Moving

I left Cathy and Irwin’s home on Sunday, 6 July. It was a sad departure, and they invited me to stay, but other families are eager to host me and I’m excited for the opportunities to learn and experience from others. Still, I’ve told Cathy and Irwin that they can expect to host me again, even if just for a South African vacation. They were incredibly gracious, generous, and provided a wonderfully comfortable living situation.

Now I am being hosted by the Thomas family, who are also quite wonderful. It’s a different dynamic. Rather than living in a house with two people, one of whom is retired, I now live in a home with six people. Technically Ellen and Matshepo live in the flat. But Rob and Sharon are the patriarch and matriarch, Craig is a sophomore in high school and Lindsey is finishing 7th grade. And we’ve also got Viki (older dog), Zazu (African Grey- behaves and looks like a parrot, but is grey- quite the talker!), and Kiara (the new labrador puppy who moved in the day before I did). I’m getting settled after a week, it is a very different setting, but it’s good to be yanked out of my comfort zone… a little… I think…

Regardless, everyone at the church, and especially those I’m living with, continue to be incredibly warm and hospitable. They’ve read their Abraham stories!

The security update: I'm in a larger area, with three manned gates from 6AM to 8PM (manned, though I don't think armed). In some ways the human element is comforting, in others, namely that I've never been stopped even though they don't know me and my car doesn't have the decal, well, you get the idea. Only one of the gates is 24 hours. At the actual house we're back to the same sort of thing, a remote for a gate and lots of keys.

I have yet to feel unsafe in South Africa, outside of the risks of sharing the road with Kombis!