Teacher's Braii

Last week we had a teacher workshop and a teacher braii with the American team from celebration church. The teachers really enjoyed it, and had a good time. Here are some pictures of the make-and-takes they did, as well as everyone’s favorite game, Chubby Bunny.
sorry. Some pics refuse to post.
I'll try later

It's not about me, Part 1

There is a woman here, who just moved to Swaziland. She’s living on a homestead, washing her clothes by hand, and sometimes days go by where she doesn’t hear English. Wow! And while she says she’s okay with the “roughing it” I know she’s struggling with being here and all of the changes. The Lord puts her on my heart often to pray for her and last week he told me to bless her with things for her house.
“Great idea Lord” I quickly went to my give away box and found some things I’d been meaning to get rid of. “ Hmmm, I have two these, maybe she’d like one…..this was given to me, but I don’t really need it…oh I don’t really like these, maybe she’s like to have them…”
Well then I thought I heard from Him again, but He must have mumbled. It sounded like he said to give her my two new lamps that I bought in Durban last weekend.
Oh but no, that couldn’t be Him. After all, I paid a lot of money for those lamps, and He wouldn’t just want me to waste my money like that. They were so new I didn’t even have light bulbs for them yet.
And I really needed those lamps for my nightstands. My bedroom is so dark after the sun goes down, -doesn’t the Lord want me to read my Bible at night to be real Holy and stuff? So no, that couldn’t have been Him.
But I kept having that feeling all week. I said to Susan, “I think I’m supposed to give C- something,” careful not to say what, in case she decided to hold me accountable.
“Oh, well she won’t be at bible study this week.”
Aha! I knew it! Those lamps are for me!
Just to prove that they were mine, I went to buy light bulbs (You’ve already read how well that went…maybe I should have gotten a clue.) and set my heart of giving this woman a duvet and an extra set of measuring spoons.
So with my light bulbs in hand (being extra careful not to break because they are so fragile) I went to my loft determined to use my lamps. Mine mine mine. These bulbs you push down and then twist the prongs into the groves of the lamp.
Push and twist.
Didn’t work.
Push harder. Nope.
Push harder.
“It’s going to break in your hand Christy. Stop now. ”
“No it’s fine, I can get it.” I put my spiritual fingers in my ears and sang “la, la, la, I can’t hear you.”
Pushandtwistpushandtwistpushandtwist.
“I’m trying to protect you Christy. If you push any harder, it will break and cut your hand. Stop now. These are not your lamps.”
“No! I want to use my lamps… I’ll… I’ll…” (Then I had the light bulb moment, -no pun intended.) “… I’ll take off my sweat jacket and wrap the sleeve around the bulb, so if it breaks, it won’t cut me! Yes, I’ll do that and make it work. I want to use my lamps.”
“Listen to yourself, Christy…”
I realized I’d gone stark raving mad. I was so determined to keep and use these stupid lamps I was thinking up ways to get around what the Lord was trying to warn me would inevitably happen in my disobedience.
I did my huffy voice at Him, “Fine! I’ll give her the lamps!”
I went down stairs to SMS C- to let her know I had something for her. I was pretty sure that if I did that “act of obedience” He’d at least let me use the lamps until I saw her in two weeks.
Instead she invited me to meet for lunch.
“Lord,” still in huffy voice, “I don’t get you… now I’m just going to have to go and buy new lamps, when I’ve already bought two perfectly good lamps. That’s just dumb.”
Well, that got me thinking… What did the Lord plan to do with all of this?
Hmmmm….. Maybe I’ll give her these lamps, and she’ll bust out in joyful tears and gush out she’s been praying for two adorable lamps for weeks and just fall all over herself…or, better yet, maybe this is an Abraham and Isaac thing where, I just have to be willing to give them up, and then she will say “No thank you I already have two super-cute lamps” and I’d get to keep them! Yes!
So this morning as I got prepared to meet her, I was kinda excited about the whole thing. We met, had a nice visit, ate lunch, and then went to my truck.
I gave her the lamps (good-bye my babies), and she responded with a normal amount of gratitude. “Oh wow! Thanks, these are nice.”
Bummer. No lamp keeping, no gushing, just two less lamps.
So what’s the lesson I’ve learned from this?
The same one I’ve been learning the past 4 years.
It’s not about me.
God’s main purpose in life is not to make me fat and happy.
It’s not about me.
I’m called to be obeidient, and if that means denying self, then so be it.
It’s not about me.
Life is not about living for me, it’s about living for Him.
It’s not about me.
...Please stay tuned for Part 2, which happened minutes after writing this...

