Adaptability is a Must.

Sunday, June 27, 2010, 11:41PM

Pneumatix, Somerset West, South Africa

The past couple days have been… crazy!  Yesterday took the phrase “be flexible” to a whole new level for me.  Before I explain, I’ll just recap Friday.  I went to Kayamandi again to hang out with the kids and help with the morning program.  We did the usual ice-breaker, drama, and debrief before splitting them up to do their game rotations.  I went with the same two guys that I did the relays with to play “steal the bacon” (right).  It was a fun game for the kids to play and sometime even more fun for us to watch, as they often got very intense with it.  From where we were playing our game, I could see the soccer field and saw that they had all the kids paired up, one was blind-folded, the other not (right).  It looked very interesting as kids were trying to lead blindfolded kids to dribble and score goals.  It was extremely entertaining to watch!  As the kids ate their lunch (below), I got to play a little soccer and eventually ate mine with all the other leaders.  While I was eating, I was on a mission to find some Americans to watch the soccer game with the next day.  I was also really hoping to climb Table Mountain as well, since the forecast called for a beautiful day.  Pasqual, one of the students from the Stellenbosch University who has been serving with us, asked what my plans were for Saturday.  “Funny you should ask…” I said.  And by the end of the conversation I had a group to hike Table Mountain and some Americans to watch the USA game with!  Before Saturday happened though, I watched the Brazil vs Portugal game with the 13^th Floor team, expecting a fantastic game.  The 0-0 match was far from fantastic…

Then Saturday came, the plan for the day was to drive from SU with Pasqual to Table Mountain, following the bus full of students.  From there we would hike to the top, soak in the view, take the trolley back down and watch the rugby match at a pub in Cape Town.  Then we were going to meet back up with Pasqual and others to watch the USA vs Ghana game at the public viewing park in CT called FanFest, and all hop in her car to drive home.  Then I would catch a ride back to Pneumatix to sleep away America’s victory.  Well, starting very early at 7AM, my plans changed approximately every 20 minutes.  Good thing one of my strengths is adaptability…

Lourens dropped me off at the Stellenbosch University where I met up with Pasqual.  She introduced me to four Americans, one guy three girls, and one South African student teacher and said I was going to ride in the bus with them since some seats cleared up and she would meet us later [plan change #1].  From SU, we drove to Table Mountain.  It was a beautiful day with not a cloud in the sky.  As we approached TM, we saw the top was pretty much covered by a cloud (right).  We
hoped for the best, assuming the sun would burn the moisture off.  When we got to where the trolley station was, we took a bathroom pit stop and found out that the trolleys were not running due to high wind conditions.  We weren’t too worried so we just decided to hike up and back down as well [plan change #2].  The gorgeous weather encouraged us up the mountain (right).  It was quite an intense hike, making the quads burn and the sweat glands open up.  Man do I sweat…  We took little water breaks on the way up, one of which brought us news that the others that were going to meet us at the top were no longer coming since the trolleys were on lock down.  Pasqual said she would just meet us in Cape Town somewhere [plan change #3].  After about an hour of hiking, we entered the cloud that never actually burned off.  As we kept on, the wind picked up, the temperature dropped, and the fog thickened, making it very difficult to hike at all.  After a couple more minutes we decided it wasn’t safe anymore so we would have to hike to the top another day [plan change #4].  We had a much quicker walk down the mountain and enjoyed the view along the way (below).

(The white stuff behind my head is actually the fog that jumped in the picture right before it was taken.)

