Relaxing Weekend

I had a pretty chill weekend. I went to Girls Club on Saturday to watch the girls practice dancing, which was GREAT! They practice traditional and modern dances and they sometimes perform to different groups. They asked me to join them, but I was perfectly fine with watching :) They danced to music called Kwaito music, which is like a mix between house and go-go music. I like it!!! The girls were very good.

Once a week I’ll be doing sessions on Life Skills stuff. This past Wednesday I did a session on self esteem. The girls were shy at first, but eventually participated a lot. One question I posed was what they like most about themselves. The answers were very good. I like: my body, that I’m successful, that I’m healthy, that I’m kind, that I'm intelligent, that I’m respectful, etc., etc. The last PC volunteer did a lot of great things with the girls, and they already have very positive views of themselves.

I made No Bake Cookies yesterday and shared them with my family. I know the kids liked them, and one of my host sisters said I need to teach her how to make them. I’m turning into a Betty Crocker over here...

On Sunday I went to church (Church of Nazarene) with a friend in the village. It was a good experience. I didn’t want to be introduced to the congregation as a visitor, but of course it happened anyway. Also, throughout the service some parts were explained to me in English, so of course everyone turned around to look at me. I really enjoyed the singing and dancing, and it was (all around) a good experience.

Other than that, I’ve been spending time with my family. I taught my teenage host brother the card game Gin Rummy so we’ve been playing that a lot. I’ve also had time to practice my guitar and can now official play Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song” all the way through which is a personal accomplishment for me :)

Till next time...

Creepy Crawlers

Well…

I thought my only concern with creepy crawlers would be the kind with eight legs or wings. I was sooooooo wrong. Today I had an unwanted visit. A LIZARD!!! Just the other day I was telling one of my host sisters how lizards don’t bother me because they are beautiful to look at and don’t bite. Well, I spoke to soon.

As I prepared to do some light reading this afternoon on my hammock in my office/kitchen/living room, I noticed some poo on my hammock. Before I could ask myself “what is that and how did it get there”, I noticed the lizard (the size of a gecko). It scared me so bad, and I was contemplating what to do. I obviously couldn’t/wouldn’t kill it b/c it had done nothing to me. At the same time, I wasn’t going to be able to pick it up because it was way to fast and that’s just “icky”. The next logical thing was to call for backup.

I called my host sister, who quickly called my 16 year old host brother to come help us out. I told him I didn’t want to kill it, but I was afraid if he didn’t move fast enough to catch it, it would move somewhere in my “condo” and we’d NEVER find it. Of course as he lunged for it, he missed and we had to then meticulously look through everything in the area where we thing it went. After searching long and hard and moving things out of the way, we STILL couldn’t find it. The only logical place it could have gone was into my bag-o-bags. My brother searched through the bags outside and out came the lizard.

Needless to say, I thought something was crawling on me the rest of the day!

This morning and Tuesday morning was like Christmas and my birthday all in one b/c our water came on each of those mornings! My host mom woke me up to let me know I should bring my buckets to refill while the water was on. It was on super duper low pressure, so I just left the buckets there while I drank my morning coffee and ate breakfast. I didn’t care how long I had to wait, I was just happy the water came on.

The alternative to running out of bucket water is putting as many buckets as one person can into a wheelbarrow and pushing it to the nearest house that has running water, wherever that may be. Then you must wait in line for you turn to fill up the buckets, and then use all your energy in the world to get the wheelbarrow of buckets back to your house. So as you can see, I’m always VERY excited when our water comes on. I’m not looking forward to the tedious task of “going to fetch water”.

Till next time ….

Food Cultural Exchange

E tla!

That means "whats up" in the local slang in the area. Anywho...today was a pretty cool day. I went to one of my assigned high schools this morning to begin this week's assignment, which is interviewing teachers at my two schools one-on-one to get to know them better. This is kind of a bad time to do this assignment though b/c the teachers are preparing for the end of the quarter this Friday. Thankfully my principals fully support me in all that I do, so they nudged (aka forced) the teachers to take a little bit of their free time to talk with me. I felt bad, but then got over it b/c I REALLY enjoyed getting a chance to talk to them. I think in the end, they saw that it was harmless too.

This afternoon I attended a circuit-wide principals meeting. The Circuit Manager (which is the individual who is the head of my school district) has taken a liking to me and wants to make sure all the area prinicpals know why I'm here. She created a circular about me and what I'll be doing here for the next few years. She didn't clarify that I've only been assigned to two schools, but she did make it clear that if other schools want to "use my services", they must speak with my principals first. I'm actually pretty happy with everyone in my circuit wanting to work with me, b/c this (HOPEFULLY) means more teacher will be interested in attending the workshops I'll be putting together sometime next year (when the new school year starts in January). Also, I prefer to be busy than just sitting around twiddling my thumbs.

