Jess writes:
This post is my very small, very far-away gift to my family, and particularly my dad – whose voice I will be thinking of on this Christmas Eve night.
[Materials needed: one very specific reasonably old copy of “The Night Before Christmas”, one blazing fire in the living room, an assortment of dogs and cats, one comfy couch, one mom across the room (camera optional), two sisters, and one dad to read the story. Okay, begin, but don’t forget all the important comments and side notes... that is, if I've remembered their order even somewhat correctly.]
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.
[Make sure to point out the cute mouse and, of course, the black cat that we are pretty sure is suppose to be in every picture.]
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
[I never really knew what sugar plums were, but I love all the candy!]
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
[Remind me again why anyone would where a 'kerchief to bed? Oh, and by the way, I'll be thinking about how this looks really, really cold with the window open, and how I wouldn't mind a bit of that chill here.]
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
[Isn’t this the one where the cat isn’t in the picture? Where is that cat?]
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name...
[Now we try to do this part together, without cheating/reading too much…]
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
[Okay, a couple mess-ups, but pretty good!]
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
[Why is that section written so difficultly?]
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
[Oh! Hello Santa!!!]
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
[Okay, now this is the page with all the pictures, so we have to read slowly.]
His eyes, how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.
[Why is the turkey on fire? Seriously, why?!?]
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk.
[This next part always makes me smile, I don’t know why...]
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.
[...I think it might be because of how much I like that smirk and wink.]
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight…
[And of course, everyone here...]
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."
Happy Christmas Eve family! I love you all, and miss you all very much! Now go to bed Nannan, so that mom can force dad to stay up and finish all the wrapping and stocking-stuffing with her!! G’night family. And g’night everyone!!
Friday, December 24, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
RWO: “Fa La La La La, La La La La”
Jess writes:
Everyone here can sing. Seriously. Everyone. And they’re all really good. South Africans grow up singing and dancing in church, in school, and at home, so they are pretty much virtuosos by the age of 4! It makes attempting any song – even a simple Christmas tune, even in front of small children, even in a language they don’t understand – really, really intimidating! I think I might just stick with the humming parts... and the fa la la’s…
Everyone here can sing. Seriously. Everyone. And they’re all really good. South Africans grow up singing and dancing in church, in school, and at home, so they are pretty much virtuosos by the age of 4! It makes attempting any song – even a simple Christmas tune, even in front of small children, even in a language they don’t understand – really, really intimidating! I think I might just stick with the humming parts... and the fa la la’s…
Friday, December 17, 2010
RWO: Sodas, Pops & Cold Drinks
Jess writes:
Random South African travel tip: If you would like to order something cold to drink, that is not water or fruit juice, you may simply ask for, creatively enough, “Cold Drink” (it’s understood in all 11 official languages here). This is the common name for anything and everything soda-related. Simple and to the point, we like it! And PS – we get to drink a lot more of these glorious concoctions while on vacation (i.e., now!)… oh how we’ve missed you, sweet, sweet Coke & Fanta Grape!!
Random South African travel tip: If you would like to order something cold to drink, that is not water or fruit juice, you may simply ask for, creatively enough, “Cold Drink” (it’s understood in all 11 official languages here). This is the common name for anything and everything soda-related. Simple and to the point, we like it! And PS – we get to drink a lot more of these glorious concoctions while on vacation (i.e., now!)… oh how we’ve missed you, sweet, sweet Coke & Fanta Grape!!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Vacation Time!!!!
Jess writes:
As you read this, Adam and I will be starting out on our holiday vacation to Cape Town’s Wine Country and South Africa’s sunny south coast!! Soooo excited!!! We’ll try to keep the posts coming… and you should all know me well enough by now to be certain that there are at least a couple of posts already scheduled, don’t worry! In the meantime, to all of our family and friends back home, we hope you’re not stressing too much about last-minute shopping and be sure to drink some hot chocolate and eggnog for us! And to all our fellow PCVs here, we hope you are having a fabulous start to a much-needed, thoroughly-enjoyable, and oh-so-deserved holiday break!!
Salani kahle!!
As you read this, Adam and I will be starting out on our holiday vacation to Cape Town’s Wine Country and South Africa’s sunny south coast!! Soooo excited!!! We’ll try to keep the posts coming… and you should all know me well enough by now to be certain that there are at least a couple of posts already scheduled, don’t worry! In the meantime, to all of our family and friends back home, we hope you’re not stressing too much about last-minute shopping and be sure to drink some hot chocolate and eggnog for us! And to all our fellow PCVs here, we hope you are having a fabulous start to a much-needed, thoroughly-enjoyable, and oh-so-deserved holiday break!!
Salani kahle!!
Friday, December 10, 2010
A Day in the Life of a PCV… Again... At Present
Jess writes:
I realized recently that even though I’ve done this type of post a couple of times, at various different stages in our time here, I hadn’t ever taken the time to write one out for our new site in Nkomazi. And since, therefore, we seem to get a lot of “So, what exactly are you doing now?” questions from friends and family, I figured I’d delve into at least one more of these before the holidays. Here goes…
While Adam and I are no longer in one of the three official Peace Corps training phases (PST, Community Integration – aka Lockdown, or IST), site change to Schoemansdal has put us in a weird limbo between the “Community Integration” phase and the actual, post-training “Service” phase. Thus, our lives have very quickly settled into a routine at our new site, but we are always finding new things that we want to do, see, etc. And even though we are still overcoming all the cultural and locational difficulties of a new site/family/work/etc., we are always thankful to be in this new, (much prettier and much friendlier) community!! So, as with all the previous PCV phases before, I present to you a typical “Day in the Life” of our present Peace Corps life… Enjoy!
7:00AM - Wake up. But often times earlier than this, because A) I have insomnia and B) our little house gets really damn hot in the morning nowadays. With a tin roof, the inside starts heating up pretty quick in the mornings and, simply put, it’s just impossible to sleep in that kind of heat. Next, as at almost any site, we have to make sure anything related to water is taken care of – so if it’s a water day, we begin collecting, filling, filtering, etc. (refer back to one of my most detailed previous posts)! Next we pull up the mosquito netting (it hangs just below the bed sheets, so it makes getting in and out of bed difficult if it’s down all day) and make the bed… which Adam hates that I want to do every morning! Then there’s time for tea, some granola or cereal, and usually a little time online to check email/news or reading some of my Time magazines to catch up on other global issues – of course, Adam usually uses this time to read his bike-maintenance books or biker mags!
8:30AM - We’ll usually get around to locking up the house and saying goodbye to Siyanda, our host brother, in the yard on our way out. If we want to be to work by 9:00am, or a little after, we have to be leaving by 8:30am since our walk to Thembalethu is just over a 2km (30 minute) walk. As long as it’s still this early, the heat usually isn’t so bad yet, and luckily the lengthy walk is almost entirely flat, so at least there’s no hiking involved in order to get there! On the way, we always greet the fruit & veg lady at the stand located just off our road – she greets us very loudly and very slowly so that we can practice our SiSwati – so cute!! We also pass all the little shops and convenience stops (food stands, car washes, barbershops, etc.) along the way, so there’s plenty of other people to greet during the walk. There’s also a plethora of animals to avoid along the way – mainly cows with their enormously large horns – that like to stand stubbornly in the road or path in everyone’s way… how convenient! When we get to the Way Inn Plaza, we’ve almost arrived at the Thembalethu compound and we can see the Wildly African building and its brightly painted exterior and all of my favorite little goats walking around in the shade outside (and yes, I have one little goat that is “my goat” and he was about the size of a cat when we first arrived and now he is getting soooo big. Oh, they grow up so fast, don’t they?).
9:00AM - Arrive at work (of course, we’re often on “African Time”, so this varies) and begin greeting the many, many people that work on the Thembalethu compound. First, there’s Vusi (the Drama Team coordinator) and the Drama Team members, they almost always sit at the little picnic table at the entrance before they begin their rehearsals in the great hall; next is the Wildly African staff – consisting of Thabo & Sizakele (in the Fabric Painting Department), Johan, Ndumiso & Moosa (in the Wirework and Recycledwork Department) and Idah, Fortunate, Nomiah & Mirriam (in the Beadwork & Sewing/Embroidery Departments) – they’ll be found either outside the WA building cleaning in the morning or in their workshops prepping for the day’s art projects; then there’s Joseph & Dumisani, two of our organization’s drivers, that are usually working on some form of car motor-part in the main driveway; next is Patrick, our IT Coordinator and computer lab “Chief” (we quite literally call him “Chief my Chief”), who is usually meandering around the compound in the shade before having to take over supervision of the lab; closely behind we usually find Cleopas, our Deputy CEO and Peer-Education Coordinator, along with Vincent, Zachele, Nomcebo & Rosy, our Peer-Education Facilitators, between offices to organize lesson plans at their four local schools; then comes the kitchen & cleaning staff, supervised by Koekie (pronounced ‘Cookie’) bringing hotpots and teacups to the various admin offices and sweeping along all the dirt walkways outside; in the conference center are all the pre-schoolers and our two Crèche coordinators, Jane & Sonto, attempting to organize all the little ones into some type of song or morning exercise; next is the admin office, where Sandra and Lorraine are chatting inside with piles of paperwork strewn on the desks; across the way are all our HBC and OVC coordinators – Thabi who organizes all logistics for Home Based Care, Margaret who oversees all the admin processes, Sphiwe who manages the medroom and clinical visits, Cynthia who handles all carer-to-patient counseling for both adults and orphans/vulnerable children, Jabu who organizes all trainings for new & current carers, Busie who oversees all logistics for the Orphans & Vulnerable Children program (and who is the counterpart that accompanied me to LST), as well as additional support staff in charge of housing, prevention, outreach, and treatment; and finally is Sally’s office, our organization’s CEO, at the very edge of the office row under some leafy trees to provide much-needed shade, where you can find just about any coordinator or employee in a meeting with her throughout the day. Now that’s a lot of hello’s if I do say so myself!!
