One last Hoorah

Well to my loyal readers, I have to apologize.  I have let you guys down.  We got so busy during the weeks that I never took the time to sit down and type out my weeks.  I think that I left you hanging at getting to Wellington.  Well just to let you know we hada great retreat there.  It was a good preperation time for the training that came.  After Wellington we headed to Stellenbosch where we have been the rest of the time.  We worked in the township doing kids games and plastering a room of a house.  It was good work.  However, that is not the only thing we have done.  We also did ISLT level 1 and 2.  Since I did that last year I took on more of a facilitator role.  It was nice getting to be on the other side of the training this year and being able to refresh what I learned last year.  The majority of the traing came from the first two weeks after we got back from Wellington.  We also had a really tough day during that time also.  It was actuallyone of the most challenging days I think that I have ever been through.  After that we started to do half as much training sessions and more outreaches into the community.  During those weeks we also got to go see some of the sights.  The first thing we did was to hike Lion's Head during the evening and then hike down under the moonlight.  It was another great experience.  I hiked at the back of the group and was able to talk with George and Casper on the way down.  It was really nice and I'm glad did it.  The other thing we did was to go to Cape Point.  That was definitely the highlight of my sight seeing time.  Getting to sit on the edge of the cliff and dangle my feet over the water was very refreshing.  Then we got to go down to the water and get in the ocean.  That was very refreshing even though the water was about 40 degrees.  However, like last year the highlight of my trip came from this past week.  This past week four of us loaded up and drove to Bloemfontein to do a rugby outreach at the U13 Cravenweek.  We left Friday afternoon after being told that we were supposed to leave earlier that morning.  So after driving about five hours we stopped in Bueafort West and stayed the night at a primary school.  The next morning we got up and drove the rest of the way to Bloem.  We pulled up at around two in the afternoon and then started our training for the week.  We ate dinner and then headed back to the hostel to get some much needed sleep.  The next morning we got up and headed to the main pavilian to meet our teams.  There were only six chaperones this year as the remaining ten teams were bringing their own.  The team that I was given was from Zimbabwe.  They had only had four practices before they came and had never played a game together.  So they went back to the hostel to get changed and we all went for a training sesson.  After practice we went for lunch and then hung out at the hostile for a while.  At 5:00 that night we had dinner and then went to church.  I wish I could say that I enjoyed the service; however, half of it was in Afrikaans and so I had no earthly idea what they were talking about.  Of course neither did my guys so we were all lost.  After the service I went with the manager to a meeting and then we headed back to the hostel to go to bed.  The next morning I wasup at 6:00 so that I could wake my guys up at 6:30.  Once everybody was ready we headed to breakfast at 7:00.  After breakfast theguys went back and got ready for the game.  Our first one of the tournament was at 10:50 that morning and so we left at around 8:30 to go warm up for the game.  At the practice field we were met with a a bit of a surprise.  The professional Cheetahs, the Free State rugby team, was on a field near ours warming up for practice.  It was really cool and so we stoped and watched them for a couple of minutes.  However, we had to get back to work and so the guys got ready for the game.  We then headed over to the field and they changed out of their warm up tops into their game kits.  About five minutesbefore the game started the coach asked me to lead an opening prayer for the guys.  I was really excited and gladdly accepted the responsability.  After that we went and started.  They guys played hard but unfortunately lost.  After that game we headed over to the main field for the opening cerimonies.  They started out ok.  They had parachutists jump into the stadium; however, after that it kind of went down hill from there.  Most of the ceremonies were in Afrikaans and so like church the night before, we had no earthly idea wasbeing said.  After the opening ceremonies we went back to the hostel for lunch.  At 3:00 the coaches got the guys to do a film analysis of the previous game and then wewent out for training.  Their practice lasted until about 5:30 and then the coaches headed to their function.  We went to dinner and then headed to the entertainment that had been arranged for the players.  We when we got there it was a concert by an Afrikaans band.  Though they played some American songs, they were not very good.  So after the first two songs the captain came to me and asked if we could go. I told him that if that is what the team wanted to do, we would leave.  Well needless to say we didn't stick around for too much longer.  So we headed back to the hostel and just chilled for the rest of the night.  The next day we got up for breakfast and got ready for the game.  Today it was at 1:20 in the afternoon and so they had the morning to rest and get ready for the game.  At 12:00 we headed to the practice field to warm up.  They were playing on the A feild and so it was going to be one of the main fixtures of the day.  The opponent was Namibia and so before the game both teams had their national anthems played.  Well again the guys played their hearts out and again they lost.  After the game the coaches gave the guys the rest of the afternoon off and so we jushung out for the rest of the evening.  The coaches went to their function and so again I had the guys that night.  We just chilled and I got to talk to them all evening.  It was actually really cool, and I hada great time.  I sent them to bed and got ready to do the same.  The next day was our off day.  However, we still got up for breakfast at 7:00.  After that theguys had a mandatory film session at 8:00 where they watched the previous day's game.  That last around an hour and a half.  After the film session the guys had practice for two hours.  Once we were done with practice they guys changed quickly and then we headed to the mall for lunch.  The coaches paid for all the meals which wasreally awesome.  After lunch the guys had about three hours to shop and do anything else they wanted to at the mall.  I ended up following a group of them around for the afternoon.  We then headed back to the hostel so the guys could change for a quick practice session.  At 6:00 one of the coaches and myself headed to pick up pizzas for dinner.  The players were supposed to have a function at 7:00; however, the coaches decided that they weren't going to make them go to that so we went and saw a movie instead.  There wasn't much showing so we decided to go see Madagascar 3D.  It was definitely not the best movie I have seen; however, it wasn't the worst either.  After the movie we headed back to the hostel and sent them to bed.  The next morning startedlike all the others except there was a little more urgency in the air.  The game was to start at 9:30 and so we headed to the field at 8:30.  The cool thing was that they were having all the games played at the Free State Stadium.  So this is where the professional level rugby players have games.  It was a really cool experience.  We got to the stadium and the guys went into one of the locker rooms to get changed.  One of the coaches and I walked outside to go check the field conditions.  It was a mild -1.5 degrees C and half of the field was still covered in frost.  It was cold.  The guys headed onto the field to warm up.  There feet were freezing they were blue within five minutes.  Oh I forgot to mention, the players play without shoes on at this level.  It has something to do with the guys getting mad and cleating other players.  Anyway they were cold.  They were also the team who had to warm up in the shaded/frozen part of the field.  The other team, the Free State Cheetahs, were on the sunny side.  The game was close for thefirst half of play and then it broke open the second half.  We got beat pretty bad.  However, even though we were losing all of the other teams were chearing for us to win.  It was a really cool thing.  After the game we stayed and watched the rest of the teams play.  It was a long day and most of the guys were tired of being at the field.  The coaches gave the guys the night off and so we just hung around and chilled.  It was actually pretty cool.  The guys opened up quite a bit and so it was very encouraging to hear about what was going on in their lives.  I sent them to bed at around 9:30 so they could wake up early and pack to leave.  At 6:00 I woke the guys up and we headedto breakfast.  After breakfast I helped them pack and get thier stuff to the vans so that they could leave after the game.  Their game started at 10:00 and so they headed to the field at around 8:45.  This morning they were playing the Pumas, which coincientally was the team I had last year.  Again they got beat pretty bad.  This time we also had two players that hadto leave the game due to concusions.  After the game I went with the guys to another hostel and they showered and got ready for the trip home.  Once they were done we said our goodbyes and they were on the road.  I went over the feild and watched the rest of the rugby matches.  That evening the chaperons went to dinner and then stayed at one of the hostels.  In the morning we got up at 5:00 so that we could get on the road quickly.  Well 30km outside of Bloem there wasa wreck and we had to sit for two and half hours wating for it to be cleaned up.  after that we had no more problems and got back tot he island at around 7:00.  Like I said, this was a recomformation of what I am called to do.  I found so much joy in serving the guys that I know I am meant to do this permanently.  It was also such a blessing to have such a great group of guys.  I am so glad that I was able to make some new friends, and now I have an excuse to make a trip to Zimbabwe.  The rest of the trip has been very laid back.  The interns had a test overall of the material that they learned.  Since I did it last yearI just had to sit and watch.  We also hiked Table Mountain the other day.  It was really nice to get to spend that last bit of time hanging out with each other.  Most of the people left yesterday and so the island wasvery quiet for the first time in six weeks.  Trevor and I fly out in a couple of hours and so we will be making our way back to the states.  I am so glad that I came again this year.  At first I was unsure of what my purpose would be and I didn't know if I would have an enjoyable experience.  However, God moved this year and I am so glad that I came.  I can't wait until next year to see what God will be doing in my life in South Africa.