Anywho...I was given the opportunity to introduce myself to the circuit principals at the meeting. The Circuit Manager asked me to briefly introduce myself, but I had NO IDEA she was talking to me. The meeting was in English and Sepedi, so I kept zoning out when people spoke Sepedi and then payed attention when I heard English. Thankfully one of my supervisors was sitting behind me and nudged me to say "sweety...she's talking to you". Haha...I think I'm getting better at understanding Sepedi, but only when I'm paying attention :)

So I've got'n more creative with fixing food for myself b/c pasta, potatoes, and fish patties can get pretty old pretty fast. Today my host sister (and now friend) gave me an advocado the size of an eggplant (I'm not kidding) and it was ready to eat. The ones I laboriously plucked from the trees a week ago aren't ready to eat yet. Anywho, with the one she gave me I decided to make some guacamole. And I didn't want to eat the quacamole with bread, so I decided to make some homemade tortillas. Yep....that's right....I said tortillas.

Peace Corps provided all of us with a cook book (I think I mentioned this in a previous post) and one of the recipes was how to make homemade tortillas. Not to float my own boat, but THEY ROCKED!!!! Once I was finished I took some to my mom and one of my sisters. I showed them how to dip it in the guacamole, and they liked it! I told them that people in Mexico (I haven't found a clear way to explain what Latin America is) eat tortillas with the majority of their meals like they eat bogobe with every meal. My mom liked it so much that she had me put some on a plate for her to eat more later.

Let's just say it was a great moment for me. Even though guacamole and tortillas aren't necessarily a part of "my culture", they did become a HUGE part of my diet in America. I felt good sharing the dish with them. It made me feel warm and gooey on the inside.

Later...

Girls Club

Afternoon....

Yesterday was a nice day because I met the Girls Club that I'll be working with for the next few years. There was a SA 15 volunteer living in my village before I came her (note: I'm SA 18), and she completed her service once I began mine here last week. Anyway, she helped start a girls club in the village with girls from the local primary school that I'll be working with. Since she left, I've been designated her replacement in regards to teaching the girls about Life Skills. Life Skills refers to a variety of topics like self esteem, making the right decisions, physical health, safety, etc, etc.

I'm excited for the opportunity to get directly involved with girls in my village, and it's GREAT that the volunteer before me already established this club because usually the most difficult part is the actual process of getting it started. They meet 1-2 times a week, and do other things like put together dance routines (traditional and non-traditional dances), and then perform them for area organizations. They are excited about teaching me some routines :)

Yesterday was fun because I began the tedious process of learning the girls names. But when I kept asking them their names, several gave me the English version of their Sepedi name. I told them I want to learn their Sepedi names, but I still think they were trying to appease me by telling me their English names. I also taught them a few American games, like Red Rover and Down By the River. They got a kick out of them, and they taught me some South African games as well. Being a part of this girls club is going to be a great experience and allow me to be involved in something outside of my school "duties".

The girls are pretty intrigued with me as well. When I told them I'm learning to speak Sepedi, one outgoing girl started quizzing me by asking me what shirt, head scarf, and other articles of clothing were in Sepedi. I also spent most of the session having each one want to be my partner in the various games we played, or simply standing a few inches from my face and analyzing EVERY part of me. I'm looking forward to getting to know the girls over the next few years!

I'll be giving my first Life Skills lesson this Wednesday, so I need to think of something good and creative to start off with....

Later...

It's Interesting....

Evening Folks....

It's interesting how much my lifestyle and standard of living have changed within these past few months. What I mean by that is how easily I've adapted to a totally different lifestyle than how I lived back in the states before I came here. A few examples:

It's interesting.....how I actually thought I was conserving water back in the states by not leaving the sink water running while brushing my teeth, as opposed to now when I have almost mastered bathing in one pitcher's-worth of water....how I can use three cups of water to wash two pots, a plate, and silverware from dinner....how I can then look at that bowl of water and then say to myself "mmph...that's not dirty enough to throw out, so I'll save it till the morning to wash my breakfast dishes".

It's interesting .....how in the states I'd see one ant and ignore it but here I search for the source so I can make sure my "condo" isn't infested with the little suckers.....how I used to scream at the site of one baby spider but here I only worry about killing the big ones b/c I don't want to waste my energy or bug spray....how if/when I do kill that spider I MUST put it outside b/c the "cannibal ants" will somehow find it and devour it right then in there in the middle of my floor.

