Karaoke Birthday!!!!

So again this year we celebrated my birthday with karaoke!!! It was soooo much fun!!! My friend Isabel that I went to visit in Zambia flew back to Cape Town with me and we spent our birthday together! Yea, we have the same birthday, so last year when she was a volunteer she left right before our birthday, but we said it would be great to meet at Victoria Falls for our birthday next year, and our wish came true!!! So Isabel was there and fellow volunteer, Bao-Nhi, then we were joined by friends: the Skippers family, Mumba, Claudine and Edwina! Everyone humored me by singing and there was some dancing as well....a great time was had by all!!! Enjoy the pics!!!

Zambia and Victoria Falls!!!

Oh, my friends, I am one of the most fortunate people on Earth!!! Earlier this month I went up to Zambia to meet one of our former volunteers to see the place she volunteered 2 years ago and then we went to see Victoria Falls - one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World!!! It was sooooooo awesome, incredible, beyond words!!! The pics just don't do it justice, but I will post them anyway!! First, here's a pic from the school we visited....when we left as many kids as possible piled into the back of the bakkie (truck for you Americans!) for a ride home!! Then here's a pic from the orphanage we visited, and my friend Isabel and the German couple we stayed with (she fed us very well!!! YUM!). Then some pics of the falls....like I said they don't do it justice!!! They call it the "smoke that thunders" because there's so much spray from the falls that its LOUD!! And as you can see, we're soaked! In certain parts you couldn't even see that well because there was so much spray from the falls, but it was so awesome, we really didn't want to leave!!!!

4th of July Celebration in Africa! Thanks Ma, for the decorations!!!!

So we had a celebration here for the 4th of July, complete with hamburgers, hotdogs, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, a flag cake and sparklers!!! My mom sent me decorations so the place looked quite festive - as you can see, even the fish were patriotic that day!!!! Enjoy the pics!!!

Say it isn't so!!! Jana's leaving!!!

Oh my word!! I can't believe my little Jana is leaving!! She's been here since August of last year and I told her she couldn't leave until I did, but alas, she left last Tuesday to go back to Germany! And worst of all, I screwed up my alarm clock and so it didn't go off and I missed saying goodbye to her at the airport! Ah, such a sad day!! Jana was part of the volunteer team that went to the Karl Bremer Hospital and did a program with the Kangaroo Mums and visited the kids in the pediatric ward. She also was part of the team at the SOS Children's Village. Jana was only 17 when she got here and I was amazed at her maturity and how well she adjusted to the culture here. Her English was not too good when she got here either, but within weeks she was speaking it fairly well. One of my favorite things about Jana is how excited she would get about learning new words or phrases! She'd say them over and over and they always sounded so much better with her accent! Jana had such a great vibe to her, she loved hip-hop dance and music so she always had a little groove going, but at the same time, she was so sweet, positive and happy most all the time - just a ray of sunshine!! I told her our world here would be a little less bright when she left and, yeah, its true.....miss you much Jana!!! Come back!!!!!

Goodbye Amy!!

Amy also lived at the Kylemore house and volunteered at the Kindergarten/Creche. Again I know she will be sorely missed, her positive attitude, enthusiasm and great sense of humor made her a joy to be around. Amy is from England and for some reason was the target of many jokes from one of our American volunteers, Gabe. I was always amazed at how well she put up with his constant barrage of cracks against the English! He was always giving her a hard time! Here is a picture of her with one of the youth of Kylemore during one of their farewell parties....

Goodbye Charlotte!!

I didn't get to know Charlotte real well because she lived at the Kylemore house, so I didn't see her as much. But that being said, I enjoyed Charlotte very much. She always seemed to be in a good mood, a smile on her face and so was just a pleasure to be around. She volunteered at the Kindergarten/Creche in Kylemore and I know they miss her very much!! Plus, there were always kids hanging around at the Kylemore house, so the volunteers got to the know the kids better than in Blouberg where the kids don't live near the house at all. So I know they miss Charlotte very much in Kylemore and we miss her smiling face here in the office as well! She was our first volunteer from Norway and I told her she must recruit more like her for us!! Here's a pic of her with some of the kids at the creche.

My flat!! Finally some pics!

Hello, my friends! I realized as I looked through some old posts, that I never posted pics of my flat! I've been here 5 months now! So here are some pics for you....



Here's the front door and courtyard.....








then the lounge (living room) .....










and then the kitchen....








finally the bedroom...note built-in closets along the whole wall!!! I feel really blessed to be living here. Its quiet and peaceful and my landlords are great!!!