!! :) :) :)

Here I come!!

Prayer requests

Alright, before we get to the prayer requests for South Africa, I have a little clarification, thanks to Katie Hill :) Even though South Africa doesn't do Daylight Savings, the U.S. does so the paper they gave me was correct: Until the end of March, I will be 10 hours ahead of California time, and then when you all switch for Daylight Savings, I go down to 9 hours ahead. Okay...thank you Katie for clearing that up :)

Now, prayer requests! Although I'm sure these will change once I get to SA and learn more about exactly what it is that I'll be doing, I thought of some things that I would love prayer for right now in regards to this huge adventure God has put in my path.

1. Missing family and friends. I've never done anything like this before, and I know it'll be hard, feeling like I'm missing out on everything going on at home.
2. Adjusting to the culture and learning to be respectful of it.
3. Developing friendships. There are about 60 people going and I'm so excited to see what relationships God has in store for me while I'm there and we all go through this crazy experience together.
4. Safety. Obviously this is a big one. Safety physically, safety from illness, safety emotionally and spiritually....just everything safety.
5. Gain a deeper understanding of who God created me to be and what He has planned for me. I know I won't be able to walk away from this trip unchanged and I'm so excited for that. Just pray that He would really open my eyes to how He wants to use these 4 months to help me grow and mature.
6. And most importantly, pray that I would be able to see God every day, in everything I do. Whether it's in a class or through relationships or even in the midst of poverty...that His presence and His light would just be evident in that place and in my life.

Okay, that's all I can think of for now. Again, I'm sure I'll have more in about a week. :) Thank you all so much for your love and encouragement! It makes it easier to leave knowing there are people who will be supporting me back home. :) Love you all!

Logistics

Okay, before I get into all the details of South Africa, I first have to say that the Lord blessed me MAJORLY last night. I went to Adorn (Reality's college group) with Lauren and it was absolutely wonderful. Then we went to Lauren's friend Caitlin's house, and I have to say, her family was soooo great. I had just met these people but felt as though I was a lifelong friend. They were all just so inclusive and kind and absolutely hilarious! I was laughing the whole time. And then, as everyone was leaving, Caitlin's mom said "Wait, before we all leave, can we just pray for Alex and her time in South Africa?" I was so touched. We all sat around, holding hands, and these people who were complete strangers just an hour before, prayed for me. It was so encouraging in the midst of all the stress and anxiety I have about leaving. The whole night, it just felt like this is how Christian's are supposed to treat others. It was a beautiful thing.

ALRIGHT! In other news... :) Here are some details about my trip that people have been asking. I start the trip in Pietermaritzburg, which is near Durban, and am there until the beginning of April. During this time is also when we do our outreach and help the local community development programs. After that, we go over to Cape Town and spend the last month of our journey in that beautiful city. Our flight leaves out of Cape Town on May 5th.

I will have an address that people can send letters/packages to. This address only works though until the beginning of April. I'm not sure what my address will be yet in Cape Town. It takes about two weeks (if not more) for mail to get from the US to South Africa...just something to keep in mind :) Here's the address:

African Enterprise Center Attn: Alex Gennaro

1 Nonsuch Road

Chase Valle

Pietermaritzburg 3201

3200 KZN

South Africa

Addresses are a little different in other countries ;) Also, I'll have internet access so feel free to find me on Facebook or email or Skype!

Email: agennaro90@gmail.com

Skype: alexgennaro

Ichat: agennaro330

I fly out of LAX on January 21st at 6:00am and arrive in Johannesburg, SA in the evening on the 22nd. I'm not sure what my internet situation will be from when we arrive until we reach Pietermaritzburg, but if you email me, I promise to respond eventually! :)

I'm trying to think if there's anything else....hmm...Oh! The time difference! I'm a little confused because the paper they gave us said at first, I will be 10 hours ahead of California time, and then after Daylight Savings in March, it will be 9 hours. But this website I just looked at said there is no Daylight Savings time in 2010 in South Africa. Hmm....So I'm not sure. But it's either 9 or 10 hours! :)

Okay, I know this is a lot but I think that's it!! I'll be posting again soon with prayer requests for my trip, but I think this is enough information for one post :) Please let me know if you have any questions for me!!

