Boring?
(Written by Mike)

What do you say when it’s been an uneventful week? Well, after thinking about it a bit, I’ve decided to just be up front about it. There’s something about writing a weekly update that can take on a life of it’s own. Pretty soon you’re intentionally looking for photo opportunities that will look good on your blog, instead of just documenting life … exciting or not. So, here comes a not so exciting update.

This week has been one of catching up on things – school for the kids, reading, sleep, etc. It’s also been a week of preparation – we’ve spent a fair amount of time working with the staff to get ready for the upcoming Road Trip. (A Road Trip is where a group of people visit the Nieucommunities site for two weeks to get a taste of what being a participant here for 10 months is like.) This Road Trip is exciting for us because the 8 people that are coming are all friends of ours from our church back home! More on that in a minute.

Also, we’ve been fighting ants in our home. Look at this pile. It’s all ants! We’ve had days where we would sweep up several piles in one day. The exterminator came out and sprayed, but that has only slowed them down. What’s saving us now is that the colder weather is stopping them. The good news is that they have stayed out of our beds!

This week was our first week experiencing sickness since we have been here. Reed came down with a high fever and upset stomach at noon. That night Lacey caught it, then Darcy the next morning. Then the vomiting began! Fortunately it ran it’s course in under two days, and neither of us parents got it! (Whew!)

Reed started feeling better just in time for he and I to join some friends at a big Rugby game. This game was played between the Pretoria Blue Bulls (our team!) and the Durban Sharks. Some of these players also play on one of the “Big 14” international teams that play against other countries. Mostly they play against Australia and New Zealand since they are the closest countries with teams. The other big sports that are run this way are Cricket and Soccer. Sports are very different down here!

Yesterday (Sunday) our friends arrived for the Road Trip. It’s very exciting (and kind of strange) to see so many faces from home down here in Africa! Now that they are here we begin the two week “snapshot” of what the 10 month experience is like. We have already had some great discussions/conversations and had some fun activities.

Well, that’s it for now. I’m sure Lorie will have lots more of “exciting” things to tell you about next week after one week on the Road Trip! Much love and thanks to all of you!