Proud to be South African

As some of you may know, South Africa played the English for the Rugby World Cup Title Saturday night and WON!!! South Africa 15 England 6. There was no doubt about it, we were South African through and through that night! We as an AIM family had invited anyone and everyone from Gelvan Park to watch the game at our house. About 20 ended up coming. There is nothing like sports to bring a family together. We had food galore and an amazing time together. The four of us girls had painted our entire face as the South African flag and were very ready to cheer our team to victory. As people arrived we had the opportunity to continue the face painting on nearly every woman and child; the men were not quite as eager to have their faces coloured. Must be something about wearing makeup everyday that inspires the ladies! Shockingly, we did have a few outsiders who were routing for England. Thankfully, God spared their lives as we watched the game together. :) As always, there are a few ladies who are avid sports fans and Saturday night was no exception. Auntie Ann, Auntie Bridget, and Anthea, who says she is way too young to be called "Auntie," were our most entertaining Springbok fans. I don't think they sat down for the entire game and were hooping and hollering through it all. If you get a chance to look at the pictures I've posted, you will know exactly who they are! What a blessing it was to see family together enjoying one another's company. The world cup for me emphasized how much I love this country and it's people. As the title reads I am proud to be a resident of South Africa and will always see this nation as a place I call home. Thank you for all of your prayers for myself, my team and this nation. I love you all. GO SPRINGBOKS!!!

My First Combie Ride

Hello from Port Elizabeth,
Thanks to you all who leave comments, it really encourages me. Life has been busy as usual, but that is a good thing! I have now checked off one of the "to do" items for my time here in South Africa. I have taken a ride in a taxi. Now this may not seem like a big deal to you, but for me it is something that I have really wanted to do. Combies or taxis are the main source of public transportation in South Africa. They are typically large van type vehicles that rule the streets. They drive around cram packed full of people looking for more to pick up. On man hangs out the window looking for passengers who are waiting to be picked up as well as yelling our the destinations of the particular taxi. Looks like fun to me! I have made it known to several people that I wanted to have this experience but both our coordinators and the locals made me promise that I wouldn't take on this venture alone. They were quite serious as they said this and wanted me to understand that being foreign as well as white this might not be the safest form of transportation for me which is why we bought cars when we moved here. I have respected their wisdom but finally got an opportunity when I offered to help Charmaine Domingo a local member at Gelvan Park C of C who works at a Kresh or Pre-School. I met her at her home early Friday morning about 7 and from there we took two taxis to school. It was great! I loved travelling that way as I was able to see how the majority of the people we know travel daily. Charmaine was quite selective about the combie we took as they are often packed full and play extremely loud music. She said that we are paying our fair and we deserve a seat to ourselves and to not have our ears damaged by the booming music! I have to admit, I was a little disappointed, but none the less enjoyed my trip to school that morning. If you are ever in another country or even culture within the nation you live I encourage you to experience the local events. It will help you to better understand them and appreciate more things about their lives. I pray that you will be blessed this week and know how much I appreciate your being apart of my life!
In Him,
Lindsay