After nearly 2 years in the planning and 27 hours of traveling, we have arrived in Swaziland. Let me tell you: it is beautiful!!
[Technically just over the Swazi border in South Africa, but you get the picture]
Today’s 4.5 hour drive was much easier than yesterday’s short trip from Jo-burg to our hostel (thoughts on all our lodging accommodations will be shared when we return). Mostly highway and I seemed to catch on to the rules of the road pretty quickly. Early on I felt like I was in Western Kansas, then the terrain felt like South Dakota and then Eastern Oregon. When we finally made the transition from South African into Swaziland, I kept thinking I was driving trough north central Idaho where I spent my summers 5 years ago.
Here the locals are all bundled up in scarves and wool hats, but I sported short-sleeves enjoying the crisp air.
Crazy coincidence happened today. I would bet that of all the millions of people in Southern Africa, I could only actually identify and be able to start a conversation with 4-5 of them. When we stopped at a rest area in South Africa, I pulled in and happened to look up and see Jumbo Gerber, a gentleman who works with Adventures in Missions and with whom I have been trying to solidify a meeting during our trip. Totally crazy to be able to talk with him briefly and hopefully set something up. Very cool.
At about 3:00 we were able to cross the border into Swaziland and into Bulembu. It was kind of a surreal experience because I have been looking at ariel photos and snapshots for so long, it was weird to see things in real life. We are very excited about our time here. So far we have spent the evening enjoying the company of Jamie and Rose (Jamie is the Director of Operations and Rose is a manager working with Volunteers) as the graciously opened their home to us and prepared an amazing meal. I personally have appreciated the candor of our conversations as we all have been honest about the joys and tribulations of ministry/development as well our own strengths and weaknesses.
Tomorrow the whole day is dedicated to seeing what is going on in the community and meeting with a few of the key leaders in the operation. It should be good to put some faces with names (I have been helping with a few small grant projects over the last few months). We are also excited about enjoying the incredible mountain scenery before we descend into lower elevations where it hotter and flatter.
So far no real issues to speak of. We had to stop off at a branch location of the rental car company to pick up a letter of authorization, but that was pretty painless. We also had to pick up an adaptor for our power converter since the one we had did not fit. Here is our OSHA UN-approved electrical set up:
I am not sure our internet situation the next couple days so interaction may be sparse. If you need me (or Beth, who by the way is posting her updates here.) you can always shoot us an email and we will get it eventually. Looking forward to continuing to share this story as it unfolds.
After nearly 24 hours of travel, we have arrived in Africa. For the most part things went smoothly without incident, but we did have a few close calls.
Our flight from Nashville to DC was held on the tarmac for about 30 minutes for “weight and balance” issues. Basically were told we could not depart until 4 people voluntarily removed themselves from the flight. Eventually two people did so and that was enough to get us going. Sitting in the cramped cabin that extra time didn’t help my claustrophobia, but I managed to make it without having to resort to taking Xanax.
The flight from DC to Jo-burg via Dakar, Senegal was long, but uneventful. The crew was great, the food was decent, and even though 18 hours is a long time to sit on a plane, it wasn’t as difficult as I was expecting.
When we deboarded the airplane, we were quickly reminded that it is winter here in the southern hemisphere. It wasn’t freezing, but definitely pretty chilly for a short-sleeved shirt.
Customs and baggage claims were a breeze as was exchanging money and renting the car. It was easier to navigate the international section of Jo-burg airport than it was Dulles.
Once we picked up the car, the real fun began. In planning for this trip, I have not been nervous about the standard things. I am not worried about the plane crashing, or our luggage getting lost, or carjackers, or lions (or tigers and bears), or black mambas. But, I have fretted over learning to drive on the other side of the road.
I don’t know if it was self-fulfilling prophecy, or if it really is that big of a transition, but the 20 minutes from the airport to our lodging was by far the most stressful part of the trip so far: Every time I tried to use my turn signal I turned on the windshield wipers; Beth has to remind me every time I turned to not go straight into the path of incoming traffic; I am constantly hugging the left side of the road, and; it still freaks me out to see cars coming at me on the right.