9:30AM - Let the meetings begin! At the beginning of the month, this is usually a very lengthy organizational meeting in which every coordinator (there are quite a few, as I just mentioned) provides a summary of their current programs, numbers, stats, etc. Throughout the rest of the month, for Adam and myself, this time is usually taken up by meetings with the Wildly African staff, fellow volunteers that are providing support to our current projects, or other coordinators with whom we are working on specific program goals. Meetings can last anywhere from 30 minutes (unlikely) to 3 hours (more likely) as the agendas are usually somewhat unorganized, meandering, and often lend themselves to off-the-topic discussions. Not to mention we have to spend half the time translating into two at least two, sometimes three, different languages. But hey, that’s Africa, right?
11:00AM - Depending on the previous meetings, around this time we are hopefully starting on the day’s “to-do’s”. And, again, depending on the previous meetings, this can vary greatly! For example, I currently spend a lot of time in the computer lab working on a complete revamping of our current Thembalethu.org website, as well as the expansion and upkeep of our newly-created Thembalethu Home Based Care official facebook page (please find us and “Like” us!!!). A lot of this work involves taking photos, collecting information about the organization, meeting with coordinators to go over project descriptions, and of course formatting, formatting, formatting. I also assist with proposal and grant-writing related tasks with the Thembalethu admin (related to just about anything, really) and am often called out of my current work for impromptu meetings in Sally’s office to discuss wording, benchmarks, beneficiaries and all the other wonderfully tedious little tidbits related to funding requests. Finally, my last – but primary – project is everything related to the Wildly African project. At some point (perhaps in the new year, when we actually have more a plan in place) I can write more about the work related to this project, but just suffice to say it can range from working with individual artisans on a new jewelry design to emailing with retailers in England about consignment orders. Eish!! And Adam, while he does not have the concrete-type projects that I have (or should I say, have created for myself…), he is incredibly patient and acquiescent with all of my requests and pleas for favors related to those projects described above. Not to mention the fact that the Thembalethu staff have found plenty of other tasks for Adam to tackle on a day-to-day basis. First and foremost, he has become the go-to-guy for anything computer related on the compound (did you know that Adam is a computer specialist…?? Well, neither did he!). Nevertheless, he is often trying to solve any and all issues related to virus protection, lost files, hard drive formatting, and of course, the ever-dreaded, Blue Screen of Death. More often than not, he’ll usually try to escape these technical jobs to assist Joseph & Dumisani with sporadic jobs around the compound – mainly because they often relate to car maintenance and Adam loves any excuse to play with motor parts. And finally, he also gets called down to Jeppes’ Reef on occasion to install software, assist with reporting, or to provide advice/training on basic monitoring and evaluation. So… we keep pretty busy, for the most part.
1:00PM - By this time, we’re usually starving (and the computer lab is usually stifling), so Adam and I will head to our “regular” spot for our “regular” lunch together. Our “regular” spot is a crumbly stone table and bench under an extremely scraggly tree just beyond the computer lab, on the outskirts of the compound. It’s cooler than most places on the compound, the least busy by far, and offers a view of the street so that we can watch all the gogos walking to and fro with all sorts of goods and materials on their head. Our “regular” lunch is a meat and cheese sandwich, with lettuce and mayo or mustard (we found a great whole-seed French mustard that is actually cheaper than South Africa’s version of French’s Mustard… go figure) and, on special occasions (or at least once a month when I’m craving chocoloate…) we have leftover brownies as well. And yes, when we have brownies, I lick every little morsel out of the bag!
1:30PM - Back to all that work described before, with some haphazard interruptions throughout the day for various (usually random, but usually entertaining) things. For example: a reporter will come by to get the scoop on some new funding we’ve received or the start of a new project hosted by the organization (this usually involves photos and is always on a day that we’re not dressed accordingly); the Drama Team will sometimes put on a mini-performance of a new song or portion of their awareness skit in the main hall for our critique and approval; Dumisani will have to make a run to the local clinic or government offices and will offer to drive us to the post office, plaza, or other convenient location to save us on time and energy (thank you!!); donors will stop by the compound to discuss ongoing projects or new ideas with management and the volunteers (aka, us); there will be an afternoon staff training on computer skills or, my favorite, “How to Use Facebook Responsibly” (probably my fault for introducing the whole facebook thing… he he!); tourists will randomly drive in to shop at the Wildly African store (at present, it is often in a very makeshift state, ugh) and they’ll get a complimentary tour of the artisan workshops and compound before they go; and sometimes our breaks just consist of taking a stroll by all the offices, stopping in to say hi to people who are having mid-afternoon tea breaks, enjoying the purple-covered ground caused by the post-blooming jacaranda trees and – if you time it just right – peeking in at the preschoolers as they all snuggle, five to a mat, for naptime.
3:00PM - Although the organization technically stays open until 4-5pm most days (except Friday, when we close at 2pm), Adam and I usually start winding up a bit early so that we have enough time to get our other “chores” done for the day. Our walk back home is usually quite a bit hotter than our morning jaunt, so it usually takes us a bit longer as well. And at this time of year, we physically feel as though we are melting on our return trip, so the whole right-foot-left-foot-right-foot thing that we call “walking” becomes really, really, r-e-a-l-l-y hard. Also, because of this lovely time of year, we’ll sometimes get caught in rogue, mid-afternoon downpours on our way back. This usually involves timing the return trip in a way that allows for you to huddle under a very large tree or one of the small, cement bus stops with about a thousand other people until the road that has become a river is raging more slowly and we can begin the walk home again. Oh… summertime. But we can also make use of the walk back for some random grocery needs (bread, eggs, and long-life milk at the Jabulani market) or the occasional fresh produce purchase (oranges and apples from our fruit and veg lady).
3:30PM - Or later… we arrive home. I told you, it takes longer on the way back – kinda like flying west. Anyways, our first to-do is to turn on all fans, open all windows and get our little oven of a house to cool down as quickly as possible before we suffocate. Sounds fun, huh? Needless to say, the house heats up convection-style during the day, so we have to hope that there is a cross-breeze strong enough to push out the sauna-like feel of our two rooms in the afternoon.
4:00PM - Next, comes any chores that require a significant exertion of energy – simply because you want to get them out of the way so that you can just lay down and sweat, instead of stand and sweat. This includes washing dishes (oh how we miss our dishwasher), sweeping the house, hauling in any last-minute buckets of water, etc.
4:30PM - Now drenched in sweat from our walk home and miniscule house tasks, we usually seek out any form of moving air or cool water that will bring our temperatures back down to normal. Several techniques that we have discovered are: standing anywhere, inside or outside, in the shade, where any form of a breeze exists; splashing water on all extremities, including face, head, chest, back and neck; sitting on the end of the bed, about two feet from the fan, with the setting on high; or, when all else fails… filling the bath basin with water, removing all unnecessary clothes, and sitting on the edge of the bed, while splashing our feet in the water, about two feet from the fan, with the setting on high. Yeah, we’ve gotten pretty desperate.
5:00PM - This is usually about the time that we break out the computer. As you’ve probably figured out at this point, our computer is not only our blog-writing, finance-tracking, and picture-organizing processor, it is also our only source of mindless entertainment via the endless viewing of movies and TV shows. And mindless – and I mean completely mindless – entertainment is just about the only thing that will allow you to survive the last few hours of heat in the day. Thus, Adam and I have become virtual virtuosos at not only quoting several movies almost line-by-line, but also singing the theme songs to several popular TV series – of which, the proudest of my most recent memorization accomplishments has been the theme song to “The Big Bang Theory”. Do you know how fast that theme song is?!? No seriously… you should really try it sometime!! (“We built the pyramids!!!!!!”)
6:00PM - Our brains have usually cooled enough at this point to start thinking of food once again, so we start the long discussion of “what’s for dinner”. Weighing out the options usually involve a lot of consideration of other factors, such as: How much of this will require heating (and thus making the house hotter)? How much of this will require time (because it’s starting to get late)? And most important… How much of this will require actual work (because we simply don’t want to do it)? But, nevertheless, dinner always gets made (mostly by Adam, because we all know I suck at cooking) and it varies quite a bit – from our laziest days of pasta and garlic bread to our more ambitious days of roasted pork topped with onions and garlic. Of course, there are also those days when it’s still over 100F at 6pm and then we usually just resort to cereal… or ice cubes.
7:00PM - Eating, computer-watching, snacking, internet-checking, you get the point… But noteworthy around this time is the drums that start up. You see, we have several Sangomas (traditional healers) in our area and, once the sun has gone down, they begin their rhythmic rituals. And while Sangomas are not our closest allies in Peace Corps service (a lot of their practice hinders our preventative work with HIV/AIDS), there is something about their drumming and ritualizing that makes me visualize an older South Africa, a more African South Africa, a time not so long ago that lingers still, but just in the backdrop – like I said, after the sun goes down.
8:00PM - It’s finally cooled off enough by this time that a bucket bath will actually keep you somewhat clean for the remainder of the evening. So, we begin filling our bath bucket, hauling in the bath basin, and laying down the towel to catch the water before it goes under the bed (so that we don’t attract any more mosquitoes than are already calling our little home, ‘home’). We also have to heat up at least enough water to not be shaking when the fan swivels towards us, but as the summer progresses, we’re finding that we can easily bathe with less, and less, and much less heated water!! Since it takes over an hour for us to both complete the somewhat tedious bucket bathing process (pouring single cups of water over your head does not wash out conditioner very quickly…), we usually use this time to also make last minute updates on facebook, check email, or chat with our families back home – and by the way, these phone calls are later at this time of year since South Africa doesn’t observe daylight savings time, so our families are now an additional hour behind us. Oh South Africa.
