Expectations

Good Morning!

First off, let me say that your support and prayers have been truly overwhelming. I have a slew of emails to respond to, but first I wanted to say that we have secured an apartment. It is a nice place and it is close to the city, so I am hoping to save some money on transportation. Unfortunately, it is unfurnished, so Bonisile (our accountant, office manager, and, generally wonderful person) and I have been looking for enough furniture to help me survive. With no Craigslist or Salvation Army, it's costing more than I had hoped, but the PW office is helping me work through it, as well as working on how to best transfer funds. Sadly, this will mean I have to move out of the nice guest house that I have stayed at the past two nights.

One thing that's been a persistant thought for me is the way that my expectations have been consistently overturned. I tried to come into this adventure with as open a mind as possible, but of course I did carry expectations in. Here are a few of them.
1. Africa is Warm. FALSE. I'm sure parts of Africa are warm, but while I've been in Swaziland, temperatures have been in the 50's and 60's. In South Africa, It was 30. While the locals look ready for a blizzard, even I must admit it is chilly. It should be getting warmer though, possibly hitting 80 next week.
2. All of Africa is poor. False. There is certainly poverty, but I have been shielded from a great deal of it in Mbabane. I'm sure that will change when I go out to the farms, but in the city I've been in malls with clothing stores and places that look incredibly like American stores. There are lots of people here with educations, jobs, and good livelihoods. One thing that is largely absent is American waste. While there are many new cars, few of them are luxury cars and none are Cadillac Escalades.
3. Africans do things on their own time. False. This one may have come from truth, but Tinashe is easily as motivated as I am. When I told him that Africans weren't supposed to get impatient, he laughed and told me that he works with the same 24 hours that I do.
4. Africans are friendly people. TRUE. All of the Swazis I have met (and many I have passed on the street) have been very friendly. It's been great to be around other people who feel the urge to greet everyone they pass on the street, but I think it will take a lot of work before I am as friendly as they are.
5. Africans are crazy drivers. False. While I have not done any of my own driving, I have been driven and I have walked along many streets. And nowhere have I seen anything that rivals what I see every time I drive through Illinois.