Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Monkeys and a Friend…
My good friend Elijah was in the neighborhood a few weeks ago and stopped in to say hello. In the neighborhood for Elijah means flying into London to see a friend and so deciding to tack on a trip to see a couple other friends. “Tacking” on a trip to South Africa is asking to have a few days of your life removed…Despite luggage delays, flight delays, and road trips, he still looked healthy by the time he left.
We saw monkeys. I mean real, live, take-your-personal-belongings monkeys. I’ve seen them in cages in the zoo and I know they’re like pests in cities all over the world but for an A-murkin (that’s how American sounds overseas—specifically when we use the whole North and South American continents for a label) it was a great experience. We also saw a couple of lemurs too—I think that’s what they are—Ah, monkeys ..one of the two funniest things in the world—so far…
I had the opportunity to finally go to a township. A township is hard to explain—if you don’t know, you’d better look it up—I can’t explain it. However, the experience was incredible and the people were welcoming despite my minority status there. As an A-murkin I met my first AIDS victims as well. You may have heard that this disease is on the ‘PANDEMIC’ level now…If you’ve heard that like myself but have never been exposed to those who suffer with it…Its tragic. They say that South Africa has yet to face the worst. Humanity…
No doubt my time here will be spent in someway exploring these things. I know that in my part of the country there are opportunities to serve and help…I’m looking and praying.
We saw monkeys. I mean real, live, take-your-personal-belongings monkeys. I’ve seen them in cages in the zoo and I know they’re like pests in cities all over the world but for an A-murkin (that’s how American sounds overseas—specifically when we use the whole North and South American continents for a label) it was a great experience. We also saw a couple of lemurs too—I think that’s what they are—Ah, monkeys ..one of the two funniest things in the world—so far…
I had the opportunity to finally go to a township. A township is hard to explain—if you don’t know, you’d better look it up—I can’t explain it. However, the experience was incredible and the people were welcoming despite my minority status there. As an A-murkin I met my first AIDS victims as well. You may have heard that this disease is on the ‘PANDEMIC’ level now…If you’ve heard that like myself but have never been exposed to those who suffer with it…Its tragic. They say that South Africa has yet to face the worst. Humanity…
No doubt my time here will be spent in someway exploring these things. I know that in my part of the country there are opportunities to serve and help…I’m looking and praying.