9:30PM - Round about this time we hit the nightly dilemma of whether or not we start a movie (and push our bedtime to a startling 11:00pm, what?!?) or stick with TV shows to ensure an earlier turn-in time. Wow… we have given a whole new meaning to “old married couple” haven’t we? But irregardless of what we watch, we always end up spending at least a portion of our time getting sidetracked by some sort of discussion. We talk about our homes back home, our new home here, our work, our projects, our little glimpses of change and excitement about possibilities, of course our frustrations as well… in general, the life that is Peace Corps and how now, nearing almost a year into this whole crazy endeavor, we still seem to have so much to learn and so much to figure out… but that’s life, right?
10:00PM - This is about the time I start to zonk out… but there’s a background story here (of course). Unfortunately – mostly for Adam, but also for me – I’m on a different antimalarial medication than he, due to counter-interactions with other medications. The problem is, my antimalarials make me a bit of a crazy person… well, to be exact, the side effects primarily cause anxiety, paranoia, overly-OCD tendencies, and bordering on slight psychophrenia. Oh, and worst of all, they make me a raging insomniac. Great wife, hey? [Damn Mefloquin.] For this reason, Peace Corps has chosen wisely to prescribe a counter medication that calms, relaxes, and just about knocks me out at night! Ah, lovely little pill! So while Adam finds out the result of horrible credit card debt on Marshall & Lily’s relationship in season 3 of “How I Met Your Mother”, I slip serenely into my drug-induced sleep! (Kinda gives a whole new meaning to “old married couple”, doesn’t it??) But what is the added bonus of this little miracle medication you ask? Well I’ll tell you: now, when it’s pouring rain at night and I wake to the thought that it is extremely likely that our house is presently flooding due to all the leaks in the tin roof… I just don’t really care. He he! It’s kinda like a less A-typish version of myself – not too shabby!
10:30PM - I wake to Adam putting away the computer, hard drive and speakers and have to at least pull myself out of bed long enough to spray down the top sheet with bug spray, brush off all the bugs that subsequently die, and unclip the mosquito netting so that it sits nicely along the outside of the bed. And have I mentioned how glorious that mosquito net truly is? Aside from the itchy bites and mysterious “visitors” that it prevents, it’s just such a wonderful thing to not have any flying critters buzzing incessantly in your ears all night!! Oh, I love you mosquito net!
11:00PM - Hopefully sleeping…
And, as always, weekends are a grab-bag, but almost always include at least something related to collecting water, doing laundry, collecting more water, grocery shopping, and maybe finding a not-so-needed excuse to have a drink or two with fellow PCVs… oh yeah, and probably something else related to water.
And that, folks, is all she wrote.
So I’ll just end this by repeating something I’ve written in a similar post before: It’s not an American-style life, nor is it really an African-style life, but hey, it’s our life… at present!
I realized recently that even though I’ve done this type of post a couple of times, at various different stages in our time here, I hadn’t ever taken the time to write one out for our new site in Nkomazi. And since, therefore, we seem to get a lot of “So, what exactly are you doing now?” questions from friends and family, I figured I’d delve into at least one more of these before the holidays. Here goes…
While Adam and I are no longer in one of the three official Peace Corps training phases (PST, Community Integration – aka Lockdown, or IST), site change to Schoemansdal has put us in a weird limbo between the “Community Integration” phase and the actual, post-training “Service” phase. Thus, our lives have very quickly settled into a routine at our new site, but we are always finding new things that we want to do, see, etc. And even though we are still overcoming all the cultural and locational difficulties of a new site/family/work/etc., we are always thankful to be in this new, (much prettier and much friendlier) community!! So, as with all the previous PCV phases before, I present to you a typical “Day in the Life” of our present Peace Corps life… Enjoy!
7:00AM - Wake up. But often times earlier than this, because A) I have insomnia and B) our little house gets really damn hot in the morning nowadays. With a tin roof, the inside starts heating up pretty quick in the mornings and, simply put, it’s just impossible to sleep in that kind of heat. Next, as at almost any site, we have to make sure anything related to water is taken care of – so if it’s a water day, we begin collecting, filling, filtering, etc. (refer back to one of my most detailed previous posts)! Next we pull up the mosquito netting (it hangs just below the bed sheets, so it makes getting in and out of bed difficult if it’s down all day) and make the bed… which Adam hates that I want to do every morning! Then there’s time for tea, some granola or cereal, and usually a little time online to check email/news or reading some of my Time magazines to catch up on other global issues – of course, Adam usually uses this time to read his bike-maintenance books or biker mags!
8:30AM - We’ll usually get around to locking up the house and saying goodbye to Siyanda, our host brother, in the yard on our way out. If we want to be to work by 9:00am, or a little after, we have to be leaving by 8:30am since our walk to Thembalethu is just over a 2km (30 minute) walk. As long as it’s still this early, the heat usually isn’t so bad yet, and luckily the lengthy walk is almost entirely flat, so at least there’s no hiking involved in order to get there! On the way, we always greet the fruit & veg lady at the stand located just off our road – she greets us very loudly and very slowly so that we can practice our SiSwati – so cute!! We also pass all the little shops and convenience stops (food stands, car washes, barbershops, etc.) along the way, so there’s plenty of other people to greet during the walk. There’s also a plethora of animals to avoid along the way – mainly cows with their enormously large horns – that like to stand stubbornly in the road or path in everyone’s way… how convenient! When we get to the Way Inn Plaza, we’ve almost arrived at the Thembalethu compound and we can see the Wildly African building and its brightly painted exterior and all of my favorite little goats walking around in the shade outside (and yes, I have one little goat that is “my goat” and he was about the size of a cat when we first arrived and now he is getting soooo big. Oh, they grow up so fast, don’t they?).
9:00AM - Arrive at work (of course, we’re often on “African Time”, so this varies) and begin greeting the many, many people that work on the Thembalethu compound. First, there’s Vusi (the Drama Team coordinator) and the Drama Team members, they almost always sit at the little picnic table at the entrance before they begin their rehearsals in the great hall; next is the Wildly African staff – consisting of Thabo & Sizakele (in the Fabric Painting Department), Johan, Ndumiso & Moosa (in the Wirework and Recycledwork Department) and Idah, Fortunate, Nomiah & Mirriam (in the Beadwork & Sewing/Embroidery Departments) – they’ll be found either outside the WA building cleaning in the morning or in their workshops prepping for the day’s art projects; then there’s Joseph & Dumisani, two of our organization’s drivers, that are usually working on some form of car motor-part in the main driveway; next is Patrick, our IT Coordinator and computer lab “Chief” (we quite literally call him “Chief my Chief”), who is usually meandering around the compound in the shade before having to take over supervision of the lab; closely behind we usually find Cleopas, our Deputy CEO and Peer-Education Coordinator, along with Vincent, Zachele, Nomcebo & Rosy, our Peer-Education Facilitators, between offices to organize lesson plans at their four local schools; then comes the kitchen & cleaning staff, supervised by Koekie (pronounced ‘Cookie’) bringing hotpots and teacups to the various admin offices and sweeping along all the dirt walkways outside; in the conference center are all the pre-schoolers and our two Crèche coordinators, Jane & Sonto, attempting to organize all the little ones into some type of song or morning exercise; next is the admin office, where Sandra and Lorraine are chatting inside with piles of paperwork strewn on the desks; across the way are all our HBC and OVC coordinators – Thabi who organizes all logistics for Home Based Care, Margaret who oversees all the admin processes, Sphiwe who manages the medroom and clinical visits, Cynthia who handles all carer-to-patient counseling for both adults and orphans/vulnerable children, Jabu who organizes all trainings for new & current carers, Busie who oversees all logistics for the Orphans & Vulnerable Children program (and who is the counterpart that accompanied me to LST), as well as additional support staff in charge of housing, prevention, outreach, and treatment; and finally is Sally’s office, our organization’s CEO, at the very edge of the office row under some leafy trees to provide much-needed shade, where you can find just about any coordinator or employee in a meeting with her throughout the day. Now that’s a lot of hello’s if I do say so myself!!
9:30AM - Let the meetings begin! At the beginning of the month, this is usually a very lengthy organizational meeting in which every coordinator (there are quite a few, as I just mentioned) provides a summary of their current programs, numbers, stats, etc. Throughout the rest of the month, for Adam and myself, this time is usually taken up by meetings with the Wildly African staff, fellow volunteers that are providing support to our current projects, or other coordinators with whom we are working on specific program goals. Meetings can last anywhere from 30 minutes (unlikely) to 3 hours (more likely) as the agendas are usually somewhat unorganized, meandering, and often lend themselves to off-the-topic discussions. Not to mention we have to spend half the time translating into two at least two, sometimes three, different languages. But hey, that’s Africa, right?
11:00AM - Depending on the previous meetings, around this time we are hopefully starting on the day’s “to-do’s”. And, again, depending on the previous meetings, this can vary greatly! For example, I currently spend a lot of time in the computer lab working on a complete revamping of our current Thembalethu.org website, as well as the expansion and upkeep of our newly-created Thembalethu Home Based Care official facebook page (please find us and “Like” us!!!). A lot of this work involves taking photos, collecting information about the organization, meeting with coordinators to go over project descriptions, and of course formatting, formatting, formatting. I also assist with proposal and grant-writing related tasks with the Thembalethu admin (related to just about anything, really) and am often called out of my current work for impromptu meetings in Sally’s office to discuss wording, benchmarks, beneficiaries and all the other wonderfully tedious little tidbits related to funding requests. Finally, my last – but primary – project is everything related to the Wildly African project. At some point (perhaps in the new year, when we actually have more a plan in place) I can write more about the work related to this project, but just suffice to say it can range from working with individual artisans on a new jewelry design to emailing with retailers in England about consignment orders. Eish!! And Adam, while he does not have the concrete-type projects that I have (or should I say, have created for myself…), he is incredibly patient and acquiescent with all of my requests and pleas for favors related to those projects described above. Not to mention the fact that the Thembalethu staff have found plenty of other tasks for Adam to tackle on a day-to-day basis. First and foremost, he has become the go-to-guy for anything computer related on the compound (did you know that Adam is a computer specialist…?? Well, neither did he!). Nevertheless, he is often trying to solve any and all issues related to virus protection, lost files, hard drive formatting, and of course, the ever-dreaded, Blue Screen of Death. More often than not, he’ll usually try to escape these technical jobs to assist Joseph & Dumisani with sporadic jobs around the compound – mainly because they often relate to car maintenance and Adam loves any excuse to play with motor parts. And finally, he also gets called down to Jeppes’ Reef on occasion to install software, assist with reporting, or to provide advice/training on basic monitoring and evaluation. So… we keep pretty busy, for the most part.
