ON OUR WAY BACK TO THE SWAZ

Sawubona (Hello) Everyone, 24 JAN 2011

Our trip home has ended. We're waiting to board the plane for Jo'burg, and really looking forward to returning “home” to Swaziland. It was great to be back in the USA and we cherish the opportunity we had to hold grandchildren and see most of our families. However, our work and mission is at the children's home, and we know that's where we belong. That is where are hearts are.We were able to adjust back to the faster pace of American living pretty easily, but are ready for the slower, albeit more difficult lifestyle of the third world.

Things we especially enjoyed stateside: the vast availability of foods – from hamburgers to pizza to crunchy cereal to good ice cream. Yes, we eat remarkably well in Swaziland, but the selection is limited and much of the preparation is by hand. Everything looked so modern and well built. The stores seemed so well stocked and everything seemed so well made. We enjoyed having some nightlife. Everything closes down at dark in Swaziland, and no one goes out, unless you are in the capital city. So, going to a restaurant for dinner was a treat. Of course, Mike got his fill of US sports. We can access scores via the internet, but actual live sports coverage is only for African soccer & rugby & sometimes cricket. No one knows ( or cares !) about the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, over here . We're not big movie watchers, but accessing movies on netflix was fun, and amazing. I had a hard time allowing the water to run out of the faucet. Even if you have running water, in Swaziland, you use it sparingly. Recycling is nonexistent in Swaziland, although many do reuse items over and over. I still bet most in the US waste far more than those in the third world. We see more trash, but that's because there's no trash pickup, and everyone just puts their own trash into a pit & burns what they can & leaves the rest
.
Imagine what your backyard would look like if you had to dispose of all your personal trash yourself.
Contrast to Swaziland: grocery stores have the basics, usually just 1 or 2 choices per item. Most other items you might want to buy are made in China and are often of poor quality. There's rarely a choice to find better quality. For example: we wanted to buy a lamp, but only could find a very small one and it is only sold as a pair. Mattresses are quite expensive, and unless you buy the top of the line, the springs start popping through in 6 mos. If you want to buy a sofa, you usually also have to buy 2 matching chairs. We truly are spoiled in the US.

In Swaziland, most public buildings – schools, health centers, churches, etc. - are surrounded by barbed wire fences. I'd gotten used to it, so it seemed strange back here to have everything so accessible. Many of the main roads are paved—we call them “tar roads”, but after that, it's dirt roads which get quite muddy, and rutted when it rains. Their potholes make anything you've experienced in the USA seem minimal. There's very few sidewalks, except for in the capital city. Swaziland has few museums, so of course I enjoyed visiting the museums—two !--while in DC. In Swaziland, if I see more than 2 white people in a store, I feel “funny”. So, back here, even in DC, even with its diversity, there seemed to be lots of white people around. Here's hoping we have an uneventful return trip & that we can readjust to the 7 hr. time change.

Bye for now. Gail & Mike