Week 25- Wales

Sunday, 15 November, 2009 12:01AM Swansea, Wales

WOW. So it's way later than I realized. Guess I was in that nice bath for a while...

Yeah, so I'm in Wales, it's true. It's really nice from what I've seen so far.

Southampton was good. Didn't get to see much of it though. On our way here we watched "Home Alone" the kids loved it, so did I. (It's my family's fav, we watch 1 and 2 about three times every year.) It reminded me of my brothers a lot. Good times, good memories. I miss them lots.

It's a shame I don't have my day off here, I'd love to be able to see around a bit. We are only here for 3 nights. :( Then we are back to England for a couple weeks.

Chocolate/Chips update: Sorry, I forgot about reminding everyone how it's been going. I've been pretty good. I'm not completely avoiding either. I take it in doses. Crisps I've been being quite careful about. I'll try to trade for sun chips with another kid if someone gets them. I'm definitely trying not to eat them if possible. I don't love chocolate so it's a bit easier.

Hey. Got some time to write...

I tried to make time to write in here, I had internet, but I had lots of emails to reply to and didn’t get around to this. Wales is very different from the rest of the UK. In my opinion anyway. People in Wales speak Welsh, and they have just made it a law that all things need to have English AND Welsh on them. (Much like in Canada with French and English) I had a really nice host family and there house was really warm and cozy. I really wanted to stay longer than 3 days. It rained every day we were there as well, so I feel like I missed out on a lot. Swansea is known for being the city with the most rain in Britain. Crazy huh?

Week 24- England

Friday, 13 November, 2009 12:09PM Thatcham, England

Hey folks! So it’s been a while...A week is a long time for me to not blog, because a lot happens. We had a good time in Boston Spa, the boys went to see fireworks on Thurs night, there was also a bonfire, they really enjoyed it.

On Friday we went to Bradford which is sort of near Leeds. The hosts I stayed with have been working with the choir since the beginning. They were hosts for the first choir! They had also seen Godfrey perform when he was 8. He vaguely remembered them because he is now 25. I’m not sure if I mentioned Godfrey is our male chaperone on tour, and also our sound tech. He was in the choir when he was 8, and has completed his education with the help of the organization and is now giving back. Isn’t that awesome? He’s a really awesome guy, and we are so grateful to have him around.

I will probably stay with these hosts again in January, they invited me to come back and stay with them for a few days.

Our next stop was Coventry, more city-like place. I stayed with a young South African couple, they were really cool. I was meant to sleep on a BIG air bed, but when the boys jumped on it, they begged me to let them, so we switched and I got the room, all was happy :) It’s the biggest air bed I’ve ever seen, it was probably quite comfy. Her husband had a sports car, so the boys went in it, while we went in the other car. She told me her nieces and nephews love riding with him because he plays the music really loud, when we arrived, the boys didn’t want to get out, I think they had a pretty good time.

Deddington was next for a 3 night stay. It’s a very very small place. There’s just one grocery store, and a few shops. I was meant to have my day off here, but I switched because as I mentioned before a friend from home came to visit me. They weren’t in town yet, so I switched to Thursday. Thursday was London Day, where we took the kids to London for the day and did sightseeing, which meant I would miss it all. It was a very very hard decision to make, but I had to do it because they came to visit with me, and I see the kids everyday, and would still get to see London.

One night we were here Hlengiwe was taking a bath and yells to me Auntie I’m too big for the bath! I was really confused since she is the 2nd smallest girl in the choir, and is definitely not too big. I said What do you mean? Trying to think. She repeats it again. Then I realized she was saying there wasn’t enough water, so I told her to put more, the bath water was too small for her. It was cute how she said it though.

It rained everyday we were here, which isn’t nice because your memories of that place will always been of how it looks when it’s raining. The people were really nice, and I had great great hosts.