I love this picture

Owwwwwwww!

Do you see what I did?!!!! I was curling my eyelashes and my arm spasmed. I sat there in horrified shock when I saw lots and lots of eyelashes remaining behind! I ran to the mirror for closer inspection. Yes, the outer lashes were fine, but the inner lashes have been thinned out! Owwwww! I actually have a bald spot on my lash line.

This weekend

The Swazi times were advertising a movie! The Simpsons Movie was being shown at the Royal Swazi convention center. Now considering Swaziland doesn’t have a movie theater, I was very excited about this. I don’t know if I would have paid to see this in the states, but here, I’ll take what I can get.
At the Bargain price of $25E, I hurried to make plans with my friend, British Emma. (Okay… her name is just Emma, but British Emma describes her accented charm.)
Now I must say I was open minded to the whole Swazi movie experience. I didn’t know what to expect. Would it be a proper movie, or one of those pirated DVD that they sell on the street? Would it be on a real screen, or would it be on a laptop with a projector? Would we all be sitting in folding chairs? Would the Swazi’s insist on answering their cell phones, as they do in every other setting?
We arrived at the convention center a few minute before the advertised starting time (remember nothing start on time here.) It was a nice auditorium and they were selling chips and cans of soda. We picked out very plush cozy seats and they even had the little desktops that fold out in front of you to set your goodies (imagine a much nicer college lecture desk.)
We waited another 20 minutes before it began as lots of anxious movie goers filed in.
“Ah…..I think we’re the only adults here, mate”
I looked around and she was right. The room was filled with children! Oh no!
Now, being it was in Ezulwini, (where the rich people seem to live) most of these children were not Swazi. They were American, British, White South African, Nigerian, etc. And being from better off families, I can only assume they have satellite tv, and are familiar with the TV show. What were the parents doing sending their children to see the Simpsons?!!!!!!!!
I sat there cringing through the whole movie, thinking, “What are these kids thinking about all of this strangling, and ugly talk. They obviously missed all of the adult humor, all of the jabs at American politics,- in fact they only laughed at Homer being hit in the face with a tree, and Bart being naked.
To top it off, the family in front of us had an adorable toddler who was much too active to sit still through the whole movie. They just let her go walking up and down the isle. At one point I coaxed her into my row and held her on my lap for the rest of the movie. When the lights came back up they casually looked around for her. They just smiled and laughed when they saw her on the white lady’s lap. “Awwww. Isn’t that cute?” But then again, I guess in a culture where people are trying to get rid of their kids, there’s no threat of kidnapping is there? No one wants an extra one.
But overall I was happy to see a movie, even if it did get my maternal instinct all up in a dander.
PS Craig- the Simpsons spent part of the time in Alaska. Homer promoted it as, “Alaska, where you can never be too fat or too drunk. And no one ever asks to see your ‘High school equivelant exam.’” And it looked very cold… I don’t think I can come and visit you now.

