Ok, ya, I know it’s been a while, but I have some good excuses this time. I’ve been home for maybe 3 nights in the past 3 weeks and still haven’t seen half of my family so I’ve been a bit busy.
The first big thing was IST (In-Service Training). This marks the end of our 3-month long Integration period and we are now officially Volunteers, with vacation days and everything. IST was about a week of classes and meetings on all sorts of stuff: everything from meeting people from all of the different NGOs in Swaziland to learning about traditional healers. I’m sure most of the information will be useful, but being in class from 8-6 everyday got old pretty quick. This was also the first time everyone in my group had been together since August, so there was a lot of catching up to do. We stayed at this Catholic hostel-type-place in Manzini so it was kind of hard not waking up the nuns late at night. Right after the week of IST the volunteers from the group before us moved in for the All Volunteer Conference, a few days of more meetings with new information for the older group. This was the first (and possibly only) time EVERY Peace Corps volunteer in the country got together and things got a bit hectic. With about 60 of us, it had been about 6 months since I’d been around that many Americans. After about a day it became a bit too much for me, especially considering I had spent the last 3 months in relative isolation, but it was still nice seeing everyone. There was a really dingy-looking bar and the cheesiest club outside of the 70s within walking distance so we were able to entertain ourselves at night.
The US Ambassador invited all of us over to his house for Thanksgiving lunch/dinner and it was amazing. Tons of food, a swimming pool, and a pretty nice house. I don’t remember the last time I had eaten that much and it’ll probably be a while before I do so again.
IST was also when we had elections for the different leadership positions: SoJo (editors for the monthly volunteer newspaper), VAC (the Volunteer Action Committee who are the official means of communications between us and the office), and PSN (Peer Support Network). I was elected to PSN and I’m really excited. The 7 of us on PSN are supposed to be the ones volunteers can come and talk to about whatever problems they have as well as some other stuff. PSN also does a lot with the training of the new group when they come in June so that’ll be fun.
After all the chaos of IST I was looking forward to going back home and relaxing for a day or two before finally getting down to work…or so I thought. It was my second night back when I woke up with my ear on fire and couldn’t go back to sleep. I go to see the PC Medical Officer the next day and sure enough, it’s infected. She also noticed what I thought was a little scratch on my hand and it turns out that got infected too (must’ve been all of the little kids I let poke it). So when you’re sick like that the Peace Corps pays for you to stay at a hostel in town so the PCMO can keep an eye on you (if you’re REALLY sick they put you up at a bed & breakfast). I wasn’t expecting to stay so I’ve been wearing the same shirt for the last 4 days. Two other sick volunteers are also staying here so at least I’ve had some company besides the dogs. (Though I think I got this upper respiratory infection from one of them, thanks Rachel). I’m feeling much better now, but I have to wait around until Monday to get check out again.
Last time I mentioned that book project one of the other volunteers was putting together with that Books for Africa group back home and I’m happy to say two of my schools got chosen. I’ll be working with them to help raise their share of the money and to set up a proper library, but anyone who is interested can help us raise the rest of the money to get the books shipped here. The Peace Corps Partnership information is finally up on the PC website and here’s the link: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=645-077. Every little bit helps, of course, so please let me know if you have any questions.
Ok, back to being sick. *Cough,Cough*
Monday, December 7, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Things Got Busy, Fast
Well, now it feels like I`m doing something. First off, I have my bed and it`s amazing. I`ve had next to no money for the last week and a half and I`m pretty sure it`s only a matter of time before it collapses with me on it, but still totally worth it. Even though the carpenter`s workshop is just down the street, getting the thing home was a pain. It was raining, of course. The bed was bigger than the back of the truck so a thin rope was doing most of the work. Then, getting the bed into my room was another mess. I never thought I had a lot of stuff until I had to move EVERYTHING just to get the bed through the door. Thank you bhuti Kenneth, I couldn`t have done it without you.
Last week I started teaching swim lessons at a private school in the northern part of the country, really close to where we did our training. When I heard another volunteer from the group before mine taught last year, I pretty much begged them to let me help out. Yes, the water tastes funny; yes, the pool was considered “clean” just because you could actually see the bottom; and yes, there were frogs swimming around with us, but I still had a blast. It was pretty hot all of last week except for the day we were supposed to teach, of course. That day it decided to rain. Besides being half numb for the rest of the day after being in the water for 15 minutes, it was great. I should be helping out once a week until the end of the school term in December, so it should be a nice little get-away.
I got a mysterious text message a few days ago about keeping this Wednesday morning free because some “VIP from D.C.” is coming to my community. Apparently, there was an email with all sorts of details, but I never got it (this sort of this seems to happen a lot here). I`m supposed to set up a tour of my clinic, which I`ve been to maybe twice before, so this should be interesting.
Today, I FINALLY went to the high school to meet the principal and some of the teachers. Considering it`s been two month and there are still four other schools nearby, this isn`t much of an accomplishment, but still. The principal and everyone was nice enough, but getting any sort of definitive answer was next to impossible. For example, the principal couldn`t tell me what exactly the students were taught about HIV/AIDS, so he told me to talk to the Career Counselor. The Career Counselor couldn`t tell me anything, so she told me to talk to the Biology teacher. The Biology teacher just gave me some books to read and that was that. It`s weird how often you hear people say “the community needs help”, but when help is actually offered they don`t really know what to do with you.
Finally, something pretty important. One of the volunteers from the group that`s been here for a year is working with a non-profit group from the U.S., Books for Africa, to organize a project to bring books to some Swazi schools. How it`s going to work is all interested schools will apply, and then 30,000 books will be distributed among the 30 schools selected. Books for Africa will pay for the books, but it`s up to us to cover the $15,000 for shipping and handling. $5,000 of that will be raised by the schools themselves and the other $10,000 will be raised through a Peace Corps Partnership. This is where you guys come in. A Peace Corps Partnership is the official way people from the U.S. are able to contribute to PC projects abroad. Since I`m not the one organizing this whole thing I don`t know a lot of the details, but we`re all doing what we can to spread the word. If you are interested in helping out, please send me an email and I can get you more information.
Now back to reading two month old copies of Business Week and Maxim.
Last week I started teaching swim lessons at a private school in the northern part of the country, really close to where we did our training. When I heard another volunteer from the group before mine taught last year, I pretty much begged them to let me help out. Yes, the water tastes funny; yes, the pool was considered “clean” just because you could actually see the bottom; and yes, there were frogs swimming around with us, but I still had a blast. It was pretty hot all of last week except for the day we were supposed to teach, of course. That day it decided to rain. Besides being half numb for the rest of the day after being in the water for 15 minutes, it was great. I should be helping out once a week until the end of the school term in December, so it should be a nice little get-away.