It didn’t help that the highway we traveled on was under construction and had concrete rails on either side. Nor did it help my confidence to witness the car next to be get rear-ended as a semi tried to merge into my lane.
I am hoping the worst of jt is over (knock on wood) and am looking forward to driving on the more open country roads instead of the city.
Tomorrow (technically “today” since I am writing this at 3:00am due to jet lag keeping me awake) we will drive the 5-6 hours to Swaziland and enter in through the Bulembu border crossing. We have a brief tour of Bulembu then we are staying with the Director of Operations at his home. On Thursday is when the real fun begins with all of our meetings scheduled.
Can’t wait to get the traveling out of the way so we can get to the heart of our trip.
So far we have been lucky with internet, and hope to be able to post updates along the way, but there are no guarantees. Even if we can’t post, we will keep some notes so we can update you on the details of our trip as it progresses.
On Monday we fly out to Swaziland for two weeks. Even though this trip has been nearly two years in the making, we are still rushing to get last minute details together. I wanted to take a break from the packing and planning and printing and preparation to let you know that Beth and I will do our best to update our blogs during the trip so you can follow along.
In case you are wondering “What in the world, why are the Kickerts flying half way across the world?” then here’s the cliff notes answer:
Next summer we are planning on moving to Swaziland Africa to live for 5-10 years.
This trip is an exploratory one where we are meeting with various organizations to see where we might fit in best.
In many ways the direction of the decade of our lives will be tied into these two weeks. Your thoughts and prayers would certainly be appreciated.
The following excepts are from an article written by Howard Zinn on the dangers of nationalism. (HT to Donna Aros for posting it on facebook). You can read the whole article here: Put Away the Flags
On this July 4, we would do well to renounce nationalism and all its symbols: its flags, its pledges of allegiance, its anthems, its insistence in song that God must single out America to be blessed.
Is not nationalism — that devotion to a flag, an anthem, a boundary so fierce it engenders mass murder — one of the great evils of our time, along with racism, along with religious hatred?
These ways of thinking — cultivated, nurtured, indoctrinated from childhood on — have been useful to those in power, and deadly for those out of power.
…
Our citizenry has been brought up to see our nation as different from others, an exception in the world, uniquely moral, expanding into other lands in order to bring civilization, liberty, democracy.
…
We need to refute the idea that our nation is different from, morally superior to, the other imperial powers of world history.
We need to assert our allegiance to the human race, and not to any one nation.
Throughout the article, Zinn discusses the atrocities that have been committed in the name of Nationalism. His argument for an allegiance to humanity is challenging.
For those of us who follow the teachings of Christ, we have another — much greater — reason to reject nationalism: Our citizenship is not here, but to the Kingdom of God. This citizenship calls us not to dominance and defense, but to submission and to participation in the restoration and redemption of all things.
I could wax on about the dangers of nationalism and an americocentric understanding of the world, but instead, I will simply say that my identity as a participant in the Kingdom of God is exponentially more important than my place of residence or my county of origin.
The other day I took most of my birthday money and bought a new GPS (I say new, because I already have a 10 year old hand held backpacking model). I have been researching then for a while and was looking for something I could use here and in Swaziland. I ended up getting a great deal at Best Buy on a Tomtom XL 340 and so far have been pretty happy with my purchase.
It does some pretty snazzy stuff. It has lane guidance so you know how to navigate interstate transitions. It has a huge number of pre programmed points of interest. It calculates trip time on the fly based on actually average speeds for each road. It has audible turn by turn directions. It was great this week for our trip down to Tallahassee. You could take backroads without having to worry about watch road signs. It was easy to find out what sort of amenities were at each stop. It allowed us to take a few shortcuts on our way down.
