A post I wrote TODAY!

Sanibonani!

We’re going to see if I’ve resolved some of these dongle issues. One problem is that a lot of programs on my computer want to automatically check for updates when I am connected to Internet. Because in the SWZ you pay as you go for air time and online data transfers, you have to watch how much data you use. Checking for a million Microsoft Office updates, for example, eats up my money. It’s not good.

I do like how you pay as you go for electricity here. You buy it at the shop or wherever and then load it into your electric meter (for lack of a better term) at home. When it’s used up, it’s used up. They previously had a billing system like in the U.S., but I’ve been told that didn’t work well here because many people were unable to pay. This way, you only use what you pay for. It’s also nice because people use MUCH less electricity. All the outlets have switches, so you shut off the power source when you’re not using it. I think that’s great and wish more people had it in the West.

I hit up Pigg’s Peak Hotel & Casino last Thursday with some amigos who live in the Hhohho region to the north of the country. We were supposed to swim in the super fancy pool, but it was being repaired. That meant instead that we chatted by a lovely waterfall and then ate some delicious food at the bar. Mistake of the day: ordering cheesecake. I’m not used to eating rich foods these days, so any restaurant food is a risk. A piece of cheesecake before a 2.5-hour bus ride on a tortuous, hilly gravel road turned out to be a serious mistake. On top of that, I nearly didn’t make it home till after dark. I’m never out after dark here — most people aren’t — so it made me pretty nervous to be rushing home as the sun was setting.

But the hotel was nice, and it was great to see other PCVs. Now I know how to get there.

The SWZ is interesting in many ways; one is transportation. It’s really good here, especially compared with a lot of other countries in this part of the world. Still, there often aren’t direct routes to places. Pigg’s Peak isn’t all that far from Manzini region, as the crow flies — do they have crows here? Not sure. But there are at least two routes. One is this gravel road we took (not so bad in a khumbi, wretched on a giant bus) and the other is up to a town in the north called Ngonini and then back down. We took the shorter route on the gravel road. I’m curious as to whether the other way is faster. There is much to be said for the tar road, friends. The drive was beautiful, however. It wound through the green hills, and there’s some stunning scenery. In some spots, you see tiered farming with the flat farmed pieces cut into the hillside. It reminded me of Tuscany.

I went to Manzini on Friday and was lucky enough to catch a ride with some women from the clinic who were heading in to give a presentation. Saved me E23!

On Thursday, the U.N. marked the International Day of the Girl Child. The aim of the event is to highlight issues that affect girls worldwide, particularly child marriage. PCVs were assigned to arrange an activity related to girls for the day.

Walker and I hit up the local primary school to play some games with the kids. We didn’t have a developed plan going in, just a game in mind. It turned out that we were teaching the life skills lesson for the day. We divided up the boys and girls (more than 100 in each group). I took the girls, and he took the boys. We talked about female role models and told them about the day honoring girls. Then we lined ALL the kids up and played this dragon game. The kids hold on to each other’s shoulders in a huge line, and the last person had a plastic bag “tail” tucked into his or her pants. The goal was to get the other team’s tail without breaking out of your line.

I’m surprised no one was trampled.

It was kind of a hilarious mad dash, and the kids went pretty crazy. The girls won (!!!), which resulted in lots of high fives. We clapped for the boys, too. Sportsmanship, etc. I think everyone walked away feeling pretty empowered. Every female, anyway. It was a lot of fun.

Then we saw a peacock! It was just walking around behind a liquor store like nobody’s business. Life here, man. You never know. Exciting stuff.

Speaking of exciting stuff, Jack comes in about five weeks! Things are working out well for him as he gets organized. He even has all his shots! Women keep telling me that he’s going to get stolen from me by a Swazi. I tell them I’m not worried about that, but they tell me I should be. I’m taking my chances.

OK, off to church. Salani kahle!

DONGLE!

