Safari Pics

FC Barcelona vs Mamelodi Sundowns

I must apologize to some of you because I know that you will be jealous. Last week we went to a soccer game at Loftus Versveld, in Pretoria. FC Barcelona vs. Mamelodi Sundowns. That’s right….FC Barcelona. We saw Ronaldhino play. I saw Ronaldhino play against the leading South African premier team, the Sundowns. Bardelona won 2-1 and it was a close game. “Dhino” was triple teamed every time he got the ball and still had two nasty assists. His second assist to give Barcelona the lead was amazing. He had his back turned to the goal when he received the pass. He one touched the ball off his left foot without looking to a teammate who was behind him. That guy received the pass perfectly in stride and scored off 1 dribble. When “Dhino” left the game with 5 min left, he received a standing ovation from a crowd of 60,000. By the way tickets only cost 50 rand…divide that by seven…That’s right just over $7.
The experience itself was one only to be found in Africa. On the way to the stadium we were walking through a mass of thousands of people. We were in a group of 15. In our group were 10 white guys, 1 white girl, 2 black South African girls and 2 black South African guys. Some guy tried to pick pocket the ticket from one of the black girls with us. She felt him take her ticket out of her pocked and starting yelling at him. Once we figured out what just happened all 10 of our guys surrounded this guy and got in his face. Needless to say he started sweating. I guess he did not know that black girl was with all these big white guys. I got in his face and saw that he was hiding her ticket in his armpit. So we took the ticket from him and gave it back to the girl.
We continued to walk among the throng of people towards the stadium and right when we were about to walk in a guy tried to pick pocket Dietch, a guy on our CCP team. Dietch had his hands in his pockets when this guy bumped into him and reached his hand into Dietch’s pocket. So Dietch had his hand in his own pocket when this other guy reached his hand into his pocket as well. So Dietch pushed the guy down and kept walking.
Once in the stadium it was madness. Thousands and thousands singing songs in Zulu and blowing these plastic horns. The noise from the horns made it sound like we were sitting in a beehive.

Quick post from South Africa

Sorry I will not be able to update the blog often, our internet availability is sparse. But much has happened in the week and a half since we arrived in South Africa. So much so I don’t even know where to begin.
After a long flight, we landed to find that 8 of our bags didn’t make it over. Cat’s bag still hasn’t made it over, we are praying that we will be reimbursed for the full amount. Cat has actually handled it better than I (Kevin) have. I bought her a couple of shirts for her birthday which she barely wore…and now they are gone. Sad.
The first few days were crazy trying to get adjusted to another culture. Driving on the wrong side of the road hasn’t been too bad, as long as we remember to look right first when turning right. If you don’t that could get you in a lot of trouble. Also you have to get used to all the traffic circles. One of our students, Dietch, almost wrecked on his first encounter with a traffic circle at night. Speaking of driving, there are traffic laws, but we think they are more of traffic suggestions. So if you drive, you must learn to be aggressive or you will be run off the road.
Today, June 16, is a South African holiday called Youth Day. For the history of it “google it.” But to celebrate we took some students from the Res to have a Braai at an orphanage. It was a lot of fun. A Braai, by the way, is a cook out done very well. I visited the butcher this morning and order 25 boerworse, steaks, and chicken. It was quite lekker. (S. African slang for really nice)
The Res is short for the Res halls, since they do not call them dorms. Res life is much like a fraternity or sorority. Freshman spend their entire first year pledging. Every Res has its own traditions and history. Competition between the Reses is heated at times. But our team has loved spending time with students in the Res. For the guys it has meant playing touch rugby, soccer, cricket, and going to movies with students. The girls have been watching TV, Movies, and getting coffee or tea with students.
Our students have already had lots of opportunities to share their faith in the Res. Two of our students helped lead a bible study in one Res, Taaibos, last week. One of the most encouraging things so far has been the opportunity to connect with the student leaders in the Campus Outreach ministry here. Since CO has been here for a few years, there are several leaders in the dorms. In Taaibos, for example there is a senior named Hanno. Hanno has been leading a bible study for freshman as well as mentoring or discipling 3 other students, Uli, Kat, and SP. This is awesome because racism is a powerful thing here yet Hanno and Uli are white while Kat and SP are black. Also Uli leads a bible study for freshman as well as Kat and SP. So in one Res, there are three freshman bible studies.

The pictures above I all took at the Youth Day Braai we had at a local orphanage. That one black baby on Stu's shoulders is named Thato. The picture with all the meat...well hopefully that will give you a good idea about what a Braai is like.

Cheers. (South African farewell)

Pics from Iluzada Wedding

These pictures are from Evan and Christina Iluzada's wedding. Sadly I didn't get any good pictures of them...they were all blurry. But here are some good ones. Ashley Adams with a crazy face. Ashley is going to South Africa with us this summer and is a student at Western. Kevin with some guys from Western who are attending the LP this summer in Myrtle Beach, except for the big oaf in the back...that guy's name is John Calvin Bivans and he will be my personal body guard in South Africa this summer. We love these guys by the way. And I have no idea why Shane looks so pensive in this picture, he isn't really that bright. But Kristen gets a kick out of him, I guess that is a good thing when you are married.

Fly Fishing

In case you didn't know Cullowhee boasts some great fly fishing. The best in the state of NC and argueably some of the best trout waters in the southeast. This has become one of Kevin's favorite passtimes, and We are working on getting Cat hooked. Pardon the pun.

Sunsets over the Whee

Cat snapped this picture of the sunset off our front porch one night. Here you can see a view from our house