School | Bulan Bahasa

For one month every academic year, SPH puts on an event called  Bulan Bahasa or the month of Indonesia. Focus is placed on Indonesia's culture and customs. This year, the junior school was invited to attend the culmination of the celebration! Students wore batik or any other traditional Indonesian outfit. We hosted a fashion show, complete with stage and music before joining in a school assembly.

Penang | Malaysia

Since visiting Penang earlier in the year, I have been dying to go back! Adrienne's birthday seemed like the perfect occasion so we headed out as soon as school was out for the weekend. We rented a motorbike and explored the nooks and crannies of the town. As there are heavy Chinese and Indian influences in Penang's culture, we investigated some local temples to learn more about the people.

We also found a delectable local treat that was a cross between a snow cone and a lollipop, with flavors like rose, lychee, and mango. It was the perfect way to cool off on a hot day. Yum!

Port Shepstone | South Africa

On the tail end of my trip, I headed further south to a town called Port Shepstone to see some of the amazing things that God is doing down there. What I saw was quite incredible. It truly was a body of Christ, working cohesively, to reach out to the community through a wide variety of avenues. Also, the local language, Zulu, is pretty cool. Here are some of the adorable kiddoes that I encountered in one after school outreach:

This last picture is of a student at an orphanage that I visited. He could tell I had entered the room before I had been announced! He is blind. He is also the age of my third graders last year. They are teaching him braille and even had a brailler for him. In this shot, he's reading some of his flash cards for me. He let me try out some of his flashcards and I could barely even feel that there were bumps so the fact that he could feel and read them was quite impressive to me.

Big Bend | Swaziland

My African road trip next took me thorough the small country of Swaziland. Approximately the size of Connecticut, Swaziland is a landlocked kingdom surrounded by South Africa and Mozambique. I didn't have time to do much aside from admire the gorgeous scenery as I passed through. Traditional grass huts littered the countryside, as well as a bounty of hitchikers. There were caution signs warning of everything from deer to ostriches crossing the road. I laughed out loud when I passed a "caution, warthog" sign but soon after, I did indeed almost run over Pumba in the road! If you happen to be passing through South Africa, I would highly recommend a side trip to Swaziland.

Kruger National Park | Mpumalanga | South Africa

Despite the dreary weather, we did actually see a variety of wildlife on our safari. Here's the rest of the spread: