I made it safely to Joburg. It's wintertime here, and very cold. With no central heating. Yay! Lots of layers and blankets for me! And I now think in a SA accent…haha.

The kids are sweet, but undisciplined. There is no discipline at home, so they misbehave a lot. But that's also because we're new. Remember how you used to act when you had a substitute in school? Yeah, that's them. But they're very affectionate. I have to practice not smiling at them – then they think I'm playing and don't listen.

We're living in a cottage at the church. The area is pretty unsafe, but as long as we're inside the church compound (which is gated), we're okay. We share the cottage with Nomalanga and her two children – Thabo and Oyisa. Nomalanga runs the education program here, and she is the force that the children fear. We say "Line up!" and they run away. She says "Line up!" and they are perfectly straight. Oh to have that power…

Evening is for reading, Sudoku, and watching TV – either SA soap operas or old seasons of US shows. For example – Andrew Firestone just selected his match on the Bachelor. How long ago was that?

There is more I can probably say, but internet time is limited. And thank you to my parents for posting this! For more, check out Russell's blog – the link is on the right.

Cheers!