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!