So today Kitty and I had little on our agenda aside from eventually making it to the famous Mount Nelson Hotel for their afternoon tea experience. I’m not really a tea drinker, but every once in a while I’ll find a flavor I can enjoy. I’m also not one for fancy events, but this was highly recommended as a must-experience in Cape Town. I had bought a summer dress a few days ago and Kitty had brought some nicer clothes, so we donned those and headed out for our afternoon tea extravaganza.

What makes this story so great is that on our way there we pass none other than McDonald’s. Don’t think for one second that we didn’t stop there! I enjoyed the most delicious double-cheeseburger and fries I’ve ever eaten in my life! I don’t even eat much fast food at home, rarely ever do I eat at McDonald’s, but after not having anything like that from home in over 3 months, it was divine! And I just think that it’s especially great that we stopped in there on our way to high tea. :)

We bought some scarves from a street vendor we passed along the way and soon found ourselves in a gorgeous section of town with trees covering the walkway and public botanical gardens. While taking pictures in front of the Parliament Building we were approached by a very curious and hungry squirrel. Yes, I said squirrel. (We were also approached today by many individuals asking for money and/or food. One man, Hank, we gave some money and also prayed for him and his son. That God would provide a job for him so that he could find a permanent place to live instead of living in the shelter.) But back to the squirrel. It stopped a few feet away from us and just waited. Unfortunately we didn’t have any food on us or I would have fed him. He came right up to my hand as I bent down, so he probably would have eaten right from my fingers. He then followed Kitty around for a while and finally realized we had nothing for him so he wandered off. I asked Kitty if I could bring him home as a pet. She said no.

As we were nearing the Mount Nelson Hotel, I saw one of the most magnificent sights I have ever seen. From almost anywhere in Cape Town, you have an incredible view of the mountains. Table Mountain was in front of us, and rolling off the peak were luxurious clouds of cotton. The clouds tumbled over the mountain rapidly--like a waterfall. It was breathtaking. The photos I took don’t even begin to do it justice. My video camera might have had a better chance.

We made it to the hotel and took our seats in the main tea room. It was a beautiful building with a matching interior. Again, my personality doesn’t really fit with fancy things, but it truly was a neat and special experience. To prove I wasn’t born to be part of an elite society, Kitty and I passed up the bathroom because we didn’t realize that “Ladies’ Cloak Room” also meant “toilets found here”.

The two main components of afternoon tea at Mount Nelson: 1) Your choice of your own personal brew-it-yourself glass teapot, complete with a timer specific to the variety of tea chosen. I had Orange and Spices and it was superb. 2) A never-ending buffet of hors-d’oeuvres and desserts… mostly desserts. Extremely delicious desserts. Oh, and there was a beautiful grande piano serenading us in the background. “Que Sera, Sera” was my favorite selection.

For the record, I had never heard of the term “high tea”. I found it interesting to read that although the term is used by some here, Wikipedia calls it an American term “disfavored by etiquette advisers”--that only makes me want to use it even more! ;)

You can check out the official website here.

And no, I’m not referring to Chicago. Chicago has nothing on Cape Town! This city should be dubbed the windiest city in the world. I have never felt wind as strong as the wind here. I told Kitty that if I were a 70 year old woman, I would have blown away. There were several times when the wind stopped me dead in my tracks or even blew me a step backwards. There was another time when my bare skin got pelted with whatever dust, dirt, and pebbles blew off the ground. It actually hurt--felt like tiny needles flying into my arms. Couple the strong wind with the cold air, and you can imagine that I’m not the happiest of campers. (I’m not a cold weather person!) But I will say, Cape Town is beautiful and this is one of the best vacations I’ve ever been on. God is good and blesses me so much more than I deserve.

Everyday we have been checking online to see if the cable car up Table Mountain is open. It’s been closed each day until now. It can’t operate in poor weather conditions, high wind, and so on. We got really excited when we saw that it was open. We knew this was our chance to go if we wanted to go. I’m not sure if it’s legal to come to Cape Town and not go up Table Mountain!

Before catching our cab to the bottom of the mountain, we went to Greenmarket Square to do some shopping in the market. Much of what we’ve seen in Cape Town as far as merchandise is very similar to what we see in Namibia. Because of that, I haven’t found a huge need to buy up everything I see. Every once in a while, we’ll happen upon something unique to the markets and stores of Cape Town either to treat ourselves or as part of our early Christmas shopping.

