Weekend 4: Fun Farewells

6/01
A recap of the weekend: Friday I went to the student presentation session as usual and afterwards Hannelise, Wieda, and I headed back to Pelonomi until 4 pm. Later in the evening, Hannelise and I went to her friend's house to play some FIFA. Saturday was a bit more eventful as Hannelise and I went to the boere mark and naval hill once last time. Shannon's family was in town, so I met up with them to have a picnic in the botanical gardens. It was still in bloom due to the very beautiful warm weather we had been having. We also went for a short hike on one of the trails there, and all was right in the world. It very much resembled Watauga hiking (only NC is a bit more scenic in my opinion), so I felt a tad of sweet nostalgia and longing for Boone's summertime mountains with wading pools and waterfalls. The view was quite nice from the trails though, it is just a much tougher climate and terrain here. I constantly have to remind myself to seize and enjoy the present. I went for a run later in the day and soaked up every drop of that deliciously sunny day.  That evening, Hannelise and I watched a rugby game and on Sunday morning she took me to her Afrikaans church. I tried my best to sing the hymns, so I am certain that the older couple in front of me heard the speaking of strange tongues by a strange tongue. I quite liked the Afrikaans service, despite the fact that the only thing I interpreted from the sermon was the pastor's mention of "Honey I Shrunk the Kids." Deep point though: don't try to shrink God to fit your lifestyle, let him be magnificent and abundant, and definitely don't isolate him to your backyard. It was all in Afrikaans, but I think I was picking up what he was putting down. I joined Hannelise's family for tea and then went for another beautiful and relaxing run. Later that evening she took me to a very contemporary English church, and it reminded me so much of worship at Boone UMC crossroads. The praise team had one guy rapping some gospel during the bridge of one of the worship songs, and it was wicked sweet. I know Ryan would have been excitedly rubbing his hands together and wiggling his feet and at the sight of it (about the same response that he has when we watch "Cool Runnings"). Afterwards, Hannelise and I ate at Spur with a couple friends and that night I slept like a rock in preparation for Monday at Rose Park. In regards to Spur, I find it so peculiar that there is a Native American themed restaurant chain in South Africa that mainly serves hamburgers.