Homecoming week!

Finals are completed and I am a very happy girl!!

My fabulous Date and I!

This week the tragic thing that occurred was that we realized that monkeys had peed on our comforters and this is why our room has smelled so bad as of late. This weekend it was also exceptionally rainy and then exceptionally and HOT so our room smelled worse than we had EVER experienced. Kat and I’s first thought was that there was a dead animal in our room no joke, that was the only thing that I could identify the smell with. After a long investigation and long process of cleaning the floors, the comforters were spotted with monkey pee that I have been sleeping in for the past couple of weeks. It’s an incredibly terrible smell which ahs now been taken care of. On top of that there has been mold issues and a bird nest in our shower pipe? Well, I suppose that this is Africa (at least I have not been bitten by a spider like my dear cousin)!!

My chalet!

We had a week of finals which was stressful. However, to make it more fun activities committee planned this week to be homecoming week. Monday was pajama day which Kat and I participated in by wearing sweat pants. No one else seemed to last the whole day but this was a normal day for Kat and I which simple had a title on it. Greeeaaaat!! Tuesday was twin day so Allie Moffit and I dressed alike. We already have been mistaken by our blonde curly hair and Kat and I happen to have the same tank top so we literally matched perfectly, it was fun to confuse our professor in Life and Teachings. Wednesday was white v-neck day (also a normal day in the lazy life of Sarah Charles), Thursday was wacky tacky day and Friday was our study abroad blue polos. We looked like we were from a nerdy christian private school for the day which was a FANTASTIC experience. Friday we also completed the week by having a “homecoming game” which was us playing soccer! It was SO fun to be able to go play after taking off last intramural season of soccer because of my bad hip. The bummer was that Kat and I got put on opposite teams and so our lack of domination decreased. It was an intense game where even some South Africans got involved. I continued my reputation of being too aggressive in sports (oh well…) but my team ended up winning 3-2. I can’t help but mention that I had a lovely assist for the final goal where I slide tackled a guy and then felt the effects of that slide tackle for the next week, but it was worth it. After that we went on the slip n’ slide for the next hour which is about 100 ft long or so. It was an exhausting and thrilling day! Between soccer and a ridiculously fast slip n’ slide my body was achy, sore and beat up. Sunday then completed homecoming by having our dance which was themed “vintage Hollywood”. I naturally have brought a LOT of these items to South Africa with me (joke) and it resulted in our best attempts to anything that look even somewhat “vintage”. That resulted in me pinning up my hair and wearing a “vintage” flower (I tried). The night actually ended up to be incredible and was one of the funniest dances I have ever been to. We ate, played some fun lip sync games and then ended up dancing around like goofballs for about 4 hours. My legs (specifically feet) are still feeling the effects of the night. However, I can say that I officially “danced in the moonlight” on a bridge over a waterfall in Africa with my hot date, Kathryn Devereaux. We also did our best reenactments of “dancing with the stars” to “I’ll be” which included kat running into my arms and me lifting her into the air nearly pulling down her dress for the world to see, I’d say it was a great night by all. I expect my call to be on the show any day now.

            I have been placed at my work site which is “Walk in the Light”. It is located in the township “Haniville”. This is what I will mainly be blogging about from this point on, for my sake to remember stories and for my parents sanity to hear about my life. We have begun our community engagement class which is taught by and incredible Kenyan man named Francis. He is quite the big deal and is known nationally, how APU get’s these people I am not sure but I am honored to be in his class. He is essentially teaching us the steps of walking into a community and evaluating what the community needs and how to empower them. It was explained that Americans like to be the wheelbarrow that pushes a community but cannot be pushed once we are gone. However, his goal is create a soccer ball effect that will keep rolling and only needs one kick to get it going. I can’t say I have ever been in a class that is more applicable and something I hope to remember for the rest of my life. One thought that Francis left us chewing on that I will leave you with for the day…“Until the lions are the historians, the tale about the hunt will always glorify the hunter”