South Africa Trip: Pizzeria (day 5)

Whew, I can't believe I have been here for 5 days already. Its quite amazing. Nothing really interesting has happened today, so I am going to just give a little in site and stuff about what I have learned and observed so far.

So, when I was getting ready for this trip, I was trying to think what the place would be like. I thought, not that technology advanced, and not to advanced in general. Well, I was really wrong. Actually, they are a bit more advanced then us in some ways. 3g networks and wireless internet offed on a 3g network any where were cell service is available is new to the USA, and not as advanced. Where as in here, it is quite advanced and used by all most everyone and home internet (like charter, at&t, and newnan utilities) is used very little. Its quite convenient for when you are on the road, but the speeds aren't as fast as a home network. Everyone has a phone here, and every SMS's (text messages, they call it SMS here though). The young kids use it, the teens use it, the adults use it, and the even older generation uses it. In the USA, very few seniors use it, not that many adults, most the teens, and very few kids. So in the US its mainly the teens and working adults that require it. Where as here, its everyone. Again, don't let me make this place sound perfect, cause you can drive just a few miles down the road and find people who have 2 pairs of cloths, work on a farm to be able to stay in a maids corder's which is the size of a guest bathroom, and have no car. Its terrible, and a lot of people just over look them and do nothing about the problem. Its quite sad. On Wednesday I will be heading to a place called freedom park which is where a lot the poor community is. These people are from south africa or other countries and they went there to work in the mines. Now I am sure you are thinking "oh, they got a job, very good, that means they have a source of income" Well they probably get paid 1 to 2 rand a day, and it takes 8 rand to equal 1 US dollar, so you tell me if you are still thinking the same thing. (side note, the service here in South Africa SUCKS. I am at a Pizzeria and it has free wi-fi. I just asked for another sprite 5 minutes ago, and I still haven't gotten it...sigh) Anyways, back to freedom Park. So we will be going there on Wednesday and we will be feeding them as well as praying for them. Just to throw this out there, I can tell you as many stories and show you as many pictures and videos as I can, but in all honestly, as much as you think you will know about how this place is, you wont truly know how it is until you come here and experience and see it all for your self. Now, you still get a general idea of how it is, but my sister would always tell me about these things, and I never imagined them to be as bad as I have seen. The worst part is, liquor stores open up near these poor villages and then the poor people think "oh, the only way I can feel better is if I am drunk and can't think about it, but in all honesty, we all know it is not that way. Drinking to feel better is like using a air freshener to cover up a smell. (I am referring to a commercial here). There is a commercial back in the states that claims this. "regular air cleaners only cover the smell, but the smell is still there, where as ours eliminates the smell at the root." Its the same way in this situation. Drinking Alcohol only covers up the problem, but it is still there, where as asking God to help and take care of the problem eliminates it from the roots. (side note again, I just got my soda, its been a total of 10 minutes...GAHHHH). So anyways, its truly amazing what happens here. And as much as there are people here to help solve the problem, there are double the amount here to help support the problem. So its really a no win situation for them.

I think I have done my rant for the day. I am quite tired of writing now. I am going to add some more pictures from the first day, so enjoy.
love,
simon