I got a mysterious text message a few days ago about keeping this Wednesday morning free because some “VIP from D.C.” is coming to my community. Apparently, there was an email with all sorts of details, but I never got it (this sort of this seems to happen a lot here). I`m supposed to set up a tour of my clinic, which I`ve been to maybe twice before, so this should be interesting.
Today, I FINALLY went to the high school to meet the principal and some of the teachers. Considering it`s been two month and there are still four other schools nearby, this isn`t much of an accomplishment, but still. The principal and everyone was nice enough, but getting any sort of definitive answer was next to impossible. For example, the principal couldn`t tell me what exactly the students were taught about HIV/AIDS, so he told me to talk to the Career Counselor. The Career Counselor couldn`t tell me anything, so she told me to talk to the Biology teacher. The Biology teacher just gave me some books to read and that was that. It`s weird how often you hear people say “the community needs help”, but when help is actually offered they don`t really know what to do with you.
Finally, something pretty important. One of the volunteers from the group that`s been here for a year is working with a non-profit group from the U.S., Books for Africa, to organize a project to bring books to some Swazi schools. How it`s going to work is all interested schools will apply, and then 30,000 books will be distributed among the 30 schools selected. Books for Africa will pay for the books, but it`s up to us to cover the $15,000 for shipping and handling. $5,000 of that will be raised by the schools themselves and the other $10,000 will be raised through a Peace Corps Partnership. This is where you guys come in. A Peace Corps Partnership is the official way people from the U.S. are able to contribute to PC projects abroad. Since I`m not the one organizing this whole thing I don`t know a lot of the details, but we`re all doing what we can to spread the word. If you are interested in helping out, please send me an email and I can get you more information.
Now back to reading two month old copies of Business Week and Maxim.
Friday, October 16, 2009
A Bed and the Queen Mother
This has definitely been one of the busiest weeks so far, which is a good thing. It`s nice being able to look back and feel like you`ve done something, even if it`s not much. Plus, I`ve discovered something very useful: walking is a great way to kill time.
I`ve met a carpenter. His name is Chico. Chico thinks I`m crazy. I`m pretty sure no Swazi has ever even thought of building a bed like mine. It`s nothing that complicated really (a lofted bed with a desk underneath, just like a dorm room), but I still don`t think he really understands it even with the drawing I had one of the other volunteers make. That`s ok though, he`s nice enough to let me help, and by “help” I mean just hanging out and watching him work. I actually did do some planing (?), so I`m not completely useless. My conclusion: it`s hard. Chico seems like a pretty capable carpenter, but it`ll be interesting to see how it turns out.
The Queen Mother FINALLY came last Sunday and the event didn`t disappoint. I was planning on walking to the “inkundla” (they place where the community`s council meets) where the event was going to take place, but it turned out my whole family was planning on going too so I got a ride. For some reason we first had to go to this other community the Queen Mother was at before she came to ours. We were there for about 2 minutes before we got swept up in the Queen Mother`s motorcade and got a police escort back to our community. Over the last couple of weeks I had been to a few planning meetings for this event, but I still had no idea how big it would be. Easily over a thousand people; trucks and trucks full of food and blankets to be given out; a few MPs (Members of Parliament), the Prime Minister, a few of the King`s wives, and, of course, the Queen Mother. Lots of speeches, dancing, and singing (including my Babe – check out the YouTube link →). Luckily, my sisi was there to explain what was going on because I was pretty confused when they gave an old man a bicycle. Overall, one of the more exciting things I`ve done in Swaziland.
Monday was our one night away from site for the month. One of the other volunteers had a birthday this week so it seemed as good a time as any. Definitely a relaxing experience, but not without some excitement. The hostel we stayed at this time had a barbecue so we attempted to make shish-kabobs. The problem was that it was so windy the charcoal wouldn`t stay lit, but, eventually, we were able to get the meat cooked by using a whole lot of bug spray and rum as lighter fluid. The highlight of the day was definitely the pool. AMAZING! Although the water was freezing and it was partly drizzling most of the afternoon, not going in was never an option.
I put the pictures I took from the Queen Mother`s visit up on my Picasa page under “Philani Maswati Charity Event” (link on the left →). I`ve started putting captions with some of the pictures, so hopefully they`ll make more sense. (I`m planning on adding captions to some of the old pictures as well.) I also put up a link to my YouTube page (on the left, below the “Picasa” link →). The only thing up there right now is a 40 second clip of my Babe singing for the Queen Mother, but I`ll put more up eventually. Enjoy.
I`ve met a carpenter. His name is Chico. Chico thinks I`m crazy. I`m pretty sure no Swazi has ever even thought of building a bed like mine. It`s nothing that complicated really (a lofted bed with a desk underneath, just like a dorm room), but I still don`t think he really understands it even with the drawing I had one of the other volunteers make. That`s ok though, he`s nice enough to let me help, and by “help” I mean just hanging out and watching him work. I actually did do some planing (?), so I`m not completely useless. My conclusion: it`s hard. Chico seems like a pretty capable carpenter, but it`ll be interesting to see how it turns out.
The Queen Mother FINALLY came last Sunday and the event didn`t disappoint. I was planning on walking to the “inkundla” (they place where the community`s council meets) where the event was going to take place, but it turned out my whole family was planning on going too so I got a ride. For some reason we first had to go to this other community the Queen Mother was at before she came to ours. We were there for about 2 minutes before we got swept up in the Queen Mother`s motorcade and got a police escort back to our community. Over the last couple of weeks I had been to a few planning meetings for this event, but I still had no idea how big it would be. Easily over a thousand people; trucks and trucks full of food and blankets to be given out; a few MPs (Members of Parliament), the Prime Minister, a few of the King`s wives, and, of course, the Queen Mother. Lots of speeches, dancing, and singing (including my Babe – check out the YouTube link →). Luckily, my sisi was there to explain what was going on because I was pretty confused when they gave an old man a bicycle. Overall, one of the more exciting things I`ve done in Swaziland.
Monday was our one night away from site for the month. One of the other volunteers had a birthday this week so it seemed as good a time as any. Definitely a relaxing experience, but not without some excitement. The hostel we stayed at this time had a barbecue so we attempted to make shish-kabobs. The problem was that it was so windy the charcoal wouldn`t stay lit, but, eventually, we were able to get the meat cooked by using a whole lot of bug spray and rum as lighter fluid. The highlight of the day was definitely the pool. AMAZING! Although the water was freezing and it was partly drizzling most of the afternoon, not going in was never an option.
I put the pictures I took from the Queen Mother`s visit up on my Picasa page under “Philani Maswati Charity Event” (link on the left →). I`ve started putting captions with some of the pictures, so hopefully they`ll make more sense. (I`m planning on adding captions to some of the old pictures as well.) I also put up a link to my YouTube page (on the left, below the “Picasa” link →). The only thing up there right now is a 40 second clip of my Babe singing for the Queen Mother, but I`ll put more up eventually. Enjoy.