Culture shock part 2

Grrrr!
I was trying to have a good day.
But it's the culture shock!
I'm so tired that nothing is familiar, and nothing is normal, and everything is a new learning experience.
Everything.
I had to get 2 items,- batteries and light bulbs. I thought "How hard could it be?"
(If you've ever been to Africa you are already laughing. You know where this is going...)
I told myself, "Christy, you can do this. It will be fine. Just go to Clicks, you know that store. It will be easy."
So I park Punkin in the parking garage (that's my truck's name) and go to Clicks.
I go to the batteries.
I call my teacher Mary on my cell, "What size did you need?"
"R20ppj..."
"...What?...is that a size?..."
AA, AAA, 9volt, C, D... what size is R20ppj?
I looked and looked until I figured out it is D.
Fine.
I asked a man for light bulbs.
Blank stare.
"Light bulbs?...maybe I'm not saying it right... to go into a lamp?"
"Oh yes, this way."
He took me to the photo albums.
"No. No. Light bulbs. For a lamp. (miming screwing a light bulb in.)"
"Huh?...li- buh?"
"LIIIIIIIT Bullllb. LIIIIIIIIIT Bullllb."
"Oh!" he took me to the bulbs (they are called globes here.)
To my dismay they are different too. Yes they have 60 watts, but some you screw in, and some you push onto prongs, and I had no idea what my new lamps took.
Sigh, I left without a li buh.
I went back to my garage and found my punkin with a clamp.
What?
I called the # given, and they sent a (swazi) security guard who told me I would have to pay a fine. Go figure. I was fighting back tears, when the (south african) manager arrived.
"Why is it on my car? What did I do?"
"This spot is reserved... Do you see where it says 'African Alliance'?"
I had seen the sign, but didnt' know what it meant. I don't exactly know who the African Alliance is, but appearantly, I'm not part of it."
I just gave up and let the tears flow, "But I didn't know..."
The manager was very understanding and just let me off with a warning. (Don't judge me. I swear I've never cried my way out of anything before.) He told the guard to un-boot Punkin and let me go without a fee, and left.
"Thank you, thank you I appreciate it" I said to the guard.
I guess expecting a "you're welcome" or "pleasure" was asking a bit much.
"Can you go and buy me a drink now?" He asked.
ARE YOU FLIPPIN' KIDDIN' ME?!!!!!!
I was irrate!
Tears gone.
Stone faced.
"No."
I got in my car and drove off.
GRRRRRRRR.

My diagnosis

The results are in...I'm officially in culture shock.
I don't know what I thought culture shock was, but I didn't think it was this. I thought it would happen right away...but I've been doing so well.
That's what everyone says..."christy, you're doing so well."
Apearently the joke is, everyone thinks they are immune to it, and no one ever is.
But Monday it hit in full force. I awoke fighting back tears as I realized I have everyone and everything Swazi,- simply because it's all wrong. They're all backwards!
I went to Bible study where all of the women have lived overseas, and tried to vent my frustration: How am I suppose to love, serve, and minister to these people when I can't stand them!
"How long have you been here?" They asked
About 10 weeks.
They all busted out laughing! "Yup! it's culture shock. I remember that. It happened about the same time, and then again at 6 months. But it will be okay"
What I liked best was that they all assured me that when it passes I will find I have such a love for the people again.
Good. I will look forward to that.
I went to my carepoint and saw some kids I haven't seen in 3 weeks. they ran up to me shouting, "Auntie! Auntie!" They hugged me and held my hand and wouldn't let me go.
It was so sweet and I just wanted to love on them and kiss 'em. My babies.
It must be passing.

Durban!!!! Yea!

