Busy "Babe," Busy "Mage"

So much to do, so little time

November 16, 2013

All week long, my work days starts at 7:30 and ends at 5 PM – This to look forward to our half-day Fridays when work ends at 1:30 PM.  I also learnt the hard way a couple of Friday’s ago, trying to do “errands” like shopping on a Friday when it was mayhem trying to get out of the grocery store parking lot.  Everyone here goes shopping apparently so now I will reserve my Friday’s with less stress things like finding an exercise class and relaxing before the weekend comes.  Now I just need to get some “followers” for my cause but coordinating the schedule is a bit tricky.  Right now the commute to work is only 15 min each way so can’t complain.  Wait until our office moves out into the valley in 1.5 years..the fun starts.

So I got my car wash done for the first time.  However, the culture of car wash here is entirely different than in the U.S.A.  I was looking for one and a friend at work recommended this one by the Engen gas station.  Well, when I got there, I told them just a wash and a vacuum.  And so he proceeded.. I knew I had a doctor's appointment in 30 minutes so no problem.  The time kept ticking away and he’s still working on my car, cleaning the tires, the doors, the inside, the outside.  I was getting antsy and I knew it was no point to rush the man, he was working so hard.  The car wash did not have automated machines…An empty garage with one power washer and a vacuum cleaner like your average one in the home.  I knew that my gardener also washes the outside of the car, but because we only have the one car, I’ve been taking it to work every day.  Also, my cleaner has been on sick leave as she had a family emergency.  After the Kruger Park mud on my car, I knew it was in dire need of a cleaning.  Task done.

Next, I have three distance education courses I’m taking for work…I also am studying for two career enhancers.  Maybe God will open the door and help me realize the important ones as prioritization as always been my area of lacking.  I won’t blame my parents anymore, I will look forward as “it is what it is.”  I also have to finish unpacking, reorganizing each room to make our goods accessible, then entertaining and spending some time with Alyssa, make her lunch, attend bible class, exercise/dance, dishes and the list goes on..     







Making Cake Pops with Alyssa

At least last night, there was a bit of fun with baking with Alyssa.  She’s into making cake pops.  It’s our thing – it not only tastes good, it’s just a bite or two of yummy.  I’m still trying to perfect my ways.  Check it out.

Finished Product

Packaged and Ready to Go!



Alyssa’s been calling me “Bobby” for over a month now.  Apparently she learned at school that father in SiSwati (the local language here) is “babe” pronounced bah-bay and mother is “mage” pronounced mah-gay.  So whenever Alyssa starts calling me Bobby, I immediately correct her – “Maggy!”  Next week I start SiSwati lessons at the embassy.  I’m looking forward to  learning a few basic words.  The locals appreciate it.  The people here are really friendly.  Sometimes they cross your personal space, but overall can’t complain.  I also am amazed at the amount of religious people here.  Every Sunday the churches are filled with cars.  Definitely a big change from Paris as in Paris, the amount of practicing Catholics are little although the nation as a whole is 95% roman catholic.  Here in Swaziland you can find a church just about every corner and more are being built. 

Well, time to get to my many other wavering priorities calling at me.  I’ve had dizzy problems lately and we think this is due to low iron, so it’s doctor’s orders that I don’t over exert myself!! This means “no exercise’ as well for two weeks.  So my diet better be a little better.  Time to plan  my meals this week – another on my To Do list.

Two Months as a Swaziland Resident and our First Visit to Kruger Park

Living Like a Swazi

November 8, 2013

 It’s been over two months already and finally we leave the country.  We have arrived at the beautiful lodge near Kruger Park’s Crocodile River, called Buckler’s Africa.  The backyard is Kruger Park.  Hoping to see some elephants chewing the leaves tomorrow morning at breakfast.  We are going to do our first real safari..One where we see real animals not inside cages.  Hoping to spot all the animals..They say the "Big Five" include rhinos, elephants, lions, leopards and water buffalos.  Jason packed our food and cooked an awesome dinner.  Alyssa was excited running around the lodge, and being daddy’s helper.  Mom was the co-pilot and got us there safely.  Despite not having a GPS we made it with simple paper and maps. 

