More pictures - mostly from Lobola (the price a man has to pay for a bride, in cows)

Frog from Crocodile hunting, yeah it was just sitting on that leaf when we spotted it.

Very fun Bomake at the Lobola.

This girl was very photogenic. We couldn't resist



Swazi Home cooking.




Hey kids, sit on that Hilux bumper and smile. Always cute photos of kids.



These two are brothers. The guy in the blue was telling me that his brother, in the black, could have 30 cows ready for my lobola by the next day. And we figure out that it costs about 8 cows to fly round trip to the US. That's my new skirt and scarf! I love them and can't wait to have another one made :)



Kyra is taking the picture, on the right. Gugu is in the middle. It was her lobola (15 ->17 cows, 2 were pregnant and what to do with them had to be negotiated).



We were pounding peanuts to add to the samp. Samp is chunky corn kernals and beans boiled together and then add raw peanuts ground into a powder.

It was rteally hard work and the sisi in this picture helped us. She was an awesome lady!! Kyra did most of the grinding then I did the sifting. Kyra then proceeded to arm wrestle several teenage girls. At least she beat 2 of them (an tied the other one ;) It was a very fun time!

These are the cattle in the krawl. Bobabe are deciding what to do about the 2 pregnant cows. They end up just giving Gugu 17 cows, but it is possible that they could have asked her to give the 2 baby cows back after they were born.



This is the scorpion that was in my hut. It is on the curtain and that netting is the head of my bed. EEK!



More pictures!!!



Capacity Building at Portugalia's



Identifying an opportunity for capacity building




Agreeing on the specials for PCVs, which ended up making the bar E.50 more per drink sold. 





Crocodile hunting and Cow petting expedition





How many G9s can we fit into a Khumbi?





More still...



Hhohho Shenanigans, everyone included.



 unsuccessful Cow petting





Sammich. Holly this is in memory of our diving days.





We had to bring our multi purpose tools. Just in case we had to gouge out any crocodile eyeballs.



Long Lost Post, kind of

Ok, so I know that there is a lot to catch up on, but if I think of all of that then I will never write this blog. So, here’s what happened today.

I forgot to take my water bottle to the pool, and just found out that my Make thinks some neighborhood kids swiped it off of the veranda L We got to stop by Vusumnontfo, which was nice. We had a mini conflict with a khumbi driver. This was a major first. Usually you always want to be on the good side with the drivers, but this one wanted us to pay way too much for our ride. We got on the khumbi at Pigg’s Peak and told the ticket writer that we needed to go to Mkhuzweni, totally forgetting that we needed to get off of the khumbi early at Ngonini. Total, for Mia and I both, it would cost 44 Emalengeni to get from Pigg’s Peak to Mkhuzweni. Ngonini is about half way, about 11.80 Emalengeni. When we called ‘stesh’ to get off the khumbi Mia asked the driver how much it was and handed him 30E to cover both of us. He asked if we got a ticket and said that was how much we had to pay, and that we were 14E short and owed it to him. He was there arguing, we were trying to get change. Eventually we just left him with 6E extra and walked away (after he asked for our bags!!!). We were so mad and kind of confused. There is no way he would have ever asked a swazi to do that, or at least sat there and argued with them. But, we talked to a couple of people who have more experience with transport here, including a few Swazis, and found out that this in not standard and that we did the right thing and probably should have gotten change anyway.

This minor bit of drama followed quite a fun day at the pool. I had a delicious chicken salad and a chocolate milkshake. We swam and sat in the sun all day. I tried to write this huge rewind blog (not so successful). After we left the pool we went to Pigg’s Peak where we sat down and had a cold Coke, 3 Emafethi, and the best Swazi Chow Mein EVER!!!  This is a big deal. There is minimal Chinese available in Swaziland and when you get it you take a risk of it making you a bit sick. But this was great! I sat down at the table and felt like I was at a hole in the wall in the states.  When I walked out I walked back into Africa.

Here is a list of the things that you missed and I promise to catch you up on eventually, slowly, but eventually. I promise.

In Service Training

            Stolen electronics

            Typhoid Fever (maybe) (not me)

            Rambla’s fancy cocktail restaurant (we drank cheap drinks anyway)

            My Library Application got approved

                        Please donate to our Library!!! (link coming soon)

            Dancing at Portugalia’s

            Capacity Building bartenders at Portugalia’s and dancing round 2

Mia’s Surprise Birthday Party

            Pizza

            Brownies

            Cupcakes

            Cake

            Make dancing

            Dancing in the rain

            What’s yours like?

Hhohho Shenanigans

            Swimming (sort of) at Orion

            Ridiculous transport

                        Windshield sunglasses, lost to the cause

            Grocery shopping in Pigg’s Peak

            Fruity khumbi rides (we were so squished fruit ended up poking people in various                         places)

            More crazy transport to Shauna’s homestead

            Penis pasta from Italy

            Crocodile hunting (attempted)

            Delicious food for the rest of the stay with Shauna and relaxing watching True                                     Blood and Swamp People!!!

Simunye Country Club

            Swimming and trampoline

Visit with Kyra

            Saw an elephant on the khumbi ride from Simunye to her homestead

            Again watched movies and enjoyed a couple of cool days in the Low Veld

Just as I am finishing up this email Make came and knocked on my door. When I told her that I was typing a blog to you all, she told me to tell you all, ‘Hello’. I said how about ‘Sawubona’, hello in siSwati. She said, no Busisiwe. They don’t know Sawubona. But Hello and Sawubona any way J She also said to tell you all that she is happy to have me here with her, and Babe is happy too, and boBhuti, and Lihle! Make is SO cute.

I love you all and think of you everyday. I miss you all So much. Thank you so much for the packages and mail. They really make my week everytime something arrives.

Happy Holidays! Eat some extra deliciousness for me. YUM!