My dongle is working! It took some figuring out with tech support and a visit to MTN, the major phone service provider here, but I think I've got it all set now. This is preeeeetty exciting, folks. My understanding is that my home interwebs will never be good enough to Skype with video (though phone works), but at least I can update ye olde blog more often.

That said, here's a post from more than a week ago:

3 October 2012

Sanibonani! As you in the U.S. start thinking of Halloween costumes and eating and drinking pumpkin-flavored things (JEALOUS), we’re moving right along into toasty summertime. It’s really nice in the mornings and evenings still, which means I’ve been pushing my runs earlier. I was out there by 5:45 a.m. today, believe it or not.

I wanted to share with you my morning so far, just because it was simple and lovely and does a pretty good job of showing what the PC life can be like.

After my run, I ate breakfast (oatmeal with a banana, for those keeping score at home), drank some tea (I broke my French press — stupid reason, but that big ant was moving REALLY fast) and washed my hair in my basin and bathed. I headed down the tar road to town to meet the carpenter who is building my table. The first one he built didn’t match what I wanted — this table was ordered sort of on the fly on the side of the road — so he was redoing it. Very nice guy. The table wasn’t done, so I headed down to my meeting at the high school.

I met with the head of the adult education department. He showed me his building, where they teach sewing and computer skills to adults and out-of-school children. Three of the eight computers function, none has Internet access. There were four typewriters also (“Do you need one?” he asked, and I had to make myself say no). There is one working sewing machine, and a woman was teaching two other women how to sew with it. There’s a welding room with materials, but they don’t have money to pay a teacher, so there are no welding classes right now. That’s particularly frustrating for the head of the program because the welding classes actually brought in money for electricity and other necessities. There’s a partially built office building outside. The cement blocks go just above window level, and no floors have been poured. There are roofing materials inside the classroom building, but there’s no money to hire anyone to build the roof.

We talked about how I might be able to help. My plan is to start with some research into what funding sources might be available. The goal of the program is to give adults skills so they can get jobs or start their own income-generating projects. It’s a worthy goal, I think, and I’m sure there are organizations out there that could provide some cash or in-kind donations. The department head also asked if I knew people back home who would donate. I told him I’d look into that.

After this meeting, I ran into Make Mahlalela, who makes the best fat cakes in town. I bought a couple from her and then went to the store, or sitolo, for bread, bananas and eggs. On the way home, I passed my counterpart’s dad’s nursery. He’s a pastor and is delightful. He called me over and gave me some onions and tomatoes he’d just picked. We chatted about rain and the plants he was growing, and I moved along.

I stopped back at the carpenter’s to get his phone number so I can call when my host dad and I can come pick it up. It should cost me 300 emalangeni, about $35 U.S.

When I got closer to home, a car with two men in it pulled over. I didn’t know them, so I kept my distance, but I answered their questions (“I’m a volunteer at the clinic.” “I’m engaged to be married.” “I don’t want a Swazi man because I already have a man in America.” “He’s coming here.”) I kept moving and stopped by the hardware store, where a friend works. She showed me her friend’s month-old baby, which was adorable, of course. We talked about how hot it was (kuyashisa), and I said I planned to spend the rest of the day relaxing.

Now I’m back in my hut, sweating and reading a book called “28 Stories of AIDS in Africa.” It’s by Stephanie Nolen, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to get a sense of what the epidemic looks like around the continent. There are a couple of stories from Swaziland! You don’t often see that.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, I volunteered at the clinic. I’m still registering patients and counting ARVs. “Gibela sikali” (get on the scale) and “emaphilisi?” (pills?) are the phrases that get me through the day. Yesterday, I had my first siSwati tutoring session with Calile (that C is a clicking sound, tongue behind the top teeth). She’s an English teacher at the high school. She’s a lot of fun, and she’s a former PC language teacher, so she knows exactly where I’m coming from. It was a bit overwhelming to arrive at the school right as it let out at 4 p.m. About 20 kids wanted to touch me and hug me and feel my hair.

