Safe but not quite settled

Hey all!!! So Lauren and I arrived safely on Saturday night the 20th as planned after 2 terribly long days of travel. We were welcomed by rain and the coldest day of the year so far (hope that's not an omen), but really it wasn't that cold anyway, kind of like an LA winter I suppose. Also, after a bit of confusion on our part and the airlines, our bags was left in Johannesburg instead of making it to Durban. This is where the story gets fun... We talked to baggage services that night and they confirmed that 3 of our 4 bags were in Jo-burg but they didnt' know where the fourth was (Lauren's second). We were told to call back the next morning and that at least those 3 bags should be in Durban, so we went off to the orphanage for the night. Luckily I had packed some spare clothes in my carry on to survive for a while. Well when I called back the next morning they suddenly had only 1 of our bags, my red backpack, and it was still in Jo-burg. While this was frustrating it only got worse as 2 days later on Tuesday we called for about the 5th time to now find out that they still only had 1 bag in Jo-burg, but strangely it was my blue duffle instead of the red backpack!!!! how this could happen is all beyond me. Finally today we got a call saying that 3 of our bags made it to Durban and to come pick them up. Can you guess which bag they don't have?... the red backpack! Thankfully none of the stuff I need is in that backpack, but it is full of about 30 or so kids school backpacks that I was hauling in for the orphanage, so pray that they find that bag again as it is much needed. Also, we haven't actually made it to Durban yet to pick up the bags, so hopefully the story doesn't change again once we get there... I'll keep you all updated.

As for the orphanage, it was a quite arrival in the middle of the night without any hoopla. I just showed up the next morning to the regular volunteer meeting and watched what they do before helping out with the little kids sunday school. We sang a few kids bible songs and then did some coloring which always gets kids fired up... they are a handful for sure but tons of fun. Later Sunday I got a chance to just hang out with the kids as well as play some basketball with them which was a lot of fun. It's amazing how many of the kids come up to you with arms open wide just wanting to be held. But once you pick one up, you better believe 10 more are asking you too as well... it gets tiring. I should come back with a little more definition in my arms though, haha. I was a bit suprised though how little english a lot of the younger kids know as they just talk to me in zulu while i can't understand a thing. Also it's going to be really hard work to learn all the kids names, not only cause there are so many, but cause I can't understand what in the world there name is the first 20 times I hear it. So please pray for that.

Finally, by monday morning I was already super sick to my stomach and had to spend all of monday and tuesday in my house, mostly in my bed. Apparently most people get sick after a week or two, but I couldn't wait that long. This may come as no suprise to some. I wish I was like my sister Tricia who seems to never get sick... somehow i missed that genetic blessing. Anyway, I'm back on my feet now and got to spend another fun day with the kids today. Today was a national holiday, Heritage Day, so the kids had school off and we took a few of them to the park and went bowling!

I think that's enough for now, I don't have much time on the computer. Internet is going to be somewhat sparce as I mainly have to drive 45 minutes to town to get to an internet cafe, but that should happen at least once a week.

Take care, I'll write soon.