I wanted to keep track of some of the funny things that
happen on this trip and I decided to share them with you to make you smile
also. I'm sure there will be many more
to come as this is only the first few weeks! Some things may not be that funny
under normal circumstances but there are times where there is no other option
but to laugh! May we not ever take life too seriously as we are filled with a
joy that can only come in knowing Christ!

* I was very nervous to drive here because the steering
wheel is on the other side of the car and they drive on the opposite side of
the road as we do. Being a leader though, I knew it was something I could not
avoid. My first time driving, everyone kept
honking and waving and trying to tell me something in Siswati. I kept looking at my co-leader Matt and
asking what I was doing wrong. I was
becoming even more nervous as I drove! This continued all the way into town
when finally a car pulled next to me at a red light and started shouting "Your
dress! Your dress Madame!" I looked down and most of my skirt was hanging out
the door! Ha ha! Lesson learned- check your skirt before driving off!

* Tonight, as we were relaxing and watching Seinfeld on DVD,
we heard "The floor is flooding!" We ran in to see the entire kitchen flooded.
Our washer drains into a sink and if anything is left in the sink it will start
to overflow. This happened the first day we got there so we were pros! We went
into our Cholera Quarantine Closet (I'll explain that later) and grabbed some
old blankets we had in storage. Matt
and I began soaking up the water with the blankets but to make it more fun we
began having blanket races on the wet floor and playing tag. The team just
looked on as if we were nuts. After most of the water was mopped up, we hung
the gross wet blankets on the line in the backyard. Oh the joys of being a
leader! At least we can have fun with it!

* The Cholera Quarantine Closet- As we arrived, we were
informed that there is an outbreak of cholera in southern Africa right now and
even though Swazi water use to be safe to drink, its probably not a good idea
now. Thanks for the information after
we have already downed 3 water bottles full of tap water! So we half joked (and
secretly prayed against it) that by the time the team arrives, all the leaders
would have cholera. Not really knowing
what it is, we researched and found out its basically extreme diarrhea but you
know you have it when the diarrhea turns a white color. It is also very contagious! As we were
cleaning, we found lots of extra blankets and whatnot and put it all in a
closet underneath our stairs. We didn't
want the team in there so we put a sign on the front that read, "Cholera
Quarantine – I would not enter if I were you!" Hopefully, we never actually
have to use it as a quarantine room!

*I have developed this weird fungus on my arm. I have never seen anything like it and even
the Swazis are getting grossed out by it. Some girls on the team asked if they could try and clean it out and both
put on long rubber gloves to do their work. I had a crowd of people around watching and I felt like a science
experiment! It oozed out a gross stuff which we named arm boogers. A nun I became friends with has hooked me up
with some anti-fungal cream so it's starting to look a little better. It's
nothing to be too alarmed about. Its just part of living in Africa! Hey, I
always wanted a FUN GUY!