Spring into Summer???

So it’s spring here heading into summer.  That means that many things have been in bloom.  The jacaranda is a beautiful shade tree here that has beautiful purple flowers.  Apparently, it’s unlawful to plant any more of these trees…because they’re not indigenous…they came from Australia or New Zealand.  Apparently they cause allergies, pink eye and some other problems with the environment.   But to drive down a street with jacarandas on either side is one of the most beautiful sights.  I've posted a pic.

In BSF, we had a Seminar last week…14 showed up and were pretty engaged even though they don’t have a lot of opportunity to participate in the Homiletics Seminar.  I was very encouraged at how many came.  Since I don’t have a transport, one of the class members gave me a ride home.  Although it’s not the most convenient, I’m finding that catching rides with people is wonderful for building relationships.  It usually takes 20-40 mins to get to class (depending on traffic) so it’s been giving me a lot of time to get to know leaders and class members.  I feel so privileged to be able to get to know the people in South Africa on such a personal basis.

So we’re in spring heading into summer…did I mention that?  Last night at 2:30am I was awakened by very loud clap of thunder (so loud I was startled) and very quickly it started to pour.  I got up because my windows were wide open and I didn’t want the rain to come in.  When I got up, I could see it bouncing off the roof downstairs.   Actually, as I was watching the rain come down, I realized it wasn’t rain…it was marble-sized hail.  Weird weather!  It  only lasted about 5 mins (hail and rain).  I don’t know if it did damage to some of the cars outside or not.  Made me glad I don’t have a car here.  The weather here is crazy.  When I got up at 6am this morning, it was 57.  I got all the way up to 59 by noon.  I was FREEZING!!!!  Did I mention it’s almost summer?  I had sweat pants, short sleeved shirt, long sleeved shirt, sweatshirt and I was drinking hot tea..and I was still cold.  I know…I’m a wimp, but when it’s raining and overcast, 59 is really cold!  Finally, about 2pm, it warmed up to about 70 or 75 and turned into a beautiful day.  Apparently, the rainy season is coming soon…all the rain we’ve gotten so far isn’t part of the rainy season.  To  me,  it already feels like the rainy season.  It probably rains as much as it did in Texas…3-4 times per weeks.  It will be interesting to see what it’s like once it’s supposed to be raining.

As of yesterday, I’ve been here for 4 weeks.  In some ways, I can’t believe it’s gone by so fast…..but I also feel like I’ve gotten to know people so well already.  I’ve been so pleased with how quickly the leaders are implementing the training.  Of our 16 leaders, 6 are new this year…it’s so fun to train new leaders.  I love seeing the light bulb go on…their faces taken on a whole new look.  But finding additional leaders has been slow going. ..not sure yet what’s going on there.  But I know the Lord has His leaders and I just have to wait until He shows me who it is.  It’s just another reminder that I need to be dependent on Him.  When my AA was here last week, we did the math and figured out there was no way I would find a replacement before the May TL Orientation.  So it looks like I’ll be coming back in January and will be finishing out the year here. I've included a pic of me, my CA Tess, CS Ria and AA Debbie.  Hey, Mike M, I want you to notice the bronzed skin....see, I really do get out in the sun now!!!!  :-) 

New Favorite Foods

Well, I must admit that I have eaten well since arriving in South Africa.  The foods aren't totally different, but there are some differences.  My biggest challenge so far is that since I have no transport (read that as "wheels"), I have to stay in for dinner...which means cooking...or eating the cooking of my fellow housemates here at the B&B.  My housemates have been very generous...and I'm trying to avoid "cooking" as much as I can...I'll assembled a few things for dinner, but haven't cooked from scratch yet.

Anyway, I've developed a favorite restaurant or two (called Dappio Zero...don't ask me about the name...I have no idea).  I've had pizza there twice and it was delicious.  I also enjoyed eating at a place called Fruit and Veg (but it's also a bakery).  They have quite the sense of humor.  All their sandwiches are named....after world leaders and African leaders.  Some are more complimentary than others....the one named after Nelson Mandela was like the super breakfast with everything in it - eggs, steak, toast, sausage, etc.  There was one named after Tutu - it had "Tu eggs, two toast and tu much bacon".  Quite clever.  On the back of their menu that had Q & A.  Questions they get asked, answers they give and answers they wish they could say out loud.  One question was "Do you bake everything here?"  Answer:  Yes, ma'am, we're a bakery.  Answer they wish they could give:  "No ma'am, we're actually a mafia front for a bordello.  We don't bake anything at our bakery".  Question:  What kind of wheat is in your wheat-free bread?  Answer:  There isn't any wheat in our wheat-free bread.  Answer they wish they could give:  Are you really that stupid?  Why do you think we called it "wheat free bread"?  They're not quite as PC here as we are in the states...

