Update continued...

So! After a week in beautiful England, I jumped on my next plane from Luton Airport to Johannesburg, South Africa via Tel Aviv, Israel. I had quite the experience with security at Luton airport. They were suspicious that someone in Europe may have put stuff in my bags so I was under their constant watch. Once I got up to my gate before boarding, they actually took me to the "back room" that you only see in the movies. There, they took my carry on and shoes into another room where they ran tests on my belongings. The curtain was open but once they noticed I was watching them, they closed it. There was another man in the back room with me from Durban, South Africa who had spent two years on a work visa in London England and was just moving back. We became buddies and spent our lay over in Tel Aviv together. We bought McDonald's there and somehow I got reprimanded for eating chicken in a "non-chicken" zone, according to the security guard. I wasn't going to argue so I moved a few feet away to the "right" side of the eating area :S

Michael Rea, a good friend of mine picked me up in Johannesburg and so began my 4 week long adventure in South Africa! I felt out of my element with the cultural differences but I had him and many other friends from the Soweto Marimba Youth League to hang out with and show me things.

I spent two and a half weeks volunteering at Cotland's AIDS orphanage and I must say, it was the most humbling experience of my entire life. I made some great friends from all around the world (Holland, Germany, Scotland, Australia) and fell in love with all the kids. At the end of the two weeks, there were two children I had really bonded with that I really wanted to bring back to Canada with me and give them a great home. I hope that they get adopted one day and have a nice mommy and daddy that they've been dreaming about.

Anna and I. Love her to pieces! She reminds me of Boo from Monster's Inc. Too cute :)

Here are the kids practicing at a local park. I spent a lot of time watching them practicing and performing for different communities.

Left: This little guy (not sure of his name) is a neighbour of Portia and Alice who are both members of the SMYLe team and twin sisters.

Below: One of the SMYLe team member's grandma hangin out in the shade.

Above: Three of the teenagers in this photo are members of the SMYLe team and belong to this household of 9 children! The oldest daughter is standing in the doorway, and the youngest is in the arms of his mom.

    Below: The next three shots are photos I took while walking around Dobsonville, South Africa. Unlike in North America, when you walk the streets of South Africa with a camera, the locals ask you to take photos of them. It was great!

Above and Left: My South African Family <3