Update

Hey peeps

Just to let you know, we are doing a limited internet access thing so I get an hour and a half one day a week.  Sooooo the regularity of the blog is going to be, well regular just one a weekly.  The good news is that I'll have more of a chance to make my blog posts ;).  Well that is all for now.  Pictures can be found on my Facebook.  Well it's bed time here so good night all.

Blessings,
Ryan

Day 3

Today was another travel day.  I got up at 6:00 so that I could see everybody off.  Beer and his friend had to leave for school at 7:00.  So I wanted to be sure to be up to say goodbye.  Once they got up and were ready to leave, we said goodbye and they headed to school.  Trevor and I then went and got ready to leave. We said goodbye to our host and jumped onthe road.  We had about a three and half hour drive to get to Jo'burg.  The scenery was nice as we drove.  The route we were taking was through some of the mountains and so it was very scenic for the time of morning.  We finally got to Jo'burg at around 12:30.  The first goal we had was to get our bags checked in.  Since I was able to offload some of the weight that I was carrying, I made weight this time. Trevor however had two bags, and on domestic flights you are only allowed to check in one of those.  So he had to go pay for it.  Other than that is wasn't a horrible airport experience.  We got there about five hours early.  So after we got our tickets we headed to go grab some lunch.  We went to Wimpy burger and got a quick bite to eat.  After that we found a place to sit and just chilled for a couple of hours.  At around 2:00 we headed through security and went and found our gate.  Once there we sat for a while.  Trevor took a nap and I sat and waited.  At 5:30 it was finally time to board our plane.  We got on and took a hour and fifty minute flight to Cape Town.  In Cape Town we found our luggage and started to head to the entrance.  We had no clue who would be meeting us.  We thought it would be Clark, but didn't know for sure.  As we were walking through the reception area, we heard a "Ryan, Trevor?" Turned and it was Fouad, one of the leaders.  We had walked right by him.  We quickly exchanged pleasantries and then headed to the parking lot.  The majority of the group was already there and so we were going to die eiland to meet up, or so we thought.  When we got to die eiland wefound out that we would actually be spending the first few days at a retreat location in the mountains near Wellington.  However, we were first going to wait for Casper and that group to arrive before we left.  So Fouad and and I headed back to the Cape Town airport to pick them up.  We got there about thirty minutes before the flight was supposed to land.  I hadn't eaten since around 1:00 and it was 10:00 so I ran over to Steers and grabbed a quick bite to eat.  After I got my food we walked over to the arrival area and there was our peeps walking through the door.  I also saw some of the other people I met last year and so I was able to say hi to them.  We then got all of their luggage loaded and headed back to die eiland.  At die eiland we grabbed a small bag and packed for a couple of days of activity.  We then locked up the rest of the luggage and headed to Wellington.  We had about a hour and half drive up to the site and so we arrived at around 2:00 in the morning.  It was such a blessing to finaly be in one place.  We grabbed our stuff from the car and headed to bed.  