1:00PM - By this time, we’re usually starving (and the computer lab is usually stifling), so Adam and I will head to our “regular” spot for our “regular” lunch together. Our “regular” spot is a crumbly stone table and bench under an extremely scraggly tree just beyond the computer lab, on the outskirts of the compound. It’s cooler than most places on the compound, the least busy by far, and offers a view of the street so that we can watch all the gogos walking to and fro with all sorts of goods and materials on their head. Our “regular” lunch is a meat and cheese sandwich, with lettuce and mayo or mustard (we found a great whole-seed French mustard that is actually cheaper than South Africa’s version of French’s Mustard… go figure) and, on special occasions (or at least once a month when I’m craving chocoloate…) we have leftover brownies as well. And yes, when we have brownies, I lick every little morsel out of the bag!
1:30PM - Back to all that work described before, with some haphazard interruptions throughout the day for various (usually random, but usually entertaining) things. For example: a reporter will come by to get the scoop on some new funding we’ve received or the start of a new project hosted by the organization (this usually involves photos and is always on a day that we’re not dressed accordingly); the Drama Team will sometimes put on a mini-performance of a new song or portion of their awareness skit in the main hall for our critique and approval; Dumisani will have to make a run to the local clinic or government offices and will offer to drive us to the post office, plaza, or other convenient location to save us on time and energy (thank you!!); donors will stop by the compound to discuss ongoing projects or new ideas with management and the volunteers (aka, us); there will be an afternoon staff training on computer skills or, my favorite, “How to Use Facebook Responsibly” (probably my fault for introducing the whole facebook thing… he he!); tourists will randomly drive in to shop at the Wildly African store (at present, it is often in a very makeshift state, ugh) and they’ll get a complimentary tour of the artisan workshops and compound before they go; and sometimes our breaks just consist of taking a stroll by all the offices, stopping in to say hi to people who are having mid-afternoon tea breaks, enjoying the purple-covered ground caused by the post-blooming jacaranda trees and – if you time it just right – peeking in at the preschoolers as they all snuggle, five to a mat, for naptime.
3:00PM - Although the organization technically stays open until 4-5pm most days (except Friday, when we close at 2pm), Adam and I usually start winding up a bit early so that we have enough time to get our other “chores” done for the day. Our walk back home is usually quite a bit hotter than our morning jaunt, so it usually takes us a bit longer as well. And at this time of year, we physically feel as though we are melting on our return trip, so the whole right-foot-left-foot-right-foot thing that we call “walking” becomes really, really, r-e-a-l-l-y hard. Also, because of this lovely time of year, we’ll sometimes get caught in rogue, mid-afternoon downpours on our way back. This usually involves timing the return trip in a way that allows for you to huddle under a very large tree or one of the small, cement bus stops with about a thousand other people until the road that has become a river is raging more slowly and we can begin the walk home again. Oh… summertime. But we can also make use of the walk back for some random grocery needs (bread, eggs, and long-life milk at the Jabulani market) or the occasional fresh produce purchase (oranges and apples from our fruit and veg lady).
3:30PM - Or later… we arrive home. I told you, it takes longer on the way back – kinda like flying west. Anyways, our first to-do is to turn on all fans, open all windows and get our little oven of a house to cool down as quickly as possible before we suffocate. Sounds fun, huh? Needless to say, the house heats up convection-style during the day, so we have to hope that there is a cross-breeze strong enough to push out the sauna-like feel of our two rooms in the afternoon.
4:00PM - Next, comes any chores that require a significant exertion of energy – simply because you want to get them out of the way so that you can just lay down and sweat, instead of stand and sweat. This includes washing dishes (oh how we miss our dishwasher), sweeping the house, hauling in any last-minute buckets of water, etc.
4:30PM - Now drenched in sweat from our walk home and miniscule house tasks, we usually seek out any form of moving air or cool water that will bring our temperatures back down to normal. Several techniques that we have discovered are: standing anywhere, inside or outside, in the shade, where any form of a breeze exists; splashing water on all extremities, including face, head, chest, back and neck; sitting on the end of the bed, about two feet from the fan, with the setting on high; or, when all else fails… filling the bath basin with water, removing all unnecessary clothes, and sitting on the edge of the bed, while splashing our feet in the water, about two feet from the fan, with the setting on high. Yeah, we’ve gotten pretty desperate.
5:00PM - This is usually about the time that we break out the computer. As you’ve probably figured out at this point, our computer is not only our blog-writing, finance-tracking, and picture-organizing processor, it is also our only source of mindless entertainment via the endless viewing of movies and TV shows. And mindless – and I mean completely mindless – entertainment is just about the only thing that will allow you to survive the last few hours of heat in the day. Thus, Adam and I have become virtual virtuosos at not only quoting several movies almost line-by-line, but also singing the theme songs to several popular TV series – of which, the proudest of my most recent memorization accomplishments has been the theme song to “The Big Bang Theory”. Do you know how fast that theme song is?!? No seriously… you should really try it sometime!! (“We built the pyramids!!!!!!”)
6:00PM - Our brains have usually cooled enough at this point to start thinking of food once again, so we start the long discussion of “what’s for dinner”. Weighing out the options usually involve a lot of consideration of other factors, such as: How much of this will require heating (and thus making the house hotter)? How much of this will require time (because it’s starting to get late)? And most important… How much of this will require actual work (because we simply don’t want to do it)? But, nevertheless, dinner always gets made (mostly by Adam, because we all know I suck at cooking) and it varies quite a bit – from our laziest days of pasta and garlic bread to our more ambitious days of roasted pork topped with onions and garlic. Of course, there are also those days when it’s still over 100F at 6pm and then we usually just resort to cereal… or ice cubes.
7:00PM - Eating, computer-watching, snacking, internet-checking, you get the point… But noteworthy around this time is the drums that start up. You see, we have several Sangomas (traditional healers) in our area and, once the sun has gone down, they begin their rhythmic rituals. And while Sangomas are not our closest allies in Peace Corps service (a lot of their practice hinders our preventative work with HIV/AIDS), there is something about their drumming and ritualizing that makes me visualize an older South Africa, a more African South Africa, a time not so long ago that lingers still, but just in the backdrop – like I said, after the sun goes down.
8:00PM - It’s finally cooled off enough by this time that a bucket bath will actually keep you somewhat clean for the remainder of the evening. So, we begin filling our bath bucket, hauling in the bath basin, and laying down the towel to catch the water before it goes under the bed (so that we don’t attract any more mosquitoes than are already calling our little home, ‘home’). We also have to heat up at least enough water to not be shaking when the fan swivels towards us, but as the summer progresses, we’re finding that we can easily bathe with less, and less, and much less heated water!! Since it takes over an hour for us to both complete the somewhat tedious bucket bathing process (pouring single cups of water over your head does not wash out conditioner very quickly…), we usually use this time to also make last minute updates on facebook, check email, or chat with our families back home – and by the way, these phone calls are later at this time of year since South Africa doesn’t observe daylight savings time, so our families are now an additional hour behind us. Oh South Africa.
9:30PM - Round about this time we hit the nightly dilemma of whether or not we start a movie (and push our bedtime to a startling 11:00pm, what?!?) or stick with TV shows to ensure an earlier turn-in time. Wow… we have given a whole new meaning to “old married couple” haven’t we? But irregardless of what we watch, we always end up spending at least a portion of our time getting sidetracked by some sort of discussion. We talk about our homes back home, our new home here, our work, our projects, our little glimpses of change and excitement about possibilities, of course our frustrations as well… in general, the life that is Peace Corps and how now, nearing almost a year into this whole crazy endeavor, we still seem to have so much to learn and so much to figure out… but that’s life, right?
10:00PM - This is about the time I start to zonk out… but there’s a background story here (of course). Unfortunately – mostly for Adam, but also for me – I’m on a different antimalarial medication than he, due to counter-interactions with other medications. The problem is, my antimalarials make me a bit of a crazy person… well, to be exact, the side effects primarily cause anxiety, paranoia, overly-OCD tendencies, and bordering on slight psychophrenia. Oh, and worst of all, they make me a raging insomniac. Great wife, hey? [Damn Mefloquin.] For this reason, Peace Corps has chosen wisely to prescribe a counter medication that calms, relaxes, and just about knocks me out at night! Ah, lovely little pill! So while Adam finds out the result of horrible credit card debt on Marshall & Lily’s relationship in season 3 of “How I Met Your Mother”, I slip serenely into my drug-induced sleep! (Kinda gives a whole new meaning to “old married couple”, doesn’t it??) But what is the added bonus of this little miracle medication you ask? Well I’ll tell you: now, when it’s pouring rain at night and I wake to the thought that it is extremely likely that our house is presently flooding due to all the leaks in the tin roof… I just don’t really care. He he! It’s kinda like a less A-typish version of myself – not too shabby!
10:30PM - I wake to Adam putting away the computer, hard drive and speakers and have to at least pull myself out of bed long enough to spray down the top sheet with bug spray, brush off all the bugs that subsequently die, and unclip the mosquito netting so that it sits nicely along the outside of the bed. And have I mentioned how glorious that mosquito net truly is? Aside from the itchy bites and mysterious “visitors” that it prevents, it’s just such a wonderful thing to not have any flying critters buzzing incessantly in your ears all night!! Oh, I love you mosquito net!