I also sat down yesterday with our PC med officer, who was doing site visits. I’ve been having trouble sleeping, and she suggested I take a Benadryl to help out. Worked like a charm last night, lemme tell ya. It was a relief. She also brought a package from the ‘rents with more coffee (yes!), toiletries, a newspaper and snacks. Good stuff. Thanks, fam!

OK, amigos, keep fighting the good fight in the U S of A (or wherever you may be).

Salani kahle!

Two more photos

 More photos! Here's a photo of the bride from the wedding I went to a while back. This one is appropriate for all users; she's topless in some of the others.

I love these trees! They're all around here.

HELLO!

 Hi, team! This is so exciting! Here's a photo of me and my counterpart, Jabulile. She looks great. I look a little ragged out because it was cold and rainy this day. But now you see her. She's wonderful!

 Babe wanted me to take his photo with his cows. There are so many!

 Babe and my host bhuti (brother) have been plowing with the team of oxen and this old-school farm implement. Make follows along and plants more maize behind. This is the field behind our homestead.

Here's a photo of the mountains in the distance behind my homestead. Beautiful! The photo's not great.

I just got two packages from Meaghan (I am eating M&M's from it, which is AMAZING) and one from each of Jack's aunts. Thanks, Marcie and Leslie! You are all so wonderful!!

Here's a blog entry I wrote a while back:

September 17, 2012

Sanibonani!

I’ve now been at site almost four weeks, which is crazy. I’m trying not to think of things in terms of time — one month down, what have I accomplished? A Group 8 volunteer told me that it’s important to not think of Peace Corps in terms of two years. You really ought to take it day by day. It’s early yet, but that seems like sound advice.

PC promotes something called “intentional relationship building,” which they abbreviate to IRB (big contrast to its meaning in the public health world). The idea is that a big part of what we do is just getting to know people. The term itself sounds like a robot programming mechanism. NOW WE WILL INTENTIONALLY BUILD RELATIONSHIPS SO AS TO ENDEAR OURSELVES TO THE HUMANS. In all seriousness, it serves as a legit reminder that we’re doing things even when we’re not “doing things” in a traditional workplace sense. I suppose that’s part of what I’ve been up to.

I attended a support group on Friday, which was really nice despite some nasty cold, rainy weather. The women at the group were extremely friendly and welcoming. The children who joined later were also lovely, and there was a kind of hilarious photo shoot where one of my new friends pulled my hair over her head so she could be blond. This might be on the Facebook somewhere …

I’m still spending a couple of days a week at the clinic, and I make sure to get out of the ol’ hut every day. I don’t have a table yet; that’s the next big capital purchase. We’ll see how soon I get that done. As many of you know, I tend to procrastinate where the comforts of home are concerned. The local carpenter has a sign with a coffin on it. I haven’t yet spoken to him of my needs.

We had several consecutive days of cold, rainy weather last week. I know what you’re thinking: cold + rainy = Africa? It’s true. It happens. Today was gloriously sunny, and the mountains are starting to look green and beautiful. I’m sure in the heat of summer I’ll long for a nice cold rain.

I’ve started running by myself when my host brother’s not available. So far, everyone has left me alone. I say hello to people who walk by, and no one’s given me any trouble. I think it bodes well for the future. Also, major props (do people still say “props”?) to my parents for sending the rubber workout bands. I loooooove them.

Thanks for all the wonderful mail and packages, friends, while we’re on the subject. Jack’s mom sent this excellent mug with his and my photo on it and delightful snacks (gone within a week, I’m embarrassed to admit), along with a great NYT crossword book. Jack sent art supplies, envelopes and my favorite gum. Nice work, people. Thank you!

Xes and O’s from the SWZ.

Salani kahle!

Update!

Sanibonani, all!

I've been at my permanent site for two weeks. So far, I've spent several days at the clinic and have visited the nearby World Vision office. At the clinic, I help by weighing and registering HIV-positive patients and counting their antiretroviral pills. This is part of checking to see whether they're complying with their treatment regime. The clinic is busy, and I encounter more than 60 patients the days I'm there. It's a short walk from my house, maybe half an hour.