We finally caught our cab to Table Mountain. We decided to buy a one-way ticket in case we felt adventurous and wanted to hike down. Today is the hottest day we’ve had since we’ve been here (I actually bought a coat yesterday I have been so cold!), so we really thought it would be quite nice to hike down. We waited in line to board the cable car for about a half hour. Just as we were about to board, a man came out and said that the cable car would be shutting down soon for the day. The winds had suddenly gone from no winds to gale force winds! We decided to go up anyways, though he said our time would probably be cut quite short due to them forcing everyone back down the mountain.

The view from the cable car was amazing of course. Luckily, I am not afraid of heights! When we reached the top, sure enough, the winds were fierce! Within moments I was actually quite miserable. If you haven’t picked up on it yet, I strongly dislike being cold. Well, you could flat out say I hate being cold. There’s only been one other time I can remember being that miserably cold and tossed about by the elements… Scotland, 2000 with my mom at the Callanish Stones. I will say, in the mountain’s defense, the view from up there was breathtaking. I did, however, want to get down the mountain as soon as possible! Unfortunately, “soon” was not going to be Pee Wee’s word of the day. We found out that it was impossible for us to walk down. The lady actually said, “Within one hour, you would freeze to death.” Scratch that option. Option two, wait in a loooong line for the cable car to take you back down… a long line in the freezing cold wind of course. Thankfully, we discovered option three: go into the café, order a wonderful cup of coffee and muffin, and wait for the line to go down a bit. That’s what we did and everything worked out quite nicely! Was it worth seeing? Yes! Would I do it again on a cold windy day? You couldn’t pay me enough!

We were able to borrow a small trailer for this trip. Our suitcases just weren’t going to fit in the back of Cindy’s Rav4 no matter how hard we tried. When we arrived at the lodge in Springbok, we had our own private gate to park and lock up our vehicle. Problem was, with the trailer on the back (that was too difficult for us to take off and on) it was going to be a challenge for us to maneuver it into the small space. Boastfully I claimed, “I’m from Tennessee, I can back a trailer!” Which, years ago, was very true. But apparently, I have lost my touch because it was a mess. Some kids had been watching us from the hill, and after about 10 minutes apparently decided to go get their dads to assist us. This was right after I also boasted, “We don’t need men!” I ate my words as we watched them back the trailer into the spot perfectly in about, oh… 15 seconds. So to all the men out there, we appreciate you… but I still think that if I had one more shot I could have gotten it in. ;)

Several weeks ago Cindy and Kitty invited me to join them on their trip to Cape Town. The trip was scheduled for the end of September. Cindy’s daughter, Brandi, was coming to Cape Town on a mission trip with her church, Brentwood Baptist (from Tennessee). They come every year and work with Living Hope, an HIV/AIDS ministry, life skills empowerment ministry, children’s ministry and more. It took me a while to make my decision to come on the trip, because I was very hesitant to ask for that time off at FHS. I finally decided that a trip like this would be a rare opportunity, so I took it. We left last Thursday, drove 10 hours to Springbok, South Africa, stayed the night, and finished with a six hour drive on Friday into Cape Town. Brandi had flown into Windhoek to spend some extra time with her mom and joined us on the trek to South Africa. The drive was beautiful and it was interesting to observe how we went from the greys and browns of the dessert, to the lush green grass, colorful flowers, orange trees, and wineyards of South Africa. I convinced myself that it looked a lot like Tennessee and the drive was even more pleasant for me! Moments like that road trip are when you feel the need to pinch yourself and ask, “Is this really my life?”

I ask for your prayers for safe travel as we begin the drive back to Namibia on Saturday (Oct 3) and arrive Sunday afternoon. The scenery might be a little more depressing on the return journey, as we will slowly watch everything die leaving South Africa for the desert! But I am looking forward to some great conversation with Cindy and Kitty (Brandi will be flying back with the Brentwood team on Saturday, please pray also for safety and ease for their travel). I cannot tell you how much of a blessing it has been to spend this time with three godly women. Our conversations have been nothing but encouraging, challenging, and I pray, God-honoring.

