First one from Africa

First couple of days here in Swaziland and I’m still a little lost as to the fact that I’m actually in Africa and that I’ll be here for a year. Right now I am living with Ben and Susan Rodgers in a nice hillside house. I have a spacious room and my own bathroom. I almost feel guilty about how nice my current living situation is. Ben and Susan have three kids: Kayla who is 7, Levi who is 5 and Trinity who just turned 2. Kayla is very talkative, outgoing and smart. Levi has a great imagination and has already written 2 books since I’ve been here about the battle between Rats and Mice. Lil Trinity is a future cross country runner…she moves around faster than any 2 year old I’ve ever seen. Ben and Susan are both 30 and are fun to be around.
I’ve been with Ben to a youth group he leads, church, a bible study he leads and then last night Ben and Susan had a parenting class they led. It hasn’t really felt super busy but looking back on it I’ve definitely done a lot so far.
Today was full of adventures and activity. I went into the office which is in Mbabane(the capital city, also where I live) to check in for the day. Ben and Beano(Dave Van Rensburg) had a meeting with Health and Social Welfare officials. I went with Nauti and ran errands for the day. I got to see our various Carepoints(in and around Manzini, Swaziland’s largest city) as well as visit other organizations we partner with such as UNICEF and AAMICAL. I also witnessed an accident involving a cow, got a sim card for a cell phone and met a woman named DooDoo. I can clearly see why Ben needs people over here to help out. It is going to be busy and exciting.
The country is aesthetically beautiful especially here in Mbabane where we are surrounded by hills. Right now we are at the beginning of spring and it’s about 70 degrees during the day and gets down into the 50s at night. That’s enough info for one post. Peace out y’all.

Pat