Sanibonani

First I just have to say that Bulembu is so stinkin BEAUTIFUL!! It’s just a lovely place. The mountains and trees are so nice. It’s very peaceful here. Sunday was my first full day in Bulembu. I slept until 10!! That’s pretty crazy for me, but I was one tired girl. I went for a nice long walk around and just spent the afternoon relaxing at home. Church is at 4 p.m. each Sunday, so I was looking forward to that. My first church service in Africa! It was a good mix of Caucasians and Swazis, which was really cool. The inside of it really appeared to me sort of as my mind’s image of a little African church. I loved it! We had a great time of praise and worship and then a message presented by a Swazi man. It was pretty charismatic. I guess most of the people here speak in other tongues. So some of the worship was free flowing, which I can appreciate. It was a good service. Afterward Lee-Ann had invited my house and Brian over for dinner. It was a lovely time and we even played a board game that is similar to Taboo. Monday I got up early and went to the school at 7:30 with Hayley and Candace. Hayley is the lady I am sort of replacing-well I’m taking over her 5th and 6th grade class. She actually just took it over in July when the teacher went back home early. I absolutely loved being in the classroom and I am so looking forward to teaching. I will start teaching on Thursday. I have 13 students and they are an enjoyable group. So the last couple of days I have mostly been observing Hayley and discussing what the kids have learned, need to learn, ideas, curriculum, etc. I am excited to start, but a tiny bit nervous I think. I have been soooo busy! I thought I might get bored here but I have already realized that I won’t even have a chance to get bored. I will be quite busy with school stuff and bible study and getting together with friends and doing household things. It is such a different lifestyle here of course, but I so appreciate it. I am loving the simplicity. Today I actually washed a couple of clothes items in a basin in the tub. Yes. We boil our tap water so that it is drinkable. I have no vehicle, so am completely reliant on others to take me to town for groceries and such. There is not a grocery store here. There is a tiny food store that has like 5 items. We have no heating and it gets pretty chilled at night. My first night I slept in flannel pants, tank top, sweatshirt, thick socks, fleece beanie over my head and ears, blanket, and duvet cover. I was warm and comfy then. So what I’m trying to say is that I LOVE IT HERE. So far so good. Monday after school I went into town to get groceries (all stores close at 5!!!!), then came home and made a baked potato and then it was already 7 and the American girls arrived at my house to watch Lost. It’s my DVD and I couldn’t even join them because I still had to clean up and do dishes and boil some water and put groceries away and blah blah blah and I was so tired because my day had been so busy that I had not had 5 minutes to myself. Today was exactly the same…after school we came home to eat, then had women’s bible study at 2:15, the women left at about 5 and I started preparing dinner and the girls got here at 6 to discuss this Life Skills Christian group thing we (Candace, Julie, Kara, Jenny, Kathie, and me) are going to do with the girls that are 9 and up. They left at 8:30, I got ready for bed and then came and started typing away. So you see!! No boredom allowed. I think tomorrow night I will finally have some Lindsey time to actually read a bit and watch something and just chill. I’m not complaining, just saying that I am surprised at how busy I have been. I haven’t had a chance to really even look ahead for what I’m going to be teaching next week! Well I must go to bed now. Please keep me and Bulembu in your prayers. We would like to see the school get funded so that it can stay opened next year and be an accredited school using a Christian curriculum. Hayley is going to fundraise in October and the school will need either $40,000 or 40,000 pds basically. This is no big deal for God.
Oh, and I live across the street from the school. I literally just walk through my yard to the street, walk across the tiny street, and down the stairs into the school. Pretty convenient. And here are a couple of names of students in my class: Phila, Fikelphi, Ncobile, Nontobeko, More Blessing (i'm dead serious), Nothando, Mxolisi, and Bongekile. Try pronouncing those.
Thanks for reading. Be blessed.