I'm a Joburger!

Note: Internet is pretty difficult. VERY few people have wifi. Most people either don’t have internet, or if they do, it’s basically a flash drive, modem thing you stick into your computer that has a certain amount of internet time on it. I’m working on getting one, but they are fairly expensive. (So please be patient with me if we’re trying to skype – I have to plan that and be at other people’s houses.) For blogging purposes, I have written an entry on my computer and then uploaded it to a computer with internet, via flash drive, when I can. I’ll try to keep posts consistent, but just be forewarned that they might not be. This post was written two nights ago.  

I have to start off by saying that I am listening to “Circle of Life” while I write this. It totally doesn’t seem weird listening to it here…it’s totally appropriate!

So, I am HERE! I am living in Johannesburg, South Africa and have been for a few days now! I’m not actually a Joburger…that would be someone whose from Joburg…I just liked the name.  I’m not sure where to start, so I’ll just ramble off everything I think of:

It is BEAUTIFUL here! Really, that is the first thing I have to say. And all I hear is that Capetown is un-earthly beautiful…cannot wait to see THAT! The weather is just warm enough to get toasty (and a nice golden tan!), but not humid. No one has AC, everyone just leaves their windows and doors open all day long and it is plenty cool and breezy inside; absolutely ideal to me. It is just divine! (As everyone says here…anything at all wonderful is divine.) I have yet to see one of the theatrical thunderstorms I’ve heard so much about, but I’m sure they’ll come. (Or maybe I don’t want them too…I’ve heard when it rains, Rain Spiders come out and they’re as big as your hand. I might just faint when I see one, if not die, if I see it in any of my stuff.) My usual routes to the university, church, and friends’ houses include panoramic views of the city and mountains. I need to get you pictures.

I am living with two women in the church, in one of their houses. Almost all the houses that are at all decent have a giant wall around the property, with some sort of other security feature on top of the wall: an electric fence, barb wire, or shards of glass and metal. The house I live in has an electric fence around the top. It also has a bar-door in front of the actual front door. It really is a charming house though, in a good neighborhood. I am grateful to be able to live here and have never felt in danger. (I actually haven’t felt unsafe anywhere.)

The people have been WONDERFUL; absolutely delightful!  I honestly have yet to meet someone who wasn’t nice or helpful. (I had heard that South Africans were like that…it’s true, they really are.) The members of the church I am interning for here, especially those that I am working directly with, have overwhelmed me with welcome and generosity. I have felt so taken care of, and so wanted! Irene, who picked me up at the airport, exclaimed when we first saw each other at the airport, “I feel like I should cry! You’re like a long sister!”  (She was partly referring to all my visa troubles…see previous posts.) I have told a number of people here, and I am completely serious when I say this: of the four major moves I’ve experienced over the past four years, this has been the easiest transition. And I’m in AFRICA!

 I’ve been doing pretty well with the time change. So far, I’ve only had one night where I had trouble sleeping…it took me a couple of hours to fall asleep. Other than that, I’ve been sleeping more than soundly every night.

I will be getting a car here (provided by the church), but I have yet to drive…on the OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD. It’s been scary enough riding in a car that is driving on the other side of the road; I don’t know what I’m going to do when it’s my turn to drive.

Everywhere you go, at every intersection, there are people selling things and begging for anything you can give them. People sell everything from cell phone car charge to inflatable globes to bouncy balls. (I can’t even remember some of the crazy things I’ve seen out there.) You just get used to ignoring them…or if your window is down, actually saying “no thank you” over and over. Most parking lots have an unofficial security guard that you’re supposed to pay. By unofficial I mean, not paid by anyone, and by pay I mean, give money or food.

