If Ty could see me now...and maybe he does....I'm blogging, honey. Or am I? I suppose I'll have to log off and then try to log back in and see if anything sticks before I break out the celebratory Fresca and congratulate myself. Due to weak internet capabilities and inspired by my cousin-in-law in Texas, I've decided to merge onto the internet highway and putz in the slow lane for a season.
The boys and I are doing great. No kidding. Though, life here is quiet. I suppose I was accustomed to the houseful of the boy's friends and my high school students, the noise of my life. My baby brother dropping in to game with the guys, the mid-night drop in's of Trav's buddies, Bethany knitting (quiet regular ticks...pearl two) in a corner of the living room while Reno circles the dining room table looking and grunting for his lost sheep. Tylyn trying out a latest instrument he found at a thrift shop or composing a long hair sonata. I never took that noise for granted knowing that in an instant it can all change.
And change it did. We hear new noises. Loud talking (I didn't think it was possible to be louder than my home) in the Mbekweni community centers. Pots clanging, kids laughing, dogs barking, clicking , clucking and rolling of 'r's. Different bird calls, wind howling through un-insulated houses, taxi's held together with duct tape rumbling quickly through the crowded streets. I love the new noises, but miss the sounds of my two older boys sparring and laughing.
The sights are also new. The smells. Even the touch, the texture of life here is different. It must change us, slowly, like a retainer worn only at night and only when your mother insists. And the change will make us beautiful, to Him at least.
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36 comments:
look at you-bloggin mama! way to go-welcome to the internet!
Hey beautiful daughter in law! You're my first ever comment! You should be honored. It could be because you're sitting behind a table all day in a gymnasium in front of your computer waiting for parents to come and conference with you! :)
Wow, can you believe the world we live in, semi-instant communication to almost any where. Picture of dear one living around the world sent with out 6 postage stamps and the envelope falling apart before it gets to you. What more will be have to learn, to just keep up with the masses. Love you, the boys look great and so big! Miss you and look forward to keeping link, and blogged and all the other ways we can connect!
oof!
uhm..... would you like to see my not so freshly updated posts??
www.xanga.com/dutrieux_data/
or something like that
Hey Laura, I throughly enjoy hearing about your experiences in South Africa and this blog is a great way to share. Keep the news coming. You and your boys continue to be in my prayers.
Hey Karen! Thanks for your support in every way! I miss seeing your family every Sunday at church. Tell the girls and Matt 'Hey'. Love you!
Rita- for a professional writer you are a woman of few words and many sound effects.
Cyn- pass the account to Michelle. Sam and Joe promise to write and add photos eventually.
hmmph!
LA
hey, welcome to blogging... cool. Love the boys sweet outfits for school... not loving the sweet spider. hahaa
Your web site is awesome. Love ya!
This is great! We love and miss you extremely!!!!
Hi Laura -
Nice blog! I know your son will LOVE is Christmas spider! I am writing to you during recess. It was so fun to tell the teachers here @ Walnut Grove Elem. how you are doing.
Much love to you
and your boys!!!!
You go, girl! What a bloggin beauty and how fun for us to keep up with you this way! More pictures, please!! Loved hearing your sweet voice last Friday as well! Stay healthy! Much love! Praying for you!!
OMG!!! You go girl...so happy to hear everything. WE ALL think and pray for you often...big time! I owe you a letter...it's on the way babe!
Love ya loads...oh yeah...they gave me my OWN show! Holla...I'll tell ya more later...
fa
It is so excellent that you are blogging! Now, if you could only beam me over to Africa.
Hey you - so proud of your tech-abilities....and of course I am sooooooo jealous. We are scheming a way to get back there...maybe we should just buy an airline ticket. I look forward to 'watching' your life unfold. Many blessings to you!
(Boys look absolutely FABULOUS in stripes!)
Love you, me
Wow, how fun is this. Good job on the internet! Miss seeing you at church.
I'm praying for you and the boys. I might get to come there with the group in Feb. (?)
God bless and keep you.................
linda
beautifully written!
This is great Laura! Tell the boys we said "Hi". With much love. Mark and Emily
lovin' this. love hearing from everyone. hello everyone!
wow!i love the way you write. you need to print up each of the things you ost as a memoir of your season (yes, i said season) in Africa.
you know me, always thiinking of how to preserve memories. and i love the way you write...awesome.
I agree with Rebecca, Laura you are a great writer!! You should keep track of your writings...would make a great book.
You write for the "visual" person....i really could picture it all.
God is incredible!