Day 2

Well today was a pretty stinking sweet day. Mr. van Vuuren took Trevor and I hunting. Yeah you read that right, hunting. I went hunting in Africa. I have joined the Africa club. Not only did I go hunting but I also shot something. My uncle Jim would be proud. So the day started early. We should have gotten up at around 5:30 but I didn't get out of bed until around 6:15. We quickly ate breakfast and then headed out to the game farm. Once we got there we met our guid and piled into the back of the truck. It was actually kind of funny. We looked like a bunch of militia men in a technical like you see in the African war movies. I mean here I was standing in the back of the truck with a rifle as we drove through the brush. Well the hunt started out pretty slow. We were out for the African Impala. Well we didn't see any for like an hour. We did see some Giraffes... I decided that those weren't worth the effort of trying to clean. So we kept driving. A couple of minutes later we saw three Impala, but I was told they were to small for shooting. So we kept driving. We drove around for around another four hours. Didn't see a thing. So we stopped and took a break. Mr. van Vuuren decided that it would be best if the guide and I got out on foot to see if we could get some. With in five minutes we found a herd of about thirty. I never could get a shot. We spent the next hour stalking that herd. Everytime we would get close, I never had a shot and then they would get spooked and run off. Eventually we lost them. So after all that effort all I had to show for it were some bleeding scrapes from the bush. We finally made it back to the truck and drove around for about thirty more minutes. I was begining to think that this trip was for naught and we would have to go back empty handed. However, since it was around noon the guide suggested that we head to the watering hole and see if we could get one there. Trever decided that he was tired of riding in the truck and so he followed behind us at a distance. Whe got the the watering hole and set up shop in a small blind. After thirty minutes of waiting we finally had some things coming to water. They were Zebras. I thought about how cool it would be to have a Zebra head on my wall, but I knew that they weren't what we were here for. A couple of them started coming to water and then we saw the shape of an Impala through the brush. Just then they must have caught a whiff of us because they got really spooked and started to run off. The final straw that sent them scattered to the wind was Mr van Vuuren driving up in his truck. So we decided to pursue on foot again. At this time it was about one in the afternoon. We walked for about thirty minutes until we finally found the herd. This time we got the jump on them. I got into position about twenty meters away. They started to move through a small clearing in the trees. Everything I saw was antler less, but I was looking for a ram (buck). Finally I saw one with horns. I raised the rifle and pulled the trigger. One shot one kill. It dropped like a rock. We ran over and made sure it was dead. Trevor and the guide then dragged it back to the road and we set off to find Mr van Vuuren. After thirty minutes of walking we finally found him. We all piled into the back of the truck and headed off to find my kill. It took us about twenty minutes to get to it. He had to drive all the way around the farm. We got to the Impala and took a couple of victory pics. Then we through it into the back of the truck to be processed. After we dropped it off we headed back to the house to get cleaned up. Trevor and I then packed up and then followed Beer's parents to Nelspruit. We were going to be staying at one of their friends house. Before I go on, I have got to say Beer's mom drives fast. I mean the speed limit it 120 (kph) and she was going at least 140. But we made it to Nelspruit in time to go to the store. I needed a sleeping bag and Trevor needed a jacket. We also needed to get food for the bria. After that we headed to pick up the guys from rugby practice. When we got to the house, I got out of the car and was immediately swamped by three of the guys that were on my rugby team last year. We hugged and then got the luggage out of the car and took it into the house. By this time the parents had already started the grill and do we went and set out in the cool night while the food was being cooked. We talked about everything. How we were doing, what was going on in our lives and just all kinds of things. Our conversation lasted at least an hour and a half. Once it was finished we went and served ourselves dinner. We had steak, chicken, vorsh (sausage), a sweat cornbread thing, and salad. It was a GREAT meal. The steak I had, to be at least two inches thick. It was fantastic. After dinner we sat and talked for a while. Menzi and Daniel headed back to the hostel about thirty minutes later. The guys
started their homework and the rest of us talked. Trevor and I then distributed the gifts that we brought. We got cowboy belts and belt buckles for the guys. I also got Beer a pair of cowboy boots. He was ecstatic. After he tried them on, he came over and gave me a big bear hug... so for those that didn't pick up on that pun, his nickname is beer which is "bear" in Afrikaans, so bear hug... Any way after a while Beer's parents left to go back to Komatipoort, and our host headed to bed. Trevor decided to go shower and hit the hay. So I stayed up with Beer as he finished his homework. We talked about rugby and school and what his plans for the future were. At about 11:30 I decided to turn in since we had a long drive in the morning.

