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!!!! :) :) :)