This afternoon I picked up my friend Judith and headed to Okapuka Ranch. I don't think I've mentioned Judith before in my blog. Judith lives in Katutura. I met her through our first week of language learning in Babylon. Her family is from Angola and she was chosen as a language helper for the majority of our group learning Luchasi since their assignment is in Rundu, near the border of Namibia and Angola. As with many of the Africans here, she also knows several of the other languages spoken in Windhoek, including Oshiwambo. She worked with me some during that week, allowing me to record her speaking phrases so that I could practice them at home on my own and then back out in the community once I had them memorized. Judith is in grade 10. She is 2 years older than most grade 10ers because she was made to start school in Windhoek at grade 2 even though she would have been in grade 4 had she stayed in Angola. She is very bright and so sweet. I have really enjoyed building a relationship with her and I pray that it will grow and be an enriching friendship for the both of us throughout the next two years. Last month I took her out to lunch. We went to Mugg & Bean, one of my favorite restaurants here. I found out on the drive there that she had never eaten at a restaurant before. Ever! Her family doesn't own a car, and taxi fares are too expensive for most residents of Katutura. You could reach town by foot in about 3-4 hours, but if you didn't have money to buy anything then of course there would be no point in going--unless you had an appointment or something.

I could tell the menu was overwhelming for her. She asked me to just order for her whatever I ordered for myself. To me, it's boring to have two of the same dishes on a restaurant table. I'd rather order different things and share it, so that's what we did. I ordered nachos as an appetizer, french toast with bacon, and an omelet. I let her choose the omelet ingredients. We enjoyed all of it and were quite full! She took the extra meat back home with her. After our meal she wanted to go to the mall, one of her favorite places. She can probably count on one hand how many times she has been there. As we were leaving she said, "This is one of my best days! I will never forget it."

So that's an introduction of Judith. I think it's important to write out the stories of the people I mention. It will help me to remember them after God sends me on from here, and hopefully it will paint a much richer picture for you as you are following along.

Now that you know a bit about Judith, I'll tell you about the game drive at Okapuka. I had been wanting to go because my friends kept telling me it was worth seeing. It's one of the more affordable game drives in Namibia and it's less than a half hour outside of Windhoek. You can't beat that! And since Spring is upon us, now is the time to see the baby animals. I thought Judith would be a great person to bring along, because I figured she had never been on a safari before. My assumption was correct. We both had a lovely time! It was great catching up with her and relaxing at the lodge before and after the drive. We saw some baboons in the median on the way to Okapuka. Unfortunately I was driving and couldn't take any photos. They were huge and it would have made for some incredible shots! We saw some on the drive but they were very far away so I couldn't get a decent photo. As we arrived at the lodge, we walked towards the back where the tables were and immediately we noticed the warthogs. They were everywhere! I counted at least 50 of them. Green grass surrounded the restaurant and the warthogs were grazing. I had never seen anything like that. I didn't know Pumbaa ate grass... I assume that's what they were eating. And they never stopped. No wonder they are chunky.

We were on one of five safari vehicles. I'll let the photos I posted here and on Picasa speak for themselves, but it was a really great ride. We didn't see any lions (the lion feeding was booked up so I'll have to do it another time), and there are no elephants or buffalo on this ranch, but there are 90 giraffes and a ton of springbok, wildebeest, guinea fowl, white rhinos, and other animals I can't remember their names. The ride itself was peaceful. The weather was perfect. It was just a lovely day. If any of you come for a visit, we'll definitely go here. It's just too close and affordable not to visit, although I do hope one day to go on one of the ultimate safaris of Namibia. I've heard Etosha and Erindi are amazing! One day...



Click here to view the rest of my photos from Okapuka.

I'm still not sure what motivated me to wake up at 5:30 in the morning to meet a group of veteran hikers for a 6:30am start to a 12.4km hike! Nonetheless, Ana and I rolled out of bed, packed a backpack of snacks and hydration and set off for Avis Dam. We met nearly a dozen 30 to 60-somethings and set off from the base of the Avis Dam hike I'd taken twice before. I got connected to this crew through Linda. They walk/hike every Saturday morning and she joins them every time she is able.

The scenery was spectacular. God staged a beautiful sunrise for us to enjoy, though I wouldn't have minded if He had raised the temperature several degrees and shut off that hounding wind! We were freezing for the first hour or so of the hike. Ana and I wore shorts and capris thinking that we'd end up getting hot. I probably would have been fine in long pants, wishing especially that I'd had them as we were trekking through the desert's jungle of thorns! My legs got pretty scratched up.