Monday, October 5, 2009
A Little Better Than Last Week
Pretty much just another slow week. I still can`t go to the schools, I still haven`t started making my bed, and my cookies aren`t getting much better.
I`m going to start doing a survey of the households in my community pretty soon. This is just a way of finding out basic information about the families (how many people live on the homestead, sources of income, water, food, etc.) that we will use when coming up with our own programs, but it`s also a good way for the people of the community to get to know us. My Counterpart has to do something similar as part of his job so I can just tag along when he does his thing. We`ve done a few so far, but there`s over 1,000 households in my chiefdom so we`ll see how far we get.
On Thursday there was supposed to be a program to provide the elderly with food in the next community over. The community leaders had been planning this for some time because the Queen Mother (the King`s mother) was supposed to come, but something came up at the last minute and she had to cancel. It`s supposed to be rescheduled for some time next week and I`ll be sure to take my camera when it does happen.
Swine flu...what a pain. First of all, I`M FINE! But apparently someone had it the other week when we were all at the office for the party. So far there are only a couple of confirmed cases, but a bunch of people have flu-like symptoms. Because of all this we`re supposed to be limiting our travel and staying away from crowded places for a week or two. For better or worse, this doesn`t really affect me right now because my group isn`t allowed to move around much anyways, but it`s still annoying. One more time, I`M FINE!
Right now my Babe is in the U.S. He was in Uganda and/or Zambia last week on business for a charity group he`s involved with and this week he`ll be in Atlanta and San Diego for more meetings. (I asked him to stop by my house to grab some stuff I forgot so be nice to Mathokoza if you see him). I still have yet to figure out what, if anything, he does full time (he might be “retired”), but this has something to do with a U.S. church group that is working with his charity to put on some program here in Swaziland. I`ll be sure to find out more when he gets back.
Last week I found out I`ve been chosen to go to an HIV/AIDS conference put on by the CDC with two other volunteers sometime in December. I don`t know too many details right now, but it`ll be somewhere in southern Africa (anywhere but Swaziland, hopefully).
Hopefully I`ll have more to write about next week. Wish me luck.
I`m going to start doing a survey of the households in my community pretty soon. This is just a way of finding out basic information about the families (how many people live on the homestead, sources of income, water, food, etc.) that we will use when coming up with our own programs, but it`s also a good way for the people of the community to get to know us. My Counterpart has to do something similar as part of his job so I can just tag along when he does his thing. We`ve done a few so far, but there`s over 1,000 households in my chiefdom so we`ll see how far we get.
On Thursday there was supposed to be a program to provide the elderly with food in the next community over. The community leaders had been planning this for some time because the Queen Mother (the King`s mother) was supposed to come, but something came up at the last minute and she had to cancel. It`s supposed to be rescheduled for some time next week and I`ll be sure to take my camera when it does happen.
Swine flu...what a pain. First of all, I`M FINE! But apparently someone had it the other week when we were all at the office for the party. So far there are only a couple of confirmed cases, but a bunch of people have flu-like symptoms. Because of all this we`re supposed to be limiting our travel and staying away from crowded places for a week or two. For better or worse, this doesn`t really affect me right now because my group isn`t allowed to move around much anyways, but it`s still annoying. One more time, I`M FINE!
Right now my Babe is in the U.S. He was in Uganda and/or Zambia last week on business for a charity group he`s involved with and this week he`ll be in Atlanta and San Diego for more meetings. (I asked him to stop by my house to grab some stuff I forgot so be nice to Mathokoza if you see him). I still have yet to figure out what, if anything, he does full time (he might be “retired”), but this has something to do with a U.S. church group that is working with his charity to put on some program here in Swaziland. I`ll be sure to find out more when he gets back.
Last week I found out I`ve been chosen to go to an HIV/AIDS conference put on by the CDC with two other volunteers sometime in December. I don`t know too many details right now, but it`ll be somewhere in southern Africa (anywhere but Swaziland, hopefully).
Hopefully I`ll have more to write about next week. Wish me luck.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Blah
Just another lazy dog-dangling Sunday afternoon. I went into town to do some grocery shopping and to go to the internet cafe. I feel like I should post something while I`m here, even though there isn`t much to write about. I went to a couple of meetings this week (and by "went" I mean sat there quietly while they talked about who-knows-what in siSwati). Other than that, a lot of reading and aimless wandering.
I think I fixed the little slide-show thing on the right side so you should be able to see some pictures there. If you click on the link that says "Picasa" right beneath it, you`ll go to my Picasa page where you can see all of the pictures I`ve uploaded so far.
I`m working on writing something up about the family I`m staying with and some other people I`ve been working with, but that requires actually sitting down with them long enough to learn something, which isn`t as easy as it sounds. I`ll figure it out eventually.
P.S. Battlestar Galactica is good.
I think I fixed the little slide-show thing on the right side so you should be able to see some pictures there. If you click on the link that says "Picasa" right beneath it, you`ll go to my Picasa page where you can see all of the pictures I`ve uploaded so far.
I`m working on writing something up about the family I`m staying with and some other people I`ve been working with, but that requires actually sitting down with them long enough to learn something, which isn`t as easy as it sounds. I`ll figure it out eventually.
P.S. Battlestar Galactica is good.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Pictures
Ok, so for whatever reason the slideshow on the side wasn't working so here's the link for the pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/beanchjodges?feat=email. Hopefully, that'll work.
-- Post From My Hut
-- Post From My Hut
Monday, September 14, 2009
First Week at Site and Trip to Mbabane
Hey look! Another post and it`s only been a week!
This is mostly due to the ridiculous amount of free time I have right now. I mentioned the “Integration” period last time and it`s still going strong. Last Wednesday I met with my Counterpart, Njabulo, at the Kagogo Center to talk about things I can do right now to get to know the community. Wednesday also happens to be the same day the Inner Council meets at the same place and Njabulo takes notes for their meetings, so we didn`t have long to talk. I met with him again yesterday when he had some more free time and was able to learn some more about what he and the Kagogo Center do exactly. In Zombodze, the Center is mostly used to teach pre-school. There`s no limit to the number of kids they take so I`m sure you can imagine how crowded a room that is 20` x 20` can get. Right next to the Kagogo Center is a Neighborhood Care Point (NCP). These “schools” were built and are funded by some religious group from America. Here, they provide free 1st and 2nd grade education to 40 kids (the amount they have room for) and also cook free lunches for all of the kids (pre-schoolers from the Kagogo Center included). The staffs from both work very closely and the kids all play together, even though there is a fence in between (not sure why it`s there).
