Creepy Crawlers

Hello from Africa,

Creepy Crawlers:

I am blessed to not be afraid of spiders, but I definitely don't enjoy any creeping bugs.   As I said before, it is so incredibly hot and so if there is a breeze (and even if there is a slight movement of air) we have our doors open.    Even after dark, we keep them open...which of course, gives an inviting invitation to bugs.   However, I think they will find their way into the house regardless.  

In our front doorway I thought I had spilled some sort of brownish-orangish liguid but I had no idea what it could be.    As I began to wipe it up....it moved!!   It was a huge, ugly cockroach.   YUK!   I tried to kill it but it escaped....did it go into or out of the house?   The cockroaches are large!   

The next day we saw a gecko (lizard) in our home.   It was in our bedroom and I didn't want it crawling over my face at night so I asked Larry to kill it.    I am not a bug lover, but I felt guilty.   The next day I had a chance to redeem myself.   Our kitchen dishes sit on a shelf in a bookcase so there are no doors or cupboards,    I saw a gecko running all over our dishes.   I tried to shoo it outside.   It ran over everything in the kitchen--food is sitting out on a shelf.   Finally, I got a container and was able to turn it upside down on the lizard.   But when I tried to get the lid on, it escaped.   Eventually, I was victorious.   I took it outside and threw it into the yard and told it in my sternest voice to "Not come back into my house"....we'll see what happens.

But 3 days ago, was the worst.   When we walked into the kitchen the first thing in the morning, there were worms all over the place.    That's right.   Real worms.   They were white, chubby and about a 1/2- 3/4 inches long.   They were squirming everywhere...the floor was covered and they were crawling up the walls.   It was absolutely disgusting and alarming.   We had no idea where they came from.   I found a can of Raid and  almost emptied the enitre can in the 4 by 3 foot area.   Then I started spraying the walls.   After 10 minutes the worms were still alive.   It was gross.   I sprayed the rest of the can of bug spray.   Then I got the broom and began sweeping them up.    I put them in a bag and sealed it.     But where did they come from?   Why?   The only thing we can think of,  is we cut a pineapple and put the skin in the garbage.   But now I want to take the garbage out every night and they don't like us using many plastic garbage bags.

Flies are so thick everywhere in our house.    But we are celebrating.   After 8 days we found a fly swatter last week.     We have looked in dozens of stores, shops, booths. etc.    I would ask for a fly swatter but no one knew what I meant.   So I developed an elaborate pantomine.....I made the noise of a fly and used my finger to show a fly flying in the air.   Then I took somethng in my hand and swatted at the imaginary fly.   The clerks and employees stood mesmerized and then shook their heads.   As we walked away I imagined they were thinking "What a crazy lady from America!"    I began to feel very crazy after performing this many times.   Then we wandered into a tiny store (we were looking for a spiral notebook which is impossible to find).  There in the back corner, Larry saw one---hot pink and in the shape of a flower.  I literally clapped with glee.   We went to pay for it and the puzzled clerk asked us what it was.   We tried to explain, but don't know if she understood.
  

Walking:

Each morning, I feel desperate to do some sort of excercise....Larry does not share this feeling but he is a good sport and comes with me for safety AND because we are companions and he needs to be with me.   We walk around and around in this general area for 1 hour (sweating up a storm and not from exertion...from just moving at a slow pace).   As I mentioned, each house is surrounded by a fence and a metal gate in front.   Almost every home has 1-3 dogs that run to the gate to greet us with a bark....actually, non-stop barking.    There are 2 kinds of dogs that are popular:   Big ones, especially Dobermans and German Shepherds, and small ones that yelp and bark wildly.  No mid sized dogs.   I thought they might be getting used to us, but not yet. 

Larry said that when he was a young man on his mission in  Georgia and Alabama (1964-1966) the Mormon missionaries rode the public buses for transportation if it was too far to walk.   He said, the only people who rode the buses were the Mormon missionaries and the blacks...no one else.

Well, it is kind if like that during our morning walks.   The only people walking are the Mormon missionaries (us) and the black domestic help.   They are walking to the homes were they are employed as cleaners or nannies.   We always say hello and now they are greeting us with a smile.   There is nothing as heart warming as a South African smile!     

Because of the gates, we have only met 2 neighbors and I try hard.   There is NO intercom or button to push at the gate to get someone to answer.    When you pull up to the gate, you call the person on your cell phone (unless it is your home) and they come out and open the gate.   If you don't have their phone number, you don't get inside.    Maybe when it gets to be cooler, people will step outside.

Yard Work 

On our morning walk we saw the lawn being mowed.....it was a black lady, bent way over with a machete.   She was swinging the machete methodically to "mow" a large yard.   Hard way to mow a large lawn!

