Hello from the scariest city in the world--Johannesburg! (Luckily, we're safe behind cement walls topped with electric wires and surrounded by security cameras, etc!) We're doing well, staying at a friend's place that is very safe. We're very emotionally drained from our time in Lesotho and then at Our Place (the AIDS hospice in Bloemfontein). We finally got up the nerve to leave the house (which is quite nice, I might add). It's in an upscale, predominantl...

As I write this, I'm sitting in a hospice for people with AIDS. We're in South Africa, not in Bloemfontein as we had planned, but just outside in a town called Ferreira. We packed up and left Maseru on Sunday; Joy had left Lesotho on Friday. We decided to visit Thaba Bosiu, where the founder of Lesotho and all subsequent kings are buried. It was a really neat place and we were happy that we stuck around to see it. Anyhow, Sunday morning we do some resea...

June 8 We have made it (back) to Thaba Tseka. It is nice to come back to something familiar, to know where things are and to recognize faces. I think that Joy is a bit out of sorts (who wouldn't be?), but she's doing quite well. We are staying with the nuns-not right in the convent, but on the grounds. We have our own space with a bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen/Joy's bedroom. It's even got a toilet and cold running water! Not bad. It's definitely not the H...

From my journal: June 22 Thaba-Tseka Last night, a snow storm swept in. About 1cm or so and gusty winds- I'm amazed at how people here manage in this weather especially those in tin shacks and rustic huts. We awoke this morning to a beautiful winter scene but in Africa of course. On our way to school, I took advantage of a new discovery on my camera that I've owned for 3 years- the panorama function - to capture the beautiful snow covered scenery. ...

We are back from Thaba-Tseka. Sadly, we are abbreviating our time in Lesotho to embark on the next part of our adventure: exploring the world. On Sunday, we leave for South Africa (actually, if we stood on a tall hill in Maseru, we could see it). We spent a wonderful, but short 3 weeks in Thaba-Tseka, the location of our first month. It felt like coming home when we arrived since we knew the town and the people in it. The children were elated to see us. ...