Chicago to Duke.
My last entry ended with me flying to Chicago. The
flight was great. Although since we flew in daylight the whole time I did not
manage to sleep at all. The scenery out of the window was incredible though!
We flew over both Greenland and Canada - I have never so much snow in all my
life!!!
Arriving in Chicago was
fantastic. O'Hare is truly all it is cracked up to be! Security at American
Airports is as tight as I was lead to believe. It took me about an hour and a
half to get through immigration, get my bags, get through security and make my
way by train to the local flight
terminal.
I waited around at O'Hare to
catch my connecting flight to Raleigh and the moved on to Durham. When I
arrived on Monday evening it was about 20h30 here in Durham. However, since I
had flown across a few time zones, and had awoken at 6 am on the same day in the
UK, I was exhausted. On my body's clock it was 3h30 AM... Needless to say I am
catching up on my jet lag sleep whenever I get a
chance.
On my first day (Tuesday) at
Duke, I was collected by Rev Tiffney Marley. She has been so incredibly
hospitable to me! In the morning she showed me around the awesome facilities of
Duke University and the Divinity school. The Duke Chapel is an awe inspiring
structure! The Divinity school has resources that I could never have imagined.
Thus far I have had the wonderful opportunity to be engaged in a few important
activities.
I attend daily chapel
services in York chapel (although today's service was held in the incredible
Duke Chapel). I meet with academic staff (I have met Dr Stanley Hauerwas, Dr
Wainwright, Dr Chapman, Dr Storey, Dr Crenshaw, Dr Warner, Dr Emily Davis, Dr
Katanga and the incredible Dr Willie Jennings). I have had the wonderful
privilege to sit in on a number of lectures and classes. Dr Storey gave an
incredible lecture on Peace and the local Church. I also had the wonderful
privilege of having dinner with Peter and Elizabeth, and two of their friends
Clay and Sarah, at their home last night. Dr Willie Jennings has also inspired
me with his views on culture and land in relation to the development of the
black Church in White American
Christianity.
In a few moments I will
be having lunch with Dean Jones, the Dean of the Divinity School, and his wife
Susan.
One other significant
encounter I have had here is with a visiting Pastor, Danny Wayman, from Houston
Texas. He came to meet Peter
Storey
Please forgive me if the above
is a bit skant and bland! I hope to have the time to sit in quiet and think not
only about the visits, but the significance and effects of these visits, in due
course. However, I find it necessary to record my experiences and thoughts
fairly quickly. Since I am a person who lives in the moment I very quickly
forget things unless I write them
down.
A final joy has been the fact
that I have wireless internet access at both Duke and Homestead Suites Hotel
where I am staying. This has meant that I have been able to have Skype chats
with Megie and Courtney daily (they normally phone me at about midnight Durham
time - which is about 6 am at home). I then try to phone them at about 7 or 8
am Durham time (which is either 1 or 2 PM at home in Pretoria). I also managed
to do an iChat Video conference with them yesterday for a few minutes. I cannot
use iChat at the Homestead Suites because they are behind a firewall. However,
at Duke I can. The problem is that I am so busy here that I am not able to get
to make the calls during reasonable hours to home. However, voice is such a
blessing! I remember a time when the only contact I had with Megie and Courtney
was via Cell phone text messages!
One
last note. Yesterday was the opening of John Wesley College after the Easter
Break. I must confess that I miss not being there! I love my job and teaching
and I pray that the students all arrived back safely and are sufficiently rested
to tackle the new term with energy and
commitment.
I hope to be able to write
a few things about my experiences with Ross Olivier in Jackson Mississippi over
the weekend on the journey back from Jackson. So, do check back early next
week!
It's all been said above.
Posted: Thu - March 31, 2005 at 11:59 AM