On the Road Again!

On Tuesday, 4 January 2011 President Probst came to the Mission Office and told us that he wanted us to travel to the Eastern Cape for his week of trainings there so that Elder Herbert could see the flats and the cars that are out there.  It was very exciting!  The plan was that we would fly to East London and then drive all the way back to Cape Town---about 650 miles!  When we checked the price of the one-way tickets, we realized they were too expensive because we were only 2 days away from traveling.  Then the President asked if we thought we could drive both ways.  We quickly agreed because we love a good road trip and haven't been on one since we got here!  The only problem was that we would have to leave by noon the next day----so much for careful packing!  We threw some clothes in the suitcase and grabbed some snacks from the cupboard and got ready to take off!  The biggest problem was that I had a few things to finsih and needed to get all my work done for a week ahead so that everyone would be able to travel and do what they needed to do.  I had to finish my monthly baptism report and a few other minor details, but by Wednesday at noon we were driving out of Cape Town toward the east.

These are a few pictures of what we saw as we drove.  The highway stretched out before us and seemed a lot like home.

There were miles and miles (I should say Ks and Ks) of open land with not much to see but the beautiful country. This looked a little like home, but it was much wetter and more colorful.

 

And of course, you wouldn't see a "watch for warthogs" sign in the US!  When we first saw it, we thought it was a picture of an elephant, but we knew that elephants do not run wild in South Africa.  So we stopped at the next one to take a picture and then we realized it was a warthog. Hah!

There was quite a long time of very dry area where it looked like they had already cut the wheat or something.  The fields looked ready to plant, but it was so dry.  It would be interesting to go back later and see if they planted anything.  I love those trees there---they seem like some of the Dr. Suess trees.  --I'll try to find out the real name.  There will be more about these because I am seeing them all around Cape Town now.

Thought you might like to know that ALL of South Africa's electrical energy is generated by nuclear power plants.  At least that is what people say.  We think that is what this is---haven't seen many things like this in US.  But Vic did say it might be graneries where they store grain, but I don't think so!

Actually we haven't seen anything like this in America either!  We were surprised to see these young men trying so hard to plow with these two cattle.    Two men were guiding the animals through the rows and one was trying to keep the plow down in the dirt.  They were weeding between rows of corn.  It looked like pretty hard work to me.

That first day (Wednesday) we drove from noon until 9:00 pm and reached Port Elizabeth. We have three couples living there that are really missionaries with area responsibilities---they do employment, the PEF loans, and seminary and institute coordination. We stayed with the LaPrays (they are from Texas)who have an extra bedroom and two bathrooms, so they don't mind having company too much. In fact all of the couples really wanted company because the worst thing about mission is not having lots of friends around that you can visit with. They can get pretty lonely out there because they don't have the office to go to every day and they have lots more free time.  It was so great to spend some time with them and just feel their spirit and get to know them better.  We took no pictures there---I guess we were too tired and too excited about the next few days to even think about it!  I feel terrible because I would love to have some pics of the LaPrays, the Robinsons and the Taylors who all came over at 9:00 pm to meet us and spend a few minutes together.  I do have some later on the way home, but you'll just have to wait to see them!

We stayed overnight and took off again early the next morning (Thursday)so that we could reach East London before noon (it was another 4 hours to East London) and attend the first zone training meeting. There were two zones in attendance and we checked all their cars while they were in training. It was so fun seeing some of the missionaries that we have worked with in the Cape North Zone----they seemed happy to see us too. We stayed that night in the Gonubie flat (Gonubie is the name of a little city in East London---like Sandy is in Salt Lake) Our Senior Couple in East London went home a week before Christmas, so we have no adult leadership there any more.  We are dying for couples out here. The flat is a few blocks from the beach and it also has a beautiful back yard view of a tree-filled valley with a little water hole at the bottom. Everyone said there were monkeys in the trees, but we never saw any. Maybe the locals have driven them away. We heard the cows mooing and the crickets chirping and it really reminded us of home (in Idaho!) We drove down to the beach and watched a fantastic sunset on the Indian Ocean, but it was dusk and the beach was rocky so I didn't get to wade in the water.

This is a picture of what you see from the back deck.  It really looks like a jungle out there.

The pictures don't begin to show how beautiful it was.

It was another fantastic evening sunset----with huge waves rolling in and hitting those rocks and spraying up.   The colors and sounds were just so relaxing and enjoyable.
The next day (Friday) we drove another 2 hours up to Queenstown for another zone training meeting and checking the cars and apartments in Queenstown. This area is where all the cars get rough treatment and the apartments are always having problems. It was good to go there and spend some time in the apartments. The Elders really hate to bother us with little repairs that are needed in their apartments---like the sink coming off the wall or lots of mold under the sink, but these things have to be taken care of. So Elder Herbert has a list a mile long of things that need to be done. We spent a little time with the Elder and Sister Farris couple who live in Queenstown and it was so good to see them again.  Everyone had told us the Queenstown is a difficult place and I pictured it as more primitive and not so modern as Cape Town.  But it was pretty and very nice in the areas we visited.  We didn't have time to visit any townships where the people live in shacks, so we only saw what I've shown you of them.

The drive to Queenstown was interesting because we saw some very African things.  As we got out of East London a few kilometers, we began to see groups of shacks everywhere---on almost every hill for just about as far as the eye could see.  The different thing about them was that they weren't built on top of each other.  There was land between them and they looked like nice little communities.  We did not expect this really.  I guess we should have known that life would be better and cleaner and roomier out in the country than in the city. 

