Adventures With The Nomad

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77105382432049482452024-09-06T02:12:23.067+02:00Adventures With The NomadBeing a world traveler who thrives on change, it’s ironic that I’m trying to settle. I’ve started a company, Singwe EcoServices, in Swaziland, southern Africa, focused on shaping the next generation to be better stewards of our resources and environment than the generations before them. This blog, however, is about my personal and professional experiences. There are occasional gloomy moments and soapbox moments, but mainly I try to share highlights in a positive and entertaining way. Enjoy!Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7710538243204948245.post-26884227311410511342013-03-19T16:31:00.003+02:002013-03-19T16:31:49.295+02:00Mistaken Identity

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Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7710538243204948245.post-73452292944422996892013-03-06T12:00:00.000+02:002013-03-13T14:15:19.270+02:00Like Anticipating a Root Canal - Part II

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Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7710538243204948245.post-67299291125266330642013-02-27T13:34:00.001+02:002013-02-27T13:34:28.060+02:00Like Anticipating a Root Canal - Part I

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Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7710538243204948245.post-43467783785247994302013-01-15T12:00:00.000+02:002013-01-21T11:36:01.042+02:00Way Forward

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Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7710538243204948245.post-1914130200862669472012-12-28T12:06:00.000+02:002012-12-28T12:06:11.324+02:00Surrender

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Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7710538243204948245.post-12770249089234379292012-07-24T11:46:00.000+02:002012-07-24T11:46:23.673+02:00The Will of the Dead

2nd Iron Ore Truck Crashes Into Goldblatt’s It's taken me a while to post this because I was fact-checking first. There’s been an interesting pattern of events going on here this year. On the only stretch of 4 lane divided highway in the country, there’s a steep and winding section that can be pretty treacherous. Eighteen-wheelers use it as well because it’s the only thoroughfare between the

Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7710538243204948245.post-69569401241658754302012-06-08T13:35:00.000+02:002012-06-08T13:35:08.215+02:00Gifts from mysterious sources

Raise your hand if you’ve ever had a pet cat and the cat gave you a mouse, bird, lizard, etc as a present. Ok, I can’t see you raising your hand but I trust that you are. While house-sitting for a friend recently, her utterly adorable and loving cat brought me a small agama—a type of common spiny lizard here. I was in the kitchen at the sink when I saw him walk in with something in his mouth. He

Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7710538243204948245.post-41915699415040847062012-05-20T13:07:00.000+02:002012-05-20T13:13:02.752+02:00Dollars Incense

  In between my hair-raising and hair-pulling adventures, I do a lot of reading. Actually, I try to read while waiting in line, too. It’s one of the easiest ways to multi-task. I just read a really thought-provoking article, "If the GDP Is Up, Why Is America Down?" published in 1995, and I think it will resonate with most Americans. If nothing else it has helped me finally be

Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7710538243204948245.post-20256653450228541202012-04-19T16:14:00.005+02:002012-04-19T16:21:19.199+02:00Oh Snap!

That expression makes me laugh. What a throwback! Here I describe in excruciating detail my epic journey in the quest to get my caravan registered in Swaziland in my name. Until now, it was registered in South Africa under the dealer’s name where I had bought it. When the day finally comes that I need to sell it, I need it in my name. The outline is probably more for my own records and sense

Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7710538243204948245.post-37873869165212985082012-04-15T12:00:00.001+02:002012-04-15T12:00:03.851+02:00Photojournalism

Originally distributed June 2011 <!--[if gte mso 10]> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;

Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7710538243204948245.post-58366422626215515262012-03-30T12:00:00.002+02:002012-03-30T12:00:09.821+02:00Thought and Perspective - Part II

Originally distributed May 2011Wow, this is the most “replied to” message so far. Either it was the threat or the opportunity to participate. Whatever the motivation, it has been fun getting your responses! Hours of laughter and, occasionally, puzzlement. Most of you would make good teammates for this game, but a few of you I think would be a little too esoteric for my brain. For those of you who

Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7710538243204948245.post-23900088026013172152012-03-27T12:00:00.002+02:002012-03-27T12:00:07.393+02:00Thought and Perspective - Part I

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Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7710538243204948245.post-13089886955270718192012-03-24T12:00:00.004+02:002012-03-24T12:00:01.026+02:00My Car Has Worms

Originally distributed March 2011 Before we get to the worms, I had an unplanned test of my car alarm recently. It has sensors mounted on the dash below the temperature controls pointing into the cabin of the car. Luckily I was there when it happened so I could shut it off. I was outside my place eating breakfast when all of a sudden the alarm started blaring! This has never happened before so

Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7710538243204948245.post-63016764426256472952012-03-21T12:00:00.002+02:002012-03-21T12:00:11.362+02:00A Two-Year Comparison

Originally distributed December 2010 Ok, I don’t usually make resolutions because shortly after making them I wouldn’t remember them anyway. But it is interesting to look back on the year and see what’s been accomplished. Now that I’ve been in Swaziland for two years, (hard to believe, I know!), I’d like to compare this year with last year. Let’s start with transportation. I moved up dramatically

Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7710538243204948245.post-77855468990181656292012-03-18T11:00:00.004+02:002012-03-18T11:00:05.947+02:00Medicine For Your Windshield

Unabridged version originally distributed October 2010 I’m not creative enough to make these things up. I get my inspiration from other people. Did you know there was medicine for your windshield? Well there isn’t, but when I took my car to a repair shop in Manzini the guy was explaining the process of treating a crack in my windshield from a flying stone so that it wouldn’t spread. When he got

Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7710538243204948245.post-4224376932755016122012-03-15T10:41:00.000+02:002012-03-15T10:41:56.935+02:00Quick Highlights

Originally distributed August 2010 I’ve started a company called Singwe EcoServices (Singwe means Bushbaby in siSwati). I chose this name because I’m a bushbaby myself, after all, and since my services cater mainly to kids, the bushbaby is a very cute mascot/logo. I’ve hired my first employee, a grade 11 nature camp assistant. Interviewing people can be almost as stressful as being interviewed.

Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7710538243204948245.post-2961716747250417012012-03-08T16:56:00.000+02:002012-03-08T16:56:29.480+02:00Elaine vs The Volcano

Originally distributed June 2010 Image credit - http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRH4_yZKoXpTCiDqDypx6HGEGUrpO2INmbBvAe5RU7r9dSOYg3K&t=1 If you feel like you’re having a bad day, this just might make you feel good about it after all. This is the tale of my battle with the Iceland volcano to get to the US for a visit in April-May 2010. I was originally booked to fly out of

Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7710538243204948245.post-4722084228113128502012-02-29T12:00:00.006+02:002012-02-29T12:00:04.937+02:00March Madness

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Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7710538243204948245.post-87307302037418614212012-02-26T12:00:00.002+02:002012-02-26T12:00:02.486+02:00School Daze

Originally distributed March 2010 These days, instead of roaming the bush with wildlife I’m roaming the suburbs with wild children. We’re halfway through the 1st of three terms already and I’ve gotten to know who to keep an eye on and who excels. They make themselves known very quickly. It is pretty hectic trying to remember names and who’s in what grade or what class when you’ve got 158 students

Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7710538243204948245.post-72640357284272437702012-02-23T13:00:00.002+02:002012-02-23T13:00:03.168+02:00Promoting your website through the Times of Swaziland

This article takes the cake, "St Michael's Pupil On Porn Site." This was published about 2 weeks ago and it's difficult to see it as anything other than the Times saying,"Let us know about your website. We'll write an article about it and before long you'll have more content and more visitors to your site!" I scanned the article from the paper so you can read the whole thing for yourself. But

Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7710538243204948245.post-67660311436230199452012-02-20T12:54:00.001+02:002012-02-20T12:55:22.755+02:00My trapeze act

Originally distributed February 2010 Since December 21st I’ve subsisted in 3 different places none of which, thankfully, included the street. It was awfully close at times though. I house-sat for my current employer during the holidays. Then I house-sat for a friend for a few days while she was in Mozambique. Luckily, she was going out of town the day that the employer was returning. Then while

Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7710538243204948245.post-15652321207290941612012-02-16T13:00:00.004+02:002012-02-20T13:45:52.377+02:00The Three L’s of Swaziland

Originally distributed January 2010 Happy new year everyone! Thank you for your periodic emails and replies. It’s always good to hear your news. During this year in Swaziland I’ve learned something very important. All Swazi events are Late, Loud, and Long. So eat before go, but don’t drink too many liquids. Bring earplugs. And use the bathroom right before the event starts, which will probably be

Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7710538243204948245.post-26956662605182157582012-02-13T13:00:00.002+02:002012-02-13T13:00:05.274+02:00My head-on collision

…with a cockroach Originally distributed November 2009 When the weather started really warming up here in Swaziland the bugs started coming out. During my time in Hawaii I remember someone mentioning that following a full moon cockroaches tend to be in the mood for love, and so they also fly around more. Well the first full moon of spring seems to get them really excited, so excited that they

Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7710538243204948245.post-2628502916281843202012-02-10T13:00:00.002+02:002012-02-10T13:00:09.639+02:00“I Have to Poo and My Ice Cream Is Melting”

Originally distributed November 2009 That was a quote from one of the volunteers as we returned to Swaziland from a trip to Mozambique. All you really need to know is, clearly, she gives too much information about her gastrointestinal status and it was a very long road trip. But those of us who have gotten to know her in the past month found it hilarious. We had just been joking about how she

Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7710538243204948245.post-38018884847471373052012-02-07T12:00:00.001+02:002012-02-07T12:00:05.914+02:00Airing My Dirty Laundry

I have to admit that I have fun inventing these titles. It doesn’t take long since they’re based on my life, but you must know by now that I’m not going to “air my dirty laundry” in a public space. And yet, I did literally air my dirty laundry in a public space! The washing machine issues continue and now I’m resigned to hand-washing my clothes, except for when I house-sit for friends. I just

Elaine The Nomadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053947047179873277noreply@blogger.com0