We then went to Thatcham, a 2 night stay. We had a concert the first night, so we got back late, and then headed out early for our day of London, my friend picked me up and we headed in. We were planning to drop off the rental car and then do some touristy stuff in London, until we got lost, and more lost, and more lost. It wasn’t fun. It was 4 hours later when we finally got there. We tried to not think about how annoyed we were. It was my fault. I got confused with what the directions had said. Anyway, we had a bit of time to see the Buckingham Palace, and then I had to join up with the choir for dinner and The Lion King. That’s right The Lion King! One of the Divas from the Tenors and Divas we performed with in N. Ireland has connections with Disney and got us free backstage passes to meet the cast and crew and perform for them, as well as see the show. How cool is that?

Getting lost is never fun, but when you are with someone you know and haven’t seen for a long time, it’s not so bad. The way I look at it, worse things have happened.

I didn’t have a phone so I was using pay phones to try and get ahold of Angee to join up, but half the pay phones wouldn’t work. There wasn’t an answer so I left a message saying I was trying to find her and I’d keep calling. It was getting later and later so I decided to try and find the theatre and just meet them there. Then we got lost for an hour trying to find the theatre because a guy gave us the wrong directions. I left a message for Angee saying I’d meet her at the theatre because there was no answer and I didn’t know where they were eating. I found the theatre with about 10 minutes to spare.

There wasn’t time to eat because we were trying to find the place. I couldn’t eat because I was so nervous I wouldn’t find them. I have never been so happy to see them all.

Angee’s phone didn’t tell her I called and they were all worried about me. All the kids were very happy to see me as well. Anyway, the show was FABULOUS, and meeting the cast was even cooler! It really turned out to be a great night, and I can’t complain about anything. It’s one of my favourite nights on tour so far. We got back very late, so we all slept on the bus. When we arrived, it was so hard to get the kids to get into the hosts car. They slept in the car, again not wanting to get out, so they slowly got ready for bed, brushed their teeth, heads on the pillows and out. I did the same.

Saturday, 14 November, 2009 2:50PM Southampton, England

I was about to type September...

School has been going well, were quickly checking things off the list that they need to know before returning home. I got a package of glow sticks from the Canadian office for Canada Day, and had forgotten about them. So I have been using them as best listener prizes, they are really liking them.

So because my London Day didn’t really happen I’m hoping either one of my days off I will be close enough to take the train OR if I go to Leeds in January, I have enough time to come down and spend the day. It’s quite far, and I don’t think I have enough time. I didn’t really think about London much when I planned staying here longer, I just thought it would be a hassle, and I was content with Edinburgh, which I still am. I just feel like I’m not going to see London and I will regret it, having been so close. My next day off is in Bristol which is near Bath, Bath is a very popular place and I have heard from many hosts I HAVE to go there. Paul, our bus driver is from Bath and has offered to show us around, so that’ll be nice. I’m looking forward to it. We will see where my next day off.

Today was a day of fun as well, but just a half day, we are staying with people from The Salvation Army and they have a nice Hall they invited us to come and play games, it was really really fun. They pulled out the parachute, fooseball, air hockey, pool tables, colouring, the list goes on. We had a really good time. The kids are napping now, and then we have a concert tonight.

Oh! I have google wave. Most of you won’t know what it is, but it’s sort of hard to explain. It’s a way to communicate online. If you have it you can add me using my email address.

My battery is dying and I didn’t bring my charger. Shame.

Week 23- England

Monday, 2 November 2009 1:41PM Boston Spa, England

Last night I stayed with a family with 3 girls who were 1, 3 and 5. They were so cute. The 5 year old drew a picture of her family for us. They 3 year old scribbled on a paper and gave it to me. They were really excited to have the girls stay with them, the baby was even smiling the whole time.

We are now in Boston Spa for 5 nights. Tonight is night 4.

