More South Africa :)

Oh my goodness, last week went by SO fast! I've had a few of the most intense experiences of my life , and our group has bonded SO well through each of them. We have definitely become a beautiful family, and we each bring a little something different to the table. Wherever we stay and wherever we go, I get the opportunity to sit by someone new and learn a little bit about their life. I'm loving the community on this trip! Last week, we were in Johannesburg for most of the week. We visited a few museums and various medical organizations, including BizAIDS on Tuesday. This was one of my favorite talks because the CEO was so straightforward and actively helping the fight for HIV/AIDS. Wednesday was extremely intense! We visited the Central United Methodist Church in downtown Joburg and talked with the main pastor, Paul, who wrote the foreward to a book we read for one of our history classes (Go Home of Die Here). Paul has decided to open the doors of his church to the Zimbabwe refugees. Around 1,500 people spend the night in the building each night, and the place is so poverty-stricken. The odor is disgusting and there are so many hopeless faces that fill the place. However, Paul's talk almost brought me to tears a few times because he talked about the beautiful ways in which they were doing their best to be the church. It was so inspiring to hear him talk, and he boldly proclaimed that his motive for taking in the homeless was to bring the kingdom of God to earth. After this, we were met with the challenge of talking to the refugee women and their young children in the sanctuary. This was humbling and hard. We were supposed to be giving them advice, but we felt absolutely useless because none of us could begin to fathom their hardships. Our group was shaken after this experience, yet it united us in an unexpectable way. We got to fully discuss the events the next night (Thursday), which was one of my favorite parts of the trip because everyone was so open. On Friday, we got to drive around a game preserve and see zebras, lions, rhinos, and a camel! This experience was so beautiful! We also got to hold baby lion cubs, which were adorable! Saturday, we drove from 8:30 am to 7:30 pm in order to get to Giant's Castle. We stayed in chalets for the next two nights, which was a wonderful break from our hostels from the nights before. Yesterday, everyone hiked a portion of Giant's Castle, which is located in Drakensberg Park. Our group of 8 took a 21 km tour that lasted 7.5 hours! This was another one of the most intense experiences of my life! Our group dynamics were phenomenal! We had so many trials, but we remained a team the entire time. The scenery was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! We never saw another human being, and yet we spent the entire day in the middle of a huge mountain range. We were faced with the scare of a baboon attack, we had to cross a waterfall, and we nearly missed a huge thunderstorm, and yet this was my favorite activity we've done so far! This morning, we drove to Durban and we're here for the rest of the week :)