January Update ...

A few of the things we are thinking about this month...

New House? - Jon and I have been talking more seriously about moving to a new place. We are starting to realize how important it is for us for several reasons. The simplest reason is that our dogs are a bother to Joe and Mmasera - they haven't complained but I know Mmasera dislikes the infrequent digging and thieving, any waste we miss during clean up, and that the dogs bark and chase those they dislike (including their new housekeeper) and those who squeal (including Theo, our 11 year old neighbor). The bigger reason is that I am still a western girl who values personal space and privacy. The past year and a half have been great, but now that I will be around home more with a baby I need a space that is our own - where people aren't peeking through our windows, collecting water from the tap right outside our bathroom window, and walking through our front door unannounced.

There is little three room (not bedroom) house across the street that we’ve been coveting for months - the owners were hopeful that the current tenants would be leaving at the end of 2009 but that isn't going to happen anymore. We looked at three other houses in Mmopane last week. We wanted something smaller, all three are larger – small houses are SO hard to find. The one we are leaning toward right now belongs to Joe and Mmasera as well - this would help with the transition as giving notice would be less important. The difficult/fun part is that it is a bit of a fixer upper - right now there is no water or electricity and has goats living there. Jon has been working with Bobby to design a system for fixing the water supply and we have been looking into solar panels, generators, and gas appliances. We are hesitantly excited. The house is out close to Bobby and Serwalo's but not on the same road - its about a 5 min walk from their place. It is SO peaceful with a huge yard all to ourselves, lots of shade trees, and an unbelievable view. The house is sizeable but needs some work. It has been a fun making a plan detailing the pieces that need to fall into place in order to make this feasible... if we can, we are hoping to move within a month so we can be settled before I am huge or toting a baby.

Pregnancy - About the baby, all is well - I feel it moving around all the time now (even as I type this). About two weeks ago I started to explode and now I think I definitely look pregnant no matter what I wear. The maternity clothes that my mom brought over from several sources have been wonderful. I don't need to wear them all the time yet but am finding fewer and fewer normal clothes that fit comfortably. The new hospital that I plan to use (its just down the road from our house) opened two or three weeks ago. I heard they have already delivered several babies. I'm hoping to go in within the next few weeks to check things out and meet with the head midwife. I’m so glad that we are approaching February – hopefully within a few weeks the sun’s intensity will begin to wane and I’ll be able to move between the hours of 7:30am and 8pm… that will make pregnancy (and life) much more enjoyable.

Update on Serwalo (for those who know her) - Serwalo's last chemo series didn't help as much as they had hoped. They started her up again three weeks ago (they thought she could take a break til mid-Feb but alas…) but changed the treatment type - this one has been nice as it is only one day on a drip instead of four days but is followed by 12 days of chemo pill taking. She has more energy than I've seen her have for months now. We were out at their place half the day on Saturday and I was there again yesterday for the afternoon. It would be nice to move closer so it is easier to support them when things begin to decline. She and I had our first formal Setswana lesson yesterday - we have been planning to do that for the past year but now we both finally have the time. She is a difficult teacher because she speaks so fast and isn't very systematic but I got quite a bit culturally out of our time - we practiced receiving visitors and it turns out I haven't been doing a very good job at making people feel welcome. Crazy that it has taken a year and a half to pick some of this stuff up… I bet I still have more to learn though.

Vehicles - Our truck died when my parents were here mid-December and with everything shutting down for three weeks over Christmas we are just finally starting to figure out what to do with it. We did get it moved to a mechanic but have had a very difficult time sourcing an engine (I don't think it is going to happen ). I think we will need to have it rebuilt instead but the mechanic is still putting together a quote on that for us. As luck seems to have it, Jon's motorcycle had the clutch cable go out two weeks ago so we have been down to one vehicle - the one that won't go through the bush. This means our commutes have gotten much longer (up to 1.5 hours twice a day) and much less enjoyable (stop and stop traffic through a long construction zone rather than a two track trail through the bush). It means that if he gets called on a flight and I need the car later to get to work – I get the pleasure of a 2+ hour round trip drive to deliver him to the airport. If he takes the car then I’m stuck on foot or combis – not so bad for errands around the village or grocery shopping (our Mmopane combi goes near our store) but quite time consuming for much of anything else.

A brief summary of life – enjoying good friends, sweating like a pig, trying not to stress too much about work, avoiding the range/stove/oven, early morning walks with dogs, dreaming of trees and lakes and snow, planning for Sunday School (its growing – last Sunday over 45 with only 8 English speakers and just me teaching), wishing for a library, watching my garden die, battling with a mouse who likes our house, breakfasting with Jon on the patio while it is cool, … being thankful for great friends and family who love us, a perfect husband, and so many simple pleasures (like having enough water to take a shower during this heat – no water for a day and a half now – it will feel AMAZING when it comes back… it will be nice to get rid of the ants that are enjoying our unwashed dishes too).