haven't written in ages...

wow, this is the first time i have found myself with access to internet, and time to write. with finals over i can finally sit back and enjoy my last few days in africa. since i last wrote we experienced more than i can put in words. we did another service project in mozambique which was amazing, we worked with african impact at a local preschool, and taught classes, organized crafts, and most of all, spent time with the children attending the school. The main language in mozambique is portuguese, so communication was much harder than in south africa and mozambique where most people could speak english pretty fluently. At our serivce project, i met a young girl named Meida. Her dad had just passed away days before i met her and she was devistated by his loss. She cried most days, and wouldn't leave my side. Her mother had also oassed away a few months before. An orphan now, Miedia was desperate for love and attention and i did my best to provide her with all the comfort possible. Whenever i talked to her and managed to get her to smile or laugh, it made my day. By the end of our 5 day servcie project, i managed to teach Media how to say i love you in english, and it was the most adorable thing to say "Meida, I love you" and have her look up at me and say "i love you too." Her smile stays with me and i think about her every day. Its devistating to think about children that lose their parents on a daily basis to HIV/AIDS or other causes. After our service project we visiited an orphanage. That experience is one i will never forget. The children sang to us, danced and laughed as we tried to join them. We had the opportunity to set up stations and teach them how to do math, read, and for the little ones, how to make kites. After, we all danced and sang together in a big circle, feednig off of eachothers positive energy. The children at both the orphanage and the preschool were desperate for our love. as soon as we stepped off of the truck they grabbed onto your hand and begged to be lifted up. After the orphanage, we were able to teach an english class to the adults in the city. Myself, and four other classmates taught the advaced group. we formed a lesson plan and worked witth adults 18-30 on their reading and writing skills. I met a boy named Benni, who was 20 years old and spoke beautiful english. I connected with him immediately (no, not in that way) and had a long conversation about how the us culture compares to mozambique. he made me a bracelt before we left as a sign of his appreciation which was amazing. After we went to barra lodge in mozambique where we spent 9 days in paradise scuba diving and doing science lessons underwater! we learned abour underwater ecosystems and oceanography! I hated scuba diving...but hey, i tried. After leaving barra we went to swaziland breifly and then back to south africa. We had thanksgiving in rocktail with some of the girls parents which was a great way to have a temporary substitute for our own parents. Since then, we have been travelling through south africa overcoming a few bumps in the road. now, we are in a climbing town in south africa finishing school and soaking in our last week together as a group. i have grown incredibly close to some of the girls here and going home is going to be really hard. i can't wait to see my family, and when i get home i willl type and post a few essays i've written in my time here that reflect on my experiences. i continue to thank god everyday for blessing me with the opportunity to go on such an life changing journey. <3