In school we got the kids to write questions and then get their friends ( we call other classmates friends) to answer them in full sentences, some of them were really funny. Musa asked “ Can I have your chocolate? Maxwell responded “ No! No! No! No! Musa?? They just learned about exclamation points, so he was practicing using them there obviously. Nomkhuleko was asked ‘Where do you work? She responded. I Don’t Work. She seemed a bit confused why she had to answer a question like that. When they wrote them, they didn’t know someone would respond to them. I don’t remember them all now, but we had some laughs. They are so cute, and so smart!

It's crazy to think there's 7 weeks left of tour!

Anyway, time to go get some work done :)

Wednesday, 4 November, 2009 11PM Same Location

Day off today. Def in my top 3 for days off. My hosts told me I deserved to have the FULL day off, and they would get the kids up and send them to school and pick them up. I offered to wake them up, just so I could remind them I wasn't going to be with them, and make sure they were ready. Then I headed back to bed. About 30 mins to an hour later I hear banging on the roof. (my hosts are having their roof re done) They were drilling and hammering, and the dog is deaf, but it was so loud he could hear it, so it caused him to bark...then one of the workers was singing. I just laughed as I lay in bed. Although I didn't really sleep, it was nice to not have to wake up and get ready. I had plans to meet Jenny at 1 for lunch. I got up at 10:15AM. It's hard to sleep really late when you are used to waking up between 6 and 7, 8 if we get a late day.

Lunch was good, we went to a little cafe a few houses down. Angee came and joined us, it was very nice and peaceful. Good food too! I dropped off a package, came back to my host family, wrote a few emails, read a bit, and slept until I had to pick the boys up. It was absolutely wonderful. I wish I spent more of my days off relaxing. I don't feel like I missed out by spending most of the day inside. It started raining just as I got back in anyway...

Tonight the community was celebrating Guy Faux day, they have a big celebration and do a bon fire, and have fireworks. We were going to go but it was cold and wet, and the boys have been happy playing inside with the trains and reading.

5 November, 2009 5:20PM Same Location

Today we spent almost the whole day doing school (minus our breaks for lunch and play etc.) The kids learned how to make calendars. It went really well for their first time. Even adults get confused making calendars... for playtime we went to the park, the kids got sooo muddy because it was raining. Their hands were black, and they ALL had muddy bottoms and shirts and jackets, we had a lot of fun though!

Tomorrow we head to Bradford! It's been a good 5 nights here :)

Week 22- England

Saturday, 31 October, 2009 4:17PM Huddersfield, England

Hey! So it’s been a while and I’m again trying to remember what I wanted to say...

This past week, we were in Ilkeston, where I stayed with Siyabonga and Penuel. It was really fun. Our host was an 82 year old widow. It’s interesting to stay with older people sometimes. She had just had her birthday and she had 40 birthday cards in her living room. At first I thought she was collecting them from all the holidays, but when I looked closer I realized, they were all from her recent birthday. I remember as a child going to my grandma’s house and she had string going back and forth across the living room with all her cards on it. It had just been a long time since I had seen someone get that many cards. She is a very loved lady. It was nice to stay with her.

I am currently in Huddersfield, which is near Sheffield. We are in a huge church. It’s like a theatre...it holds 2000 people, it’s got a full book store, a full cafe, a indoor child play place, and a waterfall. I almost forgot about the full size Santa! Anyway, I’m in the cafe, but the Internet server is having problems, so I will type this and sent it later.

Yesterday we were in Middlewich, I had a great host family, of course the one night stay has the ensuite! Haha, it’s alright. They had a 16 year old daughter, and she was really touched by the girls. They made such an impact on the whole family, the mom was talking to me about it, and it meant so much. That’s why we are here.

I’ve gotten connected, but it’s working slowly...

My Chocolate/Chips Update: I guess because I was sick, I felt bad, and well....yeah. I kinda gave up. The first 2 days I was sick, it was the last thing I wanted, but then I just needed something to make me feel better about being sick. Bad idea, I know. I’m not happy with myself. It’s scary to think I have an addiction, but I do. I can admit it at least. I can promise to make a better effort this week.

The guy in the cafe winked at me. Haha, just thought I would share that with you all cuz I thought it was funny.

