39th, gifts, "modeling", and moving

Saturday was our 39th wedding anniversary. We celebrated with a break from shopping for furnishings for our permanent site with a breakfast at Whimpy's - better than it sounds - French toast, poached eggs and free Internet on the patio, all for US $10!  KUF must have mentioned the occasion to some of our trainees, or maybe they picked it ip from Facebook, because we have received many warm wishes and congratulations from many of them. 

  And nice messages from our children, KUF's sister Lyn, Mark's sister, and friends.  Sometimes getting, or re-reading these messages bucks up our courage when we are a little daunted. Your messages and comments on the blog, and comments before we left, are a little like Tom Sawyer and Huck attending their own funerals, hearing all the nice things folks have to say about us. Some of the other Trainees had the same experience in their departures. But without the Twain reference, sadly. 

    Saturday night we cooked an "American" dinner for our host family: spaghetti. They liked it!  Hesitant at first, but there was lots of meat in the sauce, and I think the pasta reminded them of lipalishi, the tasteless kind of grits they eat in enormous quantities.  And they LOVED the (kind of raw) cheap red wine we got at the supermarket. Actually, Mark pulled dinner together at the last minute because KUF started feeling poorly from getting dehydrated during our shopping trip. Need to watch that. PC "oral rehydration salts" quickly cleared that up.   But I was pleased I could heat the garlic bread and serve up the pasta, sauce and wine between the 2 houses, continually changing from "outdoor" to indoor shoes, and have it come out OK. 

   We think our Make was a little puzzled by the gold aspen leaf pin KUF gave her.  The most appreciated gift were the 6 3X5 prints we made in town of pix we've taken on this iPhone showing the family. Make said it was the first time for her to see her house in a photo.

  They gave us each a lihiya appropriate for our status. Mine shows King Mswati III, which I might not have chosen on my own, but will be glad to wear for them. 

  We are told that modeling behaviour can be really influential on young people.  I'm trying my own "modeling".  In our village only women carry water. Except I do, and I carry it for our homestead.  And I have the 4 year old boy " help" me, no doubt contributing subversively to gender confusion for the coming generation. Good.   Haven't got him washing clothes or dishes yet.  This is a marathon, not a sprint. 

  KUF suggested our Make could make me a bowtie from traditional printed Swazi fabric. The fabric we got is a little stiff, but she did a really good job. Pictured, with the King Mswati III lihaya, in front of the tree from which many of our delicious avocados have come. 

   Here we are ready to move out of our homestead, with our gear separated into piles for storage for a few days, and a pile to live from for a few days. 

   Yesterday was cloudy and cool, it took all day for things to dry, and we each had spells of tummy upset and some nausea.     Mark's was over by late afternoon, so no final run here; KUF crashed early in the evening. 

   Today is much better in every way.