Anyway, when I was at Fruit and Veg, I decided to get the Washington.  It was a panini and had ham, cheddar cheese, pineapple, mayo and peppedews.  Now after my experience with Marmite, I decided to be cautious with new foods.  So I had the peppedews on the side.  When I meal was delivered to our table, I asked Tessa (our class CA) if the amount I had cut off to try was appropriate.  After she agreed, I tasted it.  Think sweet peppers with a little bit of chili mixed in....it was really good….sweet with a little bit of zest.  Really gave the sandwich a good flavor!  Tessa mentioned it was really good on pizza....

So the 2nd pizza that I had at Doppio Zero was this weekend...chicken, peppedew and avo (they don't say avocado here).  It was really delicious.  That's my new favorite pizza...forget boring mushroom and pepperoni (or ham).   I might even need to bring a jar of peppedews back with me.

Another piece of good news is that I found FRENCH'S MUSTARD on the shelf of Spar (grocery store) over the weekend.  They have mustard here, but it isn't the same….it tastes like they have added a lot of sugar.  So when I saw French’s on the shelf, I immediately grabbed it.  It was a medium sized bottle (only 1 size was on the shelf).  Guess how much in USD?  Yep...about $5.  BUT IT WAS WORTH IT!!!!  I was able to put it on the crust of my pizza this weekend.  Mmmmm...that was good!!!!

I was introduced to Cook Sister today (don't ask me from what nefarious origin that name came from).  It is basically dough rolled out into 6" long snakes (think playdo days), folded in half and twisted together so it looks like a small DNA strand.  It's fried (think donut-like) and then while it's still hot, it's dipped in a sugary mixture....sometimes flavored with lemon or orange....or just plain sugar.  Wow...that was good!  But sweeeeeeetttttt!  I only had one....I would have been hospitalized in diabetic shock if I had eaten more (and I'm not diabetic!).  But, delicious...and it wasn't even chocolate.

One thing (among many) that that I am loving here is the plethora of bakeries.  Wow...this isn't the place to be on a diet!!!  I've been introduced to pig's ears (fried dough rolled in big-grain sugar), cookies, cakes, brownies, etc.  Every restaurant has a bakery attached.  It's quite dangerous...but I'm enjoying trying so many different foods.

On a more serious note, I had my first leaders meeting and lecture last week.  I felt very welcomed, encouraged and embraced by the leaders and the class.  What a privilege it is to know women from a different culture, race, background, etc. but yet we have so much in common b/c of Christ.  I'm so thankful for this privilege to be here.  Tomorrow I have leaders meeting and then on Wed, I'm doing the homiletics seminar after lecture.  That's a lot of talking for an introvert!!!  That one day will use up my quota of words for the entire week!!!  :-)  But I'm looking forward to it...it's great that I get to teach the Seminars again!

Interesting Happenings (at least to me!)

Why is it that bugs follow me everywhere I go?  I don’t really like critters, but I’m also not one to jump on the bed every time an ant crawls across the floor.  But it seems that since I left Phoenix, I’ve been haunted by bugs.  I think I mentioned that we don’t have A/C (“air con” as they say here).  Well, it’s in the room but not working yet…parts are on order.  So my windows are open all the time (I’m on the second floor and get sun in the afternoons).  They are hinged at the top and swing out.  Unlike America, they don’t use screens here so the bugs are free to come in as they please (I just killed one on my screen...he chose to land right where I was typing!).  Fortunately, it’s been mostly ants.  I use a little bit of spray around the windows to try and keep them out.  But the other day a wasp came in…it was HUGE.  Ok, maybe that was an exaggeration…it was probably 3” long….ok, maybe only 2”.  I had old “blood and guts” but the little stinker kept to the ceiling and I couldn’t afford to miss.  After 5 mins of hiding next to the bed (he kept dive-bombing my head) I remembered that I had some bug killer in the bathroom.  So I crawled over to the bathroom and got the spray.  I waited for a strategic moment when he was not too far from the bathroom door.  I hid my body behind the door and only hung my arm out, unprotected.  Ready, aim, fire!  I hit the wasp w/ a good stream and quickly slammed the bathroom door.  After waiting about a minute (hoping the spray was having an effect other than making the wasp mad), I looked out and the wasp was down but still flailing.  Old blood and guts then did her trick.  Whew!

