Dear Cyber Diary,
It'a official. I am in the Southern Hemisphere! Yes ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys, Ching-Hang is experience summer TWICE this year. Word.
We flew from Heathrow to Cairo. It was weird. I thought I lost my Japanese 15 to 100 degree water bottle (complete with ice block capsule) so I ran from the gate back to the conveyor belt place. Couldn't find my bottle BUT I saw out of the corner of my eye my left flipflop on top of the metal bin. SCORE! It was bought in Hong Kong and good for indoor use, so I would have been gutted if I didn't have it. YES left AND right slippers.
So...land in Jo'berg and it was only then that it hit me. I am here for 6 months. I managed a brave face when we waved goodbye to the Jubilee TC but when I was on my own, I was faced with this pseudo-grieving process. Yes, I spent as much time with my family as I could have, but I wish I did more. I wish I told my friends how much I treasured them and what an honour it is to call them as such. I suppose looking back now I am glad that I have friends and family TO miss. Some people are loners. Still, I felt stranded. Might as well be marooned on an island. OK that sounds very inward-looking but it's true, I genuinely felt lost.
Next few days was a challenge hey. My lungs were being a pain and the home sickness kicked in. Wish I could have said 'Pull yourself together, you're here now' but no motivational speech could have lifted me.
Looking back now, I ought to have spent more time with God and rested. Instead I turned to other things.
Anyway, on the first day off we went on the zip-line for roughly £13 for 11 - bargain! Genesis was hard though so Anna tandem-ed me. I cried. Carl helped talk to me and egg me on and everyone else on my team. After Genesis, I did every zip-line by myself. I LOVED it!!! Imagine if I didn't even go for it, what would have been robbed.
Second day off we went Adventura in Warm Baths. The tube was fun (dingy going down slide and round and round). So much fun when there's 5+ people holding onto one another to drag each other down the slide. Whoa!
Alan, Phil, Gavin and Steve left. It was hard to see them return to UK.
YOTTIES arrived for TC launch. Exciting times. Oh Sonja was fab with the food presentations. Rentia, Emmerentia, Lucy, Omar, Gilberts, Anita, Magda were all fab. Such servant hearts.
Koinonia Church sent us off. Albert & Loren prayed for me. I wept. Hugged everyone. Eme cried. Lourdi Vickus and his dad Simon came to see us off too. It felt like we were family already. It was nice AND Danie & Magda gave us copious amounts of biltong.
Anyway. I need to go to bed. Shall continue this entry another time.
Sin julle later!
