Sitting in the Air France lounge at OR Tembo International Airport in Joberg... Like a boss. Have a few quiet moments before I head to the gate a bit early because I've been randomly selected for a pre-flight security search. Joy. Anyway, I'm testing out blogging via the Wordpress app and seeing how well it can integrate Instagram and/or other random snaps from the past two weeks in Swaziland. I've also made a playlist entitled "girly" on my iPod, looked at photos of wedding flowers, and played approximately 2 minutes of Nertz. So productive.
I read this book called Scared just before I left the US. It's a novel about a photojournalist in Swaziland, doing stories about orphans, poverty, and people affected by AIDS. Even though it's fiction, I was already relating with the main character before I even got to Swaziland - World Vision works with just these kinds of people all the time.
But then it got a little eerie when we met children these past two weeks who had stories strangely parallel to the kids in the book. Same set of sad circumstances, same homes, same landscapes.
At the very end of the novel, there are torrential rains and all the rivers in Swaziland flood, creating a weather event of historic proportions and killing thousands. It turns out well in the end, but it was quite dramatic.
Well the last 2 days of my time in the Swaz, they had rain of epic proportions. We did a bunch of interviews in homes with tin roofs and I sometimes couldn't hear a word that was said, no matter if it was in Siswati or English, because the rain was pounding so hard, like bullets. What do you think this meant for the back country roads of this developing nation? I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that scenes from the book flashed through my mind. I tend to have an overactive imagination sometimes.
But I was slightly justified because today, back in the capital city, we heard reports that bridges all over the country had been washed out from two almost continuous days of heavy rain. We had driven over several of these flooded bridges yesterday and all I can say is that our 4 foot 11 inch driver Zanele is a champ and did an incredible job navigating those treacherous muddy roads.
And also, I'm glad to be here in Joberg on my way home to my family and the man I'm going to marry in less than 90 days.
A few shots from these 2 weeks...