Good-Byes and Hellos

Today - May 22 - we saw the second large contingent of students off to their flights home.  The semester's over and they are heading back to the USA - to family, friends and summer jobs.  Quiet tears were shed.  Big hugs were given.  By Sunday, all but one of the students will have left Port Elizabeth.

It seems surreal to be waving Good-bye and packing up the items our students leave behind for an entirely unknown group of Bennies and Johnnies who will come next year.  Didn’t we just unpack all this stuff? 

Jim and I arrived Port Elizabeth back on January 25.^th  It was sunny!  I remember that.   We smiled as we unpacked into our same, old familiar flat.  When we got hungry, we would take a break and run to Nando’s (a fast food Portuguese restaurant) for chicken with hot peri-peri sauce, followed by Magnum ice cream bars from the service station to eat on the walk home.  (You have to have both of these sometime in your lives!)  And through our window of Langerry Flats, we could hear the waves of the Indian Ocean and occasionally spot a school of dolphins playing amongst them.   

As we started making our way around our old haunts in PE, people remembered us!  We were greeted with big hugs and warm smiles everywhere we turned. 

Nuala and Jim

For example, there was Nuala Jansen.  When we were first here in 2012, Nuala was our lifeline - the first person we called - whenever we needed anything.  While no longer with NMMU, hers was one of the first friendly voices on the phone asking us: “Would we like to come over to her house for a braai?”  Of course we said yes.   She invited several people whom we knew.  Eugene, her husband, manned the meat and toasted cheese sandwiches on the outdoor braai.  Mona made stiff pap (maize meal cooked until quite firm) with spicy chakalaka on top.  Bev tossed the salad.

We sat and talked into the evening.  It was nice being able to say “Hello Again” and be warmly received.

Hi!  I'm Anga.

The first students arrived on Saturday, January 31.  And that very first night, as Joe Buysse sat in his room, a young man wearing a St. John’s sweatshirt walked right in, sat down, and said, “Hi.  I’m Anga!”   Joe didn’t recognize the face, but the name was famous.  Anga has been a friend of the St. John’s/St. Ben’s students each year since 2010.   He always seems to know the moment we land in town and shows up immediately.   This year was no exception.

Anga is a great resource as he introduces our students to safe places and his other South African friends.  One of these years, he’s going to outgrow us.  But, there’s a rumor that his younger brother is planning to become Anga, Junior --- carrying on the tradition maybe as soon as next year. 

There’s an old saying that you shouldn’t be sad to say ‘Good-bye’ as it would mean you were sad that you said ‘Hello.’   I don’t know about that, but I do know that we’ll always cherish the “Hellos” we received in Port Elizabeth.