Yes we are alive and well

We are settling in to our host family home which we will be staying in until mid-august. We have a very nice family- they are very modern in their ideas and very understanding of Americans. Writing letters has been a bit difficult… apparently the post office in the closest town (Piggs Peak) only sells stamps for local mail, and tends to be closed a lot. I think it will be easier to send letters when we are at our permanent site. We are learning the language slowly…it is hard to really get into it because most of the Swazi people also speak English. Our SiSwati instructor Themba is really cool, and he is a great teacher too. We miss everyone over there, and want you all to know we are doing great! A note to Donna: yes, they sweep their yards everyday. You were right on when you said it would be like coming to America a few generations ago.

Our nights consist of eating dinner and watching sopas, or soap operas. They are big into sopas here. We also watch the news out of South Africa. I think the hardest adjustment so far is trying to stay so clean. Swazis are very clean people! They wash at least once a day, and we are supposed to do laundry every day (we haven’t been able to do that yet). They also sweep and mop every day, and sweep the yard, to keep it a hard clay like consistency. This at first drove me mad, because I thought it was stupid, but now I see it serves several purposes- if it rains, it isn’t muddy, there are these giant ants that live underground, and it seems to keep them away, and it also deters rodents, bugs and snakes.

Our days consist of classes…technical, language, culture, and medical. Most days are long, and it gets dark at 6pm because we are up in the mountains and it is winter. I am really looking forward to longer days! We love you all, and I am going to wrap this up so we can go start a quest to find a non-stick skillet. Companies that produce skillets that stick should be out of business now, I can’t believe people still buy that crap!