Alyssa is sure becoming accustomed to the lifestyle of Southern Africa.  She spends her spare time collecting millipedes in the garden, puts it in a container and calls it her pet.  She is playing with our guard saying, “my guard is helping me get the avocados.”  I’m getting more accustomed to driving in Swaziland.  It is a bit disturbing to see a school kids walking alone on the highway.  It just doesn’t seem safe to me.  Walking on the highways seems common here.  Yesterday I got to volunteer and read to a bunch of African school kids (3^rd or 4^th grade) at the library.  They seemed interested although no one had questions..the little ones were more drawn in. 

Two great things happen this past week.  We got our housekeeper finally and she is a great addition.  Coming home to a made-up bed, dishes completed and laundry done..Not only is it peaceful sanctuary but it means I’ll have more free time on weekends.  I will try to enjoy the additional help these three years in Africa.  We also got our household effects and both Jason and our maid has done a great job unpacking and organizing.  Nice to be able to have our stuff and settle in.  We will do some shopping in Nelspruit and get the remaining 220 appliances that we got from our welcome kit.  Jason’s waiting on when to start working and been busy Christmas shopping.  Doing online shopping can be frustrating with the slow speeds but we are making it work. 

My task the next few weeks are to work harder on my diet planning and seriously getting back into exercise.  I can see my belly bulging already..The food, desserts is good but I must remember the hard work I did to lose the weight.  Working on sleep, self care and study will have to be my priorities..of course along with balancing family life.  I found a church, I found a bible class group and now the remaining is finding an exercise class and a buddy for accountability and to start scrapbooking again.  I am continuing to find my niche. 

November 9, 11:03 PM- Nelspruit

Well, we sure had one hell of an adventure at Kruger Park.  It really amazing to see so many large animals up close.  We saw two of the “Big Five” of the park, which isn’t bad for our first visit.  Most of the best interactive experience was off the beaten path..Yes, the dirt roads.  We saw zebra, giraffe and antelopes crossing the road.  The two of the big five we saw were elephant and rhino.  We didn’t see any predators this visit but we bought a wild card so we will be sure to come back!  We entered through the Crocodile Gate bridge and right away, we spotted wart hogs, zebras and a variety of deer, antelopes and llamas.  We even saw turtles, monkeys, and lizards.  The most amazing experience was seeing a giraffe peer through the woods as we drove through a dirt road of “nothing.”  Then we spotted two, then three giraffes!  This was all on the S130 road.    I caught a nice picture of the crossing on the street.  My colleague at work who went just a week before got to see a lion eat the giraffes which was a sad story – but it’s part of life, the food chain!  We had a great time at Buckler’s Lodge and the hosts were friendly and gave us tips on liking the Kruger Sightings Facebook page so we can find out which way to go!!  It’s good that we did take the dirt road..After the giraffes we saw two huge elephants right off the road.  It came out of nowhere and imagine…. We heard stories of how an elephant got territorial and sat on a car, killing people in it.  We got a warning not to get too close to the elephants, both from the Regional Security Officer and our hosts from Buckler’s Africa.  We were literally less than 100 feet away from these beautiful creatures.  They were eating so they were peaceful as we drove by them without even seeing them at first!  Definitely, the elephants and giraffes were the highlights of our trip.  I’m happy with what we saw.

The rest of the evening did not progress so well.  I had reserved a hotel at Easy Stay in Nelspruit only to find out it was reserved for the wrong night.  It’s Murphy’s Law..What could go wrong, can.  Just glad it didn’t happen at the park.  99.9% I always have my hotel confirmation # and this ONE time I didn’t have it, screwed me up.  We now are resting in a smoking-room at the hotel across from the one we had planned to stay at…I lost my Blackberry in the car and could have called ahead to confirm.  Of course, as I said..it was Murphy’s Law. 

Tomorrow is shopping day.  I just realize how real important it is to prioritize for a peace of mind.  We just got our household effects two days before which was not the ideal thing..I would have thought of a lot more, blah blah blah.  Anyways, I’m grateful for my experience.    

November 14, 2013

We ended up buying 3,744 RAND worth of appliances -- that is $374 US dollars.  This is easy to convert.  Just move one decimal point over.  SWEET!  While I'm on the topic of local currency I thought I'd share that Swaziland accepts both South African RAND and Emalangeni while South Africa only accepts RAND.  Like the local say "shame!"  Shame is a word I hear a lot among the locals which really means too bad.  Well, that's the news from Bo's front this week.  Stay tuned and bookmark this blog!!   Til next time...