You can read the blog here.

You can watch the services (and other camp events) online here. I’m one of the MCs for the morning games so A) forgive me for not wearing make-up, B) I swear I didn’t make up these games, but C) I think they are hilarious.

On the spiritual side, I have great things to share with you in the near future. But not today. I’ll just say this, God has been great to us this week. Amen.

Here’s a quick “13 months until 30″ update. First of all, it’s now “12 months until 30″, but whatevs. Piano lessons are scheduled to begin next week. My friend Mary Katherine is going to help me sew the quilt. And as for the French, I have a KILLER idea, and I’ve sent some good emails, but we’ll see what happens. So, pretty much, here’s the truth of the situation- one month down, zero steps officially taken. Sorry ’bout it.

I’m pretty sure I have a working knowledge of English. Sorta.

So that leaves 199 for me to learn. Starting with French.

And here is why.

I tend to overshare. Hence the reason I have this blog. Hence the reason I didn’t get any work done yesterday at Frothy Monkey and instead just caught up with friends that were there. Hence the reason I sent upwards of 50 emails last night. Because HELLO MY NAME IS ANNIE AND I DO NOT RUN OUT OF THINGS TO SAY.

And Cape Town seriously challenged that. Because I don’t know Xhosa. In fact, I’ll be honest, I didn’t even know there was a language named Xhosa until I was preparing for this trip.

Once we got there, I got to hang out with some seriously cute kids. Like these dudes (from L to R: Eric, Logan, Ayanda, me, and Patrick).

Saturday afternoon of our kids camp, I watched Eric as he walked into the dining hall, sat down, and laid his head on the table. I walked over and put my hand on his back- just to say hey. He began to shake, weeping. If you are new to these here blog parts, you may not know that I used to be a teacher- in fact, 4th/5th grade boys were always my favs. So this moment seriously broke my heart.

I tried to ask him what was wrong. But his English was so limited; my Xhosa, surprisingly, also limited. So instead of helping this sweet dude, I had to get Wonga, one of the local college guys, to come take care of it. It ended up being fine, but the Wanna-be-a-Mama in me hated that I was unable to fix the situation myself.

The children’s church teachers, lovingly called “The Mamas”, helped in the kitchen a lot. Because I am a self-professed foodie, I thought it would be awesome to hang with them and learn from them as they cooked. I don’t know how much you know about apartheid [probably more than me], but it still affects the people of South Africa- especially (and probably only) the adults. And I could feel it.

I wanted so badly to show them how much I respected them, tell them that white girl was in the kitchen to learn, not to hover. [I don't know.... I'm trying to explain all this to you without ruffling any racial feathers. How do I say this?] I guess I just wanted to serve WITH them. And there were walls between us- not so much language, but deeper stuff. We had bonded pretty well by Sunday morning, but I would have given anything to show up and be able to ask questions about their recipes, ask how I could help, and communicate love and respect to them in their own language. I felt like I was unable to minister to the women as deeply as I wanted because I didn’t know Xhosa.

And I don’t want that to ever happen again.

Five days after leaving Cape Town, this is one of a short list of things I can identify from the trip that has changed me. [I'm sure more are to come... just give me some more time.]

So I’m starting with French. It seems useful and fun and I love crepes. [So, a very scientific decision, obviously.] I wish I could learn Xhosa, and maybe one day I will. But I really have no clue when I’ll get back to Cape Town, and a very small population speaks that language. So French makes more sense.

But Xhosa is on my list. Because even if just a few people worldwide speak it, the ones that do are pretty important to me now.

But there are some looming situations [one main looming situation] that we need to deal with.

I’m less than 400 days from being 30.

Approximately 13 months until 30.

[Hence the little graphic here- wherein my face is way more discouraged than I really am. I just thought that picture was funny. And, I mean, I paid for the headshots, I should find a way to use them all. Right?]

I’m not stressed about turning 30. 29 feels like it’s gonna be a bit weird [on July 7th- I heart my birthday], but 30 doesn’t make me sad. This isn’t one of those “I’m scared of the next phase of my life blah blah blah…..”

I promise.

I do have some serious goals I want to meet by the time I’m 30. It’s just a good round number to work with, so I picked it. There are three main things that I want to accomplish by July 7, 2010. [I mean, there are a few more... but these three are the ones I'm willing to blog about... at this point.]

Ready? Here we go.

#1. I want to learn to play the piano.

• I’ve been looking for a creative outlet/hobby for when I need a break from writing. So the search began for something that I could do in my free time that doesn’t involve words or my computer. In the past few months, said outlet has been television. What. A. Waste. So I decided to learn to play the piano. I found a rather inexpensive teacher, I have a keyboard from high school, so I start lessons soon. Hilarious, right?

#2. I want to sew a blanket.

• I purchased a beautiful large piece of fabric in South Africa. And I want to turn it into a blanket- which involves using a sewing machine to sew together the fabric, batting, and a back. So my goal is to make this blanket and gain a working knowledge of how to use a sewing machine.

#3. I want to be fluent in French.

• Okay, I agree. A bit lofty. So let’s just say I want to be on my way to fluent. The actual goal is to learn every language on Earth. [I'm going to blog about that tomorrow.] But I’m going to start with French. I figure it will be beneficial in Canada, Europe, and Western Africa. This is the only goal that I don’t really have a plan for yet, but I will.

So here’s what I’m going to do. Every month, on/near the 30th, I’m going to update you on my goals. Hopefully by June 30th, I will have had a piano lesson… and I will have some idea of how to learn French.

And it will be 12 months until 30.

Weird.