I started the week with multiple productive days at home followed by two productive days in Mbabane.

Now, as I write this, I am waiting to be picked up to start a day with friends, old and new.

First, I’m off to Mlilwane, the local nature reserve, with the students I occasionally teach at school. Such an adventure is happening because students from America are visiting. I don’t have the relationship figured out yet, because the NGO that runs the program the Swazi students participate in is from Oregon, and the students are from Utah State. We will walk some trails, see some wildlife (maybe I will finally see a hippo there; I’ve only ever heard them), and braai for lunch.

Then I’ll head to Ezulwini to drop my bags, meet more friends, dress for winter, and head back to Malkerns. A friend from my Kruger trip is returning home to Germany next week, and this is our last time to hang out. A group of us are going to House on Fire to see the Swazi premier of the movie Liyana, a story about a Swazi child and her adventures that showed at many international festivals the last few months. I’ll be meeting other new and old friends at the movie, which is in an open-air theater that fortunately has a roof–hence the dressing for winter. Then after a late dinner, I’ll finally be able to call  it a day.

Baking for the week

• I finished the cinnamon rolls I made the week before.

Media for the week

• My bhuti and I watched The Fantastic Mr. Fox and Astro Boy.
• I read Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach for book club. I started our second selection, too, and also by Roach, which is about military research.