Day 7 Friday, June 14 - The Beach in Durban

From Evernote:

Day 7 Friday, June 14 -

While the bed was comfortable enough, the bright light outside our little rooms window gave me a restless nights sleep at best.  I got up early again, grabbed my camera and laptop and as quietly as I could so as not to wake Melissa, I went outside for some quiet time and some exploring.  The conference grounds sit on the top of a hill overlooking a valley of low lying hills.  Unfortunately, the morning mist and low trees at the edge of the grounds blocked my view of most of the valley.  The crisp morning air was filled with the sound of birds, from the low soothing caws of the Inkankan and the cooing of the doves to the high twittering of the finches and many songs in-between both exotic and familiar.

We drove down from our Hilltop conference rooms to the busy city of Durban.  Durban was settled by many Indians and so is an interesting mix of Zulu, Indian, British, and dutch influences.  We headed straight for the coastline and met up with Bongi, the fiancé of Pastor Thulani with whom we had just taught the Smart Choices program in the Mtunzini area.

There at the beach we wandered an outdoor mall and the street vendors who line the boardwalk selling their handcrafted beaded items, wood carvings, and usual "made-in-china" t-shirts and hats.  Shaded by tarps and tents of various materials and colors,women sat on the ground stringing beads with all their goods spread out on blankets around them.  Down at the sand, young men created intricate sand sculptures;  rhinos, water buffalo, a castle, a full-sized couch with a skeleton sitting on it.  A blanket spread on the sand collected change in appreciation of their artwork.  Along the boardwalk men dressed in Zulu costume called to passers by inviting them to take a ride in their elaborately decorated rickshaws or just take a photo, as long as you were willing to pay.  

Before heading to the casino where Bryan wanted to stop to get a chip for his collection, the casino kind not the fries kind, we stopped and had an ice cream at Milky Lane, a popular ice cream shop in South Africa and a favorite of Glynn's.  We ate lunch at the Casino and collected shells and sea glass on the beach, put Bongi on a bus back home, and went on to a BBQ at the home of John Tempelhof, the founder of Campus Crusades for Christ South Africa.  

John and his wife MaryJean live in a lovely home overlooking the valley and not far from our conference rooms.  We gathered for a wonderful BBQ dinner and fellowship with other Campus Crusades leaders including Jon and Margaret Jacobsen, the editors and developers of the Smart Choices program,  and a few local Zulu pastors who are planning to begin the program in their areas.  After dinner we sat together in a circle and shared what our team had been doing and Glynn shared specifically about how Beacon of Hope has been working and growing.  The Campus Crusades team was very impressed and plans are being made for some follow up meetings and coordination and collaboration.

Tired but oh so satisfied by the good food and marvelous fellowship we went back to our little rooms at koinania to pack up for our very early flight to Zimbabwe in the morning.  4am comes early no matter which continent you are on.