I've been praying for a friend and all of a sudden all of my friends show up -via blogging- and love me through encouragement and good natured ribbing. Just like home! Thanks you , Father!
I love you blog. I emailed at first because I couldn't open it up. You sound great, and I got a tear in my eye when I saw your picture. You look wonderful and happy. We are going to send you a picture of Billy (Craig's other son) Tell Joey to put it on his my space and tell Brookie. She will die!!!!!! This photo is one of the reasons I love Brookie so much You would never guess she is on a classy dance team. Beauty is for sure in the eye of the beholder. Love ya, Jill
Love the blog.
You are amazing and the boys look stunning in their new duds.
So not a Taylor look, not even in this Taylor house.
Keep writing. You inspire me to live a more faithful, purposeful life.
Tylin led our full staff meeting worship a week ago. He is a great addition to the CWC staff. I sort of welled up inside like a mom having seen him come here as a young boy now leading us elders to a worshipful place. He's such a chip off the ol block as they say.
Will you eat Turkey for Thanksgiving?
Bless you all,
Carole
Hey girlfriend, What a great blog! I am encouraged by your faith journey! You inspire me! I am hoping to come for a visit in April :) Your faith has inspired so many! We do miss your smile at Crosswinds! Love the pics and enjoy praying for you, Sam & Joe!
Love the visual way you write- the duct tape on the taxi cabs, the retainer, uninsulated houses- only you could be poetic in the midst of your new chaos. Thanks for letting us "watch" your story play out- and keep the pics coming!
Everybody can thank Lori, my pal in Virginia, for all the pics. Every time she writes me she says "more pics!"
Who's dc?
Jill- send me that photo of Brookie! Joey could use the laugh!
Carole- hug my boys for me! You can even give them big slobbery kisses! Your sweet words about Tylyn makes me miss them (and him) even more! Love you!
You are loved--continually! I send a hug via the blog--a blog hug! Love technology! Love that you're not in the boonies where we couldn't converse with you! What a gem SA is getting in you! Keep listening to God's voice! See you soon! No really!!
Love, Em
Katie and I did some bush trimming today. I just fished part of an evergreen out of my ear. What kind of vegetation do you have in Paarl?
Paarl is unbelievably beautiful. I'll take some photos and post them. But seeing as we are in the Winelands- there are grapevines everywhere! And beautiful mountains, rugged and steep- very dramatic. Lots of old trees and a river runs through the middle of town. Tom Gay often calls this a 'land of contradictions'. Such beauty contrasted with such poverty. It's hard to get your mind around.
That reminds me of Jamaica. It is breathtakingly beautiful, but in a 2 block radius you often see both gorgeous mansions, and the tiny huts of people just barely getting by.
Are there wealthy people in Paarl? Are there white people who live in Paarl? Our communities ever mixed? (black, colored,white)
I meant "are" there....
Oh man! I am clicking entirely too fast. I meant, "are" communities ever...
hahahaha.....you write like you talk! Paarl is about 10% white South African. The rest are mostly colored and there is a large Xhosa population. 76% of the people speak Afrikaans. The rest, Xhosa, although many speak English- enough for us to communicate somewhat effectively. Most of the white people live comfortably. There certainly are different classes of people, but , from what I have observed, the whites don't tend to flaunt their wealth.
Few of the neighborhoods are 'mixed'. Especially in Mbekweni. Only Xhosa people live there. And in the colored communities it is almost entirely colored. Some colored live in the lower-middle class white neighborhoods, but by and large they live together in densely populated poorer communities.
Why? Because they (Colored & black) are, by and large, not concerned about upward mobility. Not if it takes them out of their communities, where everybody takes care of one another and looks out for each other. And in a area where TB and AIDS are rampant, you need that community support.
Plus they live a participative culture. They are in each others homes, leaning against buildings, sitting on stoops, telling stories and talking about the latest news. Moving into a quiet white suburban neighborhood (although the conveniences such as electricity, indoor plumbing, or hot water might be nice) isn't even on their radar. Integration isn't their goal. Living/surviving today is.
Yes, quickly and stupidly.
(O.K., I've officially become a stalker.)
It is wonderful that community trumps upward mobility in the colored and black communities there. I wish that was more often the case in America.
Do most of the families in the middle and lower class neighborhoods live with both parents? With extended family members?
Do families ever send children to live and work elsewhere? Peter's mom's brothers left home and worked for room, board and a VERY small wage when they were still fairly young teenagers. Oma (Peter's mom) didn't see them much at all growing up.
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