Along the sides of the highways, they have crews of men cutting grass the same way.   We aren't sure if they do this because they want to employ as many people as possible or because they have always done it this way and don't want to buy mowers.

TAXIS

Taxis are the main type of "transport" here.   But they are not like the taxis in America.   They are just a little bigger than a mini van (maybe a full sized van) and are white.   They loop in a specific route but there is no schedule at all.   There are places along the road called Taxi stands (but most are just an area along side the road with no markings but the people know where to stand...a few have a cover or shade).   People wait here until a taxi comes.   The taxi leaves when every seat is filled.   It may take 2 minutes or 3 hours.   You tell the driver (when you are new) where you want to go and he tells you if he is going there.   There are ddifferent prices depending on how far you are going.   Sometimes if the taxi is almost full, they might leave and try the next taxi stand to fill up but mainly they sit there until it fills.   Different taxis go to different locations so you must ask the driver if he is going to where you want to go.   I asked how often taxis come to pick people up.   They shrugged and said from every 30 minutes to  every 2 hours for popular places that are nearby.   If you want to go to someplace 2 hours away, they will come once a day or every other day....you stand and wait, I guess.    They said: We don't need a schedule, you just wait and the taxi comes!   

However, most or all of the domestic workers who come to clean homes in Richards Bay, come from the townships (very poor areas ourside of town).   Some of these people ride a regular bus from their township into town where they are dropped off at a few different locations and then they walk to their employment.   The bus leaves every morning at 6:30 AM and returns at 3:30 PM.    I don't know why everyone doesn't ride this bus...maybe it costs more or maybe it is only for certain employees.    I ask millions of questions from everyone I meet but there are still so many puzzles.

MALL

I told you about our mall.   Today, we went to pick up supplies for people at the mall and the power went out.   Lights went out, stores closed.   Two big stores stayed open with just a few lihgts (the rest of the store was dark).   This is called "LOAD SHARING".   I guess it means, you have to share the load of no electricity.   We waited and waited and found out the power outages would be until 8 PM.    People were eating lunch at restuarants, but the kitchen must close because of no electricity.   Interesting.  

I want to let you know more about this mall:    It is as large as the Park Meadows Mall.  Maybe it is larger, I can't tell.   It is huge.  But there are no large open areas, places to sit, wide walkways. It is kind of airconditioned.   It is defintely cooler than outside but it is still hot and muggy.    Every space is used.  No chairs or benches in the mall or in the stores.    We couldn't find one place to sit to try and read something.    The mall is 2 floors and they just got escalators a few years ago.    There are so many people that I can't figure it out.   The place is packed from early morning to 6 PM when it closes.   Richards Bay is not that large.    Unemployment is so high.   Where do the people come from and where do they get the money to shop?    I have asked and asked and have been told thst they come from up to 300 Kilometers away to shop, they come from all of these townships.    But they are shocked that I ask.   They reply, This is not crowded.   Today a man said, wait until Saturday that is a payday.   You have to find a spot to walk and have to  push your way down the hall.

DRYING CLOTHES

Last week (Monday) I washed the clothes and hung them out to dry.   The clothes line is on the back of the house and I can't see it.   Out of sight...oout of mind.   I forgot to bring them in.   It rained the next morning so I had to leave them out.   To make a long story short, each time I went to get the clothes it had rained earlier.    I didn't get to bring the clothes into the house until Thursday night!  I hope rain water is clean.   They were in 3 rain storms and I didn't rewash anything.    Each time we looked for clean clothes, I remebered I left them outside.  

We actually have a very small tumbler (dryer) but it heats up the house so bad, it is like an oven.    Plus it costs quite a bit to run it.   Our landlady considers "tumblers" a huge extravagance!   But I haven't used a clothes line for decades...maybe since before I ws married.

LOVE THE PEOPLE

The main reason I started to write was to tell you all the wonderful things I am learning here.   Most of all, I have a strong desire to be of service.   Communicating is still a challenge because I can't understand,,,,,neither the English OR the Zulu.    But I never give up...I hope I won't.   I am trying to learn everything I can so we can be of service,.  
Today we spent 1 hour questioning a Zulu man to get a better understanding to the roadblocks and obstacles of his people for bettering themselves.   He is an educated man and came from poverty.    We were wandering around trying to find our way and we were lost.    He stopped to help us.   Then he saw our name tags and that we were from the Church of Jesus Chrit of Latter Day Saints.   He was also a member of our church from a small township.   He felt inspired to come and help us even before he knew who we were.   He spent over an hour leading us to wherever we needed.  Then he spent an hour helping us understanding the Zulu people better.   It was an answer to our pleading prayer that morning.

We love you.

The Todds