Every Day Better than the Last

Things here...just keep getting better and better. If you don't want mushy (Danielle...) stop reading now! : ) I still can't pinpoint exactly what it is that is making this place so easy and perfect and fun and alive, but I do know that I am so at peace with being here and things everyday are great. An adventure, and a crazy and chaotic one, but perfect. Everyone here, really, everyone is so helpful and friendly and nice and I think that has a ton to do with the comfort I feel here. The entire city is a friendly community and even sitting on the Combis in the morning, every person who gets on greets you and smiles, and I still am getting used to that level of joy. It is a perfect peace, and even though we still haven't nailed down where and what we will be doing day in and day out, it is not bothering me, and we are still serving wherever we are each day, even though it's not a consistent location yet. So...again. Thank you to everyone back home supporting and praying and backing me up in being here, because I know that is a huge part of how great this trip is so far, and I am so incredibly grateful for that. But...what I think I'm really trying to say here is, Mom, Dad, family, Charlie, Bffs? Can I just stay for a few more years? I'll come home eventually...
Tuesday we had orientation here at the University in the morning and then did laundry/lounged in the afternoon. It was a nice day, but I started feeling kind of stir-crazy again and ready to get out into the city again by Tuesday evening.
Wednesday we spent the day at Tlamelo again, this time doing more work in the kitchen and more time with kids. My roommates and Charlie will be so proud to hear that I peeled some potatoes AND cut (chopped? I dunno.) them! AND did dishes!! So, I think it is well-known that was definitely a well-accomplished day for me. Also, we spent more time getting to know the kids, ran around with them, held them, and talked. I really enjoy being able to talk with the older kids (the 8-13 year olds) and getting more of a picture of their lives and their days. I would really like to go on some home visits with Matata or any of the other directors to visit these kids' homes and see their worlds. After making the dinner we spent some time with the littlest kids who had just been let out of school and were SO adorable with their little backpacks on. Then some of the older ones arrived, and they had a group gathering under the tree before lunch. The leader of the kids asked for one of the people in our group to do a Bible story for the kids, and somehow I got thrown into that one and did a VERY brief version of David and Goliath. I was so embarrassed because I'm pretty sure these kids knew the story way better than me already. Jack and Leslie acted out the story for me though, so that was nice! (one of the pictures shows this little play we put on!) After it was over I apologized to their leader for my story being not so great, and he said "oh, it was fine, just very short." : ) I'll know better next time. Then it was lunch time, and Jack helped all the kids wash their hands and I attempted to keep order in the hand-washing line. Apparently, it's quite the thing to be able to get your hands washed first. Who knew?!
Today Matt and I decided to tag along with one of his roommates, Michael, to the Holy Cross Hospice to see if they were in need of any volunteers. This however entailed leaving UB at 7am, which was QUITE early for me. It was okay though, I was excited for the opportunity to visit. It was FREEZING this morning, but we walked from the Combi station to the Hospice and then stood outside for a while waiting to talk to an administrator. It turns out that they would like us to submit a resume and a letter letting them know our specific interests and areas of experience, so that they can match us, and I'm not even sure they are in dire need of volunteers right now, as it seemed to be quite the place to help out early this morning. But I enjoyed seeing it, and meeting the people there, so no problem getting up early. After that Matt and I ventured back to UB and left again around 10am with another of his roommates, David, who is a law student at Penn and is here doing an internship with the Ministry of Justice. His ride didn't show up this morning though, so he decided to come along with us to Tlamelo, and that was great.
We ended up getting on the WAY wrong combi though (if I haven't mentioned before, there is no route map or anything for these things, and the "station" is basically like a couple streets that are packed with combis and you are expected to figure out which one goes where you would like to go...) and ended up riding it for about 50 minutes until we got back to the station, and finally got on the right one to get to Tlamelo. The long ride was great though, gave us a chance to see another area of the city or outskirts, and it was nice getting to know David.
Once we arrived, it was another day of cooking and playing with kids. I met Luke, a guy from Canada, who is a coordinator for a missions organization here. He works out of his office on Thursdays and volunteers at Tlamelo. He's probably like 28 or so, and it just seems so cool that he's moved here and serves and works...sounds like the life to me! (Again...sorry mom!!) Tlamelo has started a rugby team with the kids under 13 and they were able to take their rugby team to England a month ago for a huge tournament, which I think had to have been just an amazing experience for these children. Today a few of the older boys and Luke were throwing the rugby ball (is that what it is called?) around, and I attempted to learn how to throw it. Luke taught me one way, and the boys taught me another, but I didn't get it either way, so I ended up looking dumb and having them laugh, but they were all good sports about it, so I definitely enjoyed myself!! Anyway, I am starting to feel more at home there at the Tlamelo Project. I also kind of feel like after the third day of being there I am recognizing more kids, and maybe they are recognizing me, and it is SO great to have someone to look forward to going back to, and I feel good that they can have us there on a somewhat consistent basis.
Matt talked with Charity (our contact at UB) again when we returned home and she has set up a meeting for us tomorrow with a women's shelter, and so I think a few of us girls are going to go tour and visit over there, so I am excited for that opportunity. At this point, I just am really enjoying visiting as many different organizations as possible to figure out how their businesses run and what specific things they do and are in need of. It's so interesting!! Charity had also set up quite a few more appointments and contacts, so the next half week or so should be filled with those, and I will keep everyone updated.
I am SO sorry my blogs always seem to be so incredibly long, please forgive me and definitely feel free to skip over any parts that may bore you!! : ) Thank you to EVERYONE again for the support and love backing me up...miss everyone, and cannot wait to share this incredible amazing experience in person when I get home.

PS: If you want to see more pictures, you are more than welcome to visit my Picasa WebAlbum at http://picasaweb.google.com/jayneaubreylong