As nice as it has been, I have some misgivings about the thing. You see, I am generally pretty good with directions. I can glance at a map and be able to get around a city with relative ease. I am good at being able to keep my bearings and guess which road to take if our trip takes an unexpected route. I am great at reading a map and being able to plan a trip. The problem is, when you have a GPS that does it all, those skills are not only unnecessary, they are actually diminished.
On this most recent trip, despite knowing my latitude and longitude down to a few feet, there were many times when I did not know where I was. Because I no longer needed to plan my route or keep up with roads I was passing, I found I was not as well acquainted with the city or how road systems ran together. It was easy for me to the closest Zaxby’s, but if someone asked me how to get there later, there is no way I could have told them without relying on th GPS.
Perhaps I am just being sensitive because previously my map and directions skills were valued and recognized and now anyone with $100 can look like Magellan; but, I think there is something more to it. Simply put, I think a GPS like my Tomtom is great for getting around, but is horrible for knowing where you are.
Then again, maybe I am just a luddite. I am sure I would probably decry the advent of the calculator as being the end of our math skills. At the end of the day, while I appreciate its convenience, I would never trade my skills and experience.
I have been a moderate hockey enthusiast for about 15 years now and have always been a fan of the Chicago Blackhawks. In those 15 years, the ‘hawks have only made the Stanley Cup Playoffs 3 times (before last year, they had only made 1 playoff in 13 years!!). I really got back into watching the sport this year whiling playing Fantasy Hockey with friends. Boy did I pick a good year to start watching again as the ‘hawks were loaded with young talent and easily made the playoffs. I was able to watch every game of the first series through the Nashville affiliate and then watched most of the second and third series online.
When Chicago made it to the Stanley Cup Finals by sweeping the San Jose Sharks, I was beside myself with excitement. I vowed to wear my Blackhawks sweater (jersey for you non-hockey folks) every game night in the series despite the blazing June heat.
On Wednesday, Chicago found themselves on the road against Philadelphia up 3-2 in a 7 game series; I found myself at Annual Conference for Kentucky Methodists. At the conclusion of the final session, I rushed out of the conference center to find the first period over and the score tied at 1-1. I ran up to my hotel room and pulled on my red, white and black jersey. I watched most of second period by myself (and it was a great period of hockey). The only time anyone paid any attention was when I made a fool of myself cheering. Those around me limited their interest to the mere fact that anyone actually watched hockey. The second period closed with Chicago up by a goal and my room mates looking to go to bed. I knew I had to find another place to watch the game.
I headed to the hotel lobby and asked if they knew of a place where I could watch the hockey game. “They play hockey in the summer?” she asked. “Yeah… the finals are on!” I said. Her only suggested was to go to the bar downstairs.
I walked down but was dismayed to find the Reds playing baseball. Probably wouldn’t be a problem, but since I could literally see the Reds Stadium from the bar, there seemed to be little chance I was going to be able to convince them to change the channel. After asking several people if it would be possible to watch the game on one of the many TVs, I was told I would have to take it up with bartender.
I went to the bar and asked if there was any chance we could watch the hockey game. She gave me a hesitant look and said as long as the other patrons were okay with it. Luckily the two guys beside me piped up and said they would love to watch it. Turns out both of them used to play hockey (one of them said he played semi-pro). Suddenly a small new world emerged. In the midst of a sea of uninterested bar-goers, three of us could talk about forechecking and plus/minus and penalty killing.
It quickly became obvious the two other fans were not only interested in hockey – they were also big fans of women and booze. I can say without hesitation that the things discussed were most certainly not things most of my pastor friends at Annual Conference were talking about. Besides being obviously drunk, these two guys were quite excited about a certain “dancer” who had given them her number and whose proportions seemed to be abnormal. I will leave the specifics to your imagination, but I have no doubt that whatever you are imagining is tame compared to how the conversation actually unfolded.
