Tuesday, July 22, 2008

"Dumela" from Africa!

Hi everybody! I just heard from Makayla's mom today--Makayla called home this morning. Here's what she said:

Everything's still great! Makayla's in a small town (about half the size of Byron Center) in a providence in the norther part of South Africa, not too far from Zimbabwe. She was with her group of 7 PCTs (which I think means Peace Corps Trainees) and they had been practicing taking a taxi downtown using the local language, which is Sepedi. She's living with a host family that has 6 brothers and sisters, 2 gardens, 2 trucks, a real bath tub, and... cable! The host family also has several animals, including roosters (which keep Makayla up all night because they're noisy) and a dog that just had puppies. Being an animal lover, Makayla says that it's very difficult to not pet and cuddle the puppies, because they are not pets, but work animals. They are there to guard the home. She does have one pet, though... a spider living in her closet. She's named it "Bob." We didn't ask how big it was! Haha. Anyway, she'll live there until September 14, when she graduates from the training portion of her Peace Corps experience.

Makayla's African name is Leratŏ, which means "love." Right now she has a calling card and she won't have a cell phone until after training. There is an internet cafe downtown, but the connection is very slow, so she's opting to make phone calls.

2 people have already gone home, but Makayla was not informed why. She's definately not heading in the home direction yet, because she loves what she's doing... she was even able to get her soccer ball out and kick it around with some of the kids.

One think Makayla has requested is for people to send her letters! Several people are getting mail, but she hasn't received any... her address is:

Makayla Gusching, PCT
PO Box 9536
Pretoria 0001
South Africa

We're not sure how much the postage is yet, but will find out this weekend. For now, if you send her one, just bring it to the post office and ask them how much postage is.

Don't forget to say hello to her and give her some support, let her know what's going on in your life, too! "Dumela" is the word for "Hello" in Sepedi. :)

Peace Out!~Makayla, via Andrea

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Makayla is officially in South Africa!

Hi to all of Makayla's friends! I'm Andrea, and I'll be updating Makayla's blogs for the time she's acclamating to South Africa.

Makayla called her parents this morning (Wednesday) to say that she has arrived in South Africa and everything is fine. It is beautiful there! The day-time temps are in the 70's and it's cooler at night. The Peace Corps is taking very good care of all of the new volunteers, so she's happy and excited to be there.

Makayla was given the "Team Leader" title in D.C. (not sure if it carries over to Africa) and she's taking the lead of about 11 people.
Overall, she's doing great, which is wonderful to hear!

Peace Out
~Makayla via Andrea

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Staging (and stuff)

Hello all,

Well this will be the last post for awhile because in 24 hours I will be heading to the airport to leave for South Africa! First, I want to say thank you very much for all of your gifts, support, and prayers. It was amazing to me to be able to feel the support at the party on Friday.
I LOVE YOU ALL VERY MUCH AND WILL MISS YOU!

As for staging, I arrived in DC around 10am on the 12th and other than tears saying good bye to mom, dad, chuck and Andrea and the tears on the plane as I flew away from my home it has been very exciting. When I was getting ready to check-in in GR this man asked me where I was going because of all of my stuff and the obvious tears, when I told him Peace Corps South Africa he said to me, "you inspire me, that is part of our jobs as humans to inspire each other and you inspire me." this man has no idea what he did for me by saying that....it changed my mind set and attitude from "look what I am leaving" to "look what I am about to do!"

Once we got to the hotel we (Haley another volunteer I met in Cleavland on my layover) went for a walk and got some lunch. Then came back checked into our rooms and headed for the registration portion. Followed by paperwork, paperwork, passport signing, and a little more paperwork we began the trainings. I met all of the other volunteers, there are 44 of us total, and dove right in. The group of people are very diverse in all aspects offering experience from all over the world, and all walks of life. It is sooooooo nice to be around people who have the same anxieties, aspirations, and questions as I do. It truly is a great bunch of people and is soo nice be around others. I truly feel blessed to be apart of this great organization and this amazing bunch of people.

Tomorrow we are off to the clinic to get shots and then head out for Jo'burg. Our flight leaves around 5:30 tomorrow evening. The next point of contact will not be for a few days and will probably be written by someone else.


Love and Thanks,


MaKayla

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Saying Goodbye...A final trip

So this is being written from a Super 8 motel in Nashville, TN. Random, I know but there is a reason for it which I will get to in a min.

Due to reasons beyond my control I was forced to say goodbye to my two beautiful nephews earlier than I was expecting (and prepared for). Brayden is 4 going on 5; we have an amazing relationship and I knew that saying goodbye to him would be very difficult, but I was not expecting it to be this hard. I spent two fun filled days with him and his baby brother, Emerson. We went to the movies, the zoo, shopping, and dinner. I had an amazing time with them but when it came time to say goodbye I just didn't want to. Knowing that when I come home Brayden would be in 1st grade and Emerson would almost be 4. They both were cuddly and I got lots and lots of love from them. When we get ready to leave Emerson gives me one final hug and smile and that is that (He is only 17 months). When it came time to say goodbye to Brayden I picked him up and he gave me the biggest hug ever and I felt myself swelling with tears. The hug lasted a while until I couldn't take it any longer and put him down and walked away. I was left with the song he was singing to me the previous day about me going to Africa. When we went shopping I bought him one of those blow up globes and showed him where I was going to be and where he would be and he said, "Auntie Kayla, can I walk there?" While the goodbyes were earlier than expected they were excellent and I truly love and will miss them both.

Okay, now to why I am in Nashville. Due to the same circumstances about why I said goodbye to my nephews, my brother and I took an impromptu trip to Nashville. He is an amazing and aspiring singer/songwriter (check out www.myspace.com/douglassstreet). We came down here so he could go to a workshop at ASCAP. This is his second trip here and the first one went well, so the hopes are high that this trip will go as well if not better. I immediately fell in love with this town. It is amazing, between the people, the place, and the atmosphere there is sooooo much to do and see.

on a final note, WAHOOO! just a few more days left.

love ya'll