Some of the areas were almost pretty--with goats eating in the front yard.  I tried to get some good pictures of the hexagon shaped "rondavels" that they seem to build next to their homes.  These are traditional shaped houses from long ago except that they were round before.  I think the hexagon shape came when they started using bricks to build them.  They are the ones with the pointed roofs. (rooves doesn't seem right!)

 We just kept wondering where these people work and how do they stay alive.  They must travel miles every day to the city to work.  Some of them might work on farms in the area, but all of them couldn't.  There were a few brick making factories around, so some probably worked there.  We never saw a store or a city center, but there probably were a few.

One surprise was this African milk truck!  It was a VERY HOT day (at least 95 degrees), and we saw this truck driving the two hour drive to Queenstown.  Maybe he was stopping sooner---we can only hope!  Many cartons of milk without a bit of insulation to keep them cool.  We have wondered why the milk sours so quickly in the fridge here!  Honestly this is very unusual, but I doubt you would ever see this in most states in the US.  They don't have health laws or quality control here.  I do need to mention that they have a drink here called masi (I think that is how they spell it) and it is made by leaving milk out of the fridge for a couple of days until it is spoiled.  They think it tastes so good!  It is used for special days like Christmas dinner.  No, I haven't tried it, but some of the Elders have and they say it is just sour milk.  Sometimes they put a little sugar in it.  Maybe he was working on some of that.

I love strange plants and I thought these little aloe vera type plants were so interesting.  We saw hill after hill of these---I don't really know, but I assume they are like cactus plants.  They look like little people standing on the hills. 


 We drove back to East London and went to dinner with one of our landlords who owns several of our flats in East London. His name is Billy Van Heerden and he is a white, Dutch-descendant South African. He is a member of the church and has been the Stake President in East London. He and Vic have become close friends and he has helped us a lot with cars and flats in East London. When a car breaks down in East London, we call Billy and he goes and tows it to the repair shop or helps the Elders get it running again.  He does the same with the flats when something is wrong.  He helps us get it fixed.  He doesn't seem to ever get paid for any of it, but maybe his towing bill is included in some of the repairs.  It seems only right. 
We went to a little restaurant owned by a couple from India and had a quiet dinner and laughed and talked until after 9:00 pm.   They told us their love story and we told them ours.  It really was so facinating to hear of their conversions and how their children are doing in the church and how they feel about life in South Africa.  They sort of assumed that everyone in America comes to church on time, pays their tithing every month and has every child active in the church.  Well, not exactly that, but they were surprised to hear that we have many of the same struggles as they do.

It is very amazing that the people of South Africa are so critical of their country---they always point out the negative things like the violence, but we have not really witnessed  much negative behavior.  We hear about it on the news, but that is really about the same as home.  The reporters are much more graphic in their descriptions of what has happened, and I'm sure many of the crimes are more violent than I have even heard about in Idaho.  But I can't help feeling that these things also happen in America in large cities---I just haven't lived in one.  As we were doing missionary work on Saturday, we visited a very rich man who asked us how we liked South Africa.  We told him we loved it here, and he said,"Doesn't the violence bother you?"  I was shocked that it would be his first question.  I had to answer, I haven't seen any violence---I have met mostly kind and gentle people filled with caring for one another and trying to help each other for the most part.  I thought about it later, and realized my feelings for these people are very deep.  Many of them are desperately poor, begging for even a loaf of bread, doing all kinds of silly jobs like backing you out of a parking place so you will give them a handful of change, and rummaging through trash cans for any small item they can use or sell.  They stand at the traffic lights and try to sell you sunglasses, little things they have made, or newpapers.  It is not surprising that many of them resort to stealing anything that they can just to get a little food.  My heart breaks every time we drive through town and I can see how easy it is to become blind to them as we try not to look at their suffering.  I can't begin to see a way to help them other than to give them the gospel of Jesus Christ to give them hope and a place to go when they reach the end of their rope. 

Here is part of what will be or already is the Hope of Africa.  These two Elders were the Assistants to the President a few months ago.  Elder Msimango on the left is from Durban and is a very intelligent and articulate young man.  Elder Dodoo on the right is from Accra, Ghana and he already has a degree in business and a young woman he went home to marry.  They will build up their communities and their wards and stakes and help Africa step out of the hopelessness it is facing at this time.  It may be one family at a time, but I think it will become much larger than that.  We send home four or five of these fine young men every six weeks.  They have learned how to live in the world and not become a part of it.  They have had money---most of them for the first time and they have learned how to budget and use it wisely.  They have helped people find jobs, solve family problems or realize their potential----they know how to serve people and yet help them keep their self-esteem.  It may come slowly at first, but I think it is beginning to explode, and Africa will come forward out of the darkness into the marvelous light.  I just know it! It has already started!

I'm going to stop here so I can start our trip home on the next blog.  What an exciting time we had seeing much more of South Africa than we had ever seen before.  There is so much more to see that we will never see while we are here---Johannesburg, the Kwa Zulu Natal area, the great Karoo, Victoria Falls, Lesotho, Swaziland, The Free State, Limpopo and Polokwane to the north.  I can't begin to tell you about it all.   Ah, maybe someday we will come back for a visit!