Other than that, the highlight of my week is usually going to town. Matsapha is technically my closest shopping town, but because of transportation, Manzini is easier to get to. Matsapha is much less crowded so I usually don`t mind the extra walk and do my regular grocery shopping here. If I do go to Manzini it`s mostly to meet someone or to find something the smaller town doesn`t have. Of course Mbabane is the nicest of all, but it`s so developed I feel weird when I spend too much time there. I`ll probably try to go once every couple of weeks just to do my laundry, go to the internet cafe and get some good food. Mbabane is also where the Peace Corps office is. There are (free) computers with (decent) internet and a (warm) shower, so it`s a nice little treat. My Make works in Mbabane for the Government and I can usually get a ride with her, so I`m pretty lucky. Tomorrow in Mbabane is a farewell BBQ for one of my bosses, Chad. In order to keep things fresh, Peace Corps has a rule that staff can only work for PC for (I think) 4 years. Chad has gotten a couple of extensions and has been with the Peace Corps for 8 years plus his 2 years of service. Obviously, he`s been doing something right and he will be missed. There are also a couple of birthdays coming up so a bunch of us are planning on staying at a hostel in town. This will be our one night away for the month, so hopefully it`ll be good. It should be a nice little get-away.
Hopefully, you saw I was able to upload a bunch of pictures to my Picasa page the other day. In case the little slide show thing on the right isn`t working, here`s the link: . I`m going to take some pictures of my homestead, family, the Kagogo Center and whatever random places I feel like, so I`ll have those to upload next time I go to town.
Like I said, lots of free time. I was feeling ambitious yesterday so I decided to try out my fancy new oven and baked some cookies. I was missing a couple of ingredients (baking soda isn`t that important, is it?), but I think they still turned out OK. At least my family was impressed, though I think anything I made that was edible would`ve gotten the same reaction. Next up: pizza.
Today should be a relatively busy and, hopefully, productive one. I`m going to the Kagogo Center to meet Njabulo in a few minutes and he`s going to take me to the clinic and a few schools to talk to people about doing some work there. It`ll be nice to get out and do something “work-related”, even though it`s still Integration. Later on, my Babe was invited to speak at some youth church group, so I think I`ll tag along. All in all, just another boring day in the life of a Peace Corps volunteer.
P.S. Oops, I forgot to post this when I went to Mbabane last Friday. The man that was supposed to introduce me and Njabulo to the schools and clinic wasn`t available, so we postponed until this week. That seems to happen a lot. Chad`s party was fun and it was nice seeing everyone again. I had no idea so many people could fit in such a small office. Staying at the hostel in Mbabane was pretty nice; almost nice enough to forget where we are. I guess that`ll have to do until next month. When I got back home Sunday I discovered something had chewed through the bag and ate my bread. After buying more yesterday afternoon, I barely slept last night because of the rat that decided it was a good time to show himself. Once I got tired of chasing him away and fell asleep, he snuck down and ate my brand new load of bread and apples. I`ll be going to town in a few to find some sort of rat trap or poison and another big tub to keep the rest of my food in. Once I get the little guy, I will hang his lifeless body somewhere all of the other critters can see to teach them all a lesson. I`ll be sure to post those pictures are well.
This is mostly due to the ridiculous amount of free time I have right now. I mentioned the “Integration” period last time and it`s still going strong. Last Wednesday I met with my Counterpart, Njabulo, at the Kagogo Center to talk about things I can do right now to get to know the community. Wednesday also happens to be the same day the Inner Council meets at the same place and Njabulo takes notes for their meetings, so we didn`t have long to talk. I met with him again yesterday when he had some more free time and was able to learn some more about what he and the Kagogo Center do exactly. In Zombodze, the Center is mostly used to teach pre-school. There`s no limit to the number of kids they take so I`m sure you can imagine how crowded a room that is 20` x 20` can get. Right next to the Kagogo Center is a Neighborhood Care Point (NCP). These “schools” were built and are funded by some religious group from America. Here, they provide free 1st and 2nd grade education to 40 kids (the amount they have room for) and also cook free lunches for all of the kids (pre-schoolers from the Kagogo Center included). The staffs from both work very closely and the kids all play together, even though there is a fence in between (not sure why it`s there).
Other than that, the highlight of my week is usually going to town. Matsapha is technically my closest shopping town, but because of transportation, Manzini is easier to get to. Matsapha is much less crowded so I usually don`t mind the extra walk and do my regular grocery shopping here. If I do go to Manzini it`s mostly to meet someone or to find something the smaller town doesn`t have. Of course Mbabane is the nicest of all, but it`s so developed I feel weird when I spend too much time there. I`ll probably try to go once every couple of weeks just to do my laundry, go to the internet cafe and get some good food. Mbabane is also where the Peace Corps office is. There are (free) computers with (decent) internet and a (warm) shower, so it`s a nice little treat. My Make works in Mbabane for the Government and I can usually get a ride with her, so I`m pretty lucky. Tomorrow in Mbabane is a farewell BBQ for one of my bosses, Chad. In order to keep things fresh, Peace Corps has a rule that staff can only work for PC for (I think) 4 years. Chad has gotten a couple of extensions and has been with the Peace Corps for 8 years plus his 2 years of service. Obviously, he`s been doing something right and he will be missed. There are also a couple of birthdays coming up so a bunch of us are planning on staying at a hostel in town. This will be our one night away for the month, so hopefully it`ll be good. It should be a nice little get-away.
Hopefully, you saw I was able to upload a bunch of pictures to my Picasa page the other day. In case the little slide show thing on the right isn`t working, here`s the link: . I`m going to take some pictures of my homestead, family, the Kagogo Center and whatever random places I feel like, so I`ll have those to upload next time I go to town.
Like I said, lots of free time. I was feeling ambitious yesterday so I decided to try out my fancy new oven and baked some cookies. I was missing a couple of ingredients (baking soda isn`t that important, is it?), but I think they still turned out OK. At least my family was impressed, though I think anything I made that was edible would`ve gotten the same reaction. Next up: pizza.
Today should be a relatively busy and, hopefully, productive one. I`m going to the Kagogo Center to meet Njabulo in a few minutes and he`s going to take me to the clinic and a few schools to talk to people about doing some work there. It`ll be nice to get out and do something “work-related”, even though it`s still Integration. Later on, my Babe was invited to speak at some youth church group, so I think I`ll tag along. All in all, just another boring day in the life of a Peace Corps volunteer.
