Settling in

The African guinea hens this morning were squawking in the trees, sounding like squeaky swings, and I was reminded of the rooster that has lived near the window of every place I’ve stayed in a foreign country – from Mexico to Zambia to India to Romania! So I’ll appreciate the noise as a reminder that I am not in my home culture.

Last night as I was walking home from the “launderette” with a bag full of damp clothes that I didn’t have time to dry again because I wanted to be at our place before dark, I looked up at the sunset light on the mountains and was amazed. I’m here doing regular life in South Africa. Just like I did in Zambia and India, where it becomes normal and we develop routines – well, some routines anyway.

I’m thankful to be here. We are really enjoying a bit of slow-down in our pace of life. Toward the beginning of this week, I had a rough spell of homesickness/discontentment. A few people have vocalized a bit of “wish-I-were-in-your-shoes-instead-of-being-a                   “ and here I am feeling like I wish I was a stay-at-home aunt in Roswell! Because L just had her second baby, and I missed it. L

BUT – two things:

1. God provided a sweet, new friend here (thanks for the connection, Sarah!) who had her second baby just a few days after we arrived, and I’ve gotten to be a part of their family life a bit through the transition and to have some surrogate baby snuggles.

2. God reminded me in that “unexplainable but deep” sense that it doesn’t matter if I do something amazing here or leave a mark on Cape Town. What does matter is that I’m faithful to what God has called me to and that I love those I come into contact with.

Another culture thing: Mark and I have agreed that the main thing that keeps South Africa from being developed is the lack of indoor climate control. Everywhere we go, it is COLD!

Please pray for us:

- That God would undo the lies of law school culture that have been seeping into our minds in the last two years about competition, perfection, and intelligence.

- That God would lead me in how I spend my time and that I would glorify Him in whatever He calls me to.

Warm and Running

My favorite places to be in Cape Town:
- warm shower
- warm bed
- hiking in the sunshine
- anywhere skyping with loved ones!

I didn't think that I'd be running much here, but in the past two days, I've run over 16 miles. Oh my word! One of Mark's human rights professors from UT is here as a guest lecturer and needed a running partner. She's over 50 and runs a lot! I am sore. But it feels good to get out and to move about. :)

I'm working on a "Christmas in July" newsletter to send out to everyone on our new and improved mailing list. Did you know I like organizing things like information, email addresses? I do.

First week of classes

Well, folks, it’s been an interesting first week of classes at the University of Cape Town! It’s been cool and rainy most of the time.

Mark is taking three classes and auditing one. He’s excited about what he’ll be learning, and we’re both excited about the comparatively leisurely pace of life and law school here. He’ll probably do some work clerking for a human rights judge here, and there are opportunities for other volunteer work for him.

On Wednesday, we played tourist and took the local train along the coast to a tourist destination where there are African penguins! It’s beautiful scenery, and the penguins were pretty cute, too. They’re very small, like barely over a foot tall. And we didn’t see any baboons, so it was a good day – not to mention incredible weather.

We also got to visit a life group in our neighborhood from the church we went to on Sunday. We felt very welcome and enjoyed the conversation and the people there a lot. We hope to become a part of this group.

We’ve been surprised how suburban life here feels, especially in transportation. It’s different than most of our experience in Africa. Almost everyone drives a car, and people are surprised when we tell them we don’t. So Mark bought a scooter! This in itself has already been an adventure, and I’m sure it will continue to be.

Yesterday, I spent the day with Ruth at her home. It felt so good to me to be with someone who knows me. Maybe because we’ve lived together before, but I just felt so comfortable in her home. Our conversation was very encouraging, as we shared about what God is doing in both of our lives, what He’s teaching us, and how He’s using us in other people’s lives.  I’m very blessed that she’s relatively nearby (an hour by train…if you get off at the right station. Longer if you get off at the wrong one like I did! )

We arrived a week ago tonight – wow.

On Sunday, we went on a “Pen. tour” (of the Cape Peninsula, including Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope) with the study abroad group. It was a bit rainy but that didn’t stop us at all. Mark spotted a whale! And we also saw zebra, ostriches, and baboons, not to mention beautiful mountains and oceans. We were probably the tour guide’s favorite people on the bus because we didn’t fall asleep, asked lots of questions, and laughed at most of his jokes.