Same day... 12:30AM

It’s late, I know. I should be sleeping, I know. I needed to respond to 15 emails and sort some things out back home....

Tonight was INTERESTING. So we are at this HUGE church, and right before the kids are about to go on stage, the power goes out. So, they are rushing around trying to get it up and running again, and it doesn’t want to work. So I told the kids to pray that it would go back on.

They ended up performing in the dark, not complete darkness, they had back up lights, but they weren’t very bright. We had to only do African songs, the English ones have sound tracks with them, so we couldn’t use them. It was alright, the kids were ready to perform any way it was. They started on stage, we then brought them into the audience so people could see them better. They were excellent! I was so proud of them. It really speaks to me, and others I’m sure, when they see something like that. I really think they gave more energy than usual. Because we had to cut out some songs, the concert was a bit shorter, but in a lot of ways it was good, that means earlier to bed and more rest for them. I really see it as a blessing.

Just as we were about to meet our host families the lights came back on. God answers prayer, just not always in our timing! So our hosts got to see the children’s faces clearly before taking them home. It was really sweet.

I just wanted to share that story with you :) Good night!

P.S. I kept forgetting it was Halloween. Tour life sometimes takes you into a bubble away from the outside world. It's also not as big here...but I saw a few kids on the way home tonight. I don't feel like I missed out on anything though.

Week 22- England

28 October, 2009 10:50PM Rugby, England

Weird... I was about to type September, and it's almost November!

Sorry about me being a bit of a procrastinator with my blog. I've been working hard on getting my after tour stuff planned. I've gotten the confirmation for my flight home :)

I'm not sharing the day for privacy purposes, but I will be at church on the 10th of January :)

I know it seems forever away still, but I'm really excited, and it'll come quickly, promise.

So what have I been up to this past week? Where do I start??

We were in North Allerton on the weekend. I stayed with a younger girl and her roommate. It just so happens that her boyfriend will be joining a choir in North America in January (I think) as the Sound Guy. Small world huh? I was really amazed. I think he's joining 35 he wasn't there to tell me, and she wasn't 100% sure of which one it was. I did get to meet him briefly, but that was before I knew. He seemed really nice though.

In Ballynahinch I stayed with a couple who told me they almost went on tour with the choir after they got married, but she got pregnant with her first child, and never got the chance to go. They both had really wished they could have.

During the night there someone decided to break into our bus. Fortunately they only broke the outer window, I really believe that God stopped them. It doesn't make sense to me that they didn't break the inner one. Therefore, nothing got stolen :) It probably isn't cheap to replace, but it's getting fixed (should be done now.)

Then we were off to Derby City on Saturday. I ended up staying with the guy who runs Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child in the UK. OCC is really big here. I had no idea. Almost every church we go to is doing it. He told me how much the UK has raised, but I forgot. It was a lot, I know that much! It's great to see so many people from all over the world wanting to help those in need. It was funny because the guy talked really quickly and the kids, and me, are still getting used to the English accent. Banele said "Auntie, he's talking so quickly!" I replied "Well, you talk very quickly for him, especially when you pray" They both laughed.

We are now in Rugby, where it all started. It's cool to be in a place that has history. You get a lot of that being in the UK. I'm staying with Agreeneth, another chaperone, and 5 boys. The hosts have 3 boys and a girl, so it's a really full house. Last night at dinner we had 14 people! They had to join another table, and borrow chairs to fit everyone. It was nice though. Our 5 boys are all up in the attic with the drum set and air hockey. I had to yell about 3 times to get them to dinner it was so loud! They had lots of fun though :)

We are going to Ilkeston tomorrow, which is in between Derby (pronounced Darby, I made the mistake one too many times) and Nottingham (Robin Hood!) I've got my day off there so I think I'll go to Nottingham and see if I can find something interesting.

