Africa Dispatch
STAN MAMBA, THE ONE AND ONLY
Recently I was sitting at my desk grading papers. I heard Mamba's pickup truck moving, and looked out the window to see it. Sure enough, Mamba was driving on the service road-with the hood of his car up! I half-shouted to Mr. Lukhele, the English teacher who sits next to me in the staff room, "What is he doing?!" Lukhele cooly replied, "I think he's testing something." I suspect that 6 Stan Mamba's could plan, build, and successfully execute a manned mission to Mars from whatever pieces and parts he could find in three average American garages.

DUCK SOUP
We had a 4 day weekend a few weeks back. Kit and I went out and weeded the corn plot, preparation for planting either corn or lablab bean or a combination of both, or nothing; being away for 6 weeks in the growing season has that effect on agricultural planning. As we were working, a goose-a real live big white goose-approached our corn plot. My first response? "Hey Mrs. Mamba, call Stan and tell him to bring his gun!" I know enough to know a goose is good eatin'. Mamba brought it, but said he could not shoot it. Apparently it belongs to a nearby homestead. "If that were not the case", Mamba said, "it would be dead already".

SPECIAL WEAPONS AND TACTICS
This morning (Wed., Aug. 4) I was sweeping water out of the junior laboratory with K.C. Dlamini. When the water supply fails, the taps (obviously) don't have any water. Students sitting in the lab inevitably turn the faucets (I suppose that's more interesting than what the teacher is saying) and almost as inevitably leave the faucet in an open position. The water supply returns, and water rushes into the sink (and out of the sink) and all over the floor (because the drains aren't completely clear). Anyway, it was a nice chance to talk to K.C., who has taught at Nsukumbili since 1989. I taught with K.C. as a Peace Corps Volunteer. We got to talking about teachers who were here when I was here in the early 1990s. I asked him if he knew where Mr. Matsebula was, and he said "He is teaching at Mpuluzi school." "You know", he continued, "Matsebula was a clever man. You remember the 2 classrooms up by the water tanks." I nodded. These were demolished so that all the buildings for the school could be within the perimeter of the fence. "well, some tardy students used to sneak up to those classrooms and then wind their way into the school. One day Matsebula put on a school uniform and hid himself in the tall grass in the morning. When the latecomers began to arrive, he waved them over-as if he were one of their colleagues. When they reached Matsebula, he told them to sit down so that they did not alert the other late students. He caught a lot of students that way." We both had a great big laugh in the lab, where the echos were tremendous. I wonder how much disruption we delivered to the students in the next classroom.

WHY ARE YOU HERE?
This afternoon Mr. Magagula (the school principal) and I had a conversation in the secretary's office. He asked if we had plane tickets for Christmas, and I smilingly confirmed that we did. He then asked "You know, I have wondered: you are from the US; why do you choose to live here instead of America?" I explained to him some of the reasons. We really like the physical location of this school. I like to hike, and this place is perfect for that. You could get lost out here, but there are enough homesteads around that you could not starve to death. If you were really confused as to where you were and how to get yourself home, you could just stop into a homestead and ask for help. We like Mbabane; it's easy for us to reach, it's small enough that you can reach anywhere in town on foot, and it has enough "modern conveniences" to make it comfortable. Dlangeni is good for our marriage and family; Ruth and I have lots of time together. We then discussed the girls' education and educational options within Swaziland.

Later on, I remembered a couple other reasons why we like it here. One is that the girls have really good friends. We don't worry about what they might be getting into with their (elementary school-age) friends. I suppose we'll have to see what happens when all the girls reach their teens. Another nice thing is that we are not immersed in a media culture. We do not have broadcast television. We do not have the internet at the house, so that concern is off the boards. We do have a computer, but we know exactly what the girls are watching and listening to. Just this afternoon, Cub drew a Christmas tree for Ruth and a duck for me. As she was working, she was listening to Aaron Copland's "Appalachian Spring". "This is really good music" was her unsolicited comment.

One other reason I told Magagula that we like it here is that we feel that help we can give others has a pretty immediate impact. I explained to him that of course there are lots of non-governmental organizations in the US, but much of the time you give them your money and trust that they will do good things with it. Here, when you help someone in some way, the impact and feedback are more immediate (remember the young man with the infected finger, dad?) So, these are some of the reasons we like to live here.

10 YEARS TOGETHER
August 5th marks our 10th wedding anniversary. I must say, I (Rudy) married up. Ruth is a fantastic wife, and it really is hard to believe it's been 10 years together. We have a great relationship; we really like each other. Tomorrow we will put on our wedding clothes and recite our vows; Visit poglitshphotos.blogspot.com for a photo of our wedding best (with 4 flower girls!). We hope your marriage is as happy as ours.

Towards that end, I include here a 10 point plan for a successful marriage. This was stuck to a friend's refrigerator years ago, and it so struck me that I copied it. He got it from his grandmother. I read the list every morning, and pick out one to practice. Usually I remember to.

"How to Keep a Christian Marriage Alive" (That's the title; I'm sure it will help any marriage, Christian or not)
1. Pray for your mate each day.
2. Express appreciation for each other.
3. Show respect to each other.
4. Do small favors.
5. Pray together.
6. Have fun together.
7. Develop mutual interests.
8. Forgive each other daily.
9. Listen to each other.
10. Smile at each other.

I added #10 in 2005; it seemed to fit, and it certainly helps.

NSUKUMHILLBILLY
Your breakfast is last night's corn meal crust (called inkoloyi) right out of the pan.
Hillbilly

Nsukumhill-billy Quote:
Grace, holding E2 (about 25 cents) and dancing around, "Whoo, whoo, I can buy anything I want!"

Have a nice day,
The Poglitsh's