Inverse Proportion
Someone one said that you can tell when someone is busy by their blog because the frequency of an individuals posting is in inverse proportion to their busyness. So yea, I've been kinda busy. It is a bit sad though because it seems then that the most common time to post is exactly when I have the least to say!
Well anyway, semester 1 came, and went, like a flash. It was filled with many fascinating Psalms, sermons, arguments about sacraments, and a fair few episodes of West Wing. Not a bad semester, though I'm hoping my feet will touch the ground a few more times in semester 2.
It should be filled with lots of talk about John, exilic prophets, social justice and missions, and the end of times...should be fun!
People to meet
Adam, a 'shining light in dark paces'
.
The team with Adam and Naomi
The team with the Cranes
Things to see
We had the chance, while in Livingston, to go and see Victoria Falls. We also went across the border so got to see both the Zimbabwe and Zambia sides; the falls are around 3km wide! In the local language it is called Mosi-O-Tunya - "Smoke that thunders". Very suitable, it definitely thunders, and you can see the spray from many miles giving it the appearance of a bushfire. It was one of the most awesome things I have ever seen, I wish I could have done it justice with the photos.
Things to do
Besides English teaching, painting, and just getting to know the place, I had the opportunity to spend a day with Jonno doing the kinds of things he does - riding out through the mountains crossing rivers, helping cross rivers,
digging in peoples gardens, eating with them, playing games, talking with them (or at least smiling and listening). We had covered about 50km up and down hills on dirt "tracks" and I was feeling stuffed when Jonno says to me as we ride along, "So Dave, this is Church planting." Those wouldn't have been the first words off my tongue, but it was a
good call. It was a little eye into what it might look like to authentically express Christ to people like these, and it was good to have my subconscious perception of what Church should look like broadened a bit. It was also great just to get out and to connect faces and lives with what he and the rest of the team are on about.
In Madagascar it was great to see all the innovative things that MAF is doing to help people in remote areas. Flying, providing logistic, communication, and garage services, using four wheelers and fold-up boats that fit into the aircraft, helping to communities rebuild after fires and even using hovercrafts to get access to the inaccessible! We got to do a range of things from researching how to chip 'n tar airstrips to prevent erosion, to tiling, to visiting villages. One of the more interesting things though, was helping one of the MAF workers to harvest one of his rice fields. It was a really fun day, cutting the rice, bundling it, and beating it out over drums. Fun... for one day. I have a new appreciation for rice.
The name of the local beer in Malawi, in case you can't read it, is "Kuche Kuche". =) The sign was above a urinal in mens toilets in Zimbabwe. Maybe I was tired, but it made me laugh for a long time.
Changing Landscapes
From City to country, Mauritius to Madagascar, the landscape changed quite a bit on us...
Africa
My photos from the holidays and the trip to Africa have finally been sorted so I thought I might post some here to give you a little eye into the trip. If you want more details visit
Neale's blog.
Getting around...
Our lovely bus which took us from Jo'burg in South Africa through Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, back into Mozambigue, back through Malawai and finally through Zambia. We got to know it quite well...
Other modes of transport... planes, trailers on four wheelers...
We learnt from the locals too...
Finished!
Exams are finished, and what a good feeling! I now have another week in Sydney before heading to Ballarat untill Christmas. It's kind of a relief to have this year over - though it has been good. Because I'm on holidays now, I am officially lazy and can't be bothered writing about all I've been up to lately, so here are my last couple of weeks in pictures...
How much fun are mechanical bulls!
Studying for Exams
U2!
Team prepares for an interesting time together in Africa
I know you...you're that guy from Rosin!
Wow...it has almost been a month since my last post! Hopefully that a sign that I am busy, not that I just have a boring life. Well, this last month has been taken up mostly with finishing off assignments and preparing for exams, though there has been some fun stuff - like seeing U2 in concert on Monday... I'm very ready for holidays though.
Last week the band - Rosin - went to a friends place and recorded a bit of a demo in his shed. It was a bit of fun and it actually came out pretty good for a backyard job. I was chatting to Matt that morning - Matt plays electric - and he said he had been at a party on the weekend. He didn't know a lot of the people there and wasn't feeling very sociable, but eventually decided he should go and talk to some people. He introduced himself to two girls at the table...
"Hi I'm Matt"
"Oh, we know you...your that guitarist from Rosin!"
I think it threw him a bit - the expression on his face was quite funny - and when he told me I just laughed and laughed! So, I was at a 21st birthday party on the weekend. I didn't know heaps of people there, but was doing the photos for the party so I was getting to go around and meet people. I was chatting to two girls who I had just met when one of them says...
"So we've been trying to figure out what that drum is that you play..."
It turns out that they were at our last gig and now I have to admitt that I was the one getting thrown and I think the expression on my face was probably even funnier than Matt's. Wow, we are famous and we've only played three gigs! Yea, lol.
