Latita Means Sunshine

Happy Saturday!

Here in our apt we girls have a gal who comes and cleans up after us.This is technically a hotel so it makes sense, however, we could be a bit neater... maybe a little more organized for her sake. So anyway, one of our housekeepers is Zookie. During my first day in PE I was in the apt alone resting (everyone else was at school) and she came in to clean. I was a little freaked out at first-- no one warned me that she would be coming-- but we hit it off very quickly. We talked about our families and missing them so much. She told me she had a daughter very soon after her mother passed away so she named her "Latita" which means "sunshine" in Xhosa. She said that after her mother died she needed someone to bring sunshine back into her life. Isn't that beautiful? She was such an encouragement to me. I am very thankful for her-- for cleaning up after us each day and also for being such a kind and encouraging friend.

Today Zookie brought her 3 year old baby girl Latita to meet us. Latita (who only speaks Xhosa, with the exception of a few English words) brought sunshine into our one bedroom apt this morning!

She started out quiet and shy but that soon faded and she erupted in giggles and smiles. She played on my computer for a while then we used Crayola markers (SO glad I brought them from home!) to draw some lovely pictures. We traced shells, made portraits and scribbled mostly. Her smile and laughter are contagious-- I hope that my own babies are as fun and crazy as this little girl.

Zookie left her with us for a while this morning. I tried to get her to dance to the Rick Roll but she was having none of it. I'm guessing she just knew deep down in her heart that it is bad music. There was a language barrier between Latita and I but everyone laughs in the same language. So that is how we communicated-- lots and lots of laughter!

How can you now love this little girl??!  Check out this video of Latita in action:

We became very best friends. She didn't want to leave and asked her mama if she could come again. I hope she does!

After Zookie and Latita left, Britt, Andrea and I walked down to Bayworld-- a museum and aquarium a few miles down the main road. On our way we walked along the beach. It was low tide so we were able to walk along the rocks and tide pools there. It was gorgeous!! We found quite a few treasures as we explored...

This is what the beach looks like at low tide. Many rocks!

This crab is dead but I thought it was still a beautiful thing.

Look at all of those tide pools! It was such a beautiful place to explore. The entire time we were exploring I kept thinking to myself, "this would be an amazing place to bring students... what an adventure!"

Another tide pool high up on the rocks.

I spotted a starfish in one of the tide pools!

There were some fish and red sea anemones (I think...) in this small pool. Everything was so colorful.

Whirlpool going down! The tide was low but there were still some pretty intense waves. The ocean spray felt so refreshing in the hot sun.

Once we left the beach we made our way to Bayworld.

We started out so stoked!

There were some cool things... I can't lie. This is a reptile fossil. The impressions of the eyes, mouth, nostrils, etc., are too cool.

OK, OK... this was hilarious. These large dinosaurs moved to backgrounds sounds-- growling, roaring, bug sounds, etc. The funny thing was that their movement was jerky and they squeaked. WD-40 anyone?

Thank goodness!

These signs were everywhere.

Oh... herbivore? Never mind.

Please don't make me go back!


As silly as those pics and captions were we really did have a fantastic day. We walked for miles and miles and miles. I feel like I lost 15 lbs today. But I didn't...

I can't believe it has been 12 days since I have been in the States! Time is flying here in South Africa. Britt (a new good friend and roommate) and I are planning some trips for the upcoming weekends and school breaks. We are looking to go to a game reserve to RIDE elephants (eek!!!), hike in the Eastern Cape's gorgeous countryside, horseback ride on the beach, and zip-line over waterfalls. We are also planning on doing some more volunteer work at the township schools. What?! This is a crazy way to live.

God is good.

53 more days, people!

Love you all!!!!

Sarah