New Experiences

So I must start by saying that I have never blogged before, nor have I ever had such a desire. My trip to South Africa has presented me with many new experiences, including the chance to blog about my trip. I had planned on just using facebook to communicate with those who told me they are interested, however for some reason facebook is blocked here at the seminary so now I must resort to other mediums. I apologize for the cheezy name of the blog, but it's the best I could come up with, but that enough with the formalities, now on to my trip.

I arrived in Johannesburg airport early Saturday morning after a long flight with very little sleep. After passing customs very quickly I was told that all passengers must pick up their checked bag and recheck it. So I waited for my bag and it never came so I filed a missing bag report. I then got on the smallest plane I have ever been on in my life and headed for Pietermaritzburg. The plane was a propeller plane that fit no more than 30 people, however the advantage was that it flew at a lower altitude allowing for us to see the terrain of South Africa as we flew. We arrived at the airport which consisted of one runway which after landing the plane had to make a uturn and come back to the terminal. The terminal itself was not much bigger than a walgreens store. To my surprise as the luggage was unloaded, there sat my beautiful blue bag with the bandanna my mom tied around it; I was so relieved.

We were then taken to the "flats" (apartments) that we are staying at which is a residential community for the seminary students about a mile from the seminary. The accommodations were much nicer than I was expecting, with 4 us the Duke students (technically 3 Duke students and 1 wife) with John and Joan (the married couple), Jamison, and I living in one apartment but having separate rooms, and even a kitchen. The others students Deanna and Edgar share another apartment but will be leaving for the Durban area on Wednesday. After putting our stuff down we went out to dinner with our supervisors Doug and Cheri. There I tried my first new thing, Ginger beer, which is not actually beer but more in the same vain as Root Beer. It was very good, it like Ginger Ale with a kick. We then we back to the flats where Jamison, Deanna and I went to the apartment of one of the seminarians John and his wife Carmen. They are the most friendly couple in the world and they offered us Rooibos tea which was delicious. Also milk in tea is amazing, get with it America. We were still very jet lagged and crashed early that night.

The next morning Doug and Cheri took us to Wesley Methodist Church for service. The service was very similar to a blended service in America and it felt very natural. The pastor Delme, who is also a professor at the seminary, was excellent. At the end of the service I really enjoyed a moment where the whole congregation held hands while saying a prayer and then sang raising each others hands in the air. It was a very simple but powerful symbolic expression. After church we were served tea (once again tea+milk=yum) and talked to some of the members of the congregation.

After the service, John and Carmen brought us to the mall with their kids Nathan and Matthew so that we could buy disposable cell phones to call back to the states. The mall was actually very nice. For people in the Richmond area it was almost the size of Virgina Center Commons and for those in Durham it was almost the size of Northgate. We got our cell phone set up and now I can occasionally call my beautiful girlfriend, and family. After dinner, Edgar and I joined a couple young boys living at the flats named Luko and Kawe in kicking around a soccer ball. I am really rusty, but it was a lot of fun and the boys seemed to enjoy it.

That leads to today, Monday in which we woke up bright and early 6:30, (hey stop laughing that is really early for me) and went to the seminary for the first time. The seminary is very small but beautiful. Besides the chapel, which stands behind two of the largest doors I have ever seen, and the classrooms and library, most of the seminary is open air. It is nice to actually see the sky at school (hint hint Duke). We took a tour around the seminary, ate with some of the seminarians, and talked to the Sox, the dean of students, and Ross the president of the seminary. We then joined in on one of the classes, which was taught by Delme, the pastor from the day before. It was a Church history class, and though it was very interesting it brought back memories of my church history class that I would have rather forgotten (my seminary friends know what I mean).We returned to the flats and on the way home were serenaded by the seminarians in the van singing praise songs in their native tongue; I'm not sure if it was Zulu or not but it was beautiful. When we returned   to the flats we each joined a small group of seminarians who meet every Monday in what they call cell group which is pretty much a covenant group to keep them spiritually fed. It was very interesting to hear that many of the things that they struggle with are the same things that seminarians struggle with in the states.

That has been my experience so far, which has been amazing. We don't actually start work until Wednesday, and we still don't really know what we are going to be doing, but that's one thing that I'll have to get used to over here. It's not as structured or organized as it is in America, which I'm sure is very liberating, but as an American it can be frustrating. All I know is that on Wednesday we will be in one of the townships nearby. I don't know often I will be able to update this blog but I will do it as often as I can. Also I am lazy and tired so I am not going to edit this before posting so if there are typos or if I say something stupid please forgive me. God Bless.