I bought a bed and a fridge for my hut, and that's all the furniture I have for now. My friend Walker helped me build a hanging armoire. It consists of a long stick on top to hang clothes and then five wood shelves that hang below, also for clothes. I walked an hour and a half to Walker's to make it, and it would have been a rough walk back (in the rain, no less) if I hadn't been able to grab transportation.

I'll post photos when I have wi-fi; right now I'm on a public computer in an Internet cafe.

My counterpart has been just fantastic. I love her. She has taken me to a wedding, at which I attempted to dance (hilarity ensued), and to a party. I helped cook at the party. The women arrived at 4 a.m. to start working. We got there at 7:30 or so. They cooked in iron three-legged pots over an open fire. I helped with the chicken stew and by chopping veggies. Everyone has been extremely friendly, though getting so much attention can be overwhelming. I'm sure the community will get used to me before long.

I went out with my host dad to find his cows on Saturday. He checks every day to make sure none are stolen, sick or otherwise missing. It was a bit like going out to check cows with Uncle Frank in Indiana. In this case, though, the cows are roaming around without electric fences or anything like that. Free range, man. The SWZ is all about it.

Speaking of, a goat almost walked into my hut the other day. That would have been interesting.

It's been raining for three days, which is excellent for the animals, the crops and our water tanks. There isn't even anywhere to put the water anymore; all the containers are full. This is not a bad problem to have. I have filled both my 100-liter barrels and my two 25-liter jugs. I told my family about conflict over harvesting rainwater in Colorado because someone already has laid claim to the water. They couldn't believe it.

My 17-year-old host brother has done me the courtesy of jogging with me every few days. I really, really appreciate it. I'm not sure if people would yell at me or disrupt me if he weren't there. Perhaps I'll find out the first time he can't come along. Not a lot of people go by the field where I run, so I doubt it will ever be too crazy. I'm just grateful to be able to run for now. A lot of PCVs find it uncomfortable.

I haven't found a language tutor yet, but I haven't been looking that hard. School's on break right now, and that seems like a promising place to start. I'm sure I'll get one locked down.

I have tried goat again, and I liked it much better the second time than the first. My family gave me some, and I added it to vegetable soup I'd made. Pretty tasty.

On the whole, I'm happy and things are going well. Jack plans to head this way in November, which is VERY exciting. Please tell him happy 30th on Sept. 24 and give him a hug for me if you see him (any and all of you).

Thanks for all the love. I haven't picked up mail lately, but I know I have some letters and packages waiting. Thank you! It makes things so much more awesome to get missives from home.

Salani kahle.

Photos!

Hi, all! We're back at our training site for a few days before swearing in, which is Thursday. I'll be one of the speakers that day, so I'm sure I'll say something AMAZING.

It was really sad to leave our temporary host families. They gave me a lovely lihiya (wrap) that I'll wear for our ceremony this week. I will definitely try to provide photos.

Below are photos from the village we just left. Two are the view from my homestead on the hill on foggy mornings. I have more photos that show more of the village, and I'll try to upload some of those soon. The crocs are from the game park we went to several weeks ago. They were enormous.There were signs at the restaurant reminding people to avoid leaning over the railing because of the danger. Crazy. The photo with the mountain and the moon is of our village. There were mountains on the back side of it, and some of us climbed them. I did not climb the one shown, but some more hard core than me did. The last photo is me, my host make (mother), host bosisi (sisters) and host cousin. Nephew? Something along those lines.

We had our last language test, and I should get results for that today. I think it went OK, though I didn't know what to do when the tester lied to me. He told me he was born in 1995. I stared at him. I should have called him a liar, which is "unemanga," I believe. Whoops.

I move to my village on Friday. It's really nice to have a few days together as a group first, and we're having a good time. We have integration for three months starting Friday. That means we're only allowed to leave our village overnight once a month, and we're really expected to be there just about all the time. That's fine, it just means a LOT of alone time. We'll see how that one goes.