Like I said earlier, I’ve felt safe the entire time I’ve been here. Part of that is because you learn what to do and what not to do. Everything ends early here. I am pretty much always home between 6 and 8pm, simply because it’s not wise or safe to be out much later. Shopping malls close around 4/5pm. (There are always exceptions to all of this of course.) And because everything ends and closes early, our days start that much earlier. I’ll be out of the house by 9/10am. For anyone who knows me well, you’re probably thinking the same thing I’ve been thinking since I got here: “This is my kind of country!”

So the whole reason I’m here is actually to work with the campus and teen ministry of the Johannesburg Church of Christ. I’m doing this because I want to (obviously) and because they need help. It has been overwhelming the number of people who want to study the bible. On UJ (University of Johannesburg), we had our first bible discussion of the year (they don’t do semesters here) this past Thursday and had 30 visitors! People are definitely just more pleasant here and don’t like to say no to an invitation, but I do think they are also very open and looking for God. Realizing firsthand how many people need help knowing God in Joburg is opening my eyes to how many people need help knowing God everywhere! The couple that leads the church here in Joburg also oversees the churches that are a part of our sisterhood of churches for all of Southern Africa. That is quite a large responsibility. And even within South Africa (which has three capitals…Capetown, Pretoria, and Bloemfontein) major cities don’t have churches at all. There have been so many times in preparing to come here, and even since being here, that I have felt unequipped and plainly, not the best person for the job. But I do feel so needed. I’m reading a book by Max Lucado called Outlive Your Life, and in the chapter I just read, he says: “God doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called.” This statement stopped me in my tracks when I first read it because it humbles me and encourages me tremendously, at the same time. Even though, yes, I wanted to come here on my own, God planned this for me; therefore, I am qualified to be here.

Has something ever felt too easy to be right? I’ve kind of been afraid of that since moving here. Granted, I’ve been here less than a week, but it has been such a comfortable transition. I guess life just doesn’t feel THAT different yet. I always told people, “I’m not moving to the bush, it IS a big city”, but maybe I’m actually taken off guard by the fact that Joburg REALLY IS a city with roads and houses and showers (well, baths…very few showers. :/ ) and movie theaters (which are apparently very cheap –yes!). I’m a little nervous that I must be suppressing emotions of sadness and missing people, and that sometime this next week or the week after, I’m going to have a meltdown. And actually (I think I’m writing to myself here), that could very well be true. I also could just have a meltdown over the mosquito that won’t leave my room. But I also could be getting a lesson in the fact that sometimes God just lets things be easy for a time. I believe he really does. It’s like a time to rest and enjoy life before more refining times come again. Maybe that’s what I’m in right now; and I’m happy with that.

Oh, also, two notable things:

1.       I blew up my hair dryer. I bought an adapter, but I don’t know what happened…I plugged it in and was using it for a good 20 seconds and then – POP! There it went. The red reset button on my hair dryer looks like it melted. Oh well, I like to air-dry my hair anyway.

2.       Here in South Africa, if you have health insurance, gyms are FREE. FREE I tell you! AND, you get a card that you swipe every time you go to the gym or buy healthy foods, and you start to get discounts off your food and other things! Irene and her husband Justin have worked their way up to gold members, and get something like 75% off their food! The US needs to take a few lessons from these people.

Well, it’s 10pm…I am up far later than probably anyone on my block. I don’t have pictures yet, but hopefully I’ll acquire some soon…like, if I go to the Lion Park this weekend. 

Cheers! (That’s what we say here.) =)

Foggy Londontown

I'm in London! This is only my second time here...the first time was this past summer and I spent 15 minutes in the city. Yes, 15. This time I get NINE hours in the city! Maybe one day I'll spend an ENTIRE day here - what a concept!

I love London. It's one of the few places that I have always felt immediately at home in. That might not make any sense considering I've never even spent the night in the place, but some places just feel like home. New York is another one of the places I feel that way about.

I'm doing ok so far, not too tired. I got a grand total of maybe three hours of sleep, on the plane ride here. So even though I'm think I'm feeling and thinking normally, please excuse any typos or incoherency - is that a word? I'm thinking that if I exhaust myself today, then maybe I'll sleep most of the way to Joburg. The flight is somewhere around 10 hours, so I definitely have lots of time. 

