Fieltrips, Excursions, Lions and Birds, and a new Church!

Things happen much too quickly here for me to be able to keep up with blogging about them! Too many great and exciting things happen each day, and I just don’t have the kind of time to include them more often, so I apologize in advance for how long this post might be! Im sorry!

So just to clarify some things right off the bat, I realize that my mailing address here might have been slightly off. Here is the new revised information!

For letters, send to

African Enterprise Attn: API- Lauren Klapp
PO Box 13870, Cascades 3202
Pietermaritzburg, Kwazulu-Natal
South Africa

And for packages, send to

African Enterprise Center Attn: Lauren Klapp
1 Nonsuch Road
Chase Valle
Pietermaritzburg 3201
3200 KZN
South Africa

(or if you would like to search the location on GoogleEarth haha)

And just to give you a brief idea of how I have been doing these last few days, this is something I wrote in my journal yesterday morning…
“I feel like I am one of the most blessed people in the world, and none of this could have even come into existence at all without my God. He is so tangible in this place, and His presence is everywhere. As I ask Him why I am here, and why am I so fortunate and blessed to be on a trip like this, He responds with “Because I chose you, I sent you to do work for me, and to show the people of South Africa who I am.” He has given me answers to every one of my questions, He has opened my eyes and my heart to what this life is all about and what exactly I should be living for, and that is to serve my Savior and follow where He wants me to go.”

Anyways, one of the most exciting days this week was Thursday when my biology class went on a fieldtrip! For this class, every Thursday we go on a different fieldtrip as part of our lab, and this week’s trip just so happened to be incredible! Our professor took us to a few different locations of indigenous rare flowers that grow on a handful of hillsides around PMB (abbreviation for Pietermaritzburg… so much easier that typing the whole thing out every time!)
She then took us to a ridge that overlooked a beauuutiful canyon full of green, green trees and a waterfall on the other side! It was the prettiest view!
We then hiked through the forests and observed the environment along the way, and after walking high and low we ended up at the top of the waterfall! I was so excited that I think I screamed with joy, more than once. Haha it was the most beautiful view and the craziest thing to be standing next to the waterfall drop off!
Then we kept walking along the trail, thinking that that was the peak excitement of the hike, but oh we were so wrong! We ended up at the bottom of the waterfall, and once again screamed with joy and excitement… we could walk close enough to get wet from the water hitting the rocks at the bottom, and we took lots of pictures!
All week long everybody has been looking forward to seeing lions, and the time finally came on Saturday! We traveled to a lion park where wild lions are fenced into a large area of land, and normally people can buy a ticket and drive through the park to get a close up view of the lions, and this would have been cool except for the vans that the campus uses to transport all of us are unfortunately rental vehicles, and the lions have been known to bite tires and claw the sides of cars, so they couldn’t risk it. We were able to walk along the fences though, and after a long time of being stared down by hungry lions, they started to come over to the fence and we got pretty up-close and personal, I must say!
The lions came right up to the fence and it shocked me just how huge they are, I mean their open mouth is easily as big as my whole head, and the sizes of their heads are unbelievable! They looked so tame, like the ones in the zoo, but it was startling when each time somebody turned their back to them, the lions would lunge towards the fence! Once you look away, they aren’t quite so tame anymore!
That same day, we visited a Birds of Prey rehab center, and at first I definitely was not that interested in walking around and looking at the birds in the cages, but we watched the show with the lady who ran the center, and after learning so much about each type of falcon and seeing how well they had been trained to perform in the show, I think everybody was totally into it!
We also got to watch the vultures being fed, and it was one of the craziest and violent things I’ve seen! Before the food had even arrived, they were pulling each others feathers out and attacking everything in sight! When the meat was thrown in, it was probably gone within a matter of 30 seconds probably between like 6 vultures, and they got A LOT of meat! That was fun to see, a little scary but I loved the experience!