11:00PM - Hopefully sleeping…
And, as always, weekends are a grab-bag, but almost always include at least something related to collecting water, doing laundry, collecting more water, grocery shopping, and maybe finding a not-so-needed excuse to have a drink or two with fellow PCVs… oh yeah, and probably something else related to water.
And that, folks, is all she wrote.
So I’ll just end this by repeating something I’ve written in a similar post before: It’s not an American-style life, nor is it really an African-style life, but hey, it’s our life… at present!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Lucky Number Twenty-Seven
Jess writes:
Today I turn 27 – oh boy – but it’s still my lucky number! And since it is my lucky number and since this lucky-number-age is occurring at a time in my life when so much is going on, I figured a short post might be in order. So here goes…
Twenty-seven has been my lucky number ever since Freshmen year in high school, when I was randomly assigned a volleyball jersey with said number. But, as with many things in my life that I have to come to love and cherish, I was not so thrilled about the random assignment at first. 27?!? What a horrible sports number! It’s too large of a number to be memorable on the court (my old sports number was always 4 – small, memorable… perfect!) and it’s too small of a number to be interesting (example: baseball players that choose something ridiculous like 88). Ugh. The assigned number, however, served me very well that year and with that 27 on my back I became a competitive player and moved up ever-so-steadily through the ranks of high school volleyball. Thus, I deemed 27 as my new lucky number.
And over the years, my love of the number has grown, in various ways, for various reasons.
Let me start with a rare, and somewhat scary, look at my brain’s left side: The number 27 is mathematically intriguing to me – I love the fact that it is only divisible by 3 and 9. I also love the fact that 9, conveniently, is also only divisible by 3! It’s like the entire composition of the number is meant to be self-sustaining, neat, and complete. Yeah, I know, it’s crazy.
Okay, now a look at the oh-so-wonderfully comfy right side of the brain: I love the way that ‘27’ looks – yes, it’s actual appearance – it has curve in the ‘2’ and angle in the ‘7’, but in a way that is much more complimentary than something so stark as ‘81’. Not to mention the fact that the number has a perfect bottom line in the ‘2’ and a perfect top line in the ‘7’, creating a perfectly complete shape! And if you think that is weird… wait for this one… I also love the sound of “twenty-seven”, as in the way that it is actually spoken! It’s both strong and aggressive at the start with its double ‘t’s, as well as soft and almost feminine with it’s ‘v’ and ‘n’ on the finish. And better yet, it’s one of the very few evenly-perfect, four-syllable numbers in our language (the others are those that also include 7 – i.e., 37, 47… 71, 72… etc.). So it sounds bolder than those silly two-syllable numbers like “fifteen” and far less cumbersome than those visually impressive numbers like “four hundred and fifty-two”.
(Ha! And to think there may have actually been anyone that was not aware of my completely off-kilter and obsessive nature… alleviated that uncertainty, didn’t I?)
But back to the number and, more importantly, what the age itself has come to mean for me. Starting in my teen years, 27 began to take form as the perfectly odd-integered oasis in my world of even-integered, overly-idealistic benchmarks. I would think to myself: By 24, I will have finished school, maybe even some higher degree, and I’ll be making my way towards my “adult life”; by 26, I will be getting married and settling into a cute little apartment in the city or an adorable home in the suburbs; by 28, I (technically “we” at that point) will be starting to think about a family and maybe already have little ones on the way; and finally, by 30, I will be “the real deal” – an educated, employed, and responsible adult, given the societal stamp of approval. Perfect, right? Well, at least that’s how my meticulously planned-out life looked in my mid-teen head. And to add to that, you see, the odd years in there almost always carried with them some frightening overtone: 25 had a quarter-century-ness to it that made me start to think about the whole “getting older” thing; and 29 had that definite “getting older” feel as the last twenty-something year and that meant I might have to face the worst possible fate of having not gotten it “all figured out” by then!!! (Yup, I was even obsessive as a teenager.) But 27 was just there, situated snuggly between school, marriage, a career and kids. Not too close to 29, far enough away from 25… what a wonderful place to be!!
And so now, having finally arrived at 27, how did it all work out? Well, not too shabby…
The school stuff was thoroughly completed, including another degree that I am extremely passionate about; the falling in love and getting married dream happened unexpectedly (but wonderfully) sooner and will always be one of the happiest times of my life; the whole settling down thing hasn’t quite panned out yet (my family is probably laughing at this part because they know how I feel about “settling down”)… you see, I gave into an insatiable wanderlust that has brought me to some of the most incredible places on earth – eventually giving way to the Peace Corps – and I just don’t know that I’ll ever have my fill of the world… so, therefore, some of those other benchmarks have been a little thrown off schedule. For example, the starting a family phase will probably not be quite on track as “Child + Africa does not = a great idea” and “Child + travelling only semi = a plausible option”. Similarly, while I have had the most incredible past few years delving into my chosen profession, my well-planned career path as become more of a well-manicured career field… with no real sign posting for “forward”, but a plethora of pretty wild flowers to smell along the way… so, for now, I’m just enjoying the walk [mom, that last part was for you…]. Thus, I doubt that I’ll be the truly bonified “adult” that I envisioned by age 30, as Adam and I spend most of our time dreaming about all the possibilities of future schools, future jobs, future places to live and future places to visit… and at some point in that dream we also linger on the thought of getting back to some civilization that has great cocktails and Happy Hour. He he!
But all in all, I would say that as my lucky number twenty-seven has arrived I do indeed feel incredibly lucky – lucky to have had all the opportunities to experience so very much. Most important of all, I feel overwhelmingly lucky to have family, friends, and a spouse that has encouraged and supported me in realizing all those dreams that I’ve dreamt since a young age. And thus, I’m not so worried about getting a little off-track anymore. In fact, I can honestly say that I’m okay with not being “the real deal” of an adult quite yet… because I’m realizing there are just too many other things about life in which to indulge… and eventually I’ll get it “all figured out” along the way!!
So, from 27-year old me, to the luck and karma of the world: go ahead and keep mixing things up a bit, I think I’ll be ready for whatever comes next.
Today I turn 27 – oh boy – but it’s still my lucky number! And since it is my lucky number and since this lucky-number-age is occurring at a time in my life when so much is going on, I figured a short post might be in order. So here goes…
Twenty-seven has been my lucky number ever since Freshmen year in high school, when I was randomly assigned a volleyball jersey with said number. But, as with many things in my life that I have to come to love and cherish, I was not so thrilled about the random assignment at first. 27?!? What a horrible sports number! It’s too large of a number to be memorable on the court (my old sports number was always 4 – small, memorable… perfect!) and it’s too small of a number to be interesting (example: baseball players that choose something ridiculous like 88). Ugh. The assigned number, however, served me very well that year and with that 27 on my back I became a competitive player and moved up ever-so-steadily through the ranks of high school volleyball. Thus, I deemed 27 as my new lucky number.
And over the years, my love of the number has grown, in various ways, for various reasons.
Let me start with a rare, and somewhat scary, look at my brain’s left side: The number 27 is mathematically intriguing to me – I love the fact that it is only divisible by 3 and 9. I also love the fact that 9, conveniently, is also only divisible by 3! It’s like the entire composition of the number is meant to be self-sustaining, neat, and complete. Yeah, I know, it’s crazy.
Okay, now a look at the oh-so-wonderfully comfy right side of the brain: I love the way that ‘27’ looks – yes, it’s actual appearance – it has curve in the ‘2’ and angle in the ‘7’, but in a way that is much more complimentary than something so stark as ‘81’. Not to mention the fact that the number has a perfect bottom line in the ‘2’ and a perfect top line in the ‘7’, creating a perfectly complete shape! And if you think that is weird… wait for this one… I also love the sound of “twenty-seven”, as in the way that it is actually spoken! It’s both strong and aggressive at the start with its double ‘t’s, as well as soft and almost feminine with it’s ‘v’ and ‘n’ on the finish. And better yet, it’s one of the very few evenly-perfect, four-syllable numbers in our language (the others are those that also include 7 – i.e., 37, 47… 71, 72… etc.). So it sounds bolder than those silly two-syllable numbers like “fifteen” and far less cumbersome than those visually impressive numbers like “four hundred and fifty-two”.
(Ha! And to think there may have actually been anyone that was not aware of my completely off-kilter and obsessive nature… alleviated that uncertainty, didn’t I?)
But back to the number and, more importantly, what the age itself has come to mean for me. Starting in my teen years, 27 began to take form as the perfectly odd-integered oasis in my world of even-integered, overly-idealistic benchmarks. I would think to myself: By 24, I will have finished school, maybe even some higher degree, and I’ll be making my way towards my “adult life”; by 26, I will be getting married and settling into a cute little apartment in the city or an adorable home in the suburbs; by 28, I (technically “we” at that point) will be starting to think about a family and maybe already have little ones on the way; and finally, by 30, I will be “the real deal” – an educated, employed, and responsible adult, given the societal stamp of approval. Perfect, right? Well, at least that’s how my meticulously planned-out life looked in my mid-teen head. And to add to that, you see, the odd years in there almost always carried with them some frightening overtone: 25 had a quarter-century-ness to it that made me start to think about the whole “getting older” thing; and 29 had that definite “getting older” feel as the last twenty-something year and that meant I might have to face the worst possible fate of having not gotten it “all figured out” by then!!! (Yup, I was even obsessive as a teenager.) But 27 was just there, situated snuggly between school, marriage, a career and kids. Not too close to 29, far enough away from 25… what a wonderful place to be!!