Ok, I'm going to go enjoy the city!

It's official

I leave Boston tonight, fly all night to London and spend Tuesday in London; fly all Tuesday night and get to Johannesburg, South Africa Wednesday morning! I'll try and post updates along the way. 

A bien tot! :)

I am officially a resident of South Africa!

(There is a chorus behind me singing "Hallelujah" as I write this, so pretend you hear them too...)

I got my visa! Like, I actually have it IN MY HAND!!

Flight updates soon to follow. :)

- E

Almost there

I really wanted to start this post with an update on my current situation and an alternative ending, but that would just be mean. So, here's the most recent update:


Last time I posted, it was Saturday, 22 January, and I was about to go to New York four days later to get my visa. I got there and talked to Rose, who informed me that I was most likely going to get it that Friday, 28 January. She had me a leave a money order so they could over night the visa. Friday morning, I get an email saying, "You can pick up your visa at 12pm today." Good news: I got the visa! "Got" as in "approved". Bad news: it was in New York City...and they wanted me to PICK IT UP. What?! After a series of emails and a dear friend in New York City going himself to the consulate, I was reassured that it would be in my hands the next Saturday, the 29th. Rose even called me a few hours later to confirm my address. Some alerts should have gone off in my head, when I realized that that phone call came at 5pm. Nonetheless, with shouts of joy, I immediately called my travel agent to inform her that I would have my visa the next day and could leave that night. She booked my flight and all was settled. 
But then it was Saturday. Noon came, then 2:30, then 4:10pm...exactly two hours before my flight was scheduled to leave. And did I have my visa?! No. Such a surprise, huh? I think a number of friends have started to believe that I'm not actually moving. I'm trying not follow in their steps. So now it is Sunday, and I am (still) sitting in Boston. 


To be honest, I didn't want to go to church today; I just didn't want to show my face again after having already said good bye five million times and announcing I was actually leaving that time, at least three times. I say that kind of laughing at myself and kind of serious. This whole thing has been exhausting. It's exhausting getting excited about something and then not getting it or having to postpone it. It's exhausting dealing with disappointment. It's exhausting explaining something to people over and over again. And I think that's true for everyone, regardless of the situation. Whether you are looking forward to a date with someone and then your date gets sick or a blizzard strikes that night (don't laugh - we've seen over 50 inches in Boston this month - that is totally possible); or, you're just really excited to go back and buy that fabulous dress you saw on sale three days ago at h&m, after agonizing over whether or not you should actually buy it, only to find out: they're sold out. Or whether you've been trying to get pregnant for a few years and your relatives keep asking you when you're going to be next, while holding your unbelievably adorable nephew. (This example isn't personal to my life, but I know many friends for whom it sadly is.) 


I also can just feel guilty for caring so much about this. I'm sure there is someone else out there, who if he or she was in the exact situation, would be totally fine - she wouldn't be crying about a missed flight and he wouldn't want to just hide in his apartment to avoid reality. But that's not me. And that's ok. I think the point of this is to learn not give into those emotions. Crying is fine, but I'm not going to wallow in self pity and I will enjoy the day. I've decided, undoubtedly, that I much rather be in a difficult situation and go through hard times and have a character with some gumption, than to always have things easy and have jello for an emotional and mental foundation. I think writing all this out, helps remind me of it all and make sure I'm actually living it out. (Btw, if you have a few extra minutes to read, I think my first post ever will be enlightening for understanding the general theme behind a lot of my writings: lemons.) 


Hopefully, I will have some very exciting news to report on tomorrow. In the mean time, get excited. I am. Really.

Joburg.

Cool.

Joburg soccer stadium

The beginning

"It always seems impossible until it's done." - Nelson Mandela

I don't quite know how to write the first documentation of such an epic adventure. (Yes, I do think my coming adventure is quite epic.) So, I figured a quote by the most famous man to come out of the country I am moving to would be appropriate. But before I go into that, I guess I should provide an introduction.