I must say, the pace was challenging!! My short legs were going as fast as they could go! I was just amazed by how fit those older hikers were. I've got to get in better shape so they don't leave me in the dust! One of the men reminded me of a younger version of my papaw. Papaw hiked all over the US, and probably every inch of the Smokies. He died on a Friday in his mid-80s and had a hike planned on that Saturday. He was such an amazing man. Papaw hugged hard and hugged often. He never met a stranger and told his grandkids, "Papaw loves you!" more times than we could count. I learned a lot from him. To this day I tie my shoes a special way that he showed me as a little girl. But I digress. :)

I'm proud of myself and of Ana for waking up early and enduring the long trek. My legs are a still feeling it! As long as I'm back in working condition for Monday night soccer, I'll be fine. Wish you could have all come along, but hopefully you'll enjoy the pictures and can pretend you were there. We ended at Heja Lodge, a beautiful retreat at which I would have loved to have spent the whole day! I'll have to go there again, perhaps next time by car!






Click here to view the rest of my photos from the hike.

I feel like "At Last" by Etta James should have been playing in the background. Finally! Cake balls = heavenly bites of goodness... IN AFRICA! :) Two residents staying with Steve and Pam brought me two cake mixes and a tub of icing from the States. (I had realized that the ingredients here in Namibia simply will not make proper cake balls.) I used the mixes to make two batches of the most delicious cake balls I've had in some time! Chocolate covered strawberry and funfetti... my favorites. So far everyone else seems to be enjoying them as well. Ana is having another as I type this. This is the most I've seen her petite little self eat in one day! :) I wish you could all come over and indulge. If you come, leave some room in your suitcase for cake mix and icing and I'll make you some the day you arrive. ;)

Yesterday I was playing around with my camera at the center. I threw this together. Remember... I am an amateur! Lol. I will perfect my video and editing skills. We'll be having an end of the year celebration in November, so I'll be gathering footage to put a nice video together that everyone will hopefully enjoy. The children (and even teachers) love to see themselves on the screen. Having an entire video filed with various clips should be really exciting for them to watch. :)

The teacher's workshop on positive discipline went very well on Monday. Thanks for all your prayers! This week we did see good changes in the behavior of the children. The "My Choices Chart" seems like a big hit, and I'll be excited when some of the children acquire 5 stickers and can choose something from the treasure chest. Most of the children are starving for love and attention. Encouraging them when they make good choices puts a huge smile on their faces. That is what I love to see!

Yesterday I had a wonderful afternoon and evening with the Prills, Miriam, Linda, and Ana. Ana and I were invited to tag along for a refreshing hike around Avis Dam followed by a delicious sundowner at a posh restaurant. For around $10US, Ana and I shared a huge basket filled with chicken tenders, fried prawns (shrimp), samosas, spring rolls, and French fries. I was so glad that Ana wanted to come with us. I really enjoyed hanging out with her. I think she also had a great time.

Dad and Kelly gave me a wonderful little camera for Christmas and I need to be more intentional about using it. I pulled it out yesterday and got a couple short little videos of some of the children at FHS. This first one is of a few of them dancing. Moments before I was filming them play fighting, so in this video at first, Kaita (the little one) was play fighting until Petrus told him to start dancing. I only wish I could get a video of them giggling as I'm playing back the video for them. They were adorable!



This next video is of some of the students in Linda's class.



Finally, here's a video of a church in Babylon we attended our second Sunday in Windhoek. This was from their choir practice on Saturday. On Sunday, this small corrugated tin church was packed and there were 3 times as many singing in the choir, all in matching outfits. Of course I couldn't understand the words of the songs, sung in Luchasi, but I loved the music nonetheless!



I will continue posting more videos as I'm able. These were just randomly done. Next time I'll try to show more than just the children dancing and waving at the camera. :)

This afternoon I decided to make rice krispy treats. Mom had reminded me that they would be an easy snack to make here, and I've been craving them ever since. Thankfully, butter, rice krispies, and marshmallows are easy to find here. I bought an off-brand of rice krispies to save a little money (notice the one-color packaging in the picture, I'd never seen anything like that!) although they do actually carry Kellogg's Rice Krispies. The main kind of marshmallows they have here are a combination of white and pink ones. The flavor was still perfect for our afternoon snack.

It was really nice having something that I've enjoyed for so many years back home. Mom sent a care package that included some muffin mixes. It was so wonderful to fix a batch for breakfast last week! I had to buy a muffin pan, however, because that was not a kitchen item that Monica possessed. In case you're wondering what snacks and items that I miss from home, I did make a list. :) Click here or the link under the picture of me in the right-hand column of my blog. I don't NEED anything, but I know some of you like to send care packages, so I figured I would make it easy for you. ;)

I did some more redecorating in my bedroom today. It was quite a nice little art project. Tiffany gave me the idea from something she saw online. I've been collecting some photos and artwork and finally was able to put it up today. It looks great in person--hopefully the photos do it justice. Enjoy! :)