Terry the turkey met his match...

In the form of a "lomhlope" (white person) wielding a very sharp knife. Like all big events here in Swaziland, this Thanksgiving did not pass without celebration...or fresh meat. Three days before the big day we ordered our turkeys (meaning we walked 20 minutes to one of our Babe's house and asked for two turkeys). Wednesday, the birds arrived, not dead, plucked and plastic wrapped in normal American fashion but alive, fully clothed and still kickin' in true swazi style. No exaggeration on the still kickin' part either. Jay and Mongaliso were in charge of slaughtering this time around and while the head was removed in a second flat, Jay held firmly to old Terry for another 7-8minutes. If ever a chicken and Turkey were in a fight our advice to you is side with the turkey, you won't be dissappointed. Plucking and dressing ensued and the following day Hilary slathered that turkey in herbs and butter. All was ready for our tiny electric oven when lo and behold the electricity went out. Off to the wood burning stove we went and the rest is history. On a side note, Loftin family you will be very proud to know that monkey bread and Mema's dressing have both now been introduced to Africa. We can only hope that everyone back home had as wonderful and eventful a Thanksgiving as we did, afterall there's so much to be thankful for...like electricity.

Also wanted to point out our address changed...
Hilary and Jay Jackson, PCV
PO Box 317
Matata L312
Swaziland, Africa

I Miss the Rains.

Hello to our long lost friends and Family. We are still alive and well here in Swaziland despite the prolonged silence. We have been spending most of our time in our community separated from these strange machines, so it has been difficult to keep in touch. That is unless you have dusted off the old pen and paper to see if you still remember how to write (or if you call us on our cell phone the writing just makes it seem further away). Life is wonderful in our new village. The rains have finally made their debut bringing an excitement in the air and personally a long sought after insight into Toto's* inspiration. These rains have brought new meaning to the term thunderstorm as we sit quietly in our hut staring out the window at the worlds greatest disco party while praying not to be a part of it. Jay actually received an appetizer when he was mysteriously shocked while stirring an enormous pot of tortilla soup. Yes we have brought Tex-Mex to Swaziland. We will soon wrap up our "getting to know you" period of our service and are looking forward to starting some tangible projects. Until the next time.

*Toto was a band that played a song in the 1980s for those of you fortunate enough to not know.