But that wasn’t the worst of it.  On Thurs night, South Africa got their first spring rain (I think it hasn’t rained since June or something).  Friday night at dusk, we went for a walk.  Just as we step outside, we can hear kids screaming….kinda like when little kids are chasing fireflies.  As I clear the front porch, all the sudden I see bugs flying around EVERYWHERE.  They are about 3” across on their wing-span.  I asked what they were…flying ants.  I don’t think they really are ants (if it’s like Uganda, then they’re termites).  But their bodies look like ants…really big ones.  Maybe ½ to ¾” long and then they have these huge, double wings.  Apparently, after the first rain and for about a week after, these ants rise out of the ground and fly around (only at dusk).  Then their wings fall off and life goes back to normal.  So as we were walking, they were everywhere…thousands of them… and they are absolutely horrible navigators.  I can’t tell you how many times I had to duck as they flew right at my end…not the kind of bug you want stuck in your teeth or caught in your hair!  Of course, with so many bugs flying around, we also saw about 3 of the biggest frogs I’ve ever seen (maybe b/c  their bellies were so full!).  Unfortunately, they were hanging out in the middle of the street….which doesn’t do much for their life expectancy.  So traffic patiently waited for the frogs to cross the road (Leslie and Teresa chased them to help them move a little faster).  When I took my walk on Sat, I noticed a very flat and very dead frog in the road…I guess 1 of them didn’t make it all the way across.

As I mentioned, we got our first rain storms of the spring.  I think it’s rained every night since Thurs.  I was warned that the storms here are pretty bad…the rain comes down hard and the thunder and lightning is pretty vicious.  Ok, well, we all have bad lightning storms….so what’s the big deal?  Well, I now believe and agree that S.A. has some of the worst storms…especially with thunder and lightning.  During the last two nights, it was so loud & so close that it made me jump b/c I was so startled.   I asked Michael and Shelly about it today on the way to church…why is it so much worse here?  He thought the atmospheric conditions were worsened by all the mining of metals (sounds plausible to me).  I guess last year they got such heavy rains and some serious thunderstorms that it knocked over walls and damaged houses.  Note to self…take an umbrella wherever you go…not that I think it would really make a difference.  At one point, I looked outside my window and, no joke, the rain was coming down at a 30 degree angle…and there was no wind!!!!!  Fortunately, the storms don’t seem to last long…just an hour or two.  Tonight’s storm only lasted about an hour…but at one point the wind was blowing so hard I thought we were going to have a mini-tornado.  Crazy!

Ever heard of Veggiemite?  Marmite is like that but from 100% yeast.  It’s used on toast or sandwiches to “add saltiness” or so I was told. Some of the guests at the B&B asked Leslie if there was any for them to use on their toast at breakfast.  After they spread it on, I decided to taste it (I’ll try anything once).  I stuck my fork into it (it looks like dark brown Vaseline)…don’t worry, my fork was clean.  I stuck my fork in and took a small sample…marble-sized.  I can’t even tell you what it tasted like.  It was strong, it was biting…and it was about the nastiest thing I’ve ever tasted.  I couldn’t even let the flavor sit in my mouth.  I grabbed for my coffee cup and gulped large quantities until my mouth was effectively washed out!  Bleah!!!  :-P  The other B&B guests got quite the kick out of it…laughing quite hard at my reaction.  Then they apologized for not telling me to take only a very little, teeny-weeny bit and for not having me put it on toast or something.  Leslie later told me that they sometimes put a little bit of Marmite in boiling water and you drink that if you’re sick.  If that’s the remedy, I can tell you – I’d never admit to being sick!!!!  I still might get up the nerve to try it on toast…but I’ll be very, very careful of the amount I take!

New words:

Trolley = grocery cart

Oaks (sp?) or okes = “the guys” as in “the boys I hang out with”.  I asked “Is that like blokes without the B-L?”

Pancakes = large crepes

Crepe Suzette = small crepes

Crumpets = American pancakes

That’s all for now… I have a lecture to write!!!!

