Sanibonani, bangani bami! (Hello, my friends!)
I'm killing time till Jor arrives in the place with probably the best Wifi in Swaziland. I could probably watch a YouTube video if I wanted! It's THAT good! I don't mind not having access to Internet, really. I've been living without a computer of my own since January, and it has not been apocalyptic. I feel like I'm going to be overwhelmed by the go go go of life back home when I get there. TOO MANY INSTAGRAMS. Do people still use that, even? The Internet will be unrecognizable to me.
I attended the cultural evening at Jack's school last night, and it was delightful, if a bit chaotic. I think my favorite part was listening to 20-something primary-schoolers singing "God Bless America." I was moved, not gonna lie. It made me even more excited to visit home in a month and a half.
As part of this cultural evening, I baked six apple pies. Yes, I made the crusts by hand. And then I had so much extra crust that I baked two chocolate-chip pies. I have officially surpassed my lifetime pie-making total in the past year. People seemed to mostly like them, though Swazis tend to find American desserts too sweet. What can I say? We love our sugar and butter.
The event also included Swazi cultural dances, which I always love, and a section of Afrikaner culture. The children wore the traditional clothes of the Afrikaner settlers. I was thinking "Little House on the Prairie." The kiddos did a great job.
I can't remember whether I've talked about our Future Plans. Jack and I were considering staying here another year. He had a lead on a job, and I was considering extending my Peace Corps service. I would have moved to town from my homestead, so I would have had more of the modern conveniences. We were pretty sold on it for a week or so. Then things fell apart a bit with his job offer. I wasn't thrilled with the direction my plans were heading. At the end of the day, the benefits of going home outweighed the benefits of staying.
So I'll finish up my service in August, and Jack and I are planning a packed post-PC trip. The one certainty is hiking Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Aside from that, we're looking at Victoria Falls, Lake Malawi, the Serengeti, Zanzibar and Morocco (some combination of these). We'll see how we go. I'm sure we can't go wrong, and if we miss something, it'll just mean we have to come back. Kute inkinga, as they say (no problem).
THEN it will be on to the wedding in November and trying to persuade someone to hire us, probably in Washington, D.C. If y'all know anybody who wants a journalist/social media pro in Jack or a journalist/public health type in me, drop us a line. I'll be ready to do ALL THE WORK.
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In work news, my counterpart and I have chosen the three girls who will go to our Girls Leading Our World (GLOW) camp next month. I'm excited to participate. It's a whole week, and I expect it to be exhausting and exhilarating. The girls will learn about health topics, community service, leadership and other fun stuff. There will be arts and crafts and games as well. I wasn't able to go last year because of health problems, so it'll all be new.
Have I told y'all that I've been writing letters with a first-grade class from my elementary school? Their letters are pretty amazing. I tend to reply by email and explain things like toilets, our lack of running water and which animals I've seen. I also told the kids recently that I've read more than 100 books since I've been here. It's kind of great what facts stick in their minds.
These are some of the questions I've gotten:
"What are the titles of the 100 books?"
"Was one of the books Go Dog Go?"
"What was your favorite of the 100 books?"
"Have you seen a dust devil?"
"Do you go to college?"
"What is your mom's name?"
"How do you play?"
"Do you like fashion and makeovers? I like fashion and makeovers."
And my favorite comment: "We have running water here."
Kids are pretty great.
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We have a new puppy on the homestead! She is covered in fleas and ticks because I haven't had a chance to wash her yet. Babe calls her Tsatsakhona (take and eat), the same as our other dog. I'm going to call her Wolverine in hopes that she'll be a survivor. I will try to avoid getting attached.
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Did I tell you guys that I'm getting my wedding dress made here by a Swazi designer? I am. It's pretty exciting stuff, AND he thinks he can arrange a fitting while Jor is here. That will be my first traditional girl move.
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OK, I think that's all the news that's fit to print for the moment. I hope to be able to post photos from Cape Town after our trip. If you were feeling sorry for me because I never have Internet or running water or whatever, don't. I get to go to CAPE TOWN, which is an incredibly sweet place.
Stay tuned.
Salani kahle!
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Bread, transport, etc.
Sanibonani!
Here are some weather words for you:
Emafu = clouds
Liyana = rain
Lilanga = sun (this word also means day)
Futfumele = warm
Kuyabandza = It's cold
Kuyashisa = It's hot
And some from my current activities:
Ngibheka sinkhwa = I'm baking bread
Ngifuna kulala = I want to sleep
Ngiyagijima = I am running
Ngine umhlangano = I have a meeting
A PC friend taught me how to make challah and biscuits this past Monday. It was a gray, cool, rainy day, perfect for that activity. She lives less than an hour's drive from me, but transport in Swaziland meant that I had to travel an hour to Manzini, meet her in the bus rank at 8 a.m. and get on a bus to her spot. We sat on the bus/van for about 45 minutes until it was full. The bus carried us through the hilly bush, easing through places where water was running over low bridges.
We arrived at her place after an hour or so and went to work, making the dough and letting it rise. We chatted about challenges we were facing with our work and drank delicious coffee. About four hours later, I had a lovely loaf of challah to share with Jack and a handful of biscuits for me to munch on.
I could have spent the night at her place, but PC restricts how many nights we're supposed to spend out of our village per month. I knew I'd be out for other reasons, so I decided to try to get home. I waited for about half an hour on the road that would have taken me the short way toward my place. Nothing. No cars, no bikes, no motorcycles (not that I'd have taken one, strictly forbidden). After about half an hour, I spotted the same bus we'd come in on, this time heading back to Manzini.
"Is it better for me to take this to Manzini and go back to my place?" I asked a woman who was also waiting.
