The Purposed Trek

In church this last Sunday, one of the teaching pastors spoke on being in a State of Disobedience. The message was excellent and entertaining, I laughed a lot. This pastor makes me laugh whenever he speaks. However, even though he makes me laugh, he causes me to think as well.

He had a couple in the church come up front with him and he had them shake hands and then he had them kiss. Of course people were laughing and making sounds as they kissed. But when they separated he asked us what was offered in the hand shake? Everyone answered "their hands". Then he said what was offered when they kissed? All different answers went around, but then he shared that when you seek the face, you also get the hands. When the couple kissed they automatically put their arms around each other in an embrace. So if we seek just the hand of God that is all we will get, but if we seek His face, we don't just get His face, we get his arms, hands and an embrace. There were no more laughing, there was deep though remarks and people writing quickly.

There are many things here in South Africa that cost more money than in the States such as electronics, books, appliances, tacos, etc. However I was so pleased today when I went to the fruit and veg market and bought all of the following:

• 1 large watermelon
• 1 small spanspek (cantelope)
• 1 punt of green grapes
• 2 punts of strawberries
• 1 punt of nectarines (6 in a punt)
• 1 punt of peaches (6 in a punt)
• 1 bag of pears (10 in a bag)
• 2 bags of cleaned lettuce mixes
• 1 english cucumber
• 1 flat of nartjes (15 in a flat)

All for the whopping prices of R140.00 which is $20.00. Fruit season is approaching which means apples and pears aren’t my only choice. The fruit such as strawberries and peaches are becoming super cheap. I love it! There is no way to not eat healthy here – it is cheaper than eating processed/prepared foods.

So after being in the country for 5 months I hunkered down last Sunday (10-14) and watched a full game of rugby. It was the semi-finals, South Africa versus Argentina. I still don’t fully understand the rules, but I understand that point and the basics enough to know that South Africa kicked butt in that game. I knew that the following Saturday (10-20) was going to be huge here. South Africa versus England (Reigning Champions). Huge because South Africa hasn’t gone to the finals since 1995 and they were playing England. I was getting excited for a sport that I just started to watch. However I had to learn what a scrum, tries, and match all were and then it all started to make sense. But no matter how much sense you make out of it, it is still odd seeing grown men groping each other for an oblong shaped ball and players run off the field because their eye was split during the last scrum and run back on 5 minutes later with stitches in their eye and blood still fresh on their face. I was invited to a Rugby World Cup Braai (bbq) where a bunch of South Africans were gathering to cheer on the Springboks. I had a blast – people had Springbok gear on, their faces painted, awesome food and a whole lot of spirit. As the final seconds ticked away, the Springboks were being pressed on their line, but held on and won the game. The streets were filled with cars driving around sporting Springbok and South African flags, ‘hooters hooting’ (horns honking) and people screaming out their windows. We went out on the streets and joined the fans – people were running around and we cheered at each car driving by. It was a ton of fun and people were thanking me for joining up with South Africa and cheering on the Boks. The best part of the whole thing was is that people were saying that it was one thing that unites the country – Black, White or Indian, they were all cheering for the Springboks.

On the 4th of October I went and saw a show at The Performers Theatre in Pretoria. The show is called Miss Rock. I went with a friend of mine who is from South Africa because his friends are in the show, otherwise I would have never known or driven myself to Pretoria. All the performers are from South Africa and there were bits and pieces of Afrikaans thrown in there. Needless to say I laughed a lot, not because the show was hilarious, but because the emcee called himself "Big Tony". Now Big Tony had an great voice, kicked butt on the drums and was an excellent guitar player. However, when it comes to his accent he needs some practice. He tried to imitate a "Big Tony" character from Brooklyn. I can't imitate a Brooklyn accent to save my life and I am from the States. Big Tony used the Joey Tribiani phrase from Friends "How you Doin'?" a lot, which I am not sure is associated with the city of Brooklyn, but that could be up for debate. Then Big Tony would throw in there words like 'brilliant' and 'fantastic' which are commonly used S'African or British adjectives, not at all a New Yorker thing. All-in-all it was quit entertaining and I did enjoy myself - they were excellent musicians and singers and I never turn down 80's music.

Here is a hilarious clip of my little cousin Cullen "Bubba" Clark and I playing basketball in his basement this past spring. When I say playing, I was actually pegging the ball at him and he would laugh and then try and shoot for "two". Before watching it there were no injuries sustained during the filming of this video, it was completely candid and not staged. His Mom was recording so it wasn't some cruel trick I play on kids while their parents are out :) Mom's of who's kids I have watched don't worry - they were/are in good hands.