Preparing to leave

Friends, family, relatives, acquaintances, etceteray, etcetera....hi. :)
Tomorrow is my last day on schedule here at TLC. I don't remember my first day that well, except Tammy showing me how to do the dishes...Everyone here keeps asking how I feel and if I'm sad and all those other things that they seem to be required to ask when someone is leaving...No, not really. There are a heap of us leaving right now; two left yesterday, two on the second and three of us on the fourth (I'm one of those three). I feel like everyone is leaving, except me; it hasn't really become reality for me yet. Tomorrow evening, my roommate and I leave for Swaziland for a few days. It's my special little way of hopefully getting my visa renewed. :) So I'm not even really leaving, not yet anyway, not until the evening of the fourth. So I still have time, just a little bit of time...to cuddle the kids, to move out of my house, to say my goodbyes...Come March 4th, I'm sure I'll be a mess. :)
In case I didn't mention it, I'd like to just bring up the case of South African drivers once more, just so some of you might be less inclined to get road rage the next time you're driving in Canada. A few days ago (or was it a few weeks...?) Kim and I were driving to her house along a two-lane highway. We were coming up to a light and it turned yellow. Kim of course, being the responsible driver that she is, slowed down and stopped just as the light turned red. However, about five seconds later, as the other lanes were starting to pull out, one car whipped past us in the other lane and a second after that, another car squeezed by on the shoulder, just managing to miss about 6 cars. It was ridiculous. But normal...nearly everyone drives like that. The driver here at TLC is a pudgy, balding thirty-something year old who really just wants to marry a volunteer and claims he used to be a race car driver (which means, like...when he got his first car, he pushed it past the speed limit...once). So he drives Rocky (the van) like a race car...Rocky is kind of the equivalent of a GMC Safari. :)
The last couple weeks have been good. We had a 'cultural evening'/bonfire, which was lovely, especially after a few people had gone and Dan pulled out his guitar and started singing Country Roads...it took me back about 9, 10 years...There's something special about sitting around a fire with so many friends, chatting and watching the stars. :) A couple nights ago we went to a place called Boma Restaurant. We were supposed to be able to try a bunch of exotic meats, but I only had ostrich, kudu and springbok. They were all in stew- or sausage-type dishes so I couldn't really properly identify the meat...:P It was amazing though. For R100 (the equivalent of about $15), we could have unlimited food and drink from the buffet. And this wasn't just a piddly buffet; it had everything; pastas, salads, meats, stews, stirfrys, breads, sushi...desserts of course. :) Afterwards, we almost got to go out to NewsCafe (a dance club/thing...), but then the two drivers decided they were too tired and made the decision for the other 19 volunteers. Oh well, other adventures ahead. :)
Only a few more days until I start my travels across South Africa! I am SO excited! :D But excited as well to go home in 45 days! :D Anyway, I hope everyone is having a wonderful week; I am! I'll try to update this at least once while I'm traveling. Much love,

Karli