Updates from South Africa

Hey All!

We're sorry we've been so incognito, but this is the first time we've been able to use the internet for an extended time. So updates. We were in Jo'burg for a few days and it was nonstop. Jo'burg is a very spread out city and there's a resounding excitement over the World Cup. It was really exciting to see South Africa tie Mexico! People were erupting when they scored their first goal.

However, Johannesburg is also a dangerous city, and because it's so spread out, you need a car to drive around. So we rented one. No one really walks around, since there is no city centre, and absolutely no one walks around at night. Every house is wired with electrical fences surrounding the property, as well as security doors and a constant patrol of security guards. But now we're in Cape Town. We're staying through couchsurfing in this really large house, and as we were watching the matches today, we saw that there were peacocks outside! So we went to go take pictures, and as I was talking with Kathy, we lost them. Turns out, they had gone inside! So we had to try and chase them out of the house! We got them out, but not before they had pooped on the floor...

The World Cup is also amazing! I hope we can update you with some pictures soon. The British fans showed up in good support, but we pulled out a lucky draw against them. The US looked good, and our fans were great! I got into it a bit with some Brit fans over whether its called football or soccer, but all in good fun.

We are getting in contact now with our first school in Tanzania and will be there within the month to start our charity effort. We'll be sure to keep everyone posted on this front of our trip! It will be very exciting as we have already seen the widespread poverty in a country even as rich as South Africa. It's cliche, but it's very humbling to see tin houses packed side by side within a large fence. It's very sad, and its something that seems very difficult to fix. There's so much poverty, anything that we can do is only a drop in the ocean. But perhaps little by little, Africa can turn things around.

Anyway, keep us in your prayers and I'll be sure to update with pictures soon!