And so now, having finally arrived at 27, how did it all work out? Well, not too shabby…
The school stuff was thoroughly completed, including another degree that I am extremely passionate about; the falling in love and getting married dream happened unexpectedly (but wonderfully) sooner and will always be one of the happiest times of my life; the whole settling down thing hasn’t quite panned out yet (my family is probably laughing at this part because they know how I feel about “settling down”)… you see, I gave into an insatiable wanderlust that has brought me to some of the most incredible places on earth – eventually giving way to the Peace Corps – and I just don’t know that I’ll ever have my fill of the world… so, therefore, some of those other benchmarks have been a little thrown off schedule. For example, the starting a family phase will probably not be quite on track as “Child + Africa does not = a great idea” and “Child + travelling only semi = a plausible option”. Similarly, while I have had the most incredible past few years delving into my chosen profession, my well-planned career path as become more of a well-manicured career field… with no real sign posting for “forward”, but a plethora of pretty wild flowers to smell along the way… so, for now, I’m just enjoying the walk [mom, that last part was for you…]. Thus, I doubt that I’ll be the truly bonified “adult” that I envisioned by age 30, as Adam and I spend most of our time dreaming about all the possibilities of future schools, future jobs, future places to live and future places to visit… and at some point in that dream we also linger on the thought of getting back to some civilization that has great cocktails and Happy Hour. He he!
But all in all, I would say that as my lucky number twenty-seven has arrived I do indeed feel incredibly lucky – lucky to have had all the opportunities to experience so very much. Most important of all, I feel overwhelmingly lucky to have family, friends, and a spouse that has encouraged and supported me in realizing all those dreams that I’ve dreamt since a young age. And thus, I’m not so worried about getting a little off-track anymore. In fact, I can honestly say that I’m okay with not being “the real deal” of an adult quite yet… because I’m realizing there are just too many other things about life in which to indulge… and eventually I’ll get it “all figured out” along the way!!
So, from 27-year old me, to the luck and karma of the world: go ahead and keep mixing things up a bit, I think I’ll be ready for whatever comes next.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
RWO: It's Hot Here
Jess writes:
It’s hot here (great "Random Weekly Observation", huh?). And I know that you are all very well aware of that fact, since we complain about it a l l t h e t i m e. Ugh. But I thought it would be worth pointing out one humorous observation about the heat and that is the sheer, debilitating effect that it has on us humans, and how we try, vainly, to cope with it. I don’t think anything will illustrate this point better than a short story about a fellow coworker on one, particularly hot day at Thembalethu. Enjoy!
Thus, the scene is set:
The point of this story: He was right. It was just too damn hot out.
It’s hot here (great "Random Weekly Observation", huh?). And I know that you are all very well aware of that fact, since we complain about it a l l t h e t i m e. Ugh. But I thought it would be worth pointing out one humorous observation about the heat and that is the sheer, debilitating effect that it has on us humans, and how we try, vainly, to cope with it. I don’t think anything will illustrate this point better than a short story about a fellow coworker on one, particularly hot day at Thembalethu. Enjoy!
It was already over 100F by 10am and getting humid. All of us on the compound were starting to feel the weight of, well, just the air in general. By noon it had reached a far-too-balmy 114F. The fans did nothing but blow hot air in your face – that is, when the electricity was on – and even in the shade you could feel your skin wanting to just peel off in an attempt to cool you down. The general consensus of the staff was that our brains were beginning to literally sizzle in our skulls. And for those of you that have experienced that kind of heat you know that there is a point where you just are unable to think any further. Basic tasks become impossible. Actually attempting to work on a project is akin to asking a preschooler to perform brain surgery. And eventually, you just stop functioning…
Thus, the scene is set:
Adam was crossing the courtyard and saw a fellow coworker walking in his direction with some papers in hand. Obviously he was headed to one of our many offices to drop off some work, make copies, or some other related function. Before they passed one another, our coworker stopped short. And then he just stood there. He looked up at the sun. He looked down at the papers. Still just standing. So, as any of us would do, Adam asked with a smile, “Did you forget where you were headed?” To which our coworker responded, “It’s hot out.” He then turned around defeatedly and headed back in the direction from whence he came. And that was that.
The point of this story: He was right. It was just too damn hot out.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Travelogue: Durban
Jess writes:
Many of our fellow PCVs assigned to the KwaZulu Nataal province had been to Durban before, frequented it even, as their ultimate shopping down or get-away-destination. But for most of us in Mpumalanga and Limpopo, LST was our first visit to the sunny city. As I mentioned in a previous blog, ‘sunny’ was not an entirely accurate descriptor for the day we arrived and many of the training days that followed – for example, we left the Nkomazi region on a balmy 41C (about 106F) day and arrived in Durban the following day to a bone-chilling 22C (about 72F) – keep in mind, since we’ve been hovering around the high 30C’s to low 40C’s for over a month now… climate changes such as that above, well, pretty much suck. Furthermore, while Nkomazi experiences fairly frequent downpours in the late afternoons and evenings, we had spent most of the our recent days in the blistering sun, or rather, trying to get out of the blistering sun. And Durban, much to our surprise, was damp, grey and bordering on tropical storm-force winds for the first four days we were there. What the hell?!?
But hold on… because eventually the “Durban, as advertised” eventually began to take shape.
On almost the last day of training, the weather warmed to a vacation-esque temperature, the sun came out over the sand and surf, and finally (finally!) the promenade and boardwalk took on their much-anticipated, resort-style look: people walking and biking along the beach, children building castles in the sand, throngs of visitors splashing in the waves, and windows flung open from every street-side restaurant so that diners could enjoy the sea-salt breeze. Ahhh… now that’s more like it.
And once our outlook on the city had gone from drizzly to dreamy, we got a look at what Durban really has to offer:
First of all, many of us newcomers to Durban agreed that the city could be described best as “The South African Miami” – beachside, of course, but also overly-colorful, surprisingly dingy, and boasting that oh-so-tacky flare for tourism appeasement. But, then again, to Peace Corps Volunteers that live in cement huts in dusty villages, what’s not to love about that?!?
The promenade and boardwalk, just along the beaches of the Indian Ocean, boast overly-priced curios, and overly-tourist-friendly dining (i.e., basic American and European cuisine), but also serve as a great location to stroll, listen to the waves, and best of all – enjoy live music, drink in hand, overlooking the ocean at sunset. And of course, a group of us enjoyed an evening of doing just that, as a friend of a fellow PCV was playing at a local night spot while we were in town. I was surprised at how much enjoyment I got from something that was once so common-place at home: a drink at a bar, a little live music from some local talents, and just random chit-chat with friends… oh the things we take for granted when we have a little money, a little transport, and a little civilization. ;-)
Just off the boardwalk, there’s plenty of adolescents hawking umbrellas, broad-brimmed hats, and towels – which I always find humorous, since they are basing they’re sales on the assumption that you just might be the kind of beach-goer that would forget these necessities… when going to the beach! He he! But, hawkers and unprepared tourists aside, the beaches themselves are divine – soft sand between your toes, beautiful shells to collect along a walk, and surprisingly large waves in which to waste away the afternoon hours. And while you do have to stay ever-mindful of keeping within the boundaries of the shark nets (we have some pretty big sharks here!) and not getting tangled up in a semi-poisonous jellyfish, there are fairly helpful lifeguards to wave you in the right direction of the “safe swim zones” and pour vinegar on your tentacle stings. And hey, those worries are really nothing compared to the biggest concern of all: sunburn. What people say about the African sun here is unmistakably true – it is simply ten feet away from your face. All. Day. Long. Uh. But, once again, I am focusing more on the negatives… when in fact, all in all, if you arrive prepared (and with copious amounts of sunscreen), the Durban beaches are a veritable sun and surf oasis and I, like any native coaster, soaked up every minute of that at-home feeling!!
Okay, now moving off the beach: Perhaps Durban’s greatest claim to fame (aside from its beachside location) is its indulgence in anything and everything Indian. As Durban was the most popular port of entry for Indian immigrants to South Africa, the city has become saturated with the colors, smells, and flavors of the Indian culture. Every street corner boasts an Indian restaurant and every supermarket has an aisle dedicated to the ingredients necessary for a truly Indian dining experience. Thus, on our first day after training (since Peace Corps trainings always come with three, free meals a day and you would have to be crazy to pass that up on our stipends!), we headed out from the beach to find some eastern-flavored grub. The first place we came across was small, with no real attention to décor and a menu on the wall that boasted pictures of the listed meals – not necessarily a good sign. However, all the diners were clearly of Indian descent and all the staff was clearly related, with at least three generations represented – all very, very good signs. So we headed in. First thing we spotted was a generous selection of naan – good start! Next, was the generous selection of curries – also great! And when the server/grandfather came to take our order, he spoke softly, in broken English, and ensured us that our dining experience would be quite satisfying – now this is our kind of place! Since we had little knowledge of the vast array of Indian cuisine, Adam chose to ask the nice server/grandfather what he would suggest if his own family was eating in his establishment, and without even a second’s hesitation he declared (quietly, of course), “mutton curry”. Okay, mutton curry it is. And oh… my… gosh… mutton curry it was!!! Adam described the extremely-spicy-but-too-delicious-to-stop-eating-for-even-one-minute dish as the best food he has had to date in South Africa!! (And we all know that is a lot coming from Adam!!!) All I could say was “oh yum” and “okay, need bread and water”! Ha! So, first Indian food experience: success!
After lunch, we moved to our new locale for the weekend – Surf n’ Dreams backpacker – which is located quite conveniently to one of Durban’s street-long hotspots. Thus, that night we got to experience another side of Durban’s culinary scene: Florida Road. Pronounced Floor-eee-dah by the locals, this street offers every possible size, style and type of food that one can imagine – and all within in a 1k block! How glorious! Oh where to begin… there’s Bangkok Wok for Thai food, Simply Fish and Simply Sushi for any type of seafood you desire, Delux Burger for the basic and not-so-basic delite, Santorini for Mediterranean yumminess, Cubana Grill & Havana Lounge for some Latin flavor, Spiga for indulgent Italian, Butcher Boys for a big ol’ slab of meat, the all-but-required House of Curries for traditional Indian, and so much more! The group of lingering PCVs chose, as virtually mandated, Taco Zulus for some ooey-gooey Mexican… with real tortilla chips! Of course, we paired this lovingly with some margaritas and Coronas and had ourselves a wonderfully filling taco, nacho, and burrito feast! What a great end to our Durban training!