P.S. Oops, I forgot to post this when I went to Mbabane last Friday. The man that was supposed to introduce me and Njabulo to the schools and clinic wasn`t available, so we postponed until this week. That seems to happen a lot. Chad`s party was fun and it was nice seeing everyone again. I had no idea so many people could fit in such a small office. Staying at the hostel in Mbabane was pretty nice; almost nice enough to forget where we are. I guess that`ll have to do until next month. When I got back home Sunday I discovered something had chewed through the bag and ate my bread. After buying more yesterday afternoon, I barely slept last night because of the rat that decided it was a good time to show himself. Once I got tired of chasing him away and fell asleep, he snuck down and ate my brand new load of bread and apples. I`ll be going to town in a few to find some sort of rat trap or poison and another big tub to keep the rest of my food in. Once I get the little guy, I will hang his lifeless body somewhere all of the other critters can see to teach them all a lesson. I`ll be sure to post those pictures are well.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Pictures
I had a bunch of pictures to upload last week, but the internet was pretty slow and it was taking forever. Hopefully I`ll have better luck today. You should be able to see them if you go to my Picasa page (there should be a link on the left --->). If they still aren`t there, just bear with me. There`s no hurry in Swaziland. Yesterday was the 41st anniversary of Swaziland`s independence from Great Britain, but, oddly enough, no one seemed to notice. Other than that, not a whole lot going on.
Friday, September 4, 2009
End of PST and Swearing-In
Ya, ya ya, long time no talk. What can I say, we`ve all been busy. Anyways, here we go...
I`ve forgotten what the last thing I wrote was so I`ll start with our On the Job Training (OJT), which had to have been a few weeks ago. Wow, it has been a while since I`ve wrote anything now that I think about it. So every volunteer is assigned a Swazi Counterpart, who is the Kagogo Center Manager for the community we`re staying in. Quick Swazi cultural lesson: “Gogo” is the siSwati word for Grandmother. Just about every homestead has a Gogo`s hut: a small round room with a thatched roof separate from the main house. Traditionally, this is where the Grandmother lives, but not always. Some volunteers actually spend their two years in one of these huts. The interesting thing about the Gogo`s hut is that it`s a sort of “safe place”. A child does something wrong and is going to be punished (hit), but if they can make it to this hut they can call sanctuary and escape punishment, at least temporarily. So fairly recently, the government started funding the construction of these Kagogo Centers in just about every community in the country. Each one is different and they all do a variety of things, from pre-school to cooking meals for needy kids. OJT is our first time actually seeing the community we`ll be living in and family we`ll be staying with for the next two years so it was a pretty big deal. It was also the first time traveling a long distance without supervision for most of us. Luckily our counterparts came in the night before so they helped us navigate all of the buses and get to our permanent sites. My permanent family had people from out of town staying with them for a wedding the first night so I stayed with my Counterpart`s family. His name is Njabulo, by the way. The first night is always the most awkward since you can`t really do anything for yourself. You don`t have food or a stove so someone has to prepare food for you, again. For myself and some others, our permanent rooms weren`t ready yet so someone else got kicked out of their room for a few days. (Thanks Thapi, your bed is great). And then there`s the joy of giving yourself a bucket bath in a complete stranger`s “bath room”. Lucky me, of course, got to go through all of that again the next night when I finally met my real permanent family.
So first thing the next morning, Njabulo took me to meet my family, the Mtetwa`s. Njabulo was there for about 5 minutes before he took off. After a few minutes of “Hello`s” and “Nice to meet you`s”, my Babe says, “Come, we`re going to the wedding.” (Traditional Swazi weddings take about 3 days). Unfortunately for me, there was a non-violent rabies incident with a puppy a few days earlier (R.I.P. Tfowile) and I had to wait for the Peace Corps Medical Officer to come to my site to give me an extra rabies vaccine, so I was unable to go with the family. So instead, I spent the afternoon watching South African soap operas. (Rhythm City is my favorite). It feels weird taking the time to write about something that happened weeks ago, but do ask me to tell you the Peacock Story some day. Suffice it to say it involves a broken window, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and, of course, some peacocks.
OJT was a very long 4 days, then it was back to normal at our training village for another few weeks. We had our final tests in everything about 2 weeks ago and I`m pretty sure I barely passed my language interview. (If Intermediate Low is good enough for the government, it`s good enough for me). Then we packed up all of our things and moved to a conference center in the capitol for a few days. Here, we got another tour of Mbabane and had our swearing-in ceremony. A lot of us wore traditional clothes to the ceremony, so that`s my explanation if you see any pictures of me in some sort of animal skin. Also, Swazis never really smile in pictures so that`s why mine mostly look like mug shots; just trying to fit in. After a LONG night of celebrating, they dropped us off at our permanent sites the next morning and said, “See you in 3 months.”
So this part of our Peace Corps experience is called Integration and it`s kind of meant to be 3 months of isolation. During this time we aren`t allowed to start any big projects and we only get one night away from our site per month. Its purpose is to get to know the people of your community and what they really need so you can plan what you do for the next two years. With that said, you still have a lot of free time so I am in search of new hobbies. I`ve been reading a lot. Yesterday, I bought a stove/oven so I will be learning to cook/bake over the next two years. I`m training for a half marathon in Cape Town in April. I`m going to find a carpenter and have him help me build the most amazing bed/desk you have ever seen. I`m going to buy a guitar, although 6 strings still feels like 2 too many. And of course practice my siSwati, yada yada yada. Feel free to send any suggestions my way.
Of course there are some things I won`t be doing anymore as well. Some may say I`m missing out on valuable cultural experiences that I will only have the opportunity to take part in for this short period of time...I say it`s progress. Pit latrines, bucket baths and hand-washing clothes: it`s for the birds. 50 feet away from my door there is a bathroom. One more time, BATHROOM. I`m talking real toilet and a shower. The shower only has cold water, but I think it`ll be pretty nice on a hot day, plus I`m designing an elaborate system of ropes and bungee cords to hook up my solar shower inside the real shower. Hand-washing clothes; there`s just no point, at least for me. I`m all about self improvement but this is one thing I will be comfortable going to my grave not knowing how to do. My Make actually forbid me from buying more white socks because I`m not capable of cleaning the ones I have thoroughly. So tomorrow, for the first time in Swaziland, I will be finding the laundromat in Manzini and enjoying a luxurious meal at KFC. (For some reason, there`s no shortage of KFC`s here).
Almost forgot, last weekend was the Umhlanga or Reed Dance. Google it or look it up on Wikipedia. I don`t want to give too much away, but it`s a pretty big deal here. All of the tourists come out for this thing. When you do see some pictures, keep in mind the SWAZI cultural context, not American. With that said, you may want to make sure the little kids are in the other room. (Sorry Jess and Zach, I`ll show you when you`re older, or when your Mom isn`t looking).
It`s late and I`m tired. I know I`ve said this before, but this time I really will make an effort to update more regularly. I should have the free time, plus it really is easier that way, but we`ll see. Talk to you next week...hopefully.
P.S. Twitter is stupid, but it is much easier and quicker to update than the blog, so I can do that more often. My tweets (ya, dumb) go to facebook, which is mostly how the volunteers here communicate (cheaper than texts), so they might not all make sense to those back home. You should be able to see my updates on the right side of the page ---->. Twitter is still dumb.