It's interesting....how while in the grocery store in the States I never noticed something like a box of mince on the shelf but here I stock up b/c I know it's something simple I can cook w/o actually buying real meat and keeping it in my tiny freezer in my mini fridge.....how I can actually eat the EXACT same pasta dish that is absolutely horrendous (b/c I cooked it completely wrong) four days in a row b/c I don't want to waste the food I used.

It's interesting....how a peanut butter sandwich with sugar sprinkled on it has become my new "sweat snack" as opposed to Reese Cups or Oreo cookies with milk. And speaking of milk...it's interesting how I'm now drinking something called "Long Lasting Milk" that can sit unrefrigerated and unopened for months w/o going spoiled, taste DELICIOUS to me.

It's interesting....how an orange has become a major source of "refresh-ness" as opposed to a soda or Gatorade, or water for that matter b/c I'd rather conserve the water for something else, like one of my weekly baths (yep...that's right...i said WEEKLY).

It's interesting....how loud bass from the music of a next door neighbor in my apartment could keep me awake for hours, but now I sleep soundly with the sound of (LOUD) roosters/
chickens and house music from the Tavern down the road from my home.

It's interesting....how I used to not be able to use the bathroom with other people in the stall next door, but now I go with the door open in the pit toilet b/c it won't close all the way, and even if it did, the flies would drive me crazy too much....and deep down, I enjoy the view :)

And lastly....it's interesting that no matter where I am; Mexico, Korea, America, or South Africa, I must ALWAYS start my day with my cup of coffee!

Anywho...just a few thoughts....till next time...

Quality Time With Family

Morning...

Let me first start off this post with a clarification from my last one. When I said I won't openly tell people I'm an American because right now I see more cons than pros, that (by no means) doesn't mean I'm "ashamed" to be an American here. I want to blend in as much as possible in my new village, and in many situations when I tell people where I'm from, I get the same responses: "oh...you must have alot of money", "really....then why come here, we all want to go to America", "mmph....you're such a nice young lady, we should find you a husband here". I do enjoy explaining why I'm here, and what I'm doing as a volunteer here, but often times the conversation doesn't necessarily lead that way. So....even though it's obvious that I'm not from around here, I've decided to try a little experiment. When people ask where I'm from, I'm just going to tell them the name of my village. I'm curious to see which direction the conversation will lead. They clearly hear that my Sepedi is different, but not so different that they can hear an American accent.

I just wanted to make that clarification. Interestingly enough, I've actually grown more patriotic since I started traveling overseas several years ago, and I see it happening here as well. Being in a foreign country, and engulfed in a completely different culture, helps me feel more connected to my own country and culture in America. Traveling opens my eyes to the good and the bad of ALL countries, but it always leads me back to being proud of who I am and where I come from. That's not to say I have all positives to say about my country, but I do begin to understand it more....for better or worse (if that makes any sense).

Yesterday I spent more time with my family and host brothers and sisters. I'm so blessed to have a family that openly invites me into their home. There is a show here called "Jiga Ma Jiga", and it's like a dance version of American Idol; except they choose a winner every night and the young people are dancing a unique style of dancing. It's like a mixture between break dancing, crunk dancing, and street dancing. IT'S AWESOME!!! Some of the dances are so trippy. It's a very popular show, and several of us (volunteers) are picking up on some of the styles.

I've also begun to watch nightly soap operas (called soapies) with my family. I began to do this during training, and the shows are pretty addicting (like all soap operas). The most popular one is "Generations". It takes place in Jo'burg and revolves around the lives of Black South African professionals. I LOVE the fashion on the show, even though the acting can be bit cheesy at times. Sad to say....I'm hooked and it's a great opportunity for me to spend time with my family every night at 8!

There is another soapie that comes on later at night called "Muvango" and I love this show because it is a great example of South Africa's traditional and modern worlds colliding. It revolves around several Venda families struggling to keep family ties close, traditions strong, and business relations powerful. It's pretty cool.

One last thing....I ran into two young girls at the bus stop yesterday in the nearby (big) town with the most unique English accents. The young South African girls lived near me in my village, but there English had a very distinct British-ish accent! It was so crazy. After speaking with them for a while, I found out they attended a private school in the (big) town and there teacher was Afrikaans. They couldn't be more than 12 years old, so they've obviously picked up their teachers English accents over the years. Sometimes when I speak with Afrikaners, I'm not sure if they are British or not. But these young girls definitely had a British accent, and it was tripping out me and my other volunteer friend. One of them was reading a novel as she waited for the bus, and that was the first time I saw a child here leisurely reading a book. Anywho....we had a nice conversation while waiting for the bus.