Over the weekend, the swarm of PCVs thinned out and our activities slowed to a relaxed, vacation pace. In particular, Saturday was perhaps our most relaxed and enjoyable day! We started off the day with a walk down Musgrave Street to the shopping center. Along the way, we ogled at unbelievable houses with a Miami-meets-Beverly-Hills style to them, each with manicured lawns, lush tropical gardens, and some form of ornate water feature drawing in every imaginable color of bird. Walking downhill on Musgrave, we got to see incredible views of Durban in the morning haze – the semi-skyscrapers with rooftop pools, the multi-colored apartment buildings, the gorgeous World Cup stadium, and of course the coast and beach in the distance. Once at the shopping center, we cut through the parking lot (we weren’t actually going to the shopping center!!) to get to Essenwood Street and hiked back up a few blocks to arrive at the Saturday Street Market. Not exactly on the street, but rather, in a gorgeous, green park, flanked with mini rolling hills (the perfect kind for sledding as a kid!), and stunningly tall trees that provided much-welcomed shade. The market itself, while traditionally Indian at heart, has expanded beyond roti wraps and sari stalls to include adorable children’s clothes, French breads & cheeses, massage stations, Swazi dress wraps, hand-woven hats & mittens, fresh cut exotic flowers, a miniature crèperie, a modern furniture and décor section, and even pony rides and water sports for kids! Not surprisingly, we were able to meander away most of the morning between the market stalls, eating our way through several of the day’s courses by the afternoon. Why can’t every village have a market like this to spend our Saturday mornings at?!?
When we had had our fill of marketing, two fellow PCVs led us to a hole-in-the-wall book store that was rumored to be well worth a look. And, as it turned out, Ike’s Bookstore was a pretty great way to spend the afternoon! Located just off the main drag of Florida Road, at a private entrance with a buzzer by the door, an antiqued staircase leads you to the semi-slanted, beautifully musty-scented interior of Ike’s. The bookstore itself is a converted apartment, with multiple rooms, a large common area, and an amazingly breezy and comfy wrap-around porch that overlooks the ever-bustling street below and the coastal side of downtown Durban. Each room of the store resembles something from the crazy, Great Expectations home of old Mrs. Havisham – each categorically fashioned to match the genre of books in that section. Thus, the décor boasts everything from massive wooden desks, old fashioned type writers, and Americana tin-plated adverts of sunny vacation destinations to hand-sculpted African buttresses, Apartheid-era paraphernalia, and Ndebele beaded jewelry. Likewise, the books are equally diverse, with titles ranging from 18th century British medical handbooks and original writings on the exploration of the African continent to James Beard’s books on fish cookery and colorful depictions of the American 1960’s. You could quite literally spend a couple days in this store and, since the wonderful shop manager questioned us enthusiastically about our service in the country and the store owner offered us some refreshing white wine to have with our conversation, we too stayed well past closing and indulged our inner-bibliophiles.
By the time that late afternoon approached, we made reservations at Spiga for large plates of Italian that night and began heading back up Florida Road to Surf n’ Dreams for a game of Hearts (since we had four! Yay!) by the pool. En route, however, we were met halfway by a gathering swarm of onlookers waiting for… well… we had no idea. As it turned out, there was an impromptu, down-hill, skateboarding race about to take place! Adding to the adventure was the fact that apparently no one had informed the authorities about this race and, therefore, the bustling Florida Road would not be closed for safety. Hmmm, this should be interesting… The skateboarders appeared, several in very creative and brightly colored jumpsuits, overalls, and patchwork pants and zig-zagged their way down the south-bound lane. Cars in the north-bound lane swerved frightfully out of the way to avoid those lazy riders that drifted across the lines…oops. There must have been at least a hundred of them! And eventually, from top to bottom, as far as you could see down the hill, skateboarders had taken over Florida Road and caused a completely stopped chaos of cars on all sides. At the tail end, a couple younger kids rode down the hill while sitting on the skateboard – much more comfortable I would think – and then finally, trailing behind the entire pack was one, lone police car… lights on, no siren, with an officer at the wheel that had an obvious expression of “how the hell did this happen…”. Ha! Silly Durban police officer!!
Returned to the backpacker. Cooled our feet in the pool. Talked about all the trouble we may one day get into during happy hours in Portland. Played a rousing game of Hearts (we’re dorks). Included lots of trash talk. Pet the cute backpacker dogs in their ridiculous little shirts (one says “I’m too cool for obedience school.” Oh my.) And then… Back to Spiga for a glorious dinner in a breezy courtyard, by a bubbling fountain, under the first string of Christmas lights to go up so far. And oh, the food! Quite possibly the best Italian we’ve had yet in the this country: thick spaghetti bolognaise, gnocchi in a creamy marinara sauce, raviolis in white wine reduction, and I paired mine with a peach belini…. Ah. In fact, on our last day in Durban, when we were doing nothing but relaxing at the backpacker (and my husband was recovering from an unknown fever… don’t worry, he’s much better now!), we got take-out from Spiga… of almost the exact same order. Yes, it was that good. And yes, if I had brought another backpack, I may have gotten take-out to bring back to site. Shame.
And there you have it. Durban in a weekend.
Needless to say, we could have stayed (and eaten) a little while longer…
Many of our fellow PCVs assigned to the KwaZulu Nataal province had been to Durban before, frequented it even, as their ultimate shopping down or get-away-destination. But for most of us in Mpumalanga and Limpopo, LST was our first visit to the sunny city. As I mentioned in a previous blog, ‘sunny’ was not an entirely accurate descriptor for the day we arrived and many of the training days that followed – for example, we left the Nkomazi region on a balmy 41C (about 106F) day and arrived in Durban the following day to a bone-chilling 22C (about 72F) – keep in mind, since we’ve been hovering around the high 30C’s to low 40C’s for over a month now… climate changes such as that above, well, pretty much suck. Furthermore, while Nkomazi experiences fairly frequent downpours in the late afternoons and evenings, we had spent most of the our recent days in the blistering sun, or rather, trying to get out of the blistering sun. And Durban, much to our surprise, was damp, grey and bordering on tropical storm-force winds for the first four days we were there. What the hell?!?
But hold on… because eventually the “Durban, as advertised” eventually began to take shape.
On almost the last day of training, the weather warmed to a vacation-esque temperature, the sun came out over the sand and surf, and finally (finally!) the promenade and boardwalk took on their much-anticipated, resort-style look: people walking and biking along the beach, children building castles in the sand, throngs of visitors splashing in the waves, and windows flung open from every street-side restaurant so that diners could enjoy the sea-salt breeze. Ahhh… now that’s more like it.
And once our outlook on the city had gone from drizzly to dreamy, we got a look at what Durban really has to offer:
First of all, many of us newcomers to Durban agreed that the city could be described best as “The South African Miami” – beachside, of course, but also overly-colorful, surprisingly dingy, and boasting that oh-so-tacky flare for tourism appeasement. But, then again, to Peace Corps Volunteers that live in cement huts in dusty villages, what’s not to love about that?!?
The promenade and boardwalk, just along the beaches of the Indian Ocean, boast overly-priced curios, and overly-tourist-friendly dining (i.e., basic American and European cuisine), but also serve as a great location to stroll, listen to the waves, and best of all – enjoy live music, drink in hand, overlooking the ocean at sunset. And of course, a group of us enjoyed an evening of doing just that, as a friend of a fellow PCV was playing at a local night spot while we were in town. I was surprised at how much enjoyment I got from something that was once so common-place at home: a drink at a bar, a little live music from some local talents, and just random chit-chat with friends… oh the things we take for granted when we have a little money, a little transport, and a little civilization. ;-)
Just off the boardwalk, there’s plenty of adolescents hawking umbrellas, broad-brimmed hats, and towels – which I always find humorous, since they are basing they’re sales on the assumption that you just might be the kind of beach-goer that would forget these necessities… when going to the beach! He he! But, hawkers and unprepared tourists aside, the beaches themselves are divine – soft sand between your toes, beautiful shells to collect along a walk, and surprisingly large waves in which to waste away the afternoon hours. And while you do have to stay ever-mindful of keeping within the boundaries of the shark nets (we have some pretty big sharks here!) and not getting tangled up in a semi-poisonous jellyfish, there are fairly helpful lifeguards to wave you in the right direction of the “safe swim zones” and pour vinegar on your tentacle stings. And hey, those worries are really nothing compared to the biggest concern of all: sunburn. What people say about the African sun here is unmistakably true – it is simply ten feet away from your face. All. Day. Long. Uh. But, once again, I am focusing more on the negatives… when in fact, all in all, if you arrive prepared (and with copious amounts of sunscreen), the Durban beaches are a veritable sun and surf oasis and I, like any native coaster, soaked up every minute of that at-home feeling!!
Okay, now moving off the beach: Perhaps Durban’s greatest claim to fame (aside from its beachside location) is its indulgence in anything and everything Indian. As Durban was the most popular port of entry for Indian immigrants to South Africa, the city has become saturated with the colors, smells, and flavors of the Indian culture. Every street corner boasts an Indian restaurant and every supermarket has an aisle dedicated to the ingredients necessary for a truly Indian dining experience. Thus, on our first day after training (since Peace Corps trainings always come with three, free meals a day and you would have to be crazy to pass that up on our stipends!), we headed out from the beach to find some eastern-flavored grub. The first place we came across was small, with no real attention to décor and a menu on the wall that boasted pictures of the listed meals – not necessarily a good sign. However, all the diners were clearly of Indian descent and all the staff was clearly related, with at least three generations represented – all very, very good signs. So we headed in. First thing we spotted was a generous selection of naan – good start! Next, was the generous selection of curries – also great! And when the server/grandfather came to take our order, he spoke softly, in broken English, and ensured us that our dining experience would be quite satisfying – now this is our kind of place! Since we had little knowledge of the vast array of Indian cuisine, Adam chose to ask the nice server/grandfather what he would suggest if his own family was eating in his establishment, and without even a second’s hesitation he declared (quietly, of course), “mutton curry”. Okay, mutton curry it is. And oh… my… gosh… mutton curry it was!!! Adam described the extremely-spicy-but-too-delicious-to-stop-eating-for-even-one-minute dish as the best food he has had to date in South Africa!! (And we all know that is a lot coming from Adam!!!) All I could say was “oh yum” and “okay, need bread and water”! Ha! So, first Indian food experience: success!
