Beaded Giraffe

Sometimes we eat at the Guava . this is a picture of a beaded giraffe that the women were making to sell. They say it takes 3 women 4 weeks to complete just one giraffe. Wow!

Swazi ice skating

This is too cute! The children at my carepoint discovered that the veranda floor had recently been polished, leaving it very slippery. So they were running and sliding like an ice skating rink. The little ones were lying on their tummies and sliding about as well. they were laughing and playing for hours.

A de-shelled punkin

okay here's the pic that should have gone with the post, Good girl gone bad.
Isn't she cute? Dirty, but cute. She got rained on here, and had her window open. So now she's smelly too.
I'll febreeze her this weekend.

Hand in Hand

I just thought this was a cool picture. It was taken last December at Mlilwane game park with my graduates.

Surprises!

I love surprises!
I got a care package from my home church. It had a box of brownies inside, as well as cd's I'd ordered for myself, but had forgotten.
It also had cards, and prizes for my care point. (it also had an i-pod from a donor, but I already knew it, so it wasn't a surprise. But still very cool.)
Then I got a substantial donation that was unexpected. (Much needed right now)
Then Mary has returned from her trip to the states, bringing fabulous lip-gloss from Kristen, and pudding and microwave popcorn from Sarah!
You have no idea how blessed I feel.

Relationships

Look what I saw today.
1 Samuel 3:7 Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before.
I thought that was interesting.
Samuel had been living in the tabernacle since he was weaned. He was being raised in that setting day in and day out. His guardian was the priest, Eli.
He assisted in the tabernacle, and lived right.
People liked him, and God thought he was doing a good job (2:26)
But he did not yet know the Lord
I makes me think about people today.
How many have been raised in the church, by role-model parents (maybe even a pastor), and go through the motions of church, and live right, and do good things in God’s eyes, but still don’t know the Lord.
It’s all about relationship.
Are you trying to build a relationship with Him? I guarantee he’s trying to build one with you.

cool stuff

Press stick, or Bostick as it is often called, is the African version of Duct Tape- it can fix anything! I have found that having a package of press stick in an African home is more valuable in the long run then, say, food or electricity.
We have it in the states, but it not as widely praised. But here, it is essential.
I’ve used it to fix broken picture frames.
I’ve used it to hang pictures on my stone walls (can’t use a nail too easily)
This morning I had a very annoying problem, and once again Press stick came to the rescue.
I have a “phone” that attaches to the outside gate. So when I guest arrives they press the button and it rings, and then I can verify who it is and buzz them through. Well, something is wrong, and even with the phone hung up, I can hear this horrible feed-back ringing sound coming from the earpiece into my chippie cottage.
Agh! And it’s never ending! Even with my hearing difficulties I can hear it non stop!
So what did I do? That’s right, plug it up with press stick.
Ahhhhh! Sweet relief!
Thank you press stick inventor, for your wonderful product.

Crime and punishment

When a crime is not punished, people feel it is safe to do wrong. Ecclesiastes 8:11
You know that’s the truth. Have you ever done something you knew was wrong, but not received a consequence for it? You kinda think that you got away with it huh? But look at what I saw in Genesis:
Jacob then traveled on and camped beyond the tower of Eder. While he was there Reuben slept with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and someone told Jacob about it… Genesis 35:21
That seems a random phrase to put in there, since it was never addressed again…until Jacob’s death.
14 chapters, and at least 40 years later by my count, Jacob lies dying and begins to proclaim each inheritance for each of his 12 sons.
“Reuben, you are my oldest son, the child of my vigorous youth.
You are first on the list in rank and honor.
But you are as unruly as the waves of the sea,
and you will be first no longer.
For you slept with one of my wives;
you dishonored me in my own bed.” Genesis 49:3
Yikes! Can you imagine loosing your rights as first born because of something you did back in the ‘70’s?!!!! Man, that’s tough. The past will always come back to bite you.

how much?

okay I bought a scale after the holidays because I was feeling fat.
This is how much I weigh in Kg. Now I did the math and found out how much I weigh in pounds, and yes, I am in fact fat. However seeing it in KG, I don't feel as fat. I kinda feel like I lost weight. :0)

a good girl gone bad

Shame.
It’s another story like you’ve heard so many times before. A girl gets some kind of “make over,” she starts getting lots of new attention, and before you know it, she’s gone buck wild.
It happens here too. Take a look at this picture of my punkin:(sorry I've tried for days and it will not load. Just imagine my pretty girl)
She had her canopy taken off last week, and she looks like a whole new truck. She’s so beautiful. I told her as much, but so did a lot of others.
“Oh! That’s your truck? I didn’t even recognize her! Wow she looks great.”
It all went to her head.
Last week I spent a week in Bulimbu. It’s quite a drive out in the rual area. You need to take about 20 Km or dirt road. And by the time I returned, it had been raining for 4 days and the mountain roads were impassable.
All along the way you could see where cars, work trucks, even ambulances had been stuck in the mud.
Well, I saw a whole new side of Punkin! The girl got crazy with her new attitude!
Wheels locked into place, 4 wheel drive engaged, low gear all the way.
Mud was flyin’, passengers bouncing all over the place, fish tailin’; up one mountain road and down another.
I couldn’t believe my baby would do such a thing. She got home covered in mud, wheels caked, windshield smeared,- dirty little thing. Shame.
What am I gonna do with her?

