Big Steps

I did a couple things today that I recognized as big steps. You may or may not agree.

First, I realized that I know Mbabane well enough to navigate using directions. That may not seem like a big deal where we use directions like "Take 94 West" or "Take the Beltline North", but here directions are "Go past the spar and take the little path, you know where that is? Then go towards the bakery and look for the people frying meat." Or "Take the golf course road, then go up the hill and when you get to the top of the little hill, take the turn up the small hill, then turn down the big hill and go to the first big intersection and then turn and look for the gate behind the other house." So navigating is really something that only works if you already have an idea of where you're supposed to go. And apparently, I've been here long enough to figure it out (to some extent).

My second big step was to accept my student loans for law school. So today I have 2.5 times as much debt as I did yesterday. But come this fall, I'll be able to pay for my education at University of Wisconsin Law School. It's something I'm looking forward to very much, and I think it will be a great next step in my life.

Have a good week,
-Ben

Africa

During one of our many public holidays, I went to a local game park with a couple friends. Here are some pictures of what we saw, but one of the main things I realized was that pictures don't do any sort of justice to these animals. I guess that's why game parks draw so many people, but it was very cool. You can click on the pictures to view them better.

This is just one landscape shot, but the entire park was extremely beautiful. It was also a great day.

Here is me standing quite close to a Nyala. This is in the picnic area, where a number of antelope chill.

A real-life warthog, just hanging out.

This is a male impala.

We saw quite a few zebras. This was a particularly good picture, especially with the landscape in the background.

These are either wildebeest or water buffalo. I'm not really sure.

This was the find of the day, two hippos. We were pretty far away, but close enough to see one stand up,  walk into the water and swim away. 

As we were leaving, we found more zebras.

Catching up

Well, you may have noticed that I've been falling a bit behind in my blogging. There are a number of factors contributing to this. Some days, I've got to get to something (Monday nights are small group, Friday nights I help with the youth group, some nights I hang out with friends or church folks, etc.). Some days, I'm a little worn out and feel like there isn't much new to report, which is a bit silly because as much as I've written, I'm sure I can't really convey the experiences I'm having. Some days I just forget about it altogether. For all these reasons, I need to apologize to those who've been wondering about me and whether I'm ok. I am ok, and I'm happy that I've gotten more involved in the past few months. If it means I have to start blogging in the mornings or something, I should be able to handle that.

One fairly significant thing that's been going on regards a fellow missionary. The director of Children's Cup (his name is Mitch) recently had his appendix taken out in Swaziland. He has spent most of the past 6 weeks in a hospital in South Africa with tubes running through his body. I think it's mostly some nasty infections and he's not in great shape. Yesterday he was put back in the ICU, but the reports are that he's doing better. I know most of you didn't sign up to support an entire missionary community down here, but so far I have been enormously blessed with wonderful circumstances, health, and a great support network. So if you could pray for Mitch and his wife Char, I would be very grateful and consider it a favor to me personally. Pray for physical strength and healing for Mitch, and pray for emotional strength for Char as she cares for and supports her husband. Both of them are wonderful, caring, and giving people who I know I could count on if I needed them.

Thank you,
-Ben