Life in South Africa

Life in South Africa has been interesting so far.  One of my biggest challenges so far is language.  Sometimes I understand the words that they’re using, but I don’t understand how they’re using it.  For instance,

• Today someone told me that would “tinkle me later”.  What?  I don’t think so.  Eventually I figured out she meant she’d call me later.  Oh, ok, you can do that.  :-) 
• We went to the grocery store yesterday to get some food for the B&B and for me.  Leslie, the B&B manager, took me there.  While we were there, we were delayed because the till was broken.  They what?  The till.  You know, the conveyor belt so some of the lines were closed.  They were nice, there was a long sign apologizing for the delay. 
• Theresa, the daughter of the B&B owner (she lives in the room next to me), asked if I was interested in joining her for a Bri (sp?).  “I don’t know maybe…what is it?”  “It’s a barbeque.”  Oh, well then yes, that sounds lovely. 
• Yesterday we got Chinese takeout…and Theresa got Iron Beer.  She asked if I wanted to taste it.  I said sure.  It was quite good.  Now for all you BSF-ers out there, I checked the label first and it was made by Coca-Cola, so I knew I was safe.  It tasted like Coke, A&W and Dr. Pepper all rolled into one drink.  It was pretty good. 
• When I asked if I could wear pants out in public, I got a chuckle and a No.  Apparently, the question I was trying to ask was “Could I wear trousers in public?”  The question I asked was “Could I wear underpants in public?”  Oops…at least they are more modest than we are in America....I think we're now walking around in our underwear!  :-)
• Lastly, but not least, when someone comes to pick you up, I should never ask them to honk when they arrive.  If I do, I’ve just told them to vomit when they get to the house.  The proper term is “toot”.  So there’s a whole lot of tooting going on when you pick someone up.  Apparently, the South African’s got a big kick out of the bumper sticker “Honk if you love Jesus”.  Some things just don’t translate well!!!!

More seriously, my time here so far has been relaxing and enjoyable.  I’ve been walking every morning (this place is like the hill country of TX…and my calves are killing me!!!!), spending time working on BSF and just enjoying some free time…usually spent getting to know Leslie and Theresa or reading Michener’s book on South Africa.  In talking with Leslie, she wants to come to BSF with me on Wed and to church with me as often as she can (sometimes her B&B responsibilities will keep her from attending).  When we were talking about BSF this afternoon, she asked about the bible study and what we were studying.  Then she had a really timid look on her face and asked “What does it cost?”  When I said “It’s free”, she got teary eyed & goose bumps and told me how excited she was to come.  It was so cool!  I have prayed that her customers on Wed would all eat an early breakfast so she can break away in time to make it to the Intro.

I did my wash today.  They have a triple concentrated soap.  Leslie said she only uses 1 scoop for a load (it’s a small scoop) so I decided to use ½ a scoop.  After the clothes got done in the washer, I had a flashback to childhood memories as I had to hang my clothes out on the clothesline.  Wow.  I haven’t done that since…well, I’ve never done that.  I think I only watched my mom do it when I was growing up.  But it’s so dry here (like AZ but not nearly as much dust) that the clothes were mostly dry in about an hour.  It was quite amazing.  Looking back on that, I probably sound like a technology brat.  But I think I will miss that soft and snugly feeling my socks have when they come out of the dryer.  Oh well, how I sacrifice on the mission field.  :-)

I’m going to upload pics of where I’m staying…although I’m half-hoping I can’t do it.  I don’t think I’ll get much sympathy once I do.  My accommodations are lovely…except the barking dogs.  It seems one of the neighbors has a pack of dogs or maybe it’s just the domino effect where 1 dog starts and all the others down the street join in.  At least they stop within a minute or so…

I did have somewhat of a scary experience today.  I pulled my knife out twice while I was walking.  Do you like how I saved this for the end?  I was walking down by the river and I caught some movement to my right.  When I turned and looked, an Aikido was laying on his front porch.  As soon as he saw me, he got up and started to follow me.  I pulled out my knife and extended it so I’d be ready if he attacked.  But it followed me about 10 yards and then lost interest.  Whew.  Then, not far away, I ran into two loose dogs.  One looked like Casey mixed with a dachshund  and the other looked like a black lab mixed with an Australian sheep dog.  Out came the knife again.  The dachshund came trotting toward me and I quickly figured out he was friendly so I put my knife away.  When I bent over to let him sniff my hand, he went flat on the ground and then belly up.  He wanted a tummy rub!  I happily complied.  He whined for a good 30 secs before he decided it was time to move on and they escorted me down the road a ways.

That’s all for now…more later in the week.  The B&B pays for internet by the minute, so I try to be quick when I’m out on the internet…writing my emails beforehand and not talking much on Skype.