Thanks to everyone who has sent more packages and letters! Rae, I received yours, and I got packages from Debi and Larry and from Brie and Jay. Can't remember if I mentioned those here. Mama T sent me some clippings from the Post-Dispatch, which is excellent, and I've gotten a couple of letters from Jack. Thank you, thank you, thank you! You guys make me feel loved. That is a great feeling.

You can still use the same address if you'd like to send a letter; that one will be good for the next two years.

It's exciting to almost be a Peace Corps volunteer!

Salani kahle, all.

Written Aug. 10

Sanibonani!

I know, I know, I haven’t updated in forever. I’d like to update more often, of course, but I don’t have regular Internet access. It’ll be easier for me to keep you apprised of what’s going on when I finish training in two weeks. At that point I’ll be on my own and can come and go as I please (mostly). That will mean more opportunities to hit up the Internet cafes. I’ll also plan to post photos at that point; I know many of you would like to see what I’m looking at here.

I got my site placement. I’m not allowed to give details publicly on the interwebs, but I can tell you that I’m in the Manzini region. The country has four regions: Manzini, Hhohho, Lubombo and Shiselweni. Manzini is central, so I’ll be fairly close to the big cities. I’ll be working with a huge clinic, which I’m really excited about. They offer inpatient services and have a public health arm. Very exciting! Email me directly if you want to know the specifics. Props to Peace Corps for giving me everything I asked for. I definitely appreciate their consideration.

I met my permanent host family, too. Everyone is very nice and speaks at least some English. My babe (father) tells me Jack owes him 17 cows for my hand. I think the figure is low, personally, but I suppose I should take Jack’s lack of access to cows into consideration. He’s getting a bargain wife, I can tell you. I’ll have brothers and sisters on the homestead, and a host mother as well. I have my own hut with electricity. I know what you’re thinking: not exactly roughing it. I won’t have access to water on the homestead, though, so I’ll have to figure out how to get it from the river. My counterpart is having her father negotiate with a local man who might be able to transport it for me. That’s the ideal situation — assuming the cost isn’t too high. I don’t yet know what the going rate is.

The counterpart I’m working with is passionate about community health. She seems like she’ll be an excellent partner.

We are scheduled to be sworn in Aug. 23 and move to site the next day. Training is still going well. I’m not making as much progress on learning siSwati as I’d like to, but I hope to continue my learning once I hit community. The patients at the health center seem to speak mainly siSwati. That should help a great deal. We’ll see how I go.

Y’all have done an amazing job of sending letters and packages! Jack sent me an MU snuggie, which is VERY exciting. I was pleasantly surprised that he bought such a thing. I also got my first coffee shipment, some Starbucks from Lindsey. That was killer. The sweatshirts from my parents arrived, and I’ve gotten letters from Jor, Uncle Dick and Aunt Kathy, Susannah (x2), Meggie, Sara and Jack. I think that’s it. Thank you all! It really does mean a lot to me, and I hope you’re able to keep up the wonderful correspondence. I’ll have three months of integration where I can’t really leave my site, so all notes will be very much appreciated. Rest assured they’ll be decorating my hut, as will any postcards or images you send. And Lindsey sent a newspaper, which was awesome. All newspapers and crosswords are welcome!

I’m going to miss my temporary host family when I leave. They’ve been so wonderful and accommodating; it’s really been a pleasure.

Word on the street is that Mama and Papa T are considering a visit. Those of you around them should pressure — ahem, encourage — them to act on that impulse. When else will they have a free tour guide in southern Africa? Peer pressure, folks. It’s very in right now.

Today’s siSwati lesson:

Inyoka (k sounds like g, remember) = snake

Tinyoka = snakes

Invubu = hippo

Ingwenya = crocodile, to be found during summer in the river near my village

Ngifuna ube umfati wami = I want you to be my wife (taught to me by my new babe; he said men in the village would tease me by saying it to me)

Ngitsembisile ngitawushada masinyane = I’m engaged to be married soon

Ngijabulile kukwati = I’m happy to meet/know you

Thanks again, everyone.