It will be interesting to see if the young students I work with will pick up my American accent over these next few years. I've already been told I have a "deep American accent". I had no idea what that meant, but my training host family had some difficulty understanding me because they said my "O's" sound like "A's". Like when I said "hot" they thought I was saying "hat", and this caused a lot of confusion and laughter. They understood one of my other volunteer friends better, and she was from Wisconsin. I had to learn to speak my words more clearly.

Children at young ages absorb so much, which is probably why it's easy for them to pick up a second language if they are around it all the time. In the past, Peace Corps has gone to villages to see some volunteers, and they'll run into a young kid with a distinct Southern accent. Come to find out, the volunteer who'd been working with them was from Kentucky (hahaha). I also remember while I was in South Korea, one of my friends was taught English in Britain so spoke with a British English accent; while another was taught English in Germany, so had an interesting guttural-ish sounding English.

Anywho...till next time......

Getting To Know My Village

Hey....

This week I'll spend time getting to know my village. Each week I have an assignment to follow that Peace Corps has given us. Some people aren't big fans of the assignments, but being the nerd I am...I actually enjoy the structure. Each week builds on the next. Anywho... I've finally finished unpacking and setting up my "condo", well except for my clothes which are still in my suitcase until my wardrobe is delivered.

Yesterday and today I went on walks with my host sister around our village and the surrounding ones. There are no signs that signal when one village ends and the other begins. It's pretty much left up to landmarks like a spazaa (small street shop) or a small bridge. It's interesting. I'm starting to recognize my own landmarks though. I have to draw a map of my village with landmarks included, so I'm glad to be walking around and getting more acquainted with my surroundings.

I decided today that I won't openly tell people I'm an American if they ask where I'm from. I'm just going to tell them the village I live in, which isn't technically lying because that's where I'm from.....now. Being an American in a foreign place has it's pros/cons and I decided that right now the cons slightly out weight the pros. I want to fit in as much as possible, and claiming to be an American doesn't necessarily help. Clearly I'm in a different situation than some of my friends because it's obvious they are not from the village. But for me it's a little different. I speak decent enough Sepedi where you can't hear my American accent so I'm going to see it goes for a few days.....

I'm actually enjoying cooking for myself again, but I can already see that I'm going to get tired of pasta and peanut butter. It looks like I'll need to learn to cook something else. Thankfully the Peace Corps provides us with cookbooks that help us use ingredient we actually have access to. Last night I made tuna fish patties, which may sound nasty but was actually pretty tasty!

Mmmmm....

Settling In

Thama!

That is just another way of saying "hello" in Sepulana, a dialect of Sepedi. I want to start off this post by thanking all of you who've left comments on the blog, they mean ALOT to me. Especially the comments from my students back in Jordan. I miss Jordan ALOT more than I expected and I hope the 400 wing is holding it's self together without me. It warms my heart to know that some of you are reading my blog.

I've spent the past few days buying basic necessities for my "condo". I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but that's what I'm calling my two bedroom house. It sounds so much more trendy. I've had to shop for a big plastic bin to bathe in, buckets, a hot plate, an electric water kettle, more buckets, cups, basic food items, silverware, did I mention buckets! Buckets are a hot commodity here in my village and amongst those of us who don't have regular running water.

For instance, today the water was running in the outside spicket so my host mother (whose AWESOME) came knocking on my door to let me know so I could fill up anything and everything I could find with water while it was on. I'm still not sure why, but sometimes the water is shut off at various homes so you live off your reserves or go to the neighbors house if they have water.

I had a great time today plucking my first batch of fresh avocados off our tree in the back. The tree is VERY tall, so the family uses a ridiculously long stick with a hook on the end. You then break your back and neck reaching up as high as possible to the avocados and try to wrap the hook around them. My little brothers and sisters stood under the tree with a blanket to catch the falling ones. The family has a make-shift tarp set up under the tree to catch the ones that fall once they are ripe. The avocados here are the size of a small cantaloupe. IT'S RIDICULOUS!!! I can't wait to start eating them. My neck/back is killing me though (haha...)

I attended an interesting workshop today with two of the principals I'll be working with on School Budgeting/Financing. I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of financing workshops, especially when they are in a language other than English. But it was great opportunity for me to meet other principals in my school district (we call them circuits here) so they know who I am and recognize my face. It was also interesting to hear about some of the circuit's policies on finances.

I'm trying to get my condo organized, but it's difficult w/o some pieces of major furniture, like a wardrobe for my clothes. My province's Department of Education will provide me with a bed, desk, two chairs, and a wardrobe. I know....pretty cool eh.....except for the fact that they haven't delivered them yet. Thankfully my host family is letting me borrow one of their beds. I don't mind living out of a suitcase for a few weeks. The key word for Peace Corps Volunteers is P-A-T-I-E-N-C-E.