My name is Elizabeth, I'm 22. I'm a recent graduate of Boston University, a former Starbucks employee (but a successful applicant to over 50 "grown-up" jobs), and have been living out of suitcases for (going-on) three weeks, now. I decided four months ago that I would move to Johannesburg, South Africa to help lead a campus ministry at the University of Johannesburg. I was supposed to leave on 12 January, but thanks to the wonderful establishment of bureaucracy, I have been forced to postpone my departure. All my worldly possession were put in storage a few days before I was scheduled to leave; hence, the living out of suitcases. Today is Saturday, 22 January; hopefully, I will be able to leave by this next Friday.

Most of you reading this will probably be surprised to find out that this is not the first entry in this blog. I started this blog in the spring of 2009 and kept it while I was interning in Washington, DC that summer. I only told a handful of people though. It is ironic that the last post I made was a link for a preview of the movie "Post Grad". Anyone seen it? I loved it. I thought it was charming, funny, and all too realistic. I saw the film before I graduated from college, while I was still quite sure that I would soon be sitting at my desk in some fabulous downtown high-rise, in a J.Crew suit, changing the world...all with my first real job! Did you notice my comment on the link? God has a sense of humor. I started working at Starbucks Coffee as a summer job, convinced I would have a different job by the end of the summer. And slowly but surely, it was August, September...and now it's January. Now, full-time ministry has not always been my life goal, my desired career (and it still might not be...I'm not sure). But I applied to the campus ministry leader position in Joburg, the same way I applied to every other job: "Let's keep my options open...this probably won't happen either, but who knows." Then through a serious of events which I believe God was completely behind, by the end of September, I was filling out visa applications and collecting boxes to pack my things into. And here I am, four months later, begging the country of South Africa to let me in.

I chose the above quote by Nelson Mandela because it's kind of how I feel about moving to Africa. Many people have told me I'm very brave for going, many have just gawked at me and asked if I was joking. I don't  really know how to respond. I don't feel exceptionally brave and it can be hard to quickly explain how the love of Christ compels us to do things we could never imagine. But I do think it's like Mr. Mandela said, "It always seems impossible until it's done." A lot of life is like that. This is also a perfect transition to explain the title of my blog.

(WARNING: slight movie spoiler ahead.)
Ever seen The Holiday? Christmas/New Years movie with Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Jack Black, Cameron Diaz? It is one of my favorites! All the reasons why are irrelevant for here, but there is one scene...
Throughout the entire film Kate Winslet (Iris) pines for a man who does not love her and will not, but he keeps her in this toxic relationship that continues to give her hope for something more. Eventually, just before the new year, Iris comes to her senses and realizes how much of her life she has been wasting on this tool-box of a man. She tells him that this "twisted, toxic thing between us, is finally finished!" When he asks what has gotten into her, she responds: "I don't know. But I think what I've got is something slightly resembling, gumption." Yes! It is a scene that makes the viewer feel just as liberated at Iris does! Now, I know that might seem like quite a dramatic analogy to use in my life...I am not going to South Africa to free myself from some disastrous relationship...but the whole thing represents what I've wanted to be my whole life: brave. Have some gumption. Stand up for something. Be loud. I'm gotten better at it over the years and moving to Africa is another big growth spurt, but it is always something I will need help doing and will just have to make a decision to do/be. (See point E for further detail.)

Well, there you go. The first entry of the chronicles of a girl with something in her, slightly resembling gumption. Hopefully, I will have some updates and more exciting things to fill you all in on over the next week...as well as, a more detailed description of what I'm actually doing over there. I didn't really give you that, did I?

Till then...

Chao!

lets hope this isn't a foreshadow

http://www.foxsearchlight.com/postgrad/ :)

Click the Video tab on the right to see the trailer.