Our life in Swaziland - Aug. 2010

Hi everyone,
Sorry for the gap in communication. I'm at the peace corps office in Mbabane and using their computers. I thought you'd all like to hear about our daily life - what we've been doing, etc. So, here goes:
What are we eating? Swaziland has an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables, mostly available seasonally, but there's also South Africa so close by, that there's lots of other items imported from there. So, in a nut shell, we're eating well. For a typical breakfast we eat cereal & fruit; we pack lunch since our training center is about 5 miles from where we're currently living. So lunch is usually peanut butter sandwiches & fruit. Dinner is a bit more challenging, since we get home around 4 or 5 pm & since we don't have any refrigeration, we're cooking from scratch each night, and shopping for fresh stuff every other day. There's a small shop that's got most staple items, and there's an orange grove nearby, so we're eating lots of oranges, butternut squash, potatoes, swish chard (like spinach), and of course, rice and/or corn meal. They do eat lots of chicken here, so we're getting our protein. Actually the bigger challenge has been water.
From our homestay, the water tap is quite far away. Our family puts a 75 liter jug on a dolley and pushes it down the road 1/4 mi. then crosses the road and then goes another 1/4 mile up a dirt path to fill the drum. The water doesn't flow very quickly, so the filling process takes about 1/2 hr. Then reverse the process back down the hill. Mike & I have done it twice, but they usually insist doing it for us. Once we have water, then the fun begins. First we must boil it for 5 min. & let it cool. Then we put it through a drip filter, which takes about an hour. Then we fill our 1 liter bottle with the water, add 2 drops of bleach & we're ready to drink and cook. Luckily, for bathing and washing, we only have to fetch it.
So, most evenings are spent preparing food to eat, washing dishes, washing a few clothes, bathing & then getting ready for bed. It gets dark around 5:30 or 6:00 p.m., so most of these tasks are done by the light of our single electric bulb - and often aided by our headlamps. I'm amazed at how any real work gets done here, knowing what most of the Swazi families face each day. The remarkable thing is that everyone here is always clean, well dressed, and perfectly groomed - even down to clean shoes - try that while walking on a dusty dirt road.
Now I'll tell you about how we wash clothes here. Since the water tap is so far away, our family washes in the river. We're not allowed to use the river - via peace corps - because it's probably contaminated with parasites. Two weeks ago, I watched our homestay "sister" - who's probably around 20 - wash 3 blankets in the river, while she had her 2 mos. old daughter tied to her back. Then she proceeded to put all 3 blankets into a large tub & hoist it onto her head to carry back up to the house. Swazi women are unbelieveably strong.
This past week, we traveled to where we're be posted for the next 2 yrs. for a trial 3 days. We're assigned to a faith-based orphanage in the southern part of Swaziland near a town called Nhlangano. The orphange is called Pasture Valley. We're very excited about this opportunity and will write more about it next time.
We're having a fabulous time, miss all of you, and look forward to hearing from you. Gail & MIke