Greetings from South Africa!

Friends!!
We have officially been at GGA for a week as of last night about 11:30. It has flown by for us, but thinking about what I need to update you all on I'm realizing quite a bit has happened. Most importantly, we all survived the madness of the 18 hour flight from DC to Jo'burg and got to GGA safe and sound and very very exhausted. Jet lag is a funny funny (and not in a funny) thing and I'm very glad that we all are over it now...although it took until this weekend!
The first few days we spent sleeping (A LOT) and playing with the kids here at GGA. Many of the kids are away visiting relatives because they are on a two week school break right now. So the ones that were left here have no one to visit and needed some special attention. We got thrown right into it on Thursday morning last week because GGA is very short on long term volunteers right now, some of which are gone on mandatory holliday right now, and many of the others have been sick! So we were enlisted to help entertain and watch the kiddos with one volunteer who was available. We made cupcakes (mixing it with our hands of course!) and played and played. It was fantastic. Many of the kids remember me, which I was not expecting, and I got a lot of questions like "Where is Ryan!?" and such about team members from the last trip. My favorite though was Amahle, who I taught to Hook Em Horns, last time and he remembered! (Bryn...I'm supposed to tell you that you have to come next trip, and that you need to send Amahle a watch and a chocolate) Andrew, our lone boy on the trip---who you should pray for because he has a lot of naggy sisters on this trip haha!--- has been called Harry Potter, Goofy, and June. Not sure where June fits in, but the other two fit pretty well. Creative kids.
Friday we went in the morning to see our worksite-- a public (although still costs money) preschool being built in the Valley of a Thousand Hills for about 30 kids. Most of the building has been finished by other teams and the building team here at GGA, but we will get to help lay a concrete slab around the building, put on a roof, plaster and paint the walls, and ***I really really hope*** get to paint a mural on the inside. There have been quite a few delays with us getting to work work, although I try to keep reminding our team that we are 'working' when we are loving on kids. The concrete mixer was in the shop on Monday, so we stayed here and played with kids and helped decorate and make cards for Myrtle's (the orphanage manager) 60th birthday. It was a great suprise! And then yesterday when we went to the worksite Robin, our concret mixer, was smoking and then quit, never to start again yesterday. So we spent the day handing the Zulu building team, who knows what they are doing, the roof supports while they attached them. We are easing into the working bit... We joked, that Katy and Melissa may get here and wonder what exactly we had done without them, but that may actually happen as today (Wednesday) is a country wide working strike to protest gas prices and food prices, so we are home again at GGA where everything is safe and quiet. All of the delays have been pretty frustrating for some of our team...so please be praying for patience and the ability to see things with an eternal perspective. I feel deeply that the Lord is not only trying to teach those of us who need to know what is going on at all times (not me) something deep and lasting, but also those of us who can't understand those that need to know what is going on at all times (definitely me) something deep and lasting as well. And we all have a very American need to produce and be driven rather than being and being flexible, just all to different extents. This will be good. We will learn and grow, and 30 kids will have a brand new school where their brilliant little minds will be cared for and nurtured.
This weekend we got to take our first trip and went to the Drankenburg Moutains. But what made the weekend so so special was Heather and Patrick (founders of GGA) came along and brought 10 of the kids who were old enough to come, but young enough they really hadn't ever been anywhere, with us and a few volunteers! It was so fantastic. We had a suprise 16th birthday party for one of the girls (Zenhle...i know i just butchered that spelling) with a Braii (bbq), cake and sweets, bonfire, singing, dancing, and star gazing. It was priceless. Such a Holy weekend full of joy. And cold. Very cold. :) But still wonderful. We traveled up Sani Pass into Lesotho and drank hot cocco at the highest pub in Africa, and rode horses on Sunday with the kids.
A few other exciting notes..and then I must go.
* Andrew has an amazing voice and I told Siya, the choir director, so of course he made him sing. He was so blown away, that Andrew is getting to sing some with the chior. The Zulu is kind of a barrier, but it is really fun to watch! I have video!
* Jungle bars and Vita Snacks are still delicious and I love them.
* Our first day we were at the Spar (grocery store) and the lady asked Katie if she wanted a plastic (bag) but Katie couldn't understand her and just kept saying "America". HAHAHH! We laugh about that quite a bit.

Please pray for
* Some of the kids in Creche have the chicken pox and two of the creche kids are HIV positive and DON"T need to catcht that...AND some of our team hasn't had them either
*Us in general.

Love and Hugs,

Julie