Returning home from home

It's been a long time. Mainly because the people who (I think) read this were the people we've been with. We were in South Africa, first in Durban then Cape Town. Durban, apart from having a cold front, was lovely. We got to see a lot of the people who are really important and special parts of my life, and so it was amazing for Eug to meet them. We had this really good steak dinner with my cousin Debbie and her boyfriend Andrew. We stayed with Debbie and my aunt and uncle, which was super cool. We got to sleep in (recover from jetlag), finish season 2 of Prison Break, get addicted to Blokus (a game of meanness), go to every mall you can imagine for coffee, and think up excuses as to why we couldn't swim in the ocean. I also had to re-remember how to drive a regular car without causing damage to myself and the passenger.

And that was just Durban. Cape Town felt like it went quickly-- we stayed a little in my parents place, who live next door to my sister's, then went on to Hout Bay. Got to walk and think and really get rejuvenated. We didn't too much but it really felt like a major blessing for me. I stayed on for a week and a half after Eug left. Lia invited me to Maputo (Moz) and we spent 2 days together. I really like Maputo, though I can only see it in a limited way.

There was a lot of time to read-- I reread the Poisonwood Bible, read a book called Call Me Woman, an autobiography by Ellen Kuzwayo, and on the flight home I read Finding God in Unexpected Places by Yancey. All of them were great in their own ways, so I put the weight of my recommendation behind them. Hehe. Finding God in Unexpected Places was for me a down to earth way of thinking about how to pray continuously. By seeing the world as purposefull and beautiful I feel more able to praise God, and also focus less on judging or getting angry. The Message's paraphrasing of Phillippians 4: I'd say you'll do the best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious--the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.

I'll write more soon. Also, the plants are doing super well. Except the cabbage. I'm going to post some pictures of Mr purple Pepper on Concrete Gardener. I know you want to see how he's doing.