Hey all. Long time no blog, huh? It’s been a busy couple of months with the new group getting here and everything. The other problem with updating the blog has been the iPhone. I’m sure you will all feel my pain when I tell you my iPhone is currently not working. There were some problems with the last software update and I’m hopeful future update will fix the problem, but until then my Internet access is kind of limited. With that said, I’ll be trying to make it to the Internet café in town to update the blog a bit more often.
Over the last couple of months 37 new Peace Corps trainees arrived in Swaziland and almost the entire previous group has left. It’ll probably take a while before I’m used to seeing all of these new faces, and not seeing others, but that’s how it goes. One or two of us from PSN have been up at Ngonini (the training site in the northern part of the country where we also did our training last year) every week helping out with some of the training sessions. Some of the sessions weren’t very much fun to sit through for a second time, but getting a chance to hang out with some new people was nice. A couple of weeks ago they finally found out where their permanent sites will be. We made a big map of the country with flags all over to show where the volunteer sites and big towns are and then walked them out to their site so they could see where they’re going to be in relation to everything else. The next week was their OJT (On the Job Training) which is when they go to their communities and meet their host families for the first time. The other part of OJT was meeting up with one of us older volunteers so we could show them around the closest shopping town and our community. They have another couple of weeks of training left then it’ll be time for their Swear-In ceremony. PSN will be with them that whole week to show them around the capitol and for some other fun activities. One thing I’ve figured out from last year is that training goes by MUCH faster when you aren’t the one being trained.
Because it’s been so long since my last post, as a treat I have some new pictures and video for you all. There are a couple of random pics in there, but everything else is from a traditional Swazi wedding I went to last weekend with my family and another volunteer, Reid. The whole ceremony lasts three days, but the day I was there was when the groom’s family gives the bride’s a bunch of cows (naturally, the families with higher social status get more cows for their daughters). Then each family slaughters and skins a cow to eat the next day. Reid and I were given the chance to try skinning part of my family’s cow (I got the job done, but my technique needs some work) and my sisi was there to get some good video. WARNING: as you might imagine, some of the video might be a little graphic for the kids. Don’t worry, the zebra pictures should be fine. You can find the video on my YouTube page under "My First Lobola" or just click on this link: My First Lobola. Enjoy!
Well, hopefully I’ll have another update next week. See you then.