Day 1

So today was a good day.  I am going to try and do a daily post, which will probably turn into a weekly one by the end of the trip.  Anyway, today was a good day.  What made it good wasn't because we had to get up at 5:30 in the morning. Or because we almost ran out of gas.  No, what made it good was the fact that we got to go into Kruger National Park. For those of you that don't know, Kruger is a wildlife refuge.  It has the big five (Lions, Elephants, Giraffes, water buffalo, and leopards).  It also has various other animals.  So after talking with Beer's dad the night before, we decided to head out really early to catch all of the animals. We almost succceeded.  We got to see three of the big five, and several of the other African species.  It was really cool.  We got to the gate at around 6:20 and saw many of the animals within an hour and half.  What was also really neat was getting to see the animals in their natural habitat.  Most of these animals we have seen at the zoo; however, they are confined to a small enclosure and so they don't behave as they normally do. In Kruger they are roaming free and so you can actually get really close to them.  It was so cool.  The best part was when we had a close encounter with an elephant.  I was able to get one picture, but it actually got closer than where the picture was taken. It was probably about three feet from the passenger side door. My blood was pumping thinking about what it could do if it got angry or felt threatened. I will say that the elephant encounter would have only been trumped by seeing a lion or a leopard.  Trevor and I kept hoping that we could see one take down an impala and start to feed.  Sadly that never happened.  However, it was still a great experience and I hope to get to do it again.  After the park we had to try to make our way to town and get fuel. We were down to an eighth of a tank and I was reeeaaallly woried that we wouldn make it to a gas station.  Luckily we got there just as the last bar on the fuel gauge was going away.  After getting gas we headed back to the house. Trevor decided to go for a jog and I wanted to do a little bit of blogging.  So I blogged and watched rugby for a while.  After that I decided that it was time for a little nap and so I got a couple of hour of sleep.  I then decided to get up and so I went and fixed some dinner.  Trevor and I watch a replay of the Chelsea v. Munich final.  I had forgotten how much I dislike watching soccer.  Playing I can do, but watching is not my cup of tea.  After the game we decided that it was time for bed.  Yes it is eight o'clock at night and yes I would normally wake up at two in the morning and be wide awake, but I took a sleeping pill and so I shouldn't have any trouble knocking my self out. In fact as I type this I can feel myself getting tireder and tireder.  So I guess then I am going to go ahead and call it a night.  This is Ryan Dillon signing off.

