Reports from Swaziland

Sawubona, my avid blog readers! I am happy to announce that after a grueling 40 hour process, Ben and I are safely in Mbabane, Swaziland. The trip over here was successful, save the security-confiscated wire cutters, baggage overage fees encountered three fourths of the way through the trip, and the overarching theme of “no sleeping.”

I got off to a great start from San Antonio to Houston, and then onto London. Once in London, after our previously arranged meeting plans were foiled, I managed to find Ben waiting for me at the conjuncture of connecting gates and customs. Fortunately, we didn’t have to pick up our baggage in London because it was tagged through the airline switchover, so we grabbed our London Underground day passes and decided it was time to tour the city!

We stretched our tired legs with lots of walking, tourist picture taking, statue climbing, and some fish and chips. We loved it so much that right after we stepped food in Swaziland, we went straight back to London! Okay, that was intentionally a little misleading. While walking to find lunch in the city, we stumbled upon the Swazi Embassy… it was fate, and comforting, because even in the worst case scenario, we had already made it to Swazi territory!

The London-Johannesburg leg allowed us to close our eyes for longer than a few minutes, which was great because of the headaches we’d encounter with security and baggage re-checking. We made it out alive, and then it was on a tiny plane and taxi all the way to Mbabane! We’re here now, and were fortunate enough to meet some of the doctors, nurses, and members of the clinic already, and are starting to get acquainted with the town. Mbabane is beautiful, by the way- sunny, green, and lush!

Tomorrow we’re headed to the clinic in the morning to start observing to find out what all they do in the clinic, and at night, we’ll join Stephanie and Michelle for a home-cooked dinner and discussion of all of our technologies. I’m very excited to be here, and the realization that we are actually here is starting to set in!

I know it will be a great challenge, and I am looking forward to everything ahead of us, no matter how difficult or uncomfortable, because I already know it’s going to be a rewarding experience. Maybe not as instantly gratifying as the good night of sleep I am about to get once I’m finished writing this, of course, but definitely something that will stick with me for the rest of my life.

I’ll leave you with a few facts of life we have learned so far:

1) There is a “right hand rule” in Swaziland… everything must be done with your right hand, including handing money over to your taxi driver. If you try to give it to him with your left hand, he won’t accept it.

2) The drinking water in Mbabane is reliable… I hope I don’t regret making that claim, but the resources available in the capital are definitely sufficient. I’m not sure how quickly those availabilities disintegrate in rural areas, but I’m curious and will soon find out as we move into our rural clinic.

3) The Southern African regions have a standard handshake… you shake hands normally, but then slide your hand up and squeeze, and then go back down and shake the hand normally again. It takes some getting used to, as it seems like the person you were just introduced to is trying to make a secret handshake, but apparently it’s not so secret!

Thanks for reading, and be sure to check back in soon for an update about our time at the clinic!