Chocolate/Chips Update: Not going too well. I'm currently sick. I don't think that's why. I only gave into the chips once since the last time I confessed and had chocolate maybe 3 times, but it was a very small amount. The only thing I can think of is the bread. I feel much worse now. It's really not possible to avoid bread and eat. Such a shame. Today our hosts gave us pizza because she doesn't like to give her children sandwiches everyday, we were all so happy! ( I know it's still bread, but it tastes so much better than that brown bread you eat day in and day out) I'm not complaining. I've had some delicious sandwiches on tour, and I'm almost always happy to eat them. When your hungry, you eat what you have, and it usually tastes good.

It's funny, I've had sandwiches on at least 5 of my days off. I guess it's different because it was Subway or a Bagel Shop and it really reminded me of home.

I didn't have chips for 3 days or so, maybe its been only 2. No chocolate today. Because of my condition, it's really the last thing I want. I feel like my head is stuck between 2 brick walls, it sounds harsh, but it's that bad. I've had it for over 24 hours, and taken medicine twice, which I don't like having to do. It's helping a very small amount.

There's plenty more to say, but I'll leave it for another time...

Week 21- England

Sunday, 18 October, 2009 4:44PM Houghton Le Spring, England

Yesterday’s travel day went well. 3 countries in 1 day, haven’t done that before...

No one got sick, which was nice. We watched Robin Hood on the bus, it brought back many child memories for me. My brothers are always quoting lines from it. I haven’t seen it in forever.

We also started watching Chronicles of Narnia. It’s quite confusing for the kids and parts of it are a bit scary, so we are trying to explain as we go so they understand, I’m hoping they do by the end, but we will see. It’s a bit too complex for them.

So we are staying here for 6 nights total, but getting 2 host families. 3 nights and 3 nights. They did it that way because a lot of people wanted to host so this way more people get a chance.

The hosts I have now live 15- 20 minutes away, we go past the Durham Cathedral on the way. It’s really spectacular at night. Jenny went there this afternoon with her host family and said it’s worth visiting. It was built in the 1100’s! There’s also Durham Castle which is now a University, I’m not sure if you can visit it or not. My hosts live out in the country sort of, and they have this beautiful forest as their backyard as well as a football field (not the same size, but it’s pretty big) The boys really like it. I found a baby hedgehog rustling through the leaves, I took a photo, but it blends in so it’s hard to spot.

I love when the leaves change color. They are that pink/red/orange. It’s so nice. I’m not a big Autumn person, but I love the leaves changing colors, and knowing that Christmas is coming soon. I don’t like that it’s getting cold though. I find it much colder here, which is a bit strange. I haven’t checked the temperature, it’s not something you worry about when your on tour, it’s just cold or hot, then you move on to the next thing.

The boy in our host family is into knights, so half the floor in his bedroom is castles with armies and animals. It reminds me of the Chronicles of Narnia and Night at The Museum. He has animals galore, rubber ones and stuff animals. I didn’t know if I’d sleep, but I woke up not knowing where I was, it hasn’t happened to me much on tour. I was pretty tired. I don’t like when that happens, it makes me nervous to not know where I am.

You know how sometimes when you sleep in a different bed and you wake up and think it’s your own and then realize it isn’t? Well, some of you may not. But if you sleepover at someone’s house for a night. It doesn’t happen to me often, but it hasn’t happened to me at all on tour. I thought it would, it’s almost like my brain is conditioned to know I’m not in my own bed. I do miss having my own bed sometimes, but it’s really not that hard for me to switch beds so often. It’s hard to leave hosts that have comfy big beds though, and to wake up in the morning as well.

Tuesday, 20 October, 2009 4:55PM Same Location

So we change hosts tonight. I will miss them, the boys really enjoyed staying there. It was cute, they had a drum and were trying to teach the son how to play. Maxwell prayed at dinner that James would learn how to play the drum really good. Today we performed at a school in the morning, that went really well.