P.P.S. I`m finally able to upload my pictures from all of the above so check out the little slide show and link to my Picasa page on the right side of the page as well ----> (I like making arrows)
I`ve forgotten what the last thing I wrote was so I`ll start with our On the Job Training (OJT), which had to have been a few weeks ago. Wow, it has been a while since I`ve wrote anything now that I think about it. So every volunteer is assigned a Swazi Counterpart, who is the Kagogo Center Manager for the community we`re staying in. Quick Swazi cultural lesson: “Gogo” is the siSwati word for Grandmother. Just about every homestead has a Gogo`s hut: a small round room with a thatched roof separate from the main house. Traditionally, this is where the Grandmother lives, but not always. Some volunteers actually spend their two years in one of these huts. The interesting thing about the Gogo`s hut is that it`s a sort of “safe place”. A child does something wrong and is going to be punished (hit), but if they can make it to this hut they can call sanctuary and escape punishment, at least temporarily. So fairly recently, the government started funding the construction of these Kagogo Centers in just about every community in the country. Each one is different and they all do a variety of things, from pre-school to cooking meals for needy kids. OJT is our first time actually seeing the community we`ll be living in and family we`ll be staying with for the next two years so it was a pretty big deal. It was also the first time traveling a long distance without supervision for most of us. Luckily our counterparts came in the night before so they helped us navigate all of the buses and get to our permanent sites. My permanent family had people from out of town staying with them for a wedding the first night so I stayed with my Counterpart`s family. His name is Njabulo, by the way. The first night is always the most awkward since you can`t really do anything for yourself. You don`t have food or a stove so someone has to prepare food for you, again. For myself and some others, our permanent rooms weren`t ready yet so someone else got kicked out of their room for a few days. (Thanks Thapi, your bed is great). And then there`s the joy of giving yourself a bucket bath in a complete stranger`s “bath room”. Lucky me, of course, got to go through all of that again the next night when I finally met my real permanent family.
So first thing the next morning, Njabulo took me to meet my family, the Mtetwa`s. Njabulo was there for about 5 minutes before he took off. After a few minutes of “Hello`s” and “Nice to meet you`s”, my Babe says, “Come, we`re going to the wedding.” (Traditional Swazi weddings take about 3 days). Unfortunately for me, there was a non-violent rabies incident with a puppy a few days earlier (R.I.P. Tfowile) and I had to wait for the Peace Corps Medical Officer to come to my site to give me an extra rabies vaccine, so I was unable to go with the family. So instead, I spent the afternoon watching South African soap operas. (Rhythm City is my favorite). It feels weird taking the time to write about something that happened weeks ago, but do ask me to tell you the Peacock Story some day. Suffice it to say it involves a broken window, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and, of course, some peacocks.
OJT was a very long 4 days, then it was back to normal at our training village for another few weeks. We had our final tests in everything about 2 weeks ago and I`m pretty sure I barely passed my language interview. (If Intermediate Low is good enough for the government, it`s good enough for me). Then we packed up all of our things and moved to a conference center in the capitol for a few days. Here, we got another tour of Mbabane and had our swearing-in ceremony. A lot of us wore traditional clothes to the ceremony, so that`s my explanation if you see any pictures of me in some sort of animal skin. Also, Swazis never really smile in pictures so that`s why mine mostly look like mug shots; just trying to fit in. After a LONG night of celebrating, they dropped us off at our permanent sites the next morning and said, “See you in 3 months.”
So this part of our Peace Corps experience is called Integration and it`s kind of meant to be 3 months of isolation. During this time we aren`t allowed to start any big projects and we only get one night away from our site per month. Its purpose is to get to know the people of your community and what they really need so you can plan what you do for the next two years. With that said, you still have a lot of free time so I am in search of new hobbies. I`ve been reading a lot. Yesterday, I bought a stove/oven so I will be learning to cook/bake over the next two years. I`m training for a half marathon in Cape Town in April. I`m going to find a carpenter and have him help me build the most amazing bed/desk you have ever seen. I`m going to buy a guitar, although 6 strings still feels like 2 too many. And of course practice my siSwati, yada yada yada. Feel free to send any suggestions my way.
Of course there are some things I won`t be doing anymore as well. Some may say I`m missing out on valuable cultural experiences that I will only have the opportunity to take part in for this short period of time...I say it`s progress. Pit latrines, bucket baths and hand-washing clothes: it`s for the birds. 50 feet away from my door there is a bathroom. One more time, BATHROOM. I`m talking real toilet and a shower. The shower only has cold water, but I think it`ll be pretty nice on a hot day, plus I`m designing an elaborate system of ropes and bungee cords to hook up my solar shower inside the real shower. Hand-washing clothes; there`s just no point, at least for me. I`m all about self improvement but this is one thing I will be comfortable going to my grave not knowing how to do. My Make actually forbid me from buying more white socks because I`m not capable of cleaning the ones I have thoroughly. So tomorrow, for the first time in Swaziland, I will be finding the laundromat in Manzini and enjoying a luxurious meal at KFC. (For some reason, there`s no shortage of KFC`s here).
Almost forgot, last weekend was the Umhlanga or Reed Dance. Google it or look it up on Wikipedia. I don`t want to give too much away, but it`s a pretty big deal here. All of the tourists come out for this thing. When you do see some pictures, keep in mind the SWAZI cultural context, not American. With that said, you may want to make sure the little kids are in the other room. (Sorry Jess and Zach, I`ll show you when you`re older, or when your Mom isn`t looking).
It`s late and I`m tired. I know I`ve said this before, but this time I really will make an effort to update more regularly. I should have the free time, plus it really is easier that way, but we`ll see. Talk to you next week...hopefully.
P.S. Twitter is stupid, but it is much easier and quicker to update than the blog, so I can do that more often. My tweets (ya, dumb) go to facebook, which is mostly how the volunteers here communicate (cheaper than texts), so they might not all make sense to those back home. You should be able to see my updates on the right side of the page ---->. Twitter is still dumb.
P.P.S. I`m finally able to upload my pictures from all of the above so check out the little slide show and link to my Picasa page on the right side of the page as well ----> (I like making arrows)
Sunday, August 2, 2009
First Trip to Mbabane and Site Placements!
Through the magic of the iphone I am posting this from my hut. So since my last post kind of a lot has happened. I'm really going to try to post more regularly from now on just so I don't have to do these big posts. The big things were our first tests, our first trip to Mbabane, and our site placements.
The tests were really just practice tests on everything we've learned so far: language (a biggy), culture, health and some others. Our final tests are at the end of Pre-Service Training in a few weeks and if you don't pass those you don't get sworn in. It wasn't anything too hard, but I could always use some more study time. You also get to sit down with a couple of the directors to talk about where you're going go be placed permanently for the next two years. You rank what kind of work you want to do, how close you want to be to a big city, weather, electricity and anything else, then they try to make the best match with the sites they have chosen. I told them I really wanted to work at a bigger clinic or hospital, I wanted to be somewhere close to a big city where it was relatively cool, and I really wanted electricity (of course). All of those were pretty popular requests so I didn't really get my hopes up. We had to wait a whole week after that before we actually found out where we were going to be.
