Surrender

The school year in Swaziland runs January-December. So the 2012 school year started in January. At the first teachers meeting, the teacher leading it had us take turns sharing one word that sums up what we would like most for 2012. My word was “stability.”

Hmm, I’m not so sure I got that, but hopefully I did learn a life lesson this year. I say hopefully because maybe I’m wrong and I still haven’t learned, in which case Life is preparing another go-round of this lesson for me right now. Joy.

So what I think I learned this year is another word that starts with “s” and that is surrender. For those of you who looked at my post about registering the caravan (Oh Snap!), this one has to do with that. Yeah, it still ain’t over! After I got the caravan registered here, which entailed paying VAT (like sales tax) for it in Swaziland, I had to get a VAT refund from South Africa. Since VAT is 14% in SA and SD (Swaziland) we’re talking about a refund of over $1,000. That’s a whole plane ticket home. Needless to say, I needed that refund.

I submitted all the paperwork for the refund in early May and then waited, and waited, and waited some more. Finally in early Oct the SA VAT refund office called me telling me to pick up my check. Yay! Happy days.

Ha! Not so fast. I picked up the check and it was for 25% of the total they owed me. What?! This must be some kind of mistake. Someone in SA must’ve made an error somehow. So I pursued it. They proceeded to thwart me at every turn and claim that there was no mistake and that’s what I was owed. I went to an accountant. He said it was indeed wrong as far as he knew. He referred me to a fellow accountant who works for a major car company, so they’re constantly dealing with imports and VAT refunds. He too said somebody was taking chances and that they need to refund the full amount.

Well, $40 worth of phone calls to SA, trips to the border, the SD Revenue Authority and the VAT refund office, tears, and a few sleepless nights later, I still have gotten  NOWHERE …except further into a financial hole. And the whole affair has been topped off by not being able to deposit the check I do have. See the things is it expired on Xmas day. Merry Xmas! A few days before it expired I took it to the bank where I have a savings account and they told me that I can’t deposit checks into the savings account. I have to open a checking account, and of course the checking acct incurs fees, lots of them. So totally exasperated and at my wits end, it took all my self control not to rip up the check and toss it on the floor.

Did you hear the one about my stuff being held up for extortionate customs duty then the stuff got stolen from my luggage? Ha, ha! That’s a good one (alluded to in Losing Streak). And that’s the memory that came snapping back into sharp focus and made me realize that all of this nonsense is not worth it. What I need more than the money is peace. I need peace. And in order to find peace, I must surrender.

Ignorance is bliss. Forgetfulness is the next best thing.

The Will of the Dead

2^nd 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 two major cities in the country, and it’s the route to the nearest border with South Africa from the capital.

The old iron ore mine was reopened late last year and trucks have been carrying their payload down the mountain to a town with a working railway line that then carries it out of the country and off to Asia for processing. So it’s currently being exported as raw iron ore dust.

In only 6 months 7-8 of these trucks have crashed on the mountain and spilled their load all over the place. Months later, the roads and median walls are still stained red. Miraculously, none of the drivers, nor anyone else, have been seriously injured in these accidents. One puzzling detail is that in this same period there have been close to zero accidents involving other large trucks. So what’s going on here?

For those who believe in these types of things, there is a hypothesis circulating that this odd series of events has something to do with the late King Sobhuza II’s proclamation before his death that no more iron ore would leave Swaziland unprocessed. Clearly, his desire then was that if the mine were to reopen the ore would be processed in-country, thereby providing more jobs and keeping more profits in-country as well. With the onset of these accidents where nobody is hurt but the iron ore is spilled all over the surrounding area, and no other large trucks are crashing, it makes one wonder.

Footnote: I drove by the most recent accident on June 18^th after it had happened, but my car was not passing by when the photo was taken. It was a matter of time to witness one of these firsthand.

Five Iron Ore Trucks in Malagwane Pile-up

Iron Ore Truck Crashes Into Goldblatt’s

Gifts 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 passed behind me then set it down on the rug next me. I bent down and scooped it up. It was still very much alive so I didn’t examine it for injuries, since it had already been stressed enough, but just put it outside in a safe place to go hide.

Several questions came to mind that will remain unanswered unless someone develops the ability to read cats’ minds. But here they are anyway. Did the cat catch the lizard and bring it to me to show it off? Was he bragging in a cat way about what a great hunter he is? Was he really offering it to me as a gift? If so, did he catch the lizard and then decide to give it to me or did he decide he wanted to give me something and then catch the lizard? That’s my favorite scenario. He thought of me and decided to give me a gift to show how much he loves me. And men wonder why women tend to like cats so much.