Football and Smiles

Hi all,

I have some free time at the moment so I thought I would try to give you more of an update. Actually, I should be doing my teaching plan right now but I need a break from working.

South Africa is fascinating but way too cold for me right now. It is winter here and usually around 55 degrees or warmer when the sun is out. I know it's not that cold but I much prefer weather in the 80s or 90s. It is interesting to be in a country that is in the process of having everything, including mindsets, restructured. Apartheid just ended 15 years ago which is really not very long. Although it is no longer legal, the daily reality for people still reflects a strong division of races. South Africa is separated into white, coloured, and black when it comes to people. During apartheid your quality of life was very much determined by your race with the whites having the best and the others getting the leftovers. The coloured are basically people who have a mixture of white and black blood plus some Indian blood. They were treated better than blacks but not as good as whites. From what I have seen there has been a lot of progress but it will be a ways to go before these attitudes are restored back to the truth.

There is something God has shown me about myself in the few weeks I have been here that is really cool. I was thinking that people here on the base were really friendly because they were always smiling. But then a few different people made comments to me about how I was always smiling and one guy told me that my face was full of laughter.To add to it the first teacher we had was a wonderfully smart woman named Minette. She would say these things in class about Africa that resonated with me and apparently every time she did I would smile because she started stopping and saying "there's that smile again." One time she said "Oh Johanna, you have such a beautifully expressive face." Finally one afternoon it hit me and I realized that all those smiling people were smiling back at me because I was smiling. My face was expressing joy. I don't know if I can explain to you all how profound it was for me to realize this. Not all of you have known me very well for the past ten years but I had depression for a while when I was younger and I never smiled. I mean seriously my face had almost no expression for such a long time because I didn't have any joy. So for me to see this difference in myself I am essentially seeing a part of me that God has restored back to what he originally intended me to be. He's the reason I smile so much now and I love that other people can see it.

I could use some prayer for this weekend. I have my first test tomorrow and it might be up to 3 hours long. It's practical and theory. Another thing you might want to pray for is this Sunday. The girls in my school and I have arranged a football (soccer for the Americans) match Sunday afternoon between our school and the girls in the English Language School here on base. It'll be fun but unfortunately for us most of the girls in ELS are from Brazil. So basically we are setting ourselves up for a football match against Brazilians which I think means we are either really courageous or just plain dumb. Hopefully I survive to write to you all again!

Isimbi Johanna