On this same day, we also stopped at a historical place in PMB, the 1st gate at the train station in downtown. Why is this important, you ask? well let me tell you. When Mahatma Gandhi was living in the country of South Africa in his early years, he was riding the train through the country, and he was kicked off at this station in PMB. He was kicked off because he was riding in first class, with a valid first class ticket that he has rightfully paid for, but just because he was not white they would not let him continue to ride, and they kicked him off the train at the 1st gate at the train station in downtown PMB! This is what spurred Gandhi to take action against racial discrimination and began his political career right here in PMB! We went and walked around, read the plaques around the station, and i stood probably right where Gandhi stood at some point long ago.
the station

standing where gandhi stood, obviously.

Oh and grandma, if you read this, I want you to know that everybody here is impressed with my knowledge of wildlife poop, and I give the credit all to you :) haha!

I have mentioned the monkeys that live around our campus, but I forgot to add that because they have become extremely comfortable around here, the campus has provided us with a paintball gun that any of us students can use if we see monkeys, and we shoot them to bring a little fear back into their lives! Haha. I have heard that they plan on providing pepper spray especially for all the girls, since the girls seem to be targets for vicious monkeys looking for somebody to corner!
Last thing. This morning (Sunday) I went to an Indian Christian church about 15 minutes away, and I went with about 6 other students and one of our student life coordinators named Reagan (we got to meet Reagan’s fiancé for the first time, her name is Leizel) I really loved the church, it was a great cultural experience and cool to observe Indians, who come from a strong Hindu culture, practicing Christianity in South Africa. Have I mentioned before South Africa has the largest population of Indian people anywhere in the world other than India? Basically there are a lot of them in South Africa, so since that is such a large part of South African culture, it was fun to see how they did church! They were so incredibly friendly and happy to have us there, and I think I received a hug from every single person in the whole congregation! Haha so basically it was a lot of fun, and almost refreshing to be in a new place like that!

The heat and humidity peaked again today after many days of clouds and rain, so after church our small group went to one of our professor’s house to swim in his pool, it felt sooo nice! It was crazy to see how that quality of his house, which seemed to be almost standard for that part of the town and possibly considered a great house with many rooms and a pool, might have very well been classified as something fit for the projects back in the states. That was my first time inside an actual home, so I’m sure there will be more experiences like that to come, but it made me appreciate what I do have back at home or school!

Wish me luck in this next week, classes have been keeping me pretty swamped and taking away any free time I might have had, but I can’t complain too much!

Until next time :)

Update from the Pietermaritzburg Campus!

It's been a little while since I've given an update, I apologize for making you all wait! I finally have a few minutes to spare before I go to bed, but let me just start by saying that the school campus here in the hills of Pietermaritzburg is the most unbelievably beautiful place I have ever been! The nature and scenery all around has the strongest gift of relaxation, from the perfectly warm sun and cool breeze to the big waterfall conveniently located right outside our main classroom!

I didn't want to begin to talk about this place until I would be able to put pictures up, because words just cannot describe it, nomatter how hard i try! I hope you are able to get a little taste of this South African paradise!

i got a little peak of the indian ocean while flying from Joburg to Pburg... i have not gotten to tough it yet but I cant wait! its beautiful!

this is my dorm, or "chalet" as we call them here! my room is on the bottom left, facing out to a big green lawn usually full of monkeys playing with eachother!

the view from my bedroom window... we only open these windows when we are sitting inside the room because if we leave them open, the monkeys will jump inside and do what they do best! they are such little pesks... and they are quite vicious too! the boys carry around a paintball gun to keep them from cornering us on the balconies and on the paths!

heres what they look like... cute but so mean. if youd like to see a little bit more of the monkeys, i have more pictures and a video of them on my facebook!