I spent the weekend in Durban, and it was very nice. It had a very American feel to it, and it was filled with the simple things I took for granted. I shopped and shopped and shopped. Now I’m not much of a shopper but there were still so many things I needed to get for my house that you simply can’t find in Swaziland. But I spent 3 days in 2 different malls finding all of those little things to make my house nice. And I can say that the malls in Durban have one up on the states, they have shopping carts!
Yes, I went and did a lot of shopping at Game, a store that would be the African version of Wal-Mart. And once I filled my cart I was able to take it around the mall to Sheet Street, Mr. Price’s home, @home, home etc, and the other stores filling up my cart more and more! What an ingenious idea! If I was limited to only what I could carry, I would have finished shopping after an hour. But with the cart, I was able to shop all day spending lots and lots of Rand (South Africa money.) Brilliant!
Then Lauren and I went to eat Sushi and then to a movie. This was a big treat since you can’t do either in Swaziland. So I saw Even Almighty, (which I thought was cute.) in my assigned seat and ate butter-less popcorn. I don’t recommend that, no matter how much flavored salt they offer you.
I sat in a proper coffee shop and drank very nice coffee while reading a celebrity tabloid magazine (Actually it was written I Afrikaans so I just looked at the pictures. Yes, Brittney is still a mess, - even to the Dutch.)
And even thought the weather was cloudy and rainy, I did enjoy the beautiful view of the Indian Ocean. Now I have stuck my toes in 3 oceans!

Don't worry Dad/mom...I'm fine!

“This is downtown Durban. Be sure to zip up your purse and hold it close to you. That way you will avoid pick pockets. That’s the worse that would happen here.”
Heh. Famous last words Lauren.
We went straight away into downtown Durban because Lauren’s husband Ross had to be fitted for a tux for wedding he was in. So once in the tux shop I sat down to read a very outdated 2003 magazine, and Ross, Lauren, and the Groom went behind the curtain with the tailor to get measured and pinned.
Suddenly a man rushes into the store announcing that he was with security, and that there was a problem. He told the shop keeper she must lock up the shop immediately and evacuate the plaza.
Is this for real? I went and sheepishly peeked behind the curtain.
“Hey guys? This man just came in and said we all have to evacuate the mall.”
“What? No. whatever.” They weren’t taking it very seriously.
And then they saw the shop keeper snatching her purse and heading for the door, disregarding all other people in the shop. The tailor jumped up quickly and said, “Ah, just wear the suit, mate. I’m going,” And dashed out.
Poor Ross, in his half casual/half tux shoeless outfit dashing along with the rest of us out of the plaza back to the parking garage. There were families, shop keepers, women with their hair half weaved, all looking about confused and trying to find out what was going on. One woman passing by said there was a bomb threat, but we never had anything confirmed. Ross sent Lauren and me off as he and the groom stayed behind to finish his fitting. Eventually he convinced the tailor to finish the job in the garage and left without ever knowing what it was all about. (I should check the news online)
I joked with Lauren later, “If I wanted to get bombed, I’d have gone to England. Pick pockets, my foot!”

Homesick (Monday)

I’m home sick today. I think Durban started it. I didn’t realize how much I needed to get out of Swaziland, until I arrived in South Africa. And suddenly I was surrounded by cities again, loving families that aren’t American, stores that sell what you are looking for, restaurants, coffee shops, clean children, African men who weren’t hitting on me, and it all felt so nice.
Then I returned and went straight back into work. And it was Swazi life in full force again. And I guess today was the first time I felt the full weight of being here. I suppose I haven’t really been acknowledging how these images I see every day, and the experiences I’ve had here are weighing down on me. But being away from it for 4 days and then back in kind of hit me like a brick wall.
I had to have a “game-face” on all day because a new team is here, and they hosted a wonderful teacher workshop for us. And while it was great, I really just wanted to bust out crying. But I couldn’t. I had to do the “life-as-a-missionary-is-great” smiley face even though today didn’t feel that great.
I just wanted someone to listen, and sympathize for 2 minutes and tell me everything is going to be okay.
I tested the waters with a co-worker, not really sure if I had enough of a “friendship” to be vulnerable with her (women know what I’m talking about): “I’m feeling a bit homesick today.”
That’s as far as I got. I pretty much got reamed out.
But to be honest, I don’t resent her for that, - it’s a very Swazi thing to do. Swazi life can’t afford to be burdened with silly things like feelings, and emotions, because life after all is about survival. You don’t let yourself get bogged down with what you want or how you feel; you simply suck it up and do what you have to do to get through the day. And in her mind, only two months into this thing, I have much too far to go to start getting soft now.
It’s not her fault.
I’m just tired of living day to day where everything is new and unfamiliar. I’m ready to feel like I fit in somehow and that I’m actually making a difference in the areas I’m charged with. The ironic thing is I see how I’m making a difference in the lives of other people, but not necessarily in the lives of my teachers or carepoint. I feel, once again, like I’m hitting a brick wall. People are saying I’ve done this to help this or that person, - but I don’t see it.
So I’m home, and I’m going to Susan’s just now. I know she is a friend that will listen, - she’s been through this herself, and she’s coaxed many a homesick women through this same thing.
I know she will offer me tissues, and tell me everything will be okay, which they will be- I know. But just today it doesn’t feel okay. It feels hard.
Then tomorrow will be a new day. :0)

