Changes.

I would be remiss not to point out that the South African President, Thabo Mbeki, has stepped down from the presidency per the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC). A successor has yet to be named. Needless to say, the South Africans are quite surprised and in shock.

I will be the first to say that I know very little about South African politics, but it looks like I'm about to learn quite a bit. I don't know whether the resignation is a good thing or a bad thing; regardless, I currently reside in a country with an instable political structure. Will and I have followed the political issues going on with Mbeki and the trial of Jacob Zuma, who is slated to win the election this fall, but even still, its a surprise.


On to better news...

Sunday morning we visited the Presbyterian church located in our neighborhood. While it was good, it was quite different from the church we're used to back home. First, we were way overdressed (me in a dress and Will in a suit with no tie) as most everyone was in jeans. Second, it was the first time I've been to a Presbyterian church where there hasn't been a choir or organ (or hymnals!). Instead, there were praise and worship songs, which were nice. They said the Lord's Prayer differently ("tresspasses" instead of "debts") and there was no Doxology or Gloria Patri. Some things were still the same, but for the most part, it was very different. The congregation was a mix of black and white, old and young, and everyone seemed really nice. We will visit a few more churches around town, but we're glad that there is an option so close to home that we enjoy.

After church, we did some grocery shopping and then tried the Lebanese restaurant that "now serves breakfast!" by our local Woolworth's. Oh my goodness, YUM. We sat outside, sipped cappucino (Will) and hot tea (me), read the paper, and enjoyed an incredibly yummy breakfast of eggs, bacon, and grilled tomatoes and mushrooms. What a nice way to spend the morning.

Yesterday I made chili! I used Bush's beans (thanks mom!), Ro-tel (thanks mom!), and decided to use the extra lean mince since they were out of ostrich at Woolworth's. The extra lean mince turned out really good, especially because I seasoned it as it cooked. I was so happy to make good chili! It was extremely cold and windy yesterday (in the low 50's) so I thought chili would be nice. The batch was so big I'll be eating it for lunch all this week, but yum - so worth it.

Last night we went to our friend's house to eat burgers and watch the NFL football games on TV. We only watched the Giants/Bengals, and even though I could care less about the game, it was just nice to watch football. The Armed Forces Network (AFN) shows really weird commercials for people in service instead of regular commercials and I enjoy watching those. Ha!

I'm happy to report that I celebrate my first South African holiday on Wednesday - Heritage Day. I'm not sure what I will do with the day off, but its nice to have a break in the week all the same.