Today we had school, we did a group class review on telling time. So Michelle took the clock off the wall and we had contests to see who could get the answers right. At first some wrote 5:8 instead of 5:08 and then another boy put 6:012 instead of 6:12, but they know it now, it was a good day. The kids got really competitive with each other and were praying for their fellow team mates to get the answer right. I should have taken a video, I didn't think of it at the time.

I have decided that I will stay in Scotland after tour, just to relax. So I will returning home sometime in January. You are all welcome to help me find flights. I will be flying out of Edinburgh, most likely to London and then Vancouver. I'd like to be home by the 10th at the latest. But the first week of January is more ideal. I'm sure I will be rested by then. I'm really looking forward to being home again with everyone. I will miss the kids terribly, life will be completely different for me.

Wednesday, 21 October, 2009 2:34PM

I'm so grateful for host families. Since being on tour I have been constantly reminded not to judge people without first giving them a chance. If you look for good things in a person, you will see them, if you look for things you don't like, your never going to see those good things. Hosts are really willing to do whatever it takes to make sure your stay is a good one, sometimes you just need to give them the opportunity.

I've really been blessed with some great great host families.

Update: I have been meaning to let you all know about my No chocolate no crisps diet. Let's just say it was more successful than not...

I had hot chocolate at Starbucks, didn't even think twice about what it was, drank it, went along like nothing happened. The next day I went to "Tim Hortons" not a real one, but the corner stores and petrol stations have them in N. Ireland. Didn't get a chocolate doughnut because I knew, but then I got a hot chocolate. It hit me walking back. I said to Jenny "I can't believe I just got hot CHOCOLATE."

She said "Why???" (I had told all the other chaperones of my decision and to hold me to it.)

She went with me to Starbucks the day before as well, and it slipped her mind just as much as mine.

I didn't feel bad because I didn't intentionally try to have chocolate. So I told myself I would remember for next time.

When we stayed in Larne, they had bough Doritos for us. I was really craving chips by then, and had told myself, I never mentioned Doritos, it was just potato chips. So I had a few, and a few more and a few more. Then I had to stop myself. Doritos are addicting. I don't know anyone who likes them and doesn't have a hard time stopping themselves from eating half a bag. (The bags are smaller here by the way)

Anyway, I felt bad about that. But didn't really punish myself in anyway.

So when we go to England crisps were put in front of me, and the week had been up. I wasn't sure how many days it was, but I decided not to eat them to make up for the Doritos incident. It was hard. Mostly because every other person in the room was eating them. It was over 30 people. Talk about torture. I think I left the room or got up and walked around a bit. It's sad really.

Yesterday, we had them again for lunch. So I took my bag and said I would save it for when I decided to eat them again. It was easier because I knew I was going to get them, I just didn't know when.

For our staff meeting Angee brought chocolate with her. It was Cadbury's and it was some that I hadn't tried before. She was quizzing us on child protection stuff to see if we knew, and I got an answer right and she threw some at me. At that point I had decided I would be able to have some chocolate. It was great, I can't lie. I had another one and then stopped so I wouldn't get carried away. (It was a Crunchie and a Curly Wurly, both really good.)

Later on I walked by the table where my crisps I saved were sitting all alone. They are Worcestershire Sauce flavor, which I like. They are strong, a lot of people probably wouldn't like them, but I do because they are different. There are many different flavors here. Prawn Cocktail is a main flavor, which is nasty. I tried one, and it was enough. If I get it in my lunch, I trade with the kids. The girls like it because the bag is usually pink. Works for me. I'm trying to think of the others... Chicken, BBQ Rib, Steak and Onion, Ready Salted would be like plain, Cheese and Onion, Salt and Vinegar. Those are the main ones.

Well, I ate them. Loved them too. Today I didn't have any. It wasn't easy, I almost went and grabbed a bag like 4 times. But I know if I eat them, I will keep doing it. I probably will go another week. After that I will just limit myself to max 3 times a week, but even that seems like a lot.

