Three more questions:

My Uncle Nathan asked some questions awhile back that I’ve been posting about as I had time. Here are three more of his questions:

What is the weather like?
The weather is very nice and pleasant most of the time. Summers can be hot, but not too bad (I think around high 90’s at the hottest, but we haven’t been here a full summer yet.) Winter is really pleasant during the day, but very cold at night. Days are usually 70’s. Some days are warmer and some are colder. They don’t use central heat, so we heat our house with little space heaters at night

Do you go out to movies, if so what country do they come from?
Yes, there is one movie theater in town. They play mostly Hollywood movies. This last Saturday we went to see the animated movie “Cars.” They arrive here usually about 3 months after they come out in the states. The movies are very cheap. We can take our whole family to a movie, buy pop, candy, and popcorn for around $17.
Along those lines, we just bought a t.v. last weekend. There are only four channels. They play a mixture of American t.v. shows and South African shows and movies. They usually have decent American movies on at night. There are three different news programs, one in Tswana, one in Afrikaans, and one in English. Most of the South African produced t.v. shows and movies are pretty cheesy and not worth the time to watch. Generally speaking South Africa is still in the 80’s in their t.v. shows, movies, and music. For example, the t.v. show “Dallas” just came out here and it is a big hit. The American shows are usually about 3 seasons behind what is currently being watched in America.

Is it what you thought it would be like?
Our work here is pretty much what I expected. Because of a lack of money I’ve not been able to do as much construction as I expected, but that’s o.k. I’ve found other ways to be useful, and other ways to minister. This has also given me the time and opportunity to travel and help other missionaries with construction. This has been nice to have the freedom and opportunity to experience more of South Africa and see the work that others are doing here.
In regards to living here, I didn’t expect to have as many modern conveniences as we have. We can buy most anything that we need. Medical services are better than I expected. South Africa is more modern than I expected, and things are generally safer than I expected. In many ways South Africa is a lot like America, which has surprised me.