First of all, let me apologize for not getting the blog out on the weekend.
It turns out that we have had several comments, asking when it is coming out, so here you go, you impatient people.
Technology Woes, Again
Well, as of today we have been in South Africa for three months. This week was relatively unexceptional, except that the technology breakdowns of December appear to have returned. It started with the Fax machine, which mysteriously stopped working last Sunday sometime. Then the data projector started acting funny during the middle of a presentation, and shut itself off after 20 minutes. No problem, we had a backup, albeit one that had a funny yellow blob in the middle of the screen. Well, I guess someone took offense to the yellow blob, because the backup unit hit the floor when someone kicked the power cord, and now we have no reliable data projector. Oh yeah, the lawnmower wrecked a bearing too and now it’s in the shop. By the way, the lawnmower is a huge, three wheeled industrial looking unit and weighs about 50Kg. It’s really good for going through high grass (which we have a lot of), but Vusi, the guy who does the lawnmowing, really hates it because it is so heavy and we have lots of up and down hill sections.
We have just finished a course, and have started a new one today. People from all over Africa are attending these courses, we have had Ethiopians, people from Madagascar, Malawi, Democratic Republic of Congo and many other places. It’s very interesting meeting all these people, the Lingua Franca is English, and everyone speaks it quite well.
Reading Week
Our local bookstore at the mall had a big sale, and we couldn’t resist the opportunity to stock up. Surprisingly, there were a few Can-Lit books among the offerings, so we picked up Margaret Atwoods “Oryx and Craik” , Douglas Copelands “Eleanor Rigby”, and also P.J. O’Rourkes “Peace Kills” and “One Man’s Justice” by Akira Yoshimura. All in all, a pretty good bunch of books, I have to say I really like Copeland, all his books are set in Vancouver and have a certain Canadian vibe to them. In this book, he describes a young girl “hucking” something out of a window, I hadn’t heard the word hucking for years, but I used it a lot growing up and it took me back to my childhood.
40 Days of Purpose
We have connected with the local Methodist Church, and are now in a house group that meets Wednesday nights. The church has just embarked on a special “40 Days of Purpose” study of Rick Warren’s phenomenally popular book. The big kick-off was last Sunday, and it all started with a pancake breakfast for the whole church, a simulcast of Warren preaching (I think it was on tape), and then a dessert buffet. The Pancake Breakfast was really good, it was like crepes with savory or sweet fillings. The video sermon was (surprisingly) good and the desserts were great. I’m actually looking forward to reading the book, and we are starting to make friends in the church. All in all, a wonderful Sunday morning.