I realized this past week I've been eating a lot of yogurt as well. It's a regular thing to eat for breakfast or lunch. It's good here and so I always want it. It's like a healthy dessert. (that can make you gain weight if you eat it everyday haha)

Hope I'm not making you hungry with all my food talk. Food is a regular part of my life back home. I think about it all the time. It's something I miss a lot about home. It's not easy eating almost the same thing everyday, so I'm trying to find ways to not get so sick of everything.

I was just reading about Worcestershire Sause and HP Sauce. They call HP Sauce "brown sauce" here.

I'm having McDonald's for dinner. No fries. Fries are worse than crisps. I forgot o mention I had fries twice and was eating them thinking how much worse they are for me, so when I was offered them (we have them for meals on a regular basis) I said no thank you.

I was looking for flights home last night and they were all over $1000. I can't believe how much it costs to travel. I will need to keep looking, and need some financial support in order to get me home or I could be here longer than I want to be. Hopefully it doesn't come to that though.

Tour is going really well. School today went really smoothly. They all were learning, and we could see it, it's always good when that happens. Now that we are in England it feels that much closer to the end. It's slowly creeping up.

OH! I meant to tell you about my bus partner system. So for the last 3 months of tour I haven't had a bus partner. Most of us do, but some don't. Sometimes I miss having Nompie next to me, but it's also nice to have the extra space to put my things, especially when I am doing admin stuff, I've got papers everywhere sometimes.

All of a sudden the other day a bunch of the kids were asking to sit with me. Normally I say no because I have work to do, and once I let one, they all want to. So I told them I would put their name down and when I didn't have work to do they could sit with me. I had 5 kids on my list within a minute and it's now at 10. Once the rest realize they will start asking I'm sure. It's "nice to sit with an Auntie." That's what they would say. The use the word nice like it's a very big deal. Nice in that sentence would mean a really special treat and I feel loved. I've realized they will soon be back in SA and I will wish I had let them sit with me all those time I said no I have work to do. So what I'm doing is trying to get my work done before the concerts and at night before I go to bed so that I can sit with someone every trip. I've been successful so far. To make it that much more special I take our picture together in our seats. They really like it. Some of the pictures didn't turn out great, but we both still enjoy it.

Right now I am staying with Nompie and Tintswalo. They are the complete opposite of each other. Nompie is one of the loudest girls and Tintswalo is the most shy. She will talk to me because I am her teacher in school, but even with that extra time with me, she's still very quiet and it takes a lot for her to open up.

Nompie is one of the girls that stayed with me for the 13 nights in Edinburgh with Anna and Robin, if you remember me talking about them. So she got very comfortable around me. She sometimes tries to get away with things with me, so I have to keep my eyes on her. She makes me laugh and I really love her. I love them both.

My brother is interested in sponsoring a child in my choir which is really exciting. It's especially exciting because I am able to tell him about the child, which will make it that much of an experience for him. I will also have tons of photos of the child. He probably will choose a boy, and I would like to sponsor a girl so we can keep in contact with 2. I will still be able to write the other children though.

If any of you are interested in sponsoring a child from our choir they are still in need of sponsorship, please let me know. I highly recommend it. :) They are absolutely amazing. You are also able to got o South Africa and meet them if you wish to do so.

I'm going to look for flights now.

Week 20- Northern Ireland

Monday, 12 October, 2009 2:09PM Portadown, NI

My last host lived on the other side of Belfast, up in the country in the middle of nowhere, it was really nice. It took us about 30 minutes to get there, and on the way we had a police officer stop us because 2 cows had escaped from their field, so they said just to drive carefully past in case they wanted to jump out at us. It wasn’t such a strange thing after seeing it last week.

Our hosts had shower gel/lotion sets for all of us. They had bath bombs in them, but they didn’t have a bath. The girls had never seen them before so I told them we could do one in the sink so they could see how it worked, so they showered and had supper (a snack which is after dinner/before bedtime) and checked up on it every so often. It was really exciting for them, especially because it had glitter in it, so they were putting it on their hands and arms. They even woke up with a little bit still on their faces. They hosts were really great too.

