Back in Joburg

     HEY EVERYONE!! 

We have spent a week back in Johannesburg after our trip to Swazi, and it was really good to be back! I LOVED Swazi, but it is nice to have a bit more room for the 60 of us to live in!!    

    This week I worked at a organization that provides housing for orphans and helped them make bricks. It was hard work! It was nice getting out and doing something physical for once though. I woke up the next morning super sore from all of the shoveling and lifting. The place was really neat though, and it was cool to see our work directly go towards something. The bricks were going to be used to build a gymnasium for all of the people living on the property.
        The last day of the week I went in the city to visit an orphanage. It was neat cuz I got to hold babies for a while. There were a couple two year olds that had some pretty intense stories. Each of them were abandoned as babies, and found by random people. The damage from malnutrition has caused them a lot of growth problems, and at age two much of their body is still in the infant stage. It was weird to look at these kids, cuz from a far they look like normal sixth month old babies, but then you notice that they have a full set of teeth and bigger hands etc. Its bizarre! My friend Ben helped the boy learn how to walk, something he should have learned a while before, but none of the workers challenge him to. I got to hold a four month old girl who was born premature, she weighed like lbs! She felt soo small in my arms, and was so neat to be able to comfort her.  It was really neat to give these kids a little bit of love, which they rarely get otherwise.
        Life in general has been interesting. Living with 60 people doesn?t really get easier with time. I know it is all part of the experience, but each others differences are starting to stand out a bit more. I am growing a lot through the process though!
        I definitely miss everything from home! Family, friends, my bed, food! Things in Africa just don?t compare! Even the ketchup is different!!! Its ?tomato sauce? and that is exactly what it tastes like. Ick!  I have been craving a good burrito for quite some time now!! I miss swimming too, its hard being here and not having many opportunities to exercise!
        Alrite well ill talk to you all soon hopefully!
                Lindsey

 

PS. IF any of you are looking to send letters etc… here is our address in JoBurg!!

Lindsey Watson
AIM Johannesburg
P.O. Box 1284
Ifafi, South Africa, 0260