"Yes, it is much better."
I hopped on the rickety bus and headed back down that sketchy, hilly dirt road. There was less fog this time, and the ride was beautiful. It was also nerve-racking. It was nearly 4 p.m. when I got on the bus, and I knew I'd have an hour's ride to Manzini. I also knew that I'd have to get right on transport back to my site and hope like hell that I'd make it by dark. Being out after dark is a real no-no in the SWZ. No one does it in the rural areas (the cities are different), and the night is ruled by scary dogs and unsavory types. So I was getting stressed. Darkness falls between 6 and 6:30 these days.
The bus labored into Manzini by about 5 p.m., getting caught in a huge line entering the bus rank. Rush hour, y'know? So I hopped out and made a beeline for the spot where my khumbis hang out. I was the second-to-last person on. These modes of transport, basically minibuses, leave when they're full. That means you could wait on one for five minutes or for more than an hour. It's a crapshoot. And sometimes you find that there isn't one heading to your location, so you have to wait in line for who knows how long. It's a logical system for the SWZ, but it can certainly be a pain in the ass.
In summary, I scored big time by being almost the last person on. We rolled out just after 5, and I knew it'd be smooth sailing as long as we didn't break down or hit something. I made it to my bus stop by 6 and was home in time to keep my host family from worrying. Success!
Also that day, I dealt with my first electrical issue in a while. The night before, my lights had gone out. This was strange because my other electrical sockets were still functioning. I got ready for bed in the dark and puzzled over it a while. It took make and babe's help plus a call to the electrician to nail down the problem: blown fuse. Duh. That was the first thing babe told me to check. Host dad doing a great job at typical dad functions.
Electricity in SiSwati: igesi
That's all for now! I'm at Jack's school filling in for their volunteer computer teacher today. We're selecting our girls for the girls empowerment camp soon, and I have a support group meeting Friday. I haven't seen those ladies for months, so I'm pretty stoked.
AND Jordan visits starting March 22, if I didn't mention that. It'll mean SWZ adventures and EIGHT DAYS in amazing Cape Town. Hurrah!
Here are some weather words for you:
Emafu = clouds
Liyana = rain
Lilanga = sun (this word also means day)
Futfumele = warm
Kuyabandza = It's cold
Kuyashisa = It's hot
And some from my current activities:
Ngibheka sinkhwa = I'm baking bread
Ngifuna kulala = I want to sleep
Ngiyagijima = I am running
Ngine umhlangano = I have a meeting
A PC friend taught me how to make challah and biscuits this past Monday. It was a gray, cool, rainy day, perfect for that activity. She lives less than an hour's drive from me, but transport in Swaziland meant that I had to travel an hour to Manzini, meet her in the bus rank at 8 a.m. and get on a bus to her spot. We sat on the bus/van for about 45 minutes until it was full. The bus carried us through the hilly bush, easing through places where water was running over low bridges.
We arrived at her place after an hour or so and went to work, making the dough and letting it rise. We chatted about challenges we were facing with our work and drank delicious coffee. About four hours later, I had a lovely loaf of challah to share with Jack and a handful of biscuits for me to munch on.
I could have spent the night at her place, but PC restricts how many nights we're supposed to spend out of our village per month. I knew I'd be out for other reasons, so I decided to try to get home. I waited for about half an hour on the road that would have taken me the short way toward my place. Nothing. No cars, no bikes, no motorcycles (not that I'd have taken one, strictly forbidden). After about half an hour, I spotted the same bus we'd come in on, this time heading back to Manzini.
"Is it better for me to take this to Manzini and go back to my place?" I asked a woman who was also waiting.
"Yes, it is much better."
I hopped on the rickety bus and headed back down that sketchy, hilly dirt road. There was less fog this time, and the ride was beautiful. It was also nerve-racking. It was nearly 4 p.m. when I got on the bus, and I knew I'd have an hour's ride to Manzini. I also knew that I'd have to get right on transport back to my site and hope like hell that I'd make it by dark. Being out after dark is a real no-no in the SWZ. No one does it in the rural areas (the cities are different), and the night is ruled by scary dogs and unsavory types. So I was getting stressed. Darkness falls between 6 and 6:30 these days.
The bus labored into Manzini by about 5 p.m., getting caught in a huge line entering the bus rank. Rush hour, y'know? So I hopped out and made a beeline for the spot where my khumbis hang out. I was the second-to-last person on. These modes of transport, basically minibuses, leave when they're full. That means you could wait on one for five minutes or for more than an hour. It's a crapshoot. And sometimes you find that there isn't one heading to your location, so you have to wait in line for who knows how long. It's a logical system for the SWZ, but it can certainly be a pain in the ass.
In summary, I scored big time by being almost the last person on. We rolled out just after 5, and I knew it'd be smooth sailing as long as we didn't break down or hit something. I made it to my bus stop by 6 and was home in time to keep my host family from worrying. Success!
Also that day, I dealt with my first electrical issue in a while. The night before, my lights had gone out. This was strange because my other electrical sockets were still functioning. I got ready for bed in the dark and puzzled over it a while. It took make and babe's help plus a call to the electrician to nail down the problem: blown fuse. Duh. That was the first thing babe told me to check. Host dad doing a great job at typical dad functions.
Electricity in SiSwati: igesi
That's all for now! I'm at Jack's school filling in for their volunteer computer teacher today. We're selecting our girls for the girls empowerment camp soon, and I have a support group meeting Friday. I haven't seen those ladies for months, so I'm pretty stoked.
AND Jordan visits starting March 22, if I didn't mention that. It'll mean SWZ adventures and EIGHT DAYS in amazing Cape Town. Hurrah!
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