As the third period played out with Chicago up, I also engaged the gentleman on my other side in friendly conversation. Turns out he was a Catholic business man with an economics degree from Yale who also happened to be a Detroit Redwings fan. Between his third and fourth glass of wine he asked what I was doing in the area. That is when I got to explain that I was there because I was a Methodist pastor; he was not shocked by this, but was amused with the fact that I was also a distillery manager. Within a few minutes we transitioned from talking hockey to talking about the socio-historic setting of the Ancient Near East. Basically he asked me if I preached and I told him I was more interested in teaching so people could come to their own conclusions. When I told him I often “preached” on historical practices of Israelites, he sarcastically said “yeah, I bet people flock to hear that!” Before long, we were talking about the theological implications of Assyrian and Babylonian suzerain-vassal treaties. Oh the joy.
Our conversation was often interrupted by either a great play in the hockey game or by our friends on the other side who were excited about a new female patron to the bar. So there I was, in a bar, at a church conference, talking with one guy about how the flaming firepot passing between the split carcass of a lamb in Genesis is essential to understanding the cross, and talking with others about what sort of sexual escapades are available to amateur hockey players.
With just a few minutes left in the game, Philly scored and sent things into overtime. Again, in a large crowd of sports fans, there were only 4 of us in the bar that cared that the Stanley Cup playoffs could come down to a sudden death overtime period.
A rumor started spreading that there was another hockey fan outside and that the bartender at that bar might be willing to turn the larger TV on to the game. I excused myself and made my way to the porch. As soon as I walked out (still wearing my Blackhawks jersey), a very large and very drunk man ran up to me and gave me a hug. Between a barrage of curse words, he expressed his enthusiasm for Chicago. We sat down at the bar to watch the overtime period. It was nice to not only find a hockey fan, but also to be able to cheer with someone who supported the same team. At one point after a long string of enthusiastic cussing from my new friend, I turned around to see that my District Superintendant and his wife were sitting right behind us. Oh well… nothing I can do about it.
As the overtime period got underway, my excitement began to build. Even without the sound on, you could tell the Philadelphia crowd was going crazy. The Flyers are a tenacious team and always play hard, especially when something is on the line.
As you can probably tell, the goal was odd. Even players on the ice didn’t know what had happened. It was even harder for me to grasp what was going on between the lack of sound and the drunk ramblings of those around me. Eventually, as the Blackhawks flooded the ice, it was obvious what had happened. The young phenom Patrick Kane had ended the 49 year drought for Chicago. I went crazy, along with the only other Chicago fan in the whole city (as far as I could tell). The drunk womanizers and the wine-drinking Yale grad made their way to me to offer congratulations. It was a hell of a night.
It certainly was not the setting where I expected to celebrate the first ‘hawks cup win in my lifetime, but it was magical either way. I would have loved to be in the Windy City to see that happen, but it was plenty of fun to be a sober distiller at a pastor’s conference watching the game with washed-up hockey players, Catholic history buffs, and drunk Chicago fans.
In many ways the setting only enhanced the experience. Sure, my DS may have “caught” me in a crowd of intoxicated ruffians, but I bet I am one only a few pastors who were able to talk with absolute strangers about redemption. Plus… the ‘hawks won. What more could I ask for.
By now everyone knows about the environmental catastrophe unfolding in the gulf coast. Initial estimates of 1000 barrels a day were horrendous enough and soon upgraded to an estimate of 5000 barrels. However a few weeks ago, new footage emerged showing the actual leak:
This lead to researchers to conclude the leak could actually be as high as 80,000+ barrels a day. That means that every 3-4 days as much oil as the entire Exxon Valdez spilled is leaking into our oceans. Just yesterday, experts testified before congress that the actually amount is most likely close to 95K barrels per day.
What really chaps me is that BP is refusing to acknowledge the extent of the flow (and thus the extent of the damage). They are sticking by their early figures of 5K despite the fact they are woefully inaccurate and they are refusing to put forth the effort to actually figure out the flow rate.