I love my dad

Once when I was in college I made a pitcher of ice water with lemons. My dad thought it was lemonade and drank a big glass of it.
“Yuck! This is horrible. You make the worst lemonade Christy.”
“It’s not lemonade, - It’s lemon water. “
Blank stare.
“You know, like when you go to a nice restaurant and they give you lemon wedges with your ice water.”
Blank stare. “They don’t do that at McDonalds.”
I thought my dad had to be the most unrefined person on earth.
This weekend, while in Durban, we went to visit Lauren’s sister. She is the chef of a nice restaurant downtown so we visited there for breakfast. As always, I ordered a “filtered coffee” and was surprised when I was served a tea cup with only a tiny bit of espresso sitting in the bottom. The rest of the cup was empty. I didn’t want espresso; I wanted a proper cup of coffee.
“Did I order it wrong?” I whispered to Lauren.
“No… This is Illy brand coffee.”
Blank stare.
“Do you see it here, ‘Illy’ written on the cup? It’s gourmet, so they dictate how it is served in restaurants.”
Blank stare.
Her sister leaned in to explain, “This is just a shot of espresso here. Then you have this teeny-tiny pitcher of boiling water that you add to make it as strong or as weak as you’d like. Then add cream and sugar.
“Oh…Well, that’s not the way they do it at Starbucks.”
Like father, like daughter.

Just for fun...

There are so many African things that make me smile.
I saw a purple tree yesterday. It looked like any other tree, but instead of green leaves at the top, it was lavender. So pretty. I guess it’s the jacaranda tree, and now they are blooming. Cool.
The music here also is very humorous. Sometimes it’s American, and they will play 50 cent followed by Dolly Parton, followed by a hymn. Sometimes it’s SiSwati, and I have no idea what it is. But there are also a lot of remakes, American songs sung by an African. My personal favorite was “Jambalaya” (If you’re from Louisiana, you can imagine how silly it would sound being sung by an African.)
Today I was driving about and wasn’t really listening until I heard, “pa-rum-pa- pum-pum”
“What?! “ No, it couldn’t be… I turned it up
Yes, it was the little drummer boy. But last month I heard “Let it Snow” so I shouldn’t be surprised.

Another thing I saw was hilarious and I will try to explain it to you, but you will have to imagine it to visualize how funny it way.
I was driving on the expressway and they were doing construction. A big truck had to back up so it was doing it slowly into the oncoming traffic of that lane. To warn drivers that the truck was in reverse (in case they didn’t see the lights or hear the ‘beep-beep-beep’) there were workers jogging behind it. They were holding orange traffic cones or white flags and were pumping their arms up and down over their heads. I guess that kind of made sense to me, but here‘s the funny part: There were also men on top of the moving truck with flags and orange cones. And since the truck was moving in reverse, they didn’t have to run. So they were simply pretending to run. Lungile, the teacher I was riding with, almost fell out laughing, “Look how lazy they are! They are only riding, but they are pretending to run!”
Maybe you just had to be there…
No, I just re-read it. It was funny. If you don’t get it, you must not be imagining it right.

care packages

Can I say how much I love getting car packages? I've gotten 3 here so far. One was pencils for my kiddos from my dad. Out of the kindness of his heart, isn't that sweet?
The next came from Ruth and it had some of my favorite terrorist threat hair goop, real kleenexs, and real honest to goodness American Toilet paper. I have the happiest bum in all of Africa!
I told her I would have a potty- party. And we would say, "Have you heard about christy's party? Everyone's going.
Bah-dum-dum.
And then I got one from Joey and Liz. Brownie mix, a super cute NC towel to make me think of home, and best of all Starbucks coffee. I've had 4 cups already.
Thank you friends and family.
While I could make do here, you have all been so thoughtful to send little things to show you care about me, my bum, and my kiddies.
I love you for that.

:0(

It was so hot today. Yes yes I know the states have had a hot spell in the south. I'm not trying to compare, just complain.
It kinds reminds me of summer in Michigan. It's hot everywhere, but not really humid. And since no place has air conditioning, you just sit and sweat and shower and sweat, and wait for the sun to go down.
And of course I insisted my bedroom be in the loft of chippie cottage.
It's been fine so far, but I'm afraid this summer I'll be sleeping in my living room on a sponge. (that's a foam matress for those of you who don't speak aff-ree-can.)

I'm off!

Forgive my absence! I will be traveling to Durban, South Africa tomorrow with my new friend Lauren, and her husband
I'm excited to be leaving the country!
I will return on Sunday to a team, so please forgive my lack of blogging and email.

Belly Blues Part 2

The secret must come out. The belly bling is gone.
I had to do it. I had to.
It was just one infection after another, or sore, or caught up on something. It just wasn't worth it. I took it out about 3 weeks ago and I was sad the instant I did it, and am still a little sad.
But I know it's for the best.
I bet this is how you feel when you put your dog down.

Draw the curtains

My friend Heidi could get a date in the most unexpected places. Once she spun around quickly in the grocery store isle to check the price of ice cream, and ended up with a date. Another time she went to the drinking fountain for water and came back to her class with a date.
“But you only went for water?” Her co-teacher puzzled.
Well I think I’ve got her beat here in Swaziland. (And no Heidi, this is not a competition.)The Swazi men like white women a lot, and are not shy about it in the least. If you are standing by yourself, the men will come like flies to honey. It’s made me uncomfortable on many occasions, but today beat all.
I’m sitting here in my dining room typing on some work for my meeting tomorrow. And the guard who works next door spotted me through the window.
“Madam! Madam! Come out here, I would like to talk to you.”
I refused, but went to the window, hoping he just wanted to tell me something about the fence or the back yard or something.
Not so lucky. He chatted me up for a while, and when he saw I was finished with the small talk…
“I want to be in love with you.” He said smiling.
Sigh.
Unfortunately, I think I’ve got one up on Heidi now. I’ve been hit on while sitting at my table, in my own house, minding my own business. I wish I could gloat about that fact, but to be honest it’s just creepy, and makes me want to pull my curtains shut.

Good Quote from the Boss Man

“The biggest obstacle facing Africa today isn’t AIDS,-it’s hopelessness.”
Ben Rodgers, Director of Children’s Cup.

Christy, drive here

With the exception of the whole stick shift thing, learning to drive in Africa hasn’t been too hard. I thought the whole left-side-of-the-road thing would be tough. But I started on the 3rd day here and got the hang of it pretty quickly.
One thing that helps is the road signs, - big round blue signs with arrows that point to the left, as if to say, “Christy, go here” Perhaps the Swazi have had too many Americans trying to drive on the wrong side so they designed them for their own safety. I don’t know.
But it’s helpful when you approach an intersection, and everything is confusing. The green arrows are flashing the other direction, and you wait for oncoming traffic to clear before turning right, or you try turning left on red into the inside lane; It’s just nice to be pointed in the right direction,-and by “right” I mean left. :0)
Another thing that is helpful, although it might seem strange, it to have someone else on the road as a reference point. If a car is approaching you in the other lane, you can keep to your side and know you are correct.
Well, a few weeks ago, I had dropped Queeneth off at our Ngwane Park care point and was attempting to find my way back to pick her up. I made it all the way to the bottom of the hill before I realized I’d missed my turn.
Sigh.
I turned my truck around on the empty hill and started back up, looking off to the side to find the street.
Clutch. Shift. 1st gear. Gas.
putputput.
“Where is that road?”
Clutch. Shift. 2nd gear. Gas.
Putputput.
“It should be here. I have to find that red thingy. Yes, we turned at the red thingy.”
I was concentrating so hard on the shifting, and clutching, and where to go, it took me a good long while before I realized I was driving on the right side of the road!
“Oh crap!” I shouted as I swerved back to the left side. “Phew, that was lucky!” Good thing no one was around.
But the Lord spoke to me very clearly in that situation.
“Do you see what happened? You weren’t looking for direction, or reference points, and you went very quickly back to what was comfortable, familiar, and easy. You went to what you were use to.”
Yikes! How true.
It made me think about when I read through the old testament, and time after time, when the people didn’t have a strong judge or king for leadership, the Bible says, “and each person did as they saw fit,” or “each person lived as they thought was right.”
If we, as people, aren’t intentionally looking to God to be led, for direction, or reference points on which way we should go, we all fall back into what is familiar, comfortable, or easy.
Sometimes, it makes no difference. Like that day I drove up on the wrong side of the hill,- No harm, no foul. But it’s easy to see if I had continued to do it for long, I’d get myself into a real mess.
God’s guidelines are for our own protection, and well being.
I encourage you to look for those big blue arrows!
 

to hire, or not to hire...

A missionary family is returning to the states for a while and would like to keep their house girl employed during those 3 months. And while I would love someone to clean for me (open houses have to be cleaned everyday here to avoid being overrun by dust and bugs), it’s an added expense, a risk of theft (very common in the Swazi culture) and to be honest, I have issues with the idea of “hired help.”
Yes, I suspect the summer house work will be way too much for me to handle, and yes I realize it employees a woman who would otherwise be unemployed. Because of these things, house girls are very common in this culture. The missionary families approach it as an outreach to Swazi women and look for extra ways to bless them. But this month I’ve been struggling with feeling like a spoiled rich white lady, and adding a “maid” would only further this. You know?
While I’m living much simpler than American standards, with a used car, no cable, no internet, a half furnished house, 2 bath towels, 5 wash cloths, 1 frying pan, and 6 place settings of silverware, I look around at the Swazi culture and recognize how blessed I am.
I have a flushing toilet. I have electricity. I have hot water. I have a TV room big enough to fit their entire one-room house. I live within the safety of a compound so I can sleep worry free at night. I bake for fun, not necessity; I cook on a stove, not a fire. I wash in a washer and dryer, not the river. I own a used car, a half furnished house, 2 bath towels, 5 wash cloths, and 6 placesettings of silverware.
So how do I really have the right to complain about bugs in my house, and dirt on my floor? I should be grateful my floor is not made of dirt!
“We felt the same way when we came here. Christy, you just need to get over it.” Charles told me.
“But I feel spoiled”
“You were born white. You are spoiled.” Kristen said.
All the Swazi women snickered at that.
I wanted to get offended, but how can I when it’s so true?

I can explain!

I know you have missed me! We had a three day weekend because of the holiday. It was so relaxing filled with a get away to Ezulwini where I stayed with my friend Lauren and her husband, And cleaning my shower wiht a toothbrush and bleach.
Now that I'm back I'm with the team and not in the office (accept for a bit this morning)
SO I promise soon I will get back to my computer, and write something interesting.