So now we are back in Portadown. I pretty much know this town now. You always enjoy a place more when you can get around, it doesn’t happen much on tour, so it makes you feel that much more comfortable. Anyway, I’m with boys here for 3 nights before we head back to Larne.

These hosts have a dog and I am staying with Suprise and Siyabonga who both happen to love dogs. Only part is, they love small dogs. This dog is a shaggy dog, who is medium size, but looks larger because of all its fur. His name is Toby and he’s quite hyper. He loves to jump. So the boys ended up being quite scared. I felt really bad, but I wanted to do something because I knew they both were scared before. So I told them not to run away from the dog, he is just excited. If they stood still and told Toby to get down or go away and they were firm about it, then he would. So they immediate felt more confident about the situation and thanked me. It was really cute. So this morning they were really eager to see Toby and test it out, and it worked. They again thanked me.

Same day.... 11:11PM

Today went well, it was a school day, we reviewed telling the time, and I encouraged my class to ask whoever they stayed with to help them learn.

Our Toby situation sort of fell apart tonight :( Siyabonga was going upstairs to brush his teeth and Toby decided to chase him up and his reaction was to just run, so he got really scared when the dog chased after him. He didn’t even want to come down to say goodnight. I felt really bad, they put the dog away, and I assured him it was alright, he really didn’t trust me. I eventually got him to come down, but he told me before bed he was really scared, so I reminded him what to do and that he needs to be firm with Toby and stand still, if he runs the dog thinks he’s playing and he will run and jump. He asked that I close the door really tight, so I did :)

Suprise prayed tonight that everyone in the world would have nice dreams :) I told Siyabonga I would be with him in the morning and stand with him when he sees the dog in the morning. He’s a bit fearful, but willing to try again which is good. I wish the girls were as easy to work with, but some things you just can’t force on them. I’d say half the girls will run and scream, the rest will just avoid it usually. Puppies are a different story. I think most of the kids would react well/ have reacted well to them. Some of the boys are extremely scared of dogs too, cats as well. Most people will keep them away from the kids, but there are some who don’t.

I think learning to tell the time is more important than being comfortable around dogs, so we will go over it again in the morning before rehearsals.

Tomorrow is my day off. Jenny’s host is going to Belfast and said they could take us, there are things to do here, but we are learning Belfast, and like it. We might go on something touristy, since we didn’t get to last week.

Friday, 16 October 2009 8:12PM Culloden Hotel, Belfast

Hey everyone! So we just met The Supremes, we are currently in a 5 star hotel, everyone is dressed in black tie as they call it. We are performing for the UTV awards. The kids sang a song with them, I recorded it.

My day off went really good. Jenny and I got driven into Belfast which was really nice, and her host paid for our lunch, which made it that much better. We went on the Internet at the Apple Store and shopped a little bit at a gift shop. We wanted to do something touristy so we went on the Belfast Wheel, which is a smaller version of the London Eye, we also went to the top of Victoria Square and took some photos of the view, it was quite nice. Good relaxing day.

On Wednesday we had a concert in Belfast and after the concert we were on our way to Larne to stay all together, only to find out the battery on the bus had died. We couldn't get it charged up. We tried many things, finally a guy came and gave us enough power. It takes a lot to get a big coach going. It took almost an hour before we left, but we got it fixed in the end. Our bus now has a new battery and a charger with it, so that makes things a bit more comforting.

Yesterday we had school while we were staying in Larne, and I re packed my suitcase. It felt so good. Took me a while, but I got rid of a lot of things I didn't need and got organized. My friend is coming to visit, so I am sending a lot home so I don't have to pay baggage fees.

Tonight we are all staying in a hotel, and tomorrow we are talking the ferry to Scotland and then driving to England, we will be there until December. I'm really excited to go to a new country. Even though we have been there before, we didn't spend much time there.

Anyway, we are in between concerts here for this show, so we gotta entertain the kids for a while.

Talk to you soon!