Water, Water Everywhere -- Week 95

We have now been back in South Africa for one year.  We left the USA on 4 December and arrived in South Africa on 5 December.  It's hard to believe.  This year has just raced by, and now we are getting ready to come home!  Just about two months left.  But we are making the most of this time.

First: COVID update.  The unnecessary hype goes on.  USA is at 36 cases/100,000.  South Africa is at 11 cases/100,000.  Enough said.

Sue had fun on Saturday morning.

Ken is too responsible.

More on all that later.

Sue loves to knit but doesn't want any more sweaters or slippers.  She got started with a group from Ken's office in Menlo Park several years ago knitting caps for hair-loss cancer patients and "knitted knockers" which are prosthetics for women who have had mastectomies.  She has carried on doing that here in South Africa, but they've been piling up in a cupboard.  She and Sister Hubrich finally went Tuesday and found an oncology clinic that was so glad to have them.  This is Alicia, and she knew all about the knockers and has given many pairs to women in the past.

Wednesday evening we went to the Durban Temple.  It is now open and we decided to take advantage of being so close and go regularly.  There is a session at 6pm on Wednesday nights, and the drive is only about 30 minutes, so we can go when the office closes.  There is such peace there.  It is good to renew the spirit.  Ken took this photo for Sue, because it reminded her of home.  The agapanthus and star jasmine and bird of paradise are all blooming, just like in our yard in Palo Alto.

Thursday was Sister Lines birthday, so we had to do a little celebration.  We went on a Durban harbor cruise when we first arrived in 2020, but Lines and Hubrichs had never done this, so it was time.

On the way to the harbor we drove through downtown Durban and along the Taxi Rank.  There are hundreds of Toyota 12-passenger vans coming and going and sitting.  Drivers must need to kill time while waiting their turn to go.  This was just along the sidewalk of a main street in Durban.

Durban is the busiest harbor in the southern hemisphere -- lots and lots and lots of big container ships.  And pre-COVID there were also lots of cruise ships, too.  We tried to count how many containers on a ship.  15 across, 11 high, 17 front-to-back.  That's about 2800!  It takes 2.5 days to unload and 4-5 days to load again.

And of course Ken took lots of photos.  

We had dinner at a Portuguese restaurant next to the harbor.  

They brought Sister Lines this special lemonade and we all sang to her.  

I've posted photos before of Sister Lines' incredible cakes.  We knew we couldn't compete, and she shouldn't have to make her own birthday cake, so the Hubrichs bought a small cheesecake with fresh strawberries, and we enjoyed that together back at the Mission  Home.  

Friday night we did not even go out to dinner -- too many nights out already this week.  

Now back to Saturday.  Sue was feeling caught-up, mostly thanks to Andre and Vanessa Slabbert.  They are our new Service Missionaries, part-time office couple helpers.  They have been doing all the shopping and gathering for the new apartment in Pietermaritzburg.  They drove up there on Thursday to deliver what they had bought here, and to purchase and take delivery on big items like stove and fridge and washing machine.  Opening a new boarding is not trivial!

Ken was not feeling caught-up.  He has to do a manual entry to match every credit-card charge or request for reimbursement to every printed receipt and report/repair fender benders and track vehicles and dole out cellphone time.  When the Mission had 40 missionaries he could keep up.  We are now over 90 missionaries.  So he decided to spend Saturday in the office processing receipts, etc., etc.

Sue took up the Hubrichs on their invitation to watch some surfers.  These are not just any surfers, but the monthly activity by "Made for More".  This charity does adaptive activities for people with various disabilities.

The day looked a little gray, but it was not cold, and not too windy.  It's summer in Durban -- 80F and 85pct. humidity.  Lots of rain.

 You may not be able to see in the photo, but the short man holding the surfboard in the front has no legs starting just below the knee.  He had been out surfing and walked up the beach carrying his board!

This is the best wheelchair ever.  It goes right out into the surf, with pontoons to keep it afloat.  Everyone was color-coded.  Pink t-shirts for surfing coaches.  Green t-shirts for helpers. Blue t-shirts for disabled participants.

The Church has a large world-wide program to distribute wheel-chairs.  The Hubrichs are quite involved with that and had been visiting people with Church-donated wheelchairs.  The people apply through hospitals and physical therapists and get their chair.  Later Church representatives visit many of them to make sure they have what they need.  

Last week Hubrichs visited this young lady at her home and told her about the surfing activity.  She came, but was timid about it all.  After watching for awhile she decided she will come back next month and surf for sure. 

Sunday was church as usual, but still in the Hillcrest Chapel.  We will be glad when Molweni Branch is able to go back to their rented school rooms closer to where everyone lives in the rural township.  But we do love the garden at Hillcrest.  There is a huge gardenia bush, and the blossoms all smell so wonderful.  Sue couldn't  resist picking one to bring home, and Ken caught her in the act.  Now our apartment smells just as good.