Kevin, Sister Lucy, Sister Lucy's wine, and Ethel. They were settling up for their stay at the convent last night and having one last visit. 
Here is Ethel on her last day, taking a picture with a patient who has been there for WEEKS. The woman is with the guy in the next bed but wanted to be in the photo. heh heh.
There is often a group of Mehs who take breaks from attending to their men and sit on the bench outside the male medical ward. They give me practice in my plural greetings and call me "aussie" (girl), which is nice.
Mosa is our night guard at the convent. We give him beers occasionally and I practice my greetings. He told us he doesn't know how to say "cheers" when you drink because he doesn't like hanging out with lots of people. The do stupid things. He's found a good gig for himself.
Here's Ethel at the kitchen table, clean gloves and TB masks in the foreground.
Here's a view from the kitchen down the hall. The closed door leads to the flower garden and laundry line. The open room at the back is the one Kevin just moved out of and I just moved into.
Kevin and Ethel took off to Butha Buthe this morning at quarter to seven and, after hugging them on their way, I slept almost until 10. One of the younger nuns was cleaning our dishes and we chatted a little, I moved my stuff to Kevin's old room to make room for the Germans if they end up coming (it may be April 28th, not March), and made some breakfast. The power was out so coffee had to wait until around noon... darn. I did a huge load of laundry which is now draped across a line in the back garden and four plastic chairs on the front patio. Then I plucked up a little energy and courage, cut off a pair of scrubs, threw on myfree tank-top from the Walmart factory, and went for a run. I was the craziest looking cracker ever to hit Leribe, judging by the faces on the hundreds of people who stared and giggled. I said "Dumela" to as many people as my low-land lungs and sweating cracker skin could greet, which seemed to make everyone pretty happy in a, "oh, the doggy is friendly!" kind of way. It's so strange to be so strange. But the vibe is uniformly benevolent and amused. I don't feel nervous for a second around here. The run was beautiful and there was a big wedding parade winding through town. Everyone was honking and waving balloons and yelling greetings to me as they drove slowly by.
Joe got stuck in Heathrow with a canceled flight so won't be in until late tomorrow night. I'm gonna spend the rest of the day, after a trip to Shoprite, lying in the shade with books, knitting, Coke Lights, and later a movie and a beer. And that's as far as my hopes and dreams take me today. So nice.