Just some thoughts...

I woke up this morning...around 11:00am :)....and realized that exactly a week from now, I will be on a plane to South Africa. What?!?!? And I go back to APU even sooner! It's just crazy that it's really happening. This has been a dream of mine for sooo long and now, here it is. God provided this crazy opportunity for me to go and He worked out all the finances and applications and...all of it! I just can't believe it.

One week from now. One week!!

I still haven't packed. I've made more progress: I've separated the clothes I will definitely bring from the clothes I might bring. So I guess that's something :)

Also, for those of you who have been asking, I DO have an address there that you can send things to! I'll be posting that soon.

I've just been praying lately for rest. It's been crazy trying to get everything done, and trying to process this huge opportunity that awaits me, but I have just been asking God for rest in my soul. For trust that He knows I can handle this.

Alright, I think that's enough random thoughts for today :)

Lists, lists, lists!

Wow it's been awhile. Life has just been absolutely crazy lately. I feel like my "to do" list for South Africa is never ending. I cross one thing off, and then think of three more things to add to it. I'm not sure I'll ever feel totally prepared and ready. But I realized today that I'll pack what I pack and I'll just make do with whatever I have once I get there. I'll figure it out somehow! :)

It is slightly ridiculous how many lists I have though. I have a list of things to put in my suitcase, a list of things I need to get done before I leave, a list of things to put in my carry on, a list of things I need to do once I get back to APU...too many lists. Lists. Lists. Lists. (That's a funny word when you say it a lot...)

Anyways, it's been a weird preparation time. I don't really know what to think. The reality of what is about to happen is hitting me. I'm about to go live in another country for 4 months. That's crazy!! I don't really even know what to say about it because it's just so surreal still.

I'm excited to just be there. All the preparation for it and anticipation is killing me, and I'm excited to get there and know more about what it's like. Right now, there are so many unknowns and I'm ready to eliminate all those and just...just be there.

Well, I should probably get back to packing. Or, at least, pretending like I'm packing... :)

Disaster

My room is an absolute disaster right now. I have a very narrow pathway from my door to my bed, and my bed to my dresser, and that's about it. Everything else is covered.

Yet, the chaos is organized. There is a...well, let's just call it an "area" for lack of a better term...there is an area with some stuff to take to South Africa, there is another area of stuff I brought home from school and will need once I get home from SA, and there is another area with stuff I brought home from school and won't need until I go to Seattle in September.

Organized chaos.

14 days until I go to APU. 16 until our flight leaves. WOW. Hopefully my room will be a little more organized in two weeks.

Oh hey 2010

These "new year" posts have been popular lately, and I'll be honest, I wanted to copy everyone else and pick my top 10 favorite pictures of 2009 in order to commemorate the wonderful year that it was. However, as I was going through my iPhoto, I discovered that I have 74 albums from 2009 alone. Some of those albums have hundreds of pictures in them, one topping the charts with 472.

472 pictures in one album. 74 albums. I'm supposed to pick a top 10???

The truth is, 2009 was a great year. I learned more than I could ever imagine; I literally laughed at loud as I was going through my pictures, remembering all the funny times with friends; I got to travel the world; I gained new, wonderful friends at APU; I found out I get to spend the first half of 2010 in South Africa; I finally gathered the courage to decide to transfer to Seattle; and I learned how to follow the Lord into some really hard places that I would have never expected to travel to. 2009 was full of surprises, good and challenging.

But none of that can be summed up a handful of pictures.

I'm excited about 2010. If my New Year's Eve is any indication of how this next year will be, it's bound to be a thrill :) Haha but seriously, I'm excited about it. Lots of new things will be happening (South Africa and Seattle) and I'm sure God will continue to put challenging surprises into my life and help me grow. And maybe by then, I'll be more decisive and have a top 10 :)