Monday, we moved into a sweet “Garden Flatlet”. God really answered our prayers on this one as it is less than we’d budgeted!, has it’s own kitchen, and is in a lovely setting. Also, great landlady who works at UCT and gave us champagne on the first night…and hot coffee the next morning because she didn’t think we would have had time to get grocery staples. Wow. We are so thankful. It’s a 15 minute walk to the stop where the nearest free campus bus stops.

Other than that, we’ve gone to some UCT Orientation events, but really, they should have asked Mark, former JBU Orientation Director, for some pointers because it was pretty lame. We’ve successfully shopped for household items, food, a wireless internet router, and other miscellaneous items.

Future posts include:

- the incredible hospitality we’ve been recipients of

- differences between our other Africa experiences and South Africa

- our new friends (through Sarah Kropp) who had a new baby this week and have generously opened their home to us.

TODAY! We got to take public busses out to visit Ruth and Gina, my Zambian sister, housemate, best friend. I am still kinda in shock that they’re also here in Cape Town, and Ruth and I had a very nice time talking…a lot. Mark and Gina were lumped together a bit since Ruth and I were just talking so much. It’s a huge blessing to have a close friend nearby.

sometimes you just have to laugh

Travel update: We arrived safely on Thursday late, after smooth (but long) flights. Maybe I cried a lot on the plane and then had a headache. We were seated next to another UCT international student on the 17 hour trans-Atlantic, so we got to know him a little. (Most of the other students are undergrads, so it makes for interesting socializing.) One bag was on a later flight than us and the rest of the bags, so we didn't get settled into our UCT vacation accommodation  for the night until after midnight. But with all of our bags.

It's chilly and windy here, but there's also beautiful scenery, and the cool is rather refreshing - more like autumn than winter. We went on a short hike our first day and look forward to much more! In this first picture, the building in the middle is where President Obama spoke earlier this week with Devil's Peak in the background.

CRAZY DAY: This morning (Saturday), we left our UCT "vacation accommodation" to go to the house we'd arranged to stay in. It's a great location and looked nice and like it would fit our needs well. When we got there, we were approached by "green shirt" man, who said that the house was his, and he'd been tricked by our potential landlord...They had a shouting match in the street, with some shoving involved; the police showed up, and we took our bags and left (after Mark stood as an onlooker for kinda a long time because he thought it was so interesting and had legal implications.

We met a very nice friend of a friend and her family at a soccer game, and our would-be landlord eventually got in touch and helped us find a place for tonight, so we're looking for new housing arrangements. (Thankfully we hadn't paid him anything!) It has been a "laugh or cry" day, and I'm thankful that God has given both of us the grace to laugh. AND a sweet place for the night with great internet, so we've gotten to skype with family and post this blog!

Heading out to South Africa

Hello, friends!
Welcome to the Dawson blog - or welcome back to those who followed us when we were in Virginia.
Mark finished well there and loved his internship. He seems to have enjoyed the road trip home, visiting friends in Nashville and Dallas, and seeing some pretty sights along the way. This is him with his supervisor from Blue Ridge Legal Services.

I got to visit my family in New Mexico last week, and it was a very sweet time. I will miss being there to welcome my new nephew when Laura gives birth in the near future. It was really fun to play with my nieces and nephews, have really great conversations with my family, and have some adventures like going on a trail ride with my dad.

(In this picture, none of the children are with their mom. from L to R: Seeley (Joy's son), Laura (with nephew in , Joy, Penelope (Laura's daughter), Maven (Joy's daughter), Mom, and me. I guess I should have had my hand on Laura's belly or something since I'm the only one who's not with a child here.)

And we're in the middle of a tornado/whirlwind! Back in Texas for a little over 24 hours to re-pack our bags for our next five-plus months in South Africa, Kenya, and wherever else we may end up.

Mark will be studying at the University of Cape Town, where President Obama spoke yesterday. I don't yet know what I'll be doing. But it will be an adventure!

I am feeling overwhelmed. We have not had much time to be intentional about this transition. Feels like we're just hanging on. Prayers mucho appreciated. And please be in touch! I'll try to keep this updated close to weekly. Maybe I'll still send out emails sometimes. We'll see. 

We love you all and are so thankful for your presence in our lives.