I spent a few hours today laying in my hammock (yep....I said hammock) reading a book and listening to music. It was very relaxing. Tomorrow I'll head to my shopping town to pick up some more items, like a pot for cooking, string to hang my clothes on in my "condo", an iron, and....can you guess the third thing?....you got it....more buckets! I'm lucky because a PCV who has lived in my village the past year just ended her service and gave me ALOT of her stuff. So she gave me a great jump start.

Time for me to cook "LaTosha's Famous Pasta", which is pasta cooked with random spices until it smells and looks pretty.

Sepela Gabotse Bagweras! (aka...goodbye friends)

Swearing In Ceremony Today

Go Bjang!

WARNING: THIS WILL BE A LONG POST!!!

Well....the past few weeks have been incredibly crazy and busy. I've been receiving all yall's comments on my blog and it is soooooooo good to read them! It's hard to explain how good it is to receive letters and thoughts from back home. At the same time it can be difficult because it makes me a bit homesick....BUT KEEP SENDING THEM!

As for packages that have been sent to me. Umm....I haven't received any which probably means I won't get them. Not to bash this lovely country, but the postal system is not very reliable, especially when it comes to packages. If you want to send me a package, please do one of the following:
(1) buy insurance for it
(2) label it as "Religious Material Inside"
(3) label it as "Education Material Inside"
(4) don't claim it as expensive
This will help decrease the possibility of ....umm....well....sticking fingers. Also, don't send me mail to the "Pretoria Address" anymore. I officially have my own PO Box at my new permanent site:
PO Box 3749
Acornhoek 1360
South Africa

Oh yes...I'll start having regular access to the internet because I bought an internet phone a few days ago. South Africa (SA) is an extremely interesting country because it's like 1st and 3rd worlds coming together. EVERYBODY has a cellphone, even in the most rural of areas sometimes. It's really neat because that means you get service in some of the most remote places. So what we (Volunteers) do is buy internet phones and then we're able to hook them up to our computers and get internet service. I know what you're thinking..... "isn't that expensive"? Not at all....SA has a prepaid system for their phones, and the phones aren't nearly as expensive as they are in the States.

So today is a big day. I'll no longer be a Peace Corps Trainee. This afternoon I'll become a Peace Corps VOLUNTEER! Cool eh?!?!? This past week we took our language test, which I passed with flying colors. I scored an Intermediate High, which is fancy for "I Rock"! Just kidding. This week was also difficult because we had to say goodbye to our host family's that we've been living with for the past 8 weeks. I grew extremely close to my family, and it was very hard to say goodbye (yep....just like the song). I'm going to miss them alot, but I know I'll be able to visit.

Today after our Swearing In Ceremony, we'll head to our new sites. That is where I'll be living and working for my two years of service. Finally, I won't be living out of a suitcase or bookbag. I've been assigned to two primary schools that are grades Creche (Kindergarten) through seven. There are about 350 kids at each school with a teaching staff of 10-15. Peace Corps is cool because it allows you to focus on areas that are your strengths. I want to focus on teacher training and working with youth in the community with HIV awareness. In 2005, the New Curriculum Statement was implemented in all schools across the country, and ALOT of schools/teachers/principals are having a difficult time moving into the "new system". And that's where I come in...

My two supervisors are the principals of the schools, and they are very excited about me. It's actually a bit overwhelming, because they have alot of expectations. And at the same time, the community was expecting a white volunteer. But they seem to be happy with me because I'm "one of them". Not to go to the "Race Thing", but I feel so welcomed here because people like the fact that I sound American but look like them. Its interesting... anywho....

My new village, Mokhululine (yea...it's a mouth full), sits right up against the Drakenburg Mountains and it's beautiful. I watch the sunset behind the mountains and its awesome. There's a large variety of animals and vegetation, different from where I've been training. My yard has mango, guava, avocado, and banana trees! I've been given a small two room house in the family compound of a widow and her children/grandchildren. I'm very happy for the space, especially since some volunteers were given one room inside the family's house or one room that sits off to the side. I can't wait to move in and turn it into my own space.

The one downer is that the village speaks a dialect of Sepedi that has bits of Xitonga mixed in, it's called Sepulana. So I'll have to learn a semi-new language. My family speaks Sepedi, so atleast that won't be a problem.

Anywho....now that I'll have regular internet access, I'll be able to update my blog more frequently AND begin to tackle the massive number of emails that I haven't checked in months. Sorry for the long post but alot has been going on.

Till next time....