The weather here has been so cool. Monday it was HOT and so so humid we could hardly breathe... and sitting in class from 8am-9pm with the sound of the waterfall right outside was pretty terrible. There is no air conditioning, only open windows (which the monkeys love to take advantage of) and fans. The heat definitely wore me out and I was so exhausted by the end of the day!
Tuesday I had a free morning so i went on a walk after breakfast with Alex and Rachel through the game reserve down the road! That was alot of fun, saw many monkeys and antelope. It started raining as soon as we got back, and absolutely down-poured the entire day! i never let up once, it stayed consistently pouring all day long and even after we went to sleep, but while we read and worked on homework all day in our room, we had all the windows wide open because the air finally felt so nice, and slightly cooler than the day before :) i LOVE being able to wear shorts and a tshirt when its raining!
Speaking of the homework, this semester is going to be really difficult! Our entire semester of school is squeezed into just 6 weeks, so for the next 6 weeks I am going to be so overwhelmed with studying! It is going to be alot, but so worth it. I love my classes and professors here, so that helps alot!
Todays weather reminded me alot of a California summer day, it felt amazing! I sat on a bench down by the creek and read for one of my classes, it was so nice :) My days are filled with lots of homework, which is never fun... but im hanging in there! Life is pretty good otherwise!

Nate- I miss you so much and I hope someday I can bring you here to show you how incredible this place is! You are wonderful, and the time change is tough but we've been making it work :) I love you, and I will talk to you tomorrow!

A Few Funny Things About South Africa...

1. If something is good, it is called "shop-shop" with 2 thumbs up.
2. The toilets have 2 different flushers, one for pee and one for poop.
3. The light switches are upside-down to American lightswitches.
4. Cars drive on the left side of the road, and the driver is on the right side of the car.
5. They call traffic lights "robots." With their accent, it sounds alot like "rowboats." So sometimes if you ask for directions, an African will usually say something like "past the second robot on the right."
6. While hailing a taxi, there are different hand-motions one can use to tell the taxi drivers where you would like to go. If the taxi driver is headed to that area, he will pick you up, and if he isnt, he wont.
7. Nobody smiles inside the taxis, because they are all saying prayers for their safety.
8. They say "just now" in place of "sometime soon." This makes things confusing when, for example, asking somebody to do something, because they might respond by saying "I will do it just now," when really they mean they plan on doing it any time in the near future.
9. Instead of flashing gang signs, people will show gestures that represent a soccer team.
10. If you leave your windows open, monkeys will climb into your room and poop everywhere.
11. It is common for someone to run up to you and say "shoot me, shoot me!" What they are really saying is "take my picture!" They love to have their picture taken, and love to pose for anyone with a camera.

My Mailing Address

For those of you wondering what the address is to send mail to here, it is...

PO Box 13870, Cascades 3202
Pietermaritzburg, Kwazulu-Natal
South Africa

something to keep in mind is that it takes mail about 2-3 weeks to get from the US to here, so plan accordingly! And I will only be at this location until April 1, so they suggest informing anyone who might mail things to us that it is a good idea not to send anything up to 6 weeks before that time! :)

An overwhelming day of touring and history!

It is Saturday now, and I can’t believe I’m actually here! We had an early breakfast, continental at the hotel, and the whole group got on the bus and we were on our way by 8:30. Turns out they make scrambled eggs differently in SA, because this morning instead of scrambling the eggs and then putting them onto the grill, she cracked the eggs directly onto the grill and scrambled them with the spatula as they fried! Cool huh?

Anyways, we knew we were going to the Apartheid Museum in Joburg today, but we did not know we would also be taking an all-day tour around the Township of Sowato (pronounced Suwatu with their accent) with a tour guide named Alina who rode the bus with us and talked along the whole ride. We went everywhere from the poorest areas, where large families live squished into little shacks made of tin sheet metal and live with the pigs, to the wealthy neighborhoods with beautiful brick houses, air conditioning, and swimming pools! We drove past markets where people shopped for fruits and vegetables, and Alina told us that malnutrition is not a big problem in SA or even in the poor parts because fruits and vegetables are so abundant and cheap. We saw many historic places around Sowato, including the house of Nelson Mandela, a monument dedicated to the new voting rights, and the memorials and sites of the 1970’s police shootings of protesting children. We walked through a famous church with amazing elaborate stained-glass windows portraying many events throughout history, and in the ceiling of the church we could still see bullet holes.