After many unsuccessful attempts to address the problem, BP finally was able to insert a tube into the broken pipe to siphon off the oil. They claim they are now capturing up to 5,000 barrels of leaking oil. That just happens to be the magic number — the amount BP still claims is all that is leaking.
The problem is, the leak is still flowing. Check out this footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h4yHPt7ejs
This has been going on for a month. Even when we aren’t thinking about it, or the news media isn’t covering it, thousands and thousands of gallons of toxic crude oil are blasting into our oceans. It literally makes me sick to think about the towns in Alabama that survived Hurricane Katrina, only to be (irreparably?) damaged by this man-made disaster.
UPDATE: Right when I posted this, I found this article where BP finally admits the leak is bigger than 5,000 barrels, but still refuses to acknowledge the extent of the damage.
In 2000 I applied for my first credit card. It was an MBNA card with a Blackhawks logo and a $750 credit limit. In the decade that has passed MBNA has been bought out by Bank of America, my credit limit has increased over 3,000% and Beth and I have put over $100K on that card. (Don’t worry… we are disciplined and have never paid interest on it because we always pay it off in full. In fact, because of our reward program, we have made close to $1000.)
Well after 10 years with MBNA / Bank of America, the time has come for us to move on. We had been happy with our card up until the last couple years. It probably started with the Financial Crisis as I became increasingly uneasy with how Bank of America had behaved (See this article from CNN Money and this article from Bloomberg). Then I saw this interview with Jim Wallis on The Daily Show where he talked about “divorcing your bank” to show your displeasure with how your financial institute was morally behaving. It made sense, but we were pretty happy with Bank of America.
That changed a few months ago when we had to challenge a charge on our credit card. Basically we were schemed by a junk yard in Nashville. Hilltop Auto Salvage sold us a defective engine and then despite following their return policy, they charged us over $400 in restocking fees. I worked with the claims department at BofA from the very beginning and followed their advice. Unfortunately it was a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand was doing and after nearly 6 months of misinformation, bad advise, poor correspondence and contradictory reports, our claim got completely screwed up. We were awarded the money and then 4 months later they charged us for it again. The worst part was that I couldn’t get a straight answer. I followed their advice to the letter, but each person I talked with contradicted the first. Basically I was told I was denied because I followed the process they recommended.
After that SNAFU we were ready to move on. We did our research and realized that if we switched to Capital One we could receive more cash back and not have to worry about paying “International Fees” (something very important for us as look to make our move). They were a pleasure to deal with and everyone I asked said they have had never had a problem with them. Plus, I think it is pretty nifty that you can design your own card.
To no one’s surprise, my card has been customized with my initials and a carbon fiber background:
Equally unsurprising, Beth went with a picture of giraffes on her card:
What started as a bad taste in our mouth with Bank of America turned into a pain in the butt. Thankfully, in the end we have ended up with what we feel is a better option…. plus we have pretty cool plastic now.
A couple weeks ago I wrote about having to whittle down my book collection. With much difficulty, I have decided which books I am ready to get rid of.
Most of these are available
I basically have created 4 lists. I have The Keepers that are staying with me, The Give Aways that are up for grabs, The Sellers that are being listed on Amazon and The Indefinite Loaners which are those books I want to keep, but can’t take with me.
The books that are listed as Give Aways are free to take as long as you will use them. The represent a smorgasboard of reading: everything from real life adventure stories to Christian reference. We can arrange for you to pick them up or ship them if you are interested.
The books that are listed under Indefinite Loaners are books that I want to keep in my collection, but probably won’t be able to use when we move to Swaziland. I want to make sure they have a good home. They are yours until I may need them again (probably in 5-10 years) but again, only only if you will use them.
The books I have down as For Sale are being listed on Amazon. These are books that have been helpful to me, but still have a decent market value. I have included the going rate for each of these. Funds generated from these books will go towards our move to Swaziland (which is after all the reason I am selling these books). Here is the deal though, if you as my friends and family have a use for one of these books, I would gladly pass it along to you. But, I would ask that you consider making a donation to help pay for our move.
