Bright Stars and Furry Friends!

        Guys, it finally happened. Wednesday night at 8pm all the lights all over South Africa turned off. I had been waiting for this moment to happen on a clear night. Load shedding is a common thing in South Africa that happens so that the towers holding the power don't override because of all the electricity use. When load shedding happens there is always a notification with the time and date that it will happen and for how long, I stopped paying attention to it after the first couple of times it had happened. That didn't mean I wasn't waiting eagerly for this exact opportunity to see all the stars in the sky. As soon as the lights went out the sky lit up. I love stargazing, most nights I lay on my back on the wall in front of my homestay and looked up at the sky scanning the stars like I would the pages of a textbook. Here in Melkhoutfontein, I'm seeing a completely different side of the galaxy and I want to have it memorized by heart before I go home back to my side of the sky. I didn't have a picture of the night because I was frustrated by how my pictures couldn't capture the full extent of the night sky, so you'll just have to trust me when I say it was the most amazing thing to witness. 

My new favorite Mural!

        Speaking of stars, the Southern Cross mural was officially done, when we sealed it on Thursday. I hope now the painting can rest peacefully on the wall without any other disturbances. We also went to a new wall today which might now be my new favorite. The wall had a bunch of beautiful flowers, butterflies, and even turtles. The lady living in the house was happy to see us show up, which made me even happier to get the job done. She had a beautiful garden so it wasn't a surprise that she had requested all the flowers on the mural. Flowers are my favorite thing to create not just in art but also growing them and caring for them in the summer and springtime. Even though we were just sealing the wall it was still super fun. Painting is very therapeutic, and it's a plus to be outside soaking up the sun! 

Bonzo asking for pets and Stacy forgetting she's not a cat.

        I wanted to write an honorable mention to all my puppy friends. I made friends with Stacy (the golden one) in the second week of being in Melkhoutfontein. Stacy is a very friendly dog, she has made a lot of friends with the people of Melkhoutfontein, but you know you're her bestie if she follows you somewhere outside of our living division, and I am honored to be one of those people. Stacy is a protector, she will sit with me at night when I am on the phone with my family or friends, and make sure anyone who walks by that she is ready to attack if they come too close. Stacy is the definition of a Strong independent woman, she takes care of herself and makes sure her boyfriend - Bonzo; stays in line. Bonzo is a very mean dog he likes to growl at people who come too close to his yard and is known to bite strangers that come to visit. (Not harmful biting). Bonzo used to growl at me too, it was one night that he escaped from his yard and discovered me sitting outside, (we are next-door neighbors), he came over to me cautiously, I'm good at reading body language, and I know I'm the type of person that would convince myself I could be friends with a lion, but I also manage to have greater self-preservation skills. Bonzo, did not have any signs of aggression in his body, only fear, so I decided it was safe enough to call him over. He came immediately his tail suddenly wagging as he trotted forward plopping right into my lap. I let him sniff me before scratching his head and petting his soft fur. Bonzo is funny when he's not being mean, he likes to misbehave and play games. Sometimes I'm in charge of putting him back in the yard and bossing him around because I'm the only one he will listen to. My newest friend can't be more than a couple weeks old. I met him one day while I was outside playing with my friends and she brought out the tiny furball, I held him for hours watching him fall asleep and wake up. I miss my own dog very much, but I can see qualities of him through Stacy and Bonzo, and it's nice to be around parts of him, even if he's not physically here with me.