We ended the day by going to the Apartheid Museum, as if our day of culture-introduction was not overwhelming enough already. If you are not familiar with the term ‘Apartheid,’ it is basically the holocaust of South Africa. It was the mistreatment and killing of many black Africans in the early 1900’s that stemmed from a drastic inequality of human rights between blacks and whites, or European settlers of that time. So walking through the museum, watching the videos, seeing pictures and reading quotes and accounts was very heartbreaking, but at the same time it made me realize how far SA has come since then and how much they have had to go through to get to where they are today. It gave me hope for the country now and for the future.

If I could describe today in one word, it would be BEAUTY. Everything my eyes saw I just wanted to capture it permanently in my mind so that I could remember it forever, because everywhere I looked I seemed to not be able to look away. I think they call this the honeymoon phase of being in another country, but I don’t care, I loved everything around me. The people are absolutely beautiful, from the poor and toothless to the glamorous and wealthy, everyone wears a smile here. Their joy and love for both each other and their country really shows, and they are more than welcoming to us as visitors. As our bus drove through the Sowato streets, the people passing by would wave to us and smile until they were out of sight. People would wave to us even if they were 100 yards down the road, as if we were long-lost friends of theirs that they had been waiting to see for years. They would smile and jump up and down, wave their arms, come out of their houses, and watch us drive past as we all waved back through the lightly tinted windows of the bus. These people are absolutely beautiful from the inside out, and I have fallen in love with the way they live their lives. Since today is Saturday, everyone was out and about, and I quickly noticed that everyone was walking. Walking here and there, through the streets and neighborhoods, walking in the mall we stopped at, but not only were they walking, they were just slowly making their way from one place to another and not one person was in a hurry. Everybody seemed to be enjoying their surroundings and the company of the people they were with, and the time that it took them to reach their destination seemed very unimportant next to the relationships and conversations with people. I really am not exaggerating this, NOBODY was in any sort of hurry. Not one person in the city, and this brought a very obvious meaning to the term “T.I.A.” or “this is Africa,” referring to lack of punctuality.

The colors in this country are so wonderful, from the bright clothes the people wear to the art painted on buildings and sold on the streets, fruits in the markets, baskets balanced on the heads of women with babies on their backs, the colors of houses and advertisements, it is all so stimulating! They use bright colors everywhere, and it is such a beautiful contrast to the dark skin of the people. And speaking of skin color, it is a whole new experience being the minority in a community. That is something I am not used to, and it changes my mindset about my environment and my own image very much.

One of the things that struck me was the number of funeral processions we saw just driving around the city today. Our tour guide, Alina, pointed them out to us every time, and she did so very casually. There were so many that I lost count, and it saddened me so much how funerals seemed to be a very regular and normal thing here to the African people. This reminded me of the fact that South Africa has the highest percentage of HIV infected people in all of Africa, and to see that statistic all around the city today in the form of funeral processions made me realize just how real the issue of HIV is. The first of many, I’m sure.

I will close this extremely long blog entry by saying that the weather is so so good, or “shop-shop” the Africans would say while holding two thumbs up (it means good, and they say it about almost everything). Since it is summer here, it is a perfectly warm temperature with just enough humidity to make me wish I was wearing a flowy summer dress. In the middle of the day we had a thunder and lightning storm and it poured rain, but the warmth never went away! It is tropical and wonderful, and couldn’t be more perfect.


alex and i infront of our busa historical cone-shaped building with the human equality laws written in stonevendors in the squareno hurry to get anywhere...

a small snapshot of an enormous colorful fruit market


south african streets... they drive on the left side :)

the poor neighborhoods, where people ran out of their shacks to wave to our bus!

some of the beautiful childrena difficult museum to walk through, to say the least.

The Plane Flight and Friday's Arrival!

Everything went incredibly smoothly getting here! After leaving school at 2:30am with tearful goodbyes, we had a 4.5 hour flight from LA to Washington DC, a 5 hour layover there, and then about an 18 hour flight from DC to Johannesburg. It was the longest flight I have ever been on, but I honestly did not think it was too bad. For the majority of the ride I slept, and also read, watched movies, and slept some more. The meals they served us on the way to Africa were so good, I ate every bite, and it was fun to have South African flight attendants and pilots to get us a little more excited for where we were headed! I really love their accents, and everybody is just so incredibly friendly it blows my mind!

