Week 2 – “Clouds are shrouding us in moments unforgettable…”

First off, I just want to say that I hope that everyone in the States had a wonderful holiday weekend. We may not have had Monday off here, but I know I enjoyed the holiday – although, I am definitely still getting used to the idea that I’m twenty-four. I survived that stressors over the course of my twenty-third year (and I had my share), but I also had a blast. If God brings you to it, He’ll bring you through it. I had lots of love and support helping me survive the workload of my last year of college, and I came out the other side strong and having discerned this awesome call that brought me here to Cape Town, where I am writing this blog to all of you back home who have offered me all kinds of love and support which has gotten me here. As my friend Sarah so wisely said to me earlier this week in an email “God is so totally NOT BORING!”

On Friday, I went over to the Ansoc house at the University of Cape Town (UCT). I may have mentioned this in my previous entry, but if not, here’s a refresher. An Ansoc house (which stands for Anglican Society) is the same as what is called a Canterbury House for Episcopal campus ministries in the United States. The Ansoc house at UCT has a big kitchen, living room, meeting room, several bedrooms and bathrooms, and an office for the chaplain, Fr Christopher Swartz. I’ll be moving in there this summer (US winter, remember!) after the students leave.

Anyway, Friday’s meeting was great; it was a transition meeting with the outgoing officer board passing the torch to the incoming officer board. Ansoc had 40-50 members and an officer board of over half-a-dozen (it’s hard to remember exactly how many since not all of the officers could attend). In addition to learning more about how Ansoc at UCT works, I found this meeting especially energizing because I got to really talk with the students there. I love meeting people as much as I have since I’ve been here, but I’m terrible with names when I just mean someone for two minutes in passing. It was great to get the chance to start to know these students more and to really talk to them – rather than just meet them in passing, learn what their role in ASF is, and be told how I’ll be seeing them around. One of the greatest things I’ve gained getting to know people in the context of the church is getting to know people in a real, authentic, way – to hear people’s stories. It made for an excellent afternoon!

My only drama on Friday was getting TO Ansoc house on the train (if you haven’t checked out Amanda’s blog on Cape Town transit, then you should, because she nails it). It’s literally a four minute train ride to Rondebosch, where UCT is; you would think that makes it simple. You would also think the fact that I’ll spend over an hour on two NJ Transit trains and three NYC Subway trains to go visit my cousin without blinking an eye or feeling the least bit tense would also cause me to be stress free about using Cape Town Metrorail. Yeah… but no. My friend Mary, the fabulous UD Wesley chaplain, told me that as a white woman, I should never ride third class on the train – especially alone – so I was very wary when my new friend Maro told me it was safe… under certain conditions. I should ride the train only during peak hours (7-9am, 2-6/7am – when the crowds are), in a full-ish car, and only on weekdays (although weekend mornings are ok – because that’s time when there are people). Naturally, this made me nervous at first, but I’m getting used to my rush hour travel. It’s no longer as unnerving as it was last week when I first tried it alone. I just have to be smart about it. I must confess, the whole experience has made me much more appreciative of the luxuries of NJ transit: clean two story cars with an abundance of seating, illuminated signs and announcements notifying passengers of which station they’re arriving at, and the fact that I’ve never once felt unsafe on a NJ transit train. The NYC subway system isn’t too shabby either :-)

Anyway, except for the time on that first day when I was trying to get off the train while a sea of twenty was trying to board (eek!), I have had no drama in transportation, and am very grateful for the ease with which I have traveled so far.

