7/30/09-- still more to come It's winter, yet somehow there are still bugs around that like to dive-bomb my eyeballs. Is there something attractive to insects about my pupils? Perhaps there is something written there in Insect-ese that says "Oh hello there, it'd be rather nice if you bludgeoned this spot right here..." The weather is getting a bit warmer, which might explain the whole bug thing. The weather has been nice, and a tad unpredictable. I spent most of the day in town yesterday; I went to lunch with S. and a few others for some rather yummy Chinese, then [View Full Entry]

---

---

I now have a mailing address! More details available through messaging me on facebook. Don't want to put the address up here. Why? Well, here's something interesting, that once again reminded me what a small place even the internet is... S. comes home from work a day or so ago and asks "Hey, do you have a blog?" "Um... yeah. Why?" (I assumed she stumbled upon it in the history on her computer.) "Well, my senior political officer mentioned that he found it. He thought it had to be one of my guests." "... ... I promise you there is nothing [View Full Entry]

---

---

7/26/09 My lizard friends were not out this morning, but perhaps like the rest of the country, they are at church. The country is very religious, by all accounts, but I have not yet learned to what degree they are superstitious. As you would expect, many of the shops in town were closed today, except for a couple of the grocery stores and random other stores. The security guard was perplexed that I would want to walk into town and then back, instead of using the bus. He conceded that it was good exercise, but still thought I was being rather [View Full Entry]

---

---

As promised, nothing terribly interesting, but I'm getting used to the place a bit. The walk into town is already getting easier; today was my 3rd trip. It's mainly the walk back up that presents the problem. Yesterday I went off in search of peanut butter, which I found in the brand "Yum Yum," and today I went in search of a phone card and oranges. My siSwati is improving a bit, though I won't be conducting any philosophical conversations in it quite yet, unless they only involve the words "Yes, Hello, How are you, and "five." Going to town and [View Full Entry]

---

---

23/07/09 Took a walk into Mbabane today! Sarah has three other guest with her at the house: Dale, and a couple, Suzanne and Wade. They are all very amiable, and have all done a good deal of traveling. Dale, who I walked into town with, is an older gentleman and used to be in the Air Force and Foreign Service. The walk was wonderful, but steep. On the way down, we walked on worn dirt paths, walking past a pile of firewood that some boys were selling. It's winter here, and though I like the weather during the day, it can [View Full Entry]

---

---

Jenna ja mina lahdimme varhain lauantai aamuna Mayallan kanssa Mwanzasta ajamaan kohti Serengetia. Serengeti on 135 kilometrin paassa Mwanzasta ja sinne on suora tie. Meilla ei ollut etukateen varattuna majapaikkaa, joten ajoimme majoituspaikkaan nimelta Kijereshi, joka on on 18 km paassa Nyabakatan paaportista. Halusimme kayda Kijereshissa, koska muutama tuttu Mwanzasta suunnitteli telttaillua siella samana iltana. Tie oli todella huonossa kunnossa ja meilla meni lahes tunti 18 kilometrin matkassa. Paikka oli yllattavan kallis eika heilla ollut telttoja tarjolla, joita olisimme voineet la [View Full Entry]

---

---

Some trip decisions bite you even when using common sense. Looking at a recent map we could enter Swaziland from the north and drive 30 K on a gravel road, or use RSA hard roads to enter from the west and have a much shorter drive to Pigg's Peak, then proceed to the next gate south and depart. We chose the latter. Our map lied as the road was "under construction to BE paved." It climbed into the mountains with stretches no wider than a cow path. Women construction workers waved red flags to go or stop as heavy equipment [View Full Entry]

---

---

Time for a bit of an adventure out of South Africa again - the kingdom of Swaziland. =) Dean and Jill was heading that direction too so we decided to go all four of us. Stupidly enough we decided to walk to the minibus station with our backpacks... It's not insanely far away but it was heavy!! Got there anyway and found the bus we wanted. They don't have any departure times for the minibuses, they depart when they are full. But we ''only'' had to wait for about one hour before the bus was full, so that was not so [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hello all! Apparently my last blog didn't email subscribers for some reason? But you should read about my near-death experiences below - they're pretty funny! This actually is gonna be a quick one coz I'm in an internet cafe and have only paid for an hour, and still have some facebook action to catch up on :P FUNNY/INTERESTING THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED THIS WEEK (IN INGWAVUMA): There is a dog in one of the houses outside the school gate, and it's fine when we are walking home at normal school hours with all the other kids, but when we srtay late [View Full Entry]

---

---

Nach der Safari ging es sofort weiter nach Swaziland. Dort wohnten wir mitten im Nationalpark. An unserem ersten Tag haben wir eine 4 stuendige Trekkingsafari unternommen. Puuhhh!!! Dafuer haben wir ein riesiges Krokodil gesehen, und ein paar Aeffchen und Zebras und und und... Obwohl gar keine Sonne da war und wir uns meistens durch den dichten Dschungel schlagen mussten haben wir beide etwas Sonnenbrand bekommen. Aber mittlerweile ist das schon braun :) Am naechsten Tag haben wir es dann etwas komfortabler versucht und sind auf Pferden durch den Nationalpark geritten. An unserem Hostel g [View Full Entry]

---

---