It was a great feeling to get off the plane, and walking through the airport was definitely a thrill for me. It is completely set up for the upcoming World Cup, with soccer ads everywhere I looked, and customs lines that appeared to be set up for thousands of people. They are definitely ready for the world to come see their country! Every security guard throughout the building would smile and greet people as they walked by, and it was not just because they saw the group of 50 American college students walking through looking like a mess. Oh we definitely were a sight so see! Haha

Anyways, they took us on a bus straight to our hotel in Jo-burg. I am sharing a room with a girl named Lindsay, who is a senior at APU, and after we showered (the best feeling ever), we went to a restaurant next door to eat dinner, and then back to the hotel for bed! I cannot tell you how amazing a bed feels after spending the last 2 nights in an airplane seat. Oh thank the Lord for mattresses!

one of the many world cup 2010 signs in the airport :)

sitting on the luggage with alex :)


our huge group... they are great!

I'm Officially In Africa!

Quick update... i am here after flying for about 28 hours, it is 10 hours ahead here so its about time for me to go to bed now. I only have a few minutes online but i just wanted to let everyone know I made it safely and that i am just SO EXCITED to be here, its already incredible!! i love you all very much and miss you like crazy

The Big Day Has Come!

I woke up at 6am when I wasn't supposed to be up for hours, and I just could not fall back asleep. My mind was racing with traveling details and worries of forgetting something or not wearing the right clothes, and I couldn't get it to stop.

Today is the day I leave California to go live and study in South Africa for the next 4 months, and I cannot believe it is here. This day has seemed like a far-off dream for such a long time, and now I am standing right in the middle of it all. I am about to embark on what may be the most life changing journey I ever experience, and my eyes and heart are wide open with really no idea what to expect.

My emotions right now are a mix of nervousness and anxiety, but also of excitement in my state of really having no expectations from here other than to see God move in mighty, incredible ways. I am fully aware that this semester belongs to God, and He will use it exactly how He wants to! My faith is in the Lord, and I have no fear of what is to come!

Today will be the second day to our Orientation, with more informational meetings and final packing details. There will be a commissioning for our group at 5:30pm in Munson Chapel for families and friends and peers to attend and where the President of the school will pray over us and formally send us off! There will be no sleeping for us tonight, because at 2:30am we are loading up the buses and heading to the airport! This means that probably the next time I will be able to blog will be once we arrive in Johannesburg in a few days! Praise the Lord, here we go!

My Destination:

gives me goosebumps every single time!

just the beginning...

Today was a little difficult, and I know it is the first of many more to come. Hopefully not TOO many, though.

This morning I said goodbye to Katie, my wonderful roommate who I have been so lucky to have worked with all day everyday this week, and it was hard to hug her knowing that we won't see eachother again until June.

My parents came this afternoon to see my one last time with Natalie and Grandpa Wil too. Throughout the morning before they had even arrived, my anticipation of the goodbye's brought tears easily, and more tears came when it was actually time for them to leave after dinner. Mom gave me a small album of photos of friends and the family for me to bring along, I gave hugs to each of them, and dad prayed for my safety and strength. And then they were gone.
Nate was waiting with ice cream and warm chocolate chip cookies when i got back, and he sat with me as we ate the comfort food together... I am really going to miss him.
Sarah, I missed you alot tonight, I definitely felt like an important part of our family was missing! I hope youre having a wonderful time at Winter Camp though :)

It is starting to hit me now, without a doubt. When people around campus ask me how I am doing, I explain how I am more than ready to go because of how LONG I have been waiting for this, but if I could just skip these next few days of goodbyes and just get on the plane right now, that would make it a whole lot easier. The going is fun, but the leaving is so hard, and that is the only thing I am worried about.

Between now and Thursday will be a little bit of an emotional rollercoaster, so I am ready to get through it and on to the next part.