I have always struggled with the idea of capitalism even from an early age. I guess I took my teachers seriously when I was told we should share our things. It never seemed fair that some should have so much while other have so little.
But where did my deep seated disgust with the whole system develop? I have traced it back to my first year of college at WKU. I took a Micro Economics class as part of my Gen-ed requirements. Overall I liked the class, and enjoyed the teacher (we are even friends), but there was one day that I found particularly disturbing.
We were learning about oligopolies and collusion; to demonstrate the effects, we performed a class exercise. We were divided into two teams, each of which were responsible for selling similar widgets. Each “day” one representative from each team would meet together and determine the cost of widgets for that day. The first day we could either sell them for $10 or $12. If we both decided to sell for $10 we would get $100 each, if we both decided to sell for $12, we would get $120 each. However, if one of us sold for $10 and the other for $12, then the lower priced seller would earn $150 and the higher priced seller would earn $50. This was intended to mimic the increased sales that would occur due to lower prices.
Of course there is a catch. After the “representatives” met they would go back their teams and then determine what their prices would be. It was at this point that teams could decide if they wanted to be honest or if they wanted to scheme and undercut their competitor. We did this for five “days” and each day the prices would increase so by the end of experiment the widgets could sell for either $50 or $60 and the profits would be $500|$500 or $600|$600 or $750|$250. Oh, and at the end of the game, the teams would be rewarded with bonus points on their next test.
If you follow the game it makes sense that at every meeting between teams you would both agree to set the higher cost. If both teams are trustworthy you can earn 20% more that if both teams are dishonest. However, if you can get the other team to trust you and you undercut them you earn 50% more (and the other team only earns 50% of what they would have). The game ended up being so disturbing to me I still remember exactly how it played out:
Round 1 – The stakes were low and both teams trusted each other. Both teams charged the higher price and everyone profits
Round 2 – Both teams continued to trust each other, but my team thought that the only way to get ahead would be to strike early so we chose to undercut them and made the big profits.
Round 3 – (This was the round I was the negotiator for my team) – I was able to convinced the other team that the reason we went low was because we thought they were going to undercut us. They believed me that our motives were defensive and not offensive (lies!). We both agreed to trust each other and go with the higher price, Then my team saw another opportunity to maximize their profits and intentionally uncut them again.
Round 4 – No one trust each other after being burned two rounds in a row and both teams charged the lower price
Round 5 – Again, both teams had no trust for each other and charged the lower price.
Here were the scores:
Round 1: $120 | $120
Round 2: $300 | $100
Round 3: $450 | $150
Round 4: $400 | $400
Round 5: $500 | $500
If we had all been honest all the time, everyone in the class would have received 14.4 bonus points (Both teams would have earned $1440). If we had all be dishonest/untrusting we would have all earned 12 bonus points ($1200 each). As it played out, my team won 17.7 bonus points and our competitors only got 12.7.
The experience still makes me uneasy when I think about. It was the dishonesty and selfishness built into the system that really bothered me. I was able to be better off because someone else wasn’t as fortunate. On the other hand, the losing team received less because they were trusting and desired the best for everyone.
Obviously this is not how the system practically works in the real world, but the principles are right. Everyone has to look out for their best interests and the only way you can do that is by hurting others. If you are a buyer you are trying to get something for the lowest price possible, regardless of how much time, effort, or money the seller might have invested in the widgets; if you are the seller, you are going to try and extract the most money out of your product regardless of how much you have invested and what the buyers circumstances may be.
The system works and everyone benefits if people are honest, but once that trust is lost, everyone is worse off.
So… if you boil it down… the real reason I hate capitalism is because of a game I played once in a class where I was lucky enough to get extra bonus points because I was shrewd and dishonest.
[Technically just over the Swazi border in South Africa, but you get the picture]
