How is Mbabane like Washington DC?

So, I talked this weekend with my friends and family in Arlington, Virginia. By phone, I mean skype. I heard all about the amazing snow storm of the century, and despite enjoying our sunny days with warm weather a small part of me wishes I was there. I'm posting no photos this time, because none can compete with the views of Arlington, VA!! Then I heard about the grocery stores being out of bread, milk, orange juice and eggs. And that's when I realized, we have the same problem in Swaziland, only without the snow. We are lucky to have two very nice grocery stores close by, that have most of what we want most of the time. Chcolate chips are hard to find, packed brown sugar even harder, and then each time I go looking for something, it often won't be there. We were planning a lasagna for dinner tonight for a party we were hosting. Well, no lasagna noodles at either store. We then thought of calling our friends who might have stockpiled; luckily we found a box in our cupboard. This happens quite often with fresh things, like herbs. Only on days when the stars align can we find fresh mint or basil. Except when we are out to dinner. The few restaurants we frequent serve decent food, but just like the groceries, they too run out of things. Apparently on Friday they ran out of lettuce, which happens very frequently. But, oddly enough, they had plenty of basil. My friend ordered a salad for dinner, which was about eight percent fresh basil leaves! My side salad was also almost entirely basil. We debated pocketing the basil for later cooking adventures, as it was a bit overwhelming to be served only that.

One thing for sure that Swaziland does not have in common with Washington DC is the current plethora of mangos. I eat mangos for breakfast and for dessert daily. I buy bags of mangos for three dollars. In fact, there are entire trucks that park by the side of the road selling only mangos. So, forget the lasagna noddles, chocolate chips, and lettuce....I'm eating mangos.