In the mean time, we took our first trip to the Capitol, Mbabane. We were only there for a few hours and didn't get to see much but it was really nice to get out of our little town for a while. The highlight was probably getting our cell phones, finally. I won't post the number, but if you want to spend the money just ask and I'll probably give it to you (Skype is pretty cheap). We went to a museum and a cultural village where we saw some traditional Swazi dancing. Pretty impressive. We all spent the night at a hostel. Food, pool and beer. I don't remember the last time I stayed up past 10:00 before that. There were some zebras wandering around during breakfast, which seemed oddly appropriate. On the way home we stopped at what might be the best stocked grocery store in Swaziland. Olive oil, soy sauce, cheese. AMAZING! I'll definitely have to be making the trip there pretty often.
So now to the best part: site announcements were yesterday and right now it looks like I get to spend the next two years in what might be the best site in the country (for me at least). Some of the volunters from Group 6 (the ones that have been here a year) made a giant map of Swaziland with a rope with little flags to mark where all of the new sites were. When they called our names they would walk us to our flag. You could instantly see how close you were to everyone else and the big cities. I will be in a town called Zombodze, pretty close to the center of the country. It's supposed to be about 15 minutes from Manzini and less than an hour from Mbabane, the two big towns. This part of the country is in between the hot and cold areas so the weather won't be too bad. There's enough work at this site that they could've put a married couple there, but the housing wasn't large enough, so there will be pleanty for me to do. I have electricity and my building is painted two-tone pink, so I have that to look forward to. I know nothing about my host family, but so far what I know couldn't be any better. Next Saturday we leave for On the Job Training. I'll spend 5 nights at my site and get to see the area for the first time. It's a lot of meeting people I may or may not be working with and seeing what they do, but I'll know more next time I post.
All in all, I'm super excited. It's nice to finally be able to have some idea of where I'll be for the next two years, even though I don't know what I'll be doing exactly. I'm sure Ill have a better idea in a week or so. Anyways, I'm off to dinner with some people in celebration of the amazing event that was my birth (yes, so amazing it takes a week to celebrate properly). Talk to you soon.
-- Post From My Hut
The tests were really just practice tests on everything we've learned so far: language (a biggy), culture, health and some others. Our final tests are at the end of Pre-Service Training in a few weeks and if you don't pass those you don't get sworn in. It wasn't anything too hard, but I could always use some more study time. You also get to sit down with a couple of the directors to talk about where you're going go be placed permanently for the next two years. You rank what kind of work you want to do, how close you want to be to a big city, weather, electricity and anything else, then they try to make the best match with the sites they have chosen. I told them I really wanted to work at a bigger clinic or hospital, I wanted to be somewhere close to a big city where it was relatively cool, and I really wanted electricity (of course). All of those were pretty popular requests so I didn't really get my hopes up. We had to wait a whole week after that before we actually found out where we were going to be.
In the mean time, we took our first trip to the Capitol, Mbabane. We were only there for a few hours and didn't get to see much but it was really nice to get out of our little town for a while. The highlight was probably getting our cell phones, finally. I won't post the number, but if you want to spend the money just ask and I'll probably give it to you (Skype is pretty cheap). We went to a museum and a cultural village where we saw some traditional Swazi dancing. Pretty impressive. We all spent the night at a hostel. Food, pool and beer. I don't remember the last time I stayed up past 10:00 before that. There were some zebras wandering around during breakfast, which seemed oddly appropriate. On the way home we stopped at what might be the best stocked grocery store in Swaziland. Olive oil, soy sauce, cheese. AMAZING! I'll definitely have to be making the trip there pretty often.
So now to the best part: site announcements were yesterday and right now it looks like I get to spend the next two years in what might be the best site in the country (for me at least). Some of the volunters from Group 6 (the ones that have been here a year) made a giant map of Swaziland with a rope with little flags to mark where all of the new sites were. When they called our names they would walk us to our flag. You could instantly see how close you were to everyone else and the big cities. I will be in a town called Zombodze, pretty close to the center of the country. It's supposed to be about 15 minutes from Manzini and less than an hour from Mbabane, the two big towns. This part of the country is in between the hot and cold areas so the weather won't be too bad. There's enough work at this site that they could've put a married couple there, but the housing wasn't large enough, so there will be pleanty for me to do. I have electricity and my building is painted two-tone pink, so I have that to look forward to. I know nothing about my host family, but so far what I know couldn't be any better. Next Saturday we leave for On the Job Training. I'll spend 5 nights at my site and get to see the area for the first time. It's a lot of meeting people I may or may not be working with and seeing what they do, but I'll know more next time I post.
All in all, I'm super excited. It's nice to finally be able to have some idea of where I'll be for the next two years, even though I don't know what I'll be doing exactly. I'm sure Ill have a better idea in a week or so. Anyways, I'm off to dinner with some people in celebration of the amazing event that was my birth (yes, so amazing it takes a week to celebrate properly). Talk to you soon.
-- Post From My Hut
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Finally here!
Sanibonani! (Hello everyone!),
First off, a few things have changed since I left. 1) I now go by “Lusekwane Nxumalo.” (There`s a “click” in there but I won`t try to explain it.) “Lusekwane” is a tree they use in an important ceremony, apparently, and everyone acts really impressed when I tell them. It means less to me though knowing that my Make (Mother) thought of it before she met me, but I think I`ll keep it. 2) I pee and bathe in a bucket at night (not the same bucket). It`s just as fun as it sounds. And 3) I have a mustache. It seems to make me look older which elevates my social status. I`ve even been called Babe (Father) a few times.