Welcome to South Africa

So the trip started when we flew out of Dallas.  It was another loooonnnggg flight from DFW to Heathrow.
It seems to be my luck that I am alway by little kids on airplanes.  There was a little Indian girl who probably
wasn't more than four years old sittin in front of me.  Well this wouldn't have been a big problem exept that the first hour and a half of the flight was without movies.  The entertainment system was not working.  I thought I was going to go crazy.  I couldn't sleep, I didn't feel like reading, and my phone didn't have a charge.  Luckily, they finally got the system fixed and so I was able to do what everybody wants to do on airplanes... watch movies. I think I watched three full movies and half of another.  Needless to say I didn't get much sleep at all.  When we landed in London it was an overcast day.  I can't tell you how cold it was outside because for this trip we didn't have to change terminals.  So we made our way to the departure area and headed through security again.  Security in Heathrow is always an adventure. We always find a way to make it take extra time.  Last time is was Hein's Playbook that I forgot to take out of my bag, this time Trevor got picked to check the entire contents of his bag.  So after I got through security I stood waiting for Trevor to get done.  As I waited I started talking to a security guy standing nearby.  I mentioned that is was just our luck that the first time Trevor was traveling abroad he would get picked for the random full search.  He chuckled, and I mentioned that we should have a little fun with him.  So he asked me what his surname (Last name) was.  He then walked over to Trevor, who had his back to me, and said "Mr. Wait once you are done here can I have a word with you?"  Seeing the look of shock on Trevor's face, made me lose it. Once he was done he walked over expecting to have to answer a bunch of questions.  We then let him know that everything was ok and got a good laugh out of his reaction.  After we left security we went to go look for a nice quiet place to take a nap.  Well that only lasted about an hour.  We woke up and found ourselves surrounded by people headed to Barcelona.  Needless to say we didn't say there long.  We walked over to the other side of the terminal and found another place to camp out.  Well an hour later we found ourselves surrounded again.  We got up and walked around for a while. After we stretched we decided to try again.  We found yet another quiet place to be.  This time we got about a two hour nap, But again we woke up surrounded.  At this time we decided that it was time to get something to eat and so we grabbed a sandwitch and then walked around until it was time to go to our gate.  When we went to the gate the first thing I did was look and see how many kids were going to be on the plane.  There were quite a few. So when we boarded I looked to see how many were around me.  There were a few...  It seems to be my luck that I will always sit by little kids.  Well the good thing was that this flight I was going to sleep.  After they served dinner I took a sleeping pill.  So once they turned out the lights, I was out.  I was able to get about six hours of sleep.  So pretty much when I woke up they were serving breakfast and then fourty minutes later we were landing.  After we landed we got our bags and headed ff to get our car.  Once we got our car we began our journey to my friend Conraad "Beer" Van Vuuren's house.  Well we got lost.  We hadn't even left Johannesburg and we were already going the wrong way.  The good thing is that I was able to get directions before we left that airport, and so after an about face and a couple of minutes of driving I was able to find the correct road and start our five hour journey.  Now I wish I could say that it was eventful; however, the first hour and a half of driving was like going through Abilene. It was brown, dry, and flat. Trevor only made it about an hour and a half, and then he was out.  So I turned up the radio and kept driving.  We finally pulled into Komatipoort at around 1:00 in the afternoon.  It felt like it was 9:00 at night.  I was exhausted.  Even though I told myself that I wasn't going to take a nap I did.  A three hour one at that.  It was glorious. When I got up Beer's dad had fixed dinner and so we ate and talked for quite a while. Once we finished, it was time for a shower and bed.  So I took a sleeping pill and went to sleep.  And that concludes going to South Africa.

All my bags are packed... kind of.

Well here is post number one.  So I’m sitting here thinking and packing for the trip while watching “O’ Brother Where Art Thou.”  I’m kind of feeling about packing like I have about this last semester, overwhelmed.  It has been a loooonnnngggg year and I can’t wait to get on my way.  South Africa is coming at a great time.  So tomorrow I’ll head to the airport and meet up with Trevor.  We will then fly to London’s Heathrow airport where we will have a twelve-hour layover.   Not sure what we are going to do during this time.  Last year, Drew and I slept for a while.  I guess I might try that again.  We will then fly from Heathrow down to Johannesburg.  Once there, at 7:00 in the morning, we’ll rent a car and meet up with a friend of mine in Komatiepoort.   Once there, we will spend a couple of days with him and his family.  On the 24th Trevor and I will head back to Joburg, and then fly down to Cape Town and meet up with the rest of the group.  Well I guess it is time to stop procrastinating and finish packing.  I’m going to try and post on a regular basis so check back often.  This is Ryan Dillon signing off.

Start of Something Great!

Hey everybody!  I just wanted to say welcome to my blog.  I am going to try and put all my updates on this blog.  So be sure to check here for updates.  I am going to put pictures on my Facebook account, so if you want to see those be sure to become my friend and then you can see those.  Well that is all I have for now so blessings on you and your family, and please continue to keep my group and I in your prayers.