Once we got to the bus, we found out the other people we were going to meet were at Canal Walk, so we met them there for some lunch [plan change #5].  Then we drove into CT, looking for a place to watch the Rugby game.  We ended up getting very lost and gave up, so instead drove past the Canal Walk again to go to a very nice overlook of the sea [plan change #6].  There we had a very good view of Cape Town and Table Mountain (right top) and an amazing view of the sunset (right middle and bottom).  I had a great time just hanging out, indulging in fun conversation.  It was very nice to relax and talk to some American people.  Let me say that in a foreign country, an American accent is one of the most comforting sounds ever.  From there, we drove back into CT, expecting to be dropped off at the Fanfest where we would wait for Pasqual and the others, who, since their numbers grew, ended up taking the train instead of a car [plan change #7].  Unfortunately, our driver was a little worried she would get lost again, so she told us she would drop us off a couple blocks from the Fanfest [plan change #8].  On the way there, I was getting less and less comfortable with the coming night.  It was dark and I was just starting to get a little worried.  I committed to praying for the remainder of the ride.  The girls were tired from the day, so they were just going back to SU and Alex (the guy student) and I walked together to Fanfest.  We soon found out it was not just a couple blocks away and I just prayed a little harder [plan change #8].  I was quickly comforted by a huge presence of police and traffic cops, directing people and traffic through the city.  We asked a couple cops where the Fanfest was and they pointed us in the direction.  When we got to a fork in the road, we asked another couple cops and found ourselves with an escort to the park!  God answered some prayers last night as we felt very comfortable getting a guided tour of the city center.  Once we were close, we decided to get some dinner.  I never thought I would ever find comfort in the glowing yellow arches of McDonald’s, but that night I definitely did.  We had a gross, but satisfying meal and met up with the others.  We traveled as a herd, following Pasqual since we were all from the US and she was the only South African.  The lack of noise made us worry slightly and soon we found out that Fanfest was closed due to high wind conditions [plan change #9] (and they really were! I still have dust in my eyes from the wind).  Since the park was closed, we had to quickly find a place to watch the game.  We got a taxi ride over to Long Street (probably equivalent to Bourbon Street) and squeezed into a bar to watch the lone tv with 30 others.  Then we heard there was an empty tapas restaurant next door with a tv so we filed out [plan change #10].  We sat down across the small venue and I was greeted by a friendly American accent.  The restaurant owner was from LA and PA, owning two restaurants in SA and living and traveling around the world.  As a recent Big Mac eater and a US soccer fan, all I wanted to do was watch the game, but I had to buy food and drink if I was going to be able to stay.  As I slowly watched the US get defeated, I ate some small, delicious seafood- grilled oysters, grilled clams, and sautéed mussels.  When the depressing match came to an end, the street erupted with joy since all of SA was supporting the last African team in the tournament.  We all piled in one taxi and headed for the train station.  On the way, some of the girls made the executive decision to take the taxi all the way back to Stellenbosch since everyone along our path said how dangerous the train was at night- I did not object at all [plan change #11].  And by the end of our ride, my plans to get a ride back to Pneumatix were replaced with an overnight stay at Stellenbosch University [plan change #12].  It is probably quite believable that within an hour I was asleep in a bed- it had been quite the day.  And the 12 changes in plans is definitely a conservative summary.

Now today, I was picked up to go to More Wine with Lourens and Elsa, meeting about eight others at a restaurant where we got a back room and had church.  Then I got a chance to take a breath and a shower!  It was definitely one of the best showers I’ve had in a long time.  I walked outside and was pretty much face to face with a peacock!  A peacock!  I was so shocked.  I ran inside to get my camera.  I had a sandwich in hand as well and the peacock walked right up to me, staring at the bread the whole time.  I gave it some bread and just stared as it walked away.  I was still shocked.

By sun down, I found my second wind and went with some new friends to a fellow American’s house.  This guy, Tom, has been living here for over four years now, being fully involved with Adventures in Missions, and specifically the World Race.  The World Race is a program that takes individuals on a life-changing, missional experience in 11 countries in 11 months.  Tom is a coach for teams that are on this adventure.  We simply hung out at his house and watched soccer and played poker- really a fun time with some guys.  I was also blessed by the conversation I had with Tom, really just because he simply said, “be blessed,” when he greeted me and said good-bye.  Then when I got home I received an email and was extremely blessed by the combination of words and scripture.  Aaand I just unconsciously called this place home… wow… that’s scary…