Here on the farm all of our meals are prepared for us by our wonderful cook named Esnath. She works very hard and we are so thankful for her everyday when we get to eat delicious food, that she often doesn't even eat! She likes her traditional food that she prepares separately for herself. All of the teachers from the school, myself, and the Hawyes family eat dinner together every night in the camp dining hall. It is a wonderful time of fellowship and sharing about the day. We each take turns washing all the dishes for each other and on Sundays and Thursdays we always have guests from the church congregation that join us for a roast lunch after church and fellowship dinner before Bible Study.
When you are at home cooking for yourself, or even if you are cooking for your immediate family, it's easy to say, "I don't prefer that in my dish, I'll just leave it out". I have found that in order to not be picky or difficult it's just easier to eat whatever is prepared, even if I typically would not prefer to eat it. We eat really normal, even north american or English-type dishes, so I'm not having to eat anything that's like super crazy...no bugs or spiders or questionable animal meat...yet, who knows what the future holds! But I do eat things like tomatoes, sweet pickles, mushrooms...things I wouldn't normally pick if a dish included them. The biggest thing that I have taught myself to eat is fish, I eat fish and chips very often, when normally I would not even consider it! But, that's whats been prepared, and when Esnath is cooking for 20 people who would happily eat fish, I'm not going to be difficult and ask her to prepare something else just for me. I also have eaten tuna salad on more than one occasion for lunch, a feat I didn't even know I was capable of doing, since I struggle to even get seafood to my mouth when I have tried in the past. I know that fried fish and tuna are not really "fishy" fish, but to me it's a huge step to say, "I have to eat this and I will enjoy it." I would never order fish at a restaurant and I would ask for something else to eat if it was served to me in North America. But here, I am living in one great big community and I have to be a part of it. So, if that means I have to eat fried fish and tuna salad, that's what that means. Who knows, maybe by the end of the year I will actually enjoy it and choose it for myself when I get back to Ohio.
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| Traditional Durban food Bunny Chow, curry inside a bread bowl |
Friends:
Here on the farm, my ability to leave is very restricted, I'm not allowed a car and taxis are a desperate choice when you live so far away from town. Therefore I have spent the past three months with a very close knit group of people, we spend all of our time together. (probably one reason why we all had a round of flu a few weeks ago) But, I have found this group of people to be extremely welcoming and friendly, I am very happy to call the teachers from the school, the farmers, and the church congregation my friends. My very closest friend being my amazing roommate Cara. I am also excited to extend the circle of friends in January when you new teachers will come for the new school year, and the volunteers come for the Ablaze gap year discipleship course the camp is hosting. Of course I also have all the MCC related people who are here in South Africa and they are wonderful friends, and give me someone to text when I am feeling isolated and like I just need to talk to someone from the "outside."
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| Some dear friends Sokea and Dinar the YAMENers from Cambodia and Indonesia |
This past weekend we had a quick stop over in Pietermaritzburg to celebrate United States Thanksgiving! Of course, we know its a little early but everyone will be scattered about on the "real" Thanksgiving day. It was so nice to be around a table full of plenty of hot North American style thanksgiving food. It was such a wonderful representation of home to sit and talk about things that we are thankful for, (a welcome conversation after a hard and emotional week, post election) We cleared away the food and had a game night full of laughter and competition very much like home. (Have you ever played Qwirkle?...it can ruin friendships!) But it didn't, it was a wonderful time of fellowship and remembering all of the blessings each of us have been granted while here in South Africa. The next big holiday will be Christmas, which I will spend here at the farm with Rae, Garth, Olivia, and Shauna. We will enjoy the (hopefully warm) weather, horseback riding, and not having homework or responsibilities. I am really looking forward to being a part of new traditions and customs and getting to share some of my own.
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| Thanksgiving Dinner! Just missing Dawn who took the picture |
Thank you so much to everyone that reads by page and for all of your thoughts, prayers, and support. It's so nice to feel cared for and thought of. Feel free to check out my facebook.com and instagram page for more pictures and more frequent updates!
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| This is Qwirkle, at the end of the game |