Go white girl, go white girl, go!

What do you do when the power goes out and you can’t have the movie night that you had planned? Here in Swaziland you do each other’s hair by candle light. Yes, this is me at the teacher’s retreat in cornrows.
Go ahead you are free to laugh. I know I look ridiculous
If only I had my brown bikini I’d look just like Bo Derek.
You know Londiwe did a great job, and if I was black I’d look fine. But I’m a mlungu,- I just can’t pull it off.
But wait it gets better… check out my hair when I took them out!
Ha.




Christy’s hair, circa 1987, the year of the crimping iron. Yeah that’s pretty much how I looked through all of 5th grade.

topsy-turvy

I'm back from the teacher's retreat. It went well inspite of minor inconviences, such as no electricty, no hot water, and lots and lots of rain.
But I feel the teachers learned what they were suppose to learn, heard what they were suppose to hear, and experience what was meant for them.
I left very content
But today I am exhauseted. I am drained, and I never want to see another person, at least for a year.
I just want to pack up my things, get a ticket and go home.
I know I get like this when I'm tired. Like I toddler I get overemotional and extreme when I'm sleep deprived.
But today I just want to come home.

I'm smiling

I have a good friend here who just found she is pregnant. I’m so excited I can’t stand it. I have a few close friends who have had children, but they have always been so far away during their pregnancies. I’d see them once or twice, get some photos, and then the baby would be born. But I will be here in Africa with her during the entire pregnancy! Oh I’m so thrilled! A baby! A baby!

“I went to the doctor 4 months ago for this,- these sores here on my leg. He told to me that I am positive. Eish! I didn’t know what to do, what to say. I just go to my home, and the children were all talking. I said to them I was tired, I had a headache, I must to go lay down. But I didn’t sleep, I just thought in my head.
I told my pastor, and he said I must not be afraid. He said I had to make a choice: If I wanted to live or not. My friend went and got me the tablets. She said I must take the tablets. But…I dunno. I’m scared. I don’t want to accept this thing. It’s hard to accept. So I just have the tablets here. But I haven’t taken them yet.
I see the people at the hospitals who are on the tablets. Eish! They are weak, they are thin, thier skin is so black. So I say to my friend, ‘what must I do?’ She says to me that I must eat a lot, so I will become fat, that I won’t be so thin. So I’m eating much now.
But I have not told anyone Christy, just you. My pastor and my friend here, but now just you.”
The average American with HIV will live 11 years beyond their diagnosis. Here in Swaziland…6 months. Even though Swaziland has the highest HIV rate in the world (40% confirmed,-70% estimated) there is still so much stigma attached, family pressure, emotional burden, and sense of hopelessness.
Please pray for my friend here, that she makes the right choices, and will begin the ARVs that will help to keep her strong and healthy.

please pray

hey all, just a quick note before I head off to Maloloja for our teacher's retreat. This has been my assignment since I arrives, so I'm nervouse and excited and scared all at the same time. I just want it to go well.
We've been learning about offenses for months now and I think my teachers understand that part now. Now the finishing part, that we are studying over the retreat is about forgiveness. This will be big for them , if they get it. I mean really get it. Some of these teachers have had huge obsticles in their lives, major abuses, and rejection and neglect. I see how much it hinders the life that Christ intends for them to have. In addition, once they fully understand it for themselves, then they can pass on the knowledge and understanding to the children they work with.
Please pray that "those with eyes will see, and those with ears will hear." I want so much for them to be set free from the chains of bitterness. I think many hearts have been prepared, and now they simply need to be taught. (that's my role) Pray for me as well, my ability to teach with clarity and cultural understanding.
Overall pray that things go smoothly with the accomodations and activities ect....Just pray okay!!!!!!!
I hope to have lots of awesome things to report on thursday!

Quantum Physics can kiss my toe!

I did it!
On New Years Eve the clock struck midnight! I called Heidi on my cell phone in Oregon. It was only 2pm there.
Don't you see?!!!!!!
I was in 2008 and I was calling her way back in 2007.
I called back in time!!!!!!
I did it!
I'm a genius!!!!!!