Settling In

Well, hopefully this post and the last one make it onto our blog tomorrow…we are planning a trip to manzini, and I really hope that we get on the internet tomorrow. I guess if you are reading, then my hopes have come true! Right now I am typing by candlelight, which is pretty funny. It’s not even candle light per se, but those old timey glass lanterns with paraffin inside, which I actually really like to eat dinner by.

Our community is wonderful…I will admit, it started a bit rough for me without electricity, but I am starting to really enjoy “the simple life”. Our family here is very kind and open, and they are really nice to talk to and help us with SiSwati.

The other day I had a truly “Peace Corps” experience. We got a call from our counterpart telling us to meet her at the community center. We didn’t know what for, and figured it would just be a meeting. When we arrived, however, there was a HUGE group of mothers (bomake) and children. Apparently today was child registration day for world vision, so all the children in this section of the community were there to get their physical and height/weight. We asked how we could help, and within minutes I was weighing and measuring kids. Reid was taken somewhere else, and when I went to take him water a few hours later, I realized he was helping take pictures of each child. The amuzing part of his assignment was that all the young babies are terrified of him because they have never seen a white man (it took us quite a while to get the Swazis to admit this was why they were afraid, because they are so polite). So the make would set her child down in front of him, and right before the camera flashed, when turned to look at him, they would just start screaming. Halarious.

Needless to say, we are settling in nicely, I have been nesting. We will try to get a little video of our place once it is all put together. If you are reading this, then that means that hopefully we were able to order our furniture in Manzini.

Well, we will try to post more often now that training is over. Trust me, we have been thinking of everyone…it is very difficult to leave everyone behind and know that you all are so far away. We think of you every day, and we miss you dearly. God bless.

P.S. I added some other entries that I have been storing on my flash drive waiting for internet, so make sure you don't miss them!