Observations and Other Things

Well hello again everyone. Let me first say a big Happy Birthday to my niece Megan who will be 9 on Sunday. I have been thinking about what I was going to write this time. I thought that I would share some observations that I have had about our new home in South Africa. Keep in mind these are from my prospective. Mostly, I have observed that they do things differently here. This is neither a bad thing or a good thing, just different. For instance we were driving down the road the other day and they are putting a round about in the road. In the States we would stop traffic one way and let the other lane go then switch. Here they make you detour through a field. This has happened to us a few times now. Interesting. Also, instead of mowing the grass on the side of the highway they burn it here. David and I refer to this as African mowing. The best part is there is no one around to make sure it doesn't burn out of control. Traffic is very interesting here. You do not stop for a stop sign here. You do a rolling stop in most cases, unless there is someone turning in front of you then you stop. Motorcyclists basically can drive anywhere and however they want too. They are scary. Most all service jobs (waiter, cashier, petrol station attendants ect. ) are black. If there is a white person working there it is usually the manager. Here are some observations I really like. When you go to get petrol (gas) it is still full service. They put the petrol in and wash your windows. That is cool. Also, I haven't seen any nurses in doctors offices. The doctor comes and gets you (on time) and takes you to his/her office where he/she talks to you first then does the exam then talks to you again. He/she will then give you his/her number to call if there are any problems. Very cool. Since our crate finally arrived I have been able to cook more of the things we like to eat. Sometimes there will be an ingredient or 2 that I can't find here. What I usually find out is that they have it they just call it something else. That is a good time to have South African friends. Most of the time they can help me find it. There are still things that we can't find here (Dr. Pepper, Raisin Bran, Pumpkin Pie scent Yankee Candles, Smarties, yellow rice, Kraft mac n cheese - the kind with the velveeta) o.k. I'm getting hungry now. The other day I found a box of Frosted Shredded Wheat in the grocery store. It would have cost me $10 for that box of cereal. No thanks, I think I'll pass. Some things you find at the grocery store that you have been searching for and you buy all of it because you don't know if you will ever find it again. Leah found refried beans for me the other day. I bought 7 cans. I have been searching for those practically since we got here. I'm still searching for plain Fritos. They have every flavor Frito imaginable but not plain. I have been told South Africans don't like plain. Go figure. So I continue my search. I hope this helps you understand a little bit of what goes on around here.

On the last blog I wrote that I was going to start working in the Home School room. Well I have been doing that. There is already a HS room set up in Kenya and now we are setting up one here. It is a resource room where all of our home school families can come to or order their books/supplies from. Right now we are in the process of inputting all of the books that are currently in the room. So right now I am a Librarian. I know there are a lot of home school friends out there. I would love to know more about the different curriculum's. Please e-mail me and let me know what you are using and what has worked and not worked. That would help me immensely since I have never home schooled. The children are in school. All seem to be doing well. Emily has a tutor for Africaans. This is the language the white South Africans speak. She is doing well and I am jealous. She picks it up so fast. She just came back from church camp last weekend. She had a great time and even climbed up a mountain a 5 am. Go Emi. Micah has started Cricket. He absolutely loves it. We bought him a cricket bat yesterday and he can hardly wait for practice on Monday. We are looking into speech/drama lessons for Leah. We think she would do very well at that. David is still plugging along with his schooling. Doing quite well. It is very hard to juggle work, school and a family but he is doing brilliantly. (I'm learning South African lingo). Yesterday was Heritage Day here. No one seems to know what they are supposed to be celebrating because apparently it is a new holiday. I did hear it called National Braii Day (a braii is a bar-b-que) We had a braii with our cell group. It was a lot of fun. They are a great group of people. I was just thinking that writing these blogs is a lot like writing a Christmas letter every month. It is hard to know what you want to hear from us. If there is something in particular you are wondering about please don't hesitate to ask.

Here are some things that you can help us pray about.
Praise: Everyone is healthy and happy.

Prayer: For the IMB leaders and trustees.

Prayer: for a lady named Patrizia. We literally ran into each other the other day and I feel it was a divine appointment.

Prayer: for our family still going through changes.

Thank you for your support. We couldn't be here without your prayers. You are all awesome. Cheers hey!