We know! Don't get out of the car!

Monday was a national holiday known as Heritage Day. We had the day off and decided to go just outside of Johannesburg to the Rhino and Lion Reserve. We went with 4 other American missionary couples.

As much as everyone tells Jan to stay in the car she has this uncontrollable urge to make friends with the locals

Sometimes it's what's behind you that bites!

Whose got her back??

A Local Scene

Welcome to our neighborhood. Here's a typical scene, that I shot from the window of our flat the first week that we were here.

This appears to be some women who are acquaintances who are about their daily activities. They just encountered each other at this corner. Note the typical dress. Also note the woman carrying her baby on her back. The woman leans forward and somehow lays the baby on her back face down. She then raps a blanket tightly around the baby and ties the blanket in front of her. It would seem that children would grow up bowlegged the way their legs are spread around the mother but we haven't noticed anymore bowlegs here than anywhere else.

Security

Well some things just don't change. Here we are again prisoners in our own home! Crime is still a major consideration here. It's like the weather - there is a lot of talk about it but nobody seems to be able to do anything. We not only have our regular flat (apartment) door to lock but then we also have this heavy iron gate with a sturdy padlock. I am sure that this would not meet OSHA standards back home. How would we get out quickly in case of a fire or disaster? We also can't get out a window because they all have bars on them! And then we're not sure we would want to get out that way because there are also four strands of electric security wire surrounding the windows! Well we're not worried because we're missionaries - we have special Fire & Disaster assurance! (I just hope our "service" premiums are up-to-date!)

The Horrors of Travel

If you haven't flown lately, I would highly recommend it! It gives you an appreciation for the simple life. If they could make flying any more difficult or miserable, I wouldn't know what they could do. From the time you enter the airport and start standing in lines, through security which is a very demeaning process to waiting to board your flight (like cattle through a chute - with the same amount of pushing and shoving and jostling) to sitting in uncomfortable, dirty sardine like seats - it is just not something that you really want to do. I complain now - I can't wait until I report on our trips within Africa, especially to places like Lumumbashi in the Congo (which is coming up soon.)

Here we are in the Chicago Ohare airport looking like two deer caught in the headlights. Pathetic! I don't know how the Church booked our travel but sitting in the airport at the British Airways terminal for 9 hours while watching two other BA flights leave to London didn't seem like good planning! Our tickets were booked 3 months in advance - surely they could have put us on an earlier flight!

Then on to London where we stayed over one night at a local Marriott Hotel in Windsor which was nice. We had hoped that would save the wear and tear on our bodies and our pocketbook - but not so! We had points for the Marriott so we had no charges there. However it cost us a $100 dollars to store our 4 big bags overnight and it cost us $80. to go from the hotel to Terminal 1 by taxi to pickup our bags and load them into the same taxi and then have the taxi take us to Terminal 4. But loading 4 large bags and 3 carry-ons and us into a small taxi was not an easy task - nor a pretty sight. Then when we finally arrived at the airport early (so we could get assigned seats - that's another story - British airways only allows you to receive an assigned seat through the Internet 24 hours in advance, not one minute sooner (which doesn't work I might add) or obtain them at the airport). So, we went early to get decent seats only to find out that after we got our seats that we couldn't check our bags and enter the departure lounge until 3 hours before departure time. And there is no seating before check-in, so the only thing we could do was enter a restaurant and sit there for about 4 hours. If you thought the previous picture was pathetic, look at this one!

After all of this we finally get through to the departure lounge only to find out that our flight was to be delayed by an hour and one-half. We still have a long flight ahead of us and we're already exhausted! But we didn't die - we just hoped we would!

Here's the sad part --- hankies out please. We didn't get to visit Windsor Castle like we wanted to nor have a nice dinner on the bank of the Thames River! Boo!Hoo! But we would have had time - if!!

Finally we arrive in Johannesburg South Africa the morning of September 1, 2007 - ready to begin our new adventure. At this point I had abandoned the tie and mother looked fresh and "chipper" like we hadn't just got off the trip from hell!

The hat and no tie confused the missionary couple that were meeting us! I guess I looked like a farmer from Botswana!

Not Real time Yet

This is the MTC on Wednesday when all the new "young" missionaries arrive. They have about 400 new ones each week. This is a picture of one of the corridors. This scene is repeated in almost all of the corridors around the admin. building.

Here we are as "bright and bushy- tailed" new arrivals! This is as a good as it gets for awhile. From this point forward things go downhill as we add stress, travel and goodbyes to our demeanor.

In the senior group that we went through the MTC with, nobody had been on more missions than we had! We're so young for being so experienced! Well maybe we're young only in our minds!! This picture was taken by a young missionary that was just passing by - we nabbed him and when you do that you take what you get. (don't know how all the sun spots got there.)

We Are In Africa

Just a note to let everyone know that we are not dead . . . to the contrary we have hit the ground running. We are getting used to our new surroundings and trying to learn our job before the Stringhams leave. They leave on Tuesday the 11th -- and there go our training wheels!!

We have limited email and computer access for the time being but we should be able to get on track by the end of next week. Don't lose hope we have stories to tell both the good ones and the horror ones. and we have also taken a few pictures that we can share. Don't lose hope check the blog often until we can get a schedule established.