Saturday naturally brought about the excitement of turning twenty-four. My mom was the first to wish me birthday greetings at midnight Cape Town time (which was 6pm EST), and I’d like to thank my other friends and family across the globe who took the time to send me an email, card or wall post with birthday greetings. I spent my birthday weekend with Suzanne, Amanda, and Thembi, who made my first international birthday celebration one to remember. After a nice lazy morning, I went with Suzanne to a clean-up in Retreat (which is actually a town… which I did not at first realize). We spent over an hour working with at least thirty others from all walks of life, and together we picked up waste from all over the park and from the edges of the pond. Some people even walked out along a small dam to clean up waste and mud that was slowing down the flow of water there. It was so energizing to see the difference we all made, and in this park, halfway around the world from the ones I grew up with, I felt right at home. The litter problem this park faces is the same as the one at Watchung Lake, two minutes downhill from the house I grew up in.

After the park, we picked up Amanda and headed to dinner at Poncho’s, this super-yummy Mexican place near UCT. Amanda and I enjoyed a delicious Mexican feast, complete with yummy fruity drinks and a banana split for dessert (unfortunately, Suzanne wasn’t able to join us until dessert). We reflected on our first several days in Cape Town.

I am very aware of how blessed I am: wonderful friends and family, comfort, security, good health, having ten fingers and ten toes. And I am very grateful for these amazing things that I have in my life. Also, I am constantly amazed that I can look back on the last several year and all the wonderful things that have happened by the Grace of God – the person that I grew into when I opened my heart and tried to be a better listener in prayer. As Thomas Merton says in that awesome prayer he wrote, “I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.” So while I’m sure I make my fair share of mistakes, I’m trying to figure out exactly what it means to live the Gospel, which is a daunting quest I’ll probably continue for the rest of my life.. and while I may not be too close to figuring out the answer, I cannot help but look at my amazing life and the wonderful world around me and think that I must have done SOMETHING right along the way.

Anyway, the point of all these musings is that one of my big reflections since arriving here in Cape Town is that I have a stronger sense than ever of God’s guiding hand on this crazy beautiful adventure. In the States, when I thought about the blessings of the day, I thought of people and events, with an undercurrent of awareness for the blessing of being in a place… but here, the sense of the role of place in my daily life is so much stronger! In the US, that sense I had of place was sort of “I’m thankful for being in this place with these people and I’m thankful for being safe here and for the opportunities I have.” Here, I am so aware that this is a place I followed God to to meet these people and have these experiences… I’m not sure I can explain it better than that… just that I’m meant to be here in this city in this country beyond just being present in an experience. It blow my mind.

The fun continued on Sunday. After another wonderful service at the beautiful St. George’s Cathedral. Suzanne, Amanda and I took the RedBus tour of Cape Town and saw some of the city’s most beautiful sites: from museums to mountains to the lovely coast. Then, we went out for a Japanese dinner, and I got some birthday sushi! Happiness.

Then, it was Monday again. This week, I started my work at the Anglican Students’ Federation of the Province of Southern Africa (ASF) (http://www.anglicanstudentsfed.org.za), which networks all of the campus ministries (or Ansocs) for the whole province and calls them all together for an annual gathering somewhere in the province each June. I’m still getting oriented here, but I feel like this is a really amazing opportunity for me to learn a great deal about campus ministry here. I hope that my experience can be beneficial to the people I work with as well. I have no doubt that I will learn a lot, and I hope I can find some way to share it not just in this blog, but when I return to the States (even though I won’t be on campus anymore). So far, I’ve been working on writing a letter inviting the provincial chaplains to the upcoming conference and writing a strategic plan of action for the year for ASF.

I just want to again thank my family and friends and the wonderful parishes of Holy Cross, St Thomas, St Peter’s, and St John’s for supporting me in my mission. While it will be awhile before I see you all again, I carry you all in my heart on this exciting adventure. Also, thanks to everyone who takes the time to read my blog and was able to make it all the way to the end of this long entry. Peace!

Books: just starting “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett
Movies: Out of Africa, Gorillas in the Mist (talk about a unique yet important call), The Trouble with Angels (I know I mentioned this before, but it’s still the best movie ever… so Amanda, Suzanne & I watched it on my birthday), & Love Actually

PS -Check out my pictures!

PPS - FYI, to find the time in Cape Town, just add 6 hours to Eastern Standard Time