I`m writing this from my room (yes, I have electricity!) and have no idea what the last thing I wrote was so I guess I`ll just start from when I got to Africa. We stayed in Johannesburg, South Africa that night and took a bus into Swaziland the next day. For the first week we stayed at this place in Ngonini called the Lutheran Farmers Training Center. It`s some sort of school where they teach people to farm, I guess. It was kind of like summer camp: 2 people per room, a dining hall, a bathroom with shower stalls, and a classroom. Class in the serious heat during the day and staying up late (9:30!) in the freezing cold at night. A group of us were getting up early to run some laps around the soccer field; just early enough to see the sunrise. Last week was when we got to meet the families we`ll be staying with for the rest of training (9 weeks). I`m staying with just a Make, no Babe (Father). I think he lives with one of his other 2 wives and it didn`t sound like I would be meeting him. My Bhuti (Brother), her son, is a student in Manzini (one of the two big cities in Swaziland) and I met him last week. He`s home on vacation so we`ve got to hang out a bit. My Make`s brother died, so his 2 girls live with her and are my Sisi`s (Sisters). They`re pretty shy but I`m working on that. My room is actually a pretty good size with a big bed. I had to take my first bucket bath last week, which meant washing one part of my body at a time in a concrete room that was probably just over 50 degrees. I`m not sure what`s worse: that or the roosters, pigs, and goats that run around outside my room all night long. For the next couple of days I`ll be taking a kombi (an overcrowded van with no seat belts you have to flag down from the side of the road that is probably just as dangerous as it sounds) back to Ngonini with the other volunteers who live near me. After that we`ll be meeting mostly in the town we`re in (Mbasheni). We`re going to be taking a field trip to the nearest big town, Pigg`s Peak, tomorrow. I`m writing this in my room right now so I can hopefully send it from the internet cafe tomorrow. I have a bunch of pictures to upload but the internet connection is REALLY slow and there will probably be a bunch of people waiting so those will have to wait. It`s hard to believe it`s only been a few weeks since I left. It feels more like a lot longer. Anyways, thanks for taking the time to keep up with my random wanderings. I`ll write more when I can. Feel free to send me an email, just don`t expect one back tomorrow. Sala kahle! (Goodbye!)
P.S. So I had some problems with my flash drive when I went to the internet cafe last Friday so I wasn`t able to send this then. Not much new since then. From now until the end of Pre-Service Training we`ll be spending most of our time in smaller groups. There are 23 volunteers living in one town and 10 living in the other. I`m staying in the bigger town, Mbasheni. We usually spend half the day in our language groups (5 trainees and 1 instructor) and the other half doing cultural or technical training with everyone else in our town. Everyone is pretty settled in now so we`ve spent the couple of hours we have before it gets dark the last few days walking around seeing everyone`s homestead. When I get home, I usually spend an hour or so talking to my Make and trying to help cook. After dinner I study and listen to the BBC until attempting to take a “bath” and falling asleep. Starting this weekend we`re supposed to start cooking for ourselves so we get to go grocery shopping in Pigg`s Peak tomorrow. I just cooked some hard-boiled eggs right now so I`m feeling pretty good. Hopefully I`ll be able to send this while I`m in town, otherwise I`ll just have to add onto this message some more. Sala kahle!
First off, a few things have changed since I left. 1) I now go by “Lusekwane Nxumalo.” (There`s a “click” in there but I won`t try to explain it.) “Lusekwane” is a tree they use in an important ceremony, apparently, and everyone acts really impressed when I tell them. It means less to me though knowing that my Make (Mother) thought of it before she met me, but I think I`ll keep it. 2) I pee and bathe in a bucket at night (not the same bucket). It`s just as fun as it sounds. And 3) I have a mustache. It seems to make me look older which elevates my social status. I`ve even been called Babe (Father) a few times.
I`m writing this from my room (yes, I have electricity!) and have no idea what the last thing I wrote was so I guess I`ll just start from when I got to Africa. We stayed in Johannesburg, South Africa that night and took a bus into Swaziland the next day. For the first week we stayed at this place in Ngonini called the Lutheran Farmers Training Center. It`s some sort of school where they teach people to farm, I guess. It was kind of like summer camp: 2 people per room, a dining hall, a bathroom with shower stalls, and a classroom. Class in the serious heat during the day and staying up late (9:30!) in the freezing cold at night. A group of us were getting up early to run some laps around the soccer field; just early enough to see the sunrise. Last week was when we got to meet the families we`ll be staying with for the rest of training (9 weeks). I`m staying with just a Make, no Babe (Father). I think he lives with one of his other 2 wives and it didn`t sound like I would be meeting him. My Bhuti (Brother), her son, is a student in Manzini (one of the two big cities in Swaziland) and I met him last week. He`s home on vacation so we`ve got to hang out a bit. My Make`s brother died, so his 2 girls live with her and are my Sisi`s (Sisters). They`re pretty shy but I`m working on that. My room is actually a pretty good size with a big bed. I had to take my first bucket bath last week, which meant washing one part of my body at a time in a concrete room that was probably just over 50 degrees. I`m not sure what`s worse: that or the roosters, pigs, and goats that run around outside my room all night long. For the next couple of days I`ll be taking a kombi (an overcrowded van with no seat belts you have to flag down from the side of the road that is probably just as dangerous as it sounds) back to Ngonini with the other volunteers who live near me. After that we`ll be meeting mostly in the town we`re in (Mbasheni). We`re going to be taking a field trip to the nearest big town, Pigg`s Peak, tomorrow. I`m writing this in my room right now so I can hopefully send it from the internet cafe tomorrow. I have a bunch of pictures to upload but the internet connection is REALLY slow and there will probably be a bunch of people waiting so those will have to wait. It`s hard to believe it`s only been a few weeks since I left. It feels more like a lot longer. Anyways, thanks for taking the time to keep up with my random wanderings. I`ll write more when I can. Feel free to send me an email, just don`t expect one back tomorrow. Sala kahle! (Goodbye!)
P.S. So I had some problems with my flash drive when I went to the internet cafe last Friday so I wasn`t able to send this then. Not much new since then. From now until the end of Pre-Service Training we`ll be spending most of our time in smaller groups. There are 23 volunteers living in one town and 10 living in the other. I`m staying in the bigger town, Mbasheni. We usually spend half the day in our language groups (5 trainees and 1 instructor) and the other half doing cultural or technical training with everyone else in our town. Everyone is pretty settled in now so we`ve spent the couple of hours we have before it gets dark the last few days walking around seeing everyone`s homestead. When I get home, I usually spend an hour or so talking to my Make and trying to help cook. After dinner I study and listen to the BBC until attempting to take a “bath” and falling asleep. Starting this weekend we`re supposed to start cooking for ourselves so we get to go grocery shopping in Pigg`s Peak tomorrow. I just cooked some hard-boiled eggs right now so I`m feeling pretty good. Hopefully I`ll be able to send this while I`m in town, otherwise I`ll just have to add onto this message some more. Sala kahle!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Hey everyone! (Anyone?) As you probably know I left L.A. Sunday morning to head to D.C. for staging with the Peace Corps. Except for a little problem with the plane in Atlanta (something about not being able to stop the plane after it landed), it was just a long boring day. My roomate here, Cameron, and I got up early Monday to do a little sight-seeing before we had to get down to business. Our flight leaves tomorrow afternoon then I`ll have about 18 hours to kill before we finally get to Johannesburg, South Africa. We`ll stay the night in a hotel there and take a bus into Swaziland to start our Pre-Service Training the next day. They say not to expect to have access to phones and internet for the first 2 months so this could be it for a little while. If it is, wish me luck and I`ll give you guys and update whenever I can. Enjoy some random pics from D.C. for now.
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