After lunch, we moved to our new locale for the weekend – Surf n’ Dreams backpacker – which is located quite conveniently to one of Durban’s street-long hotspots. Thus, that night we got to experience another side of Durban’s culinary scene: Florida Road. Pronounced Floor-eee-dah by the locals, this street offers every possible size, style and type of food that one can imagine – and all within in a 1k block! How glorious! Oh where to begin… there’s Bangkok Wok for Thai food, Simply Fish and Simply Sushi for any type of seafood you desire, Delux Burger for the basic and not-so-basic delite, Santorini for Mediterranean yumminess, Cubana Grill & Havana Lounge for some Latin flavor, Spiga for indulgent Italian, Butcher Boys for a big ol’ slab of meat, the all-but-required House of Curries for traditional Indian, and so much more! The group of lingering PCVs chose, as virtually mandated, Taco Zulus for some ooey-gooey Mexican… with real tortilla chips! Of course, we paired this lovingly with some margaritas and Coronas and had ourselves a wonderfully filling taco, nacho, and burrito feast! What a great end to our Durban training!
Over the weekend, the swarm of PCVs thinned out and our activities slowed to a relaxed, vacation pace. In particular, Saturday was perhaps our most relaxed and enjoyable day! We started off the day with a walk down Musgrave Street to the shopping center. Along the way, we ogled at unbelievable houses with a Miami-meets-Beverly-Hills style to them, each with manicured lawns, lush tropical gardens, and some form of ornate water feature drawing in every imaginable color of bird. Walking downhill on Musgrave, we got to see incredible views of Durban in the morning haze – the semi-skyscrapers with rooftop pools, the multi-colored apartment buildings, the gorgeous World Cup stadium, and of course the coast and beach in the distance. Once at the shopping center, we cut through the parking lot (we weren’t actually going to the shopping center!!) to get to Essenwood Street and hiked back up a few blocks to arrive at the Saturday Street Market. Not exactly on the street, but rather, in a gorgeous, green park, flanked with mini rolling hills (the perfect kind for sledding as a kid!), and stunningly tall trees that provided much-welcomed shade. The market itself, while traditionally Indian at heart, has expanded beyond roti wraps and sari stalls to include adorable children’s clothes, French breads & cheeses, massage stations, Swazi dress wraps, hand-woven hats & mittens, fresh cut exotic flowers, a miniature crèperie, a modern furniture and décor section, and even pony rides and water sports for kids! Not surprisingly, we were able to meander away most of the morning between the market stalls, eating our way through several of the day’s courses by the afternoon. Why can’t every village have a market like this to spend our Saturday mornings at?!?
When we had had our fill of marketing, two fellow PCVs led us to a hole-in-the-wall book store that was rumored to be well worth a look. And, as it turned out, Ike’s Bookstore was a pretty great way to spend the afternoon! Located just off the main drag of Florida Road, at a private entrance with a buzzer by the door, an antiqued staircase leads you to the semi-slanted, beautifully musty-scented interior of Ike’s. The bookstore itself is a converted apartment, with multiple rooms, a large common area, and an amazingly breezy and comfy wrap-around porch that overlooks the ever-bustling street below and the coastal side of downtown Durban. Each room of the store resembles something from the crazy, Great Expectations home of old Mrs. Havisham – each categorically fashioned to match the genre of books in that section. Thus, the décor boasts everything from massive wooden desks, old fashioned type writers, and Americana tin-plated adverts of sunny vacation destinations to hand-sculpted African buttresses, Apartheid-era paraphernalia, and Ndebele beaded jewelry. Likewise, the books are equally diverse, with titles ranging from 18th century British medical handbooks and original writings on the exploration of the African continent to James Beard’s books on fish cookery and colorful depictions of the American 1960’s. You could quite literally spend a couple days in this store and, since the wonderful shop manager questioned us enthusiastically about our service in the country and the store owner offered us some refreshing white wine to have with our conversation, we too stayed well past closing and indulged our inner-bibliophiles.
By the time that late afternoon approached, we made reservations at Spiga for large plates of Italian that night and began heading back up Florida Road to Surf n’ Dreams for a game of Hearts (since we had four! Yay!) by the pool. En route, however, we were met halfway by a gathering swarm of onlookers waiting for… well… we had no idea. As it turned out, there was an impromptu, down-hill, skateboarding race about to take place! Adding to the adventure was the fact that apparently no one had informed the authorities about this race and, therefore, the bustling Florida Road would not be closed for safety. Hmmm, this should be interesting… The skateboarders appeared, several in very creative and brightly colored jumpsuits, overalls, and patchwork pants and zig-zagged their way down the south-bound lane. Cars in the north-bound lane swerved frightfully out of the way to avoid those lazy riders that drifted across the lines…oops. There must have been at least a hundred of them! And eventually, from top to bottom, as far as you could see down the hill, skateboarders had taken over Florida Road and caused a completely stopped chaos of cars on all sides. At the tail end, a couple younger kids rode down the hill while sitting on the skateboard – much more comfortable I would think – and then finally, trailing behind the entire pack was one, lone police car… lights on, no siren, with an officer at the wheel that had an obvious expression of “how the hell did this happen…”. Ha! Silly Durban police officer!!
Returned to the backpacker. Cooled our feet in the pool. Talked about all the trouble we may one day get into during happy hours in Portland. Played a rousing game of Hearts (we’re dorks). Included lots of trash talk. Pet the cute backpacker dogs in their ridiculous little shirts (one says “I’m too cool for obedience school.” Oh my.) And then… Back to Spiga for a glorious dinner in a breezy courtyard, by a bubbling fountain, under the first string of Christmas lights to go up so far. And oh, the food! Quite possibly the best Italian we’ve had yet in the this country: thick spaghetti bolognaise, gnocchi in a creamy marinara sauce, raviolis in white wine reduction, and I paired mine with a peach belini…. Ah. In fact, on our last day in Durban, when we were doing nothing but relaxing at the backpacker (and my husband was recovering from an unknown fever… don’t worry, he’s much better now!), we got take-out from Spiga… of almost the exact same order. Yes, it was that good. And yes, if I had brought another backpack, I may have gotten take-out to bring back to site. Shame.
And there you have it. Durban in a weekend.
Needless to say, we could have stayed (and eaten) a little while longer…
Saturday, November 27, 2010
L.S.T.
Jess writes:
Last week, Adam and I attended yet another of our –ST’s in Peace Corps! This one, following PST and IST is “Life Skills Orientation Training” (as mentioned in a previous post, apparently the ‘O’ does not mesh well with the acronym, so it is conveniently left out!) LST pairs PCV’s with their counterparts, usually from departments of their organizations that focus on work with orphans & vulnerable children or education with adolescents. The purpose of LST is to train PCVs and their counterparts on the techniques associated with transferring critical, life-changing skills to youth – i.e., responsible decision making, anatomy and sexuality, myths & facts about HIV/AIDS, etc.
Thus, with Margaret (from Jeppes Reef) and Busie (from Thembalethu) in tow, Adam and I made our way to sunny Durban. Well, first of all, not so sunny when we arrived… but that’s okay, we were staying in a hotel with flush toilets, showers, and a 3-times-a-day free buffet!!! Ahhhh, civilization!!
As always, it was great to see some of our further-away-fellow-PCVs, all those Limpopo and KZN people that we only get to fraternize with on the rare occasion that Peace Corps pays for our transportation to get together! And, also as always, the training itself had its high points and its lulls, but unlike some other PC trainings we have attended, the counterparts at LST were surprisingly engaged, communicative, and questioning – oh my!! In fact, the majority of questions and input came from our South African coworkers, rather than our fellow PCVs, a rare and entirely surprising thing to witness! Nearly all the PCVs made some mention of this observation and all of us felt pretty excited to be a part of the experience!!
While the overall training was fairly informative, certain highlights stuck out:
For example, AIDS Soccer…beachside – hosted by our own Nkomazi-based Alex Tran – in which teams were divided into ‘HIV’ and ‘Immune System’. The ‘Immune System’ team was expected to play by all the regular rules of professional league soccer, while the ‘HIV’ team was (conveniently) allowed to push, hit, kick offsides, and in general, create all-out chaos on the pitch. Furthermore, team ‘Immune System’ was often given red cards for penalties such as “falling down when being pushed” or “unfair goals”… for absolutely no reason!! And finally, whenever an ‘Immune System’ player was escorted off the field for receiving these dubious red cards, they were also given a paper describing the type of stigma with which they had been assigned (i.e., ‘Prostitute’, ‘In Denial’, etc.) and another ‘HIV’ team member was invited to join the winning team. Slowly but surely, team ‘Immune System’ was down to only a handful of flagging players and team ‘HIV’ had increased exponentially in size to almost twenty players!!! (Are we getting the metaphor here??) Thus, it was a truly unique and fun way of providing a visual to the HIV vs. Immune System battle and, of course, also allowed for lots of trash-talking and laughs!! Thanks Tran!
The mid-week, Role-Play Teach-Backs were also pretty entertaining. These were performed by PCVs and their counterparts, in pairs or small groups. Each would be given a lesson to ‘teach back’ to the larger group in some type of engaging way. Busie & I were assigned “Decision Making” and decided to focus on the ineptitude of many youth to assist their fellow peers in making tough decisions in life-altering circumstances. In order to introduce this approach, we acted out the following – slightly stereotyped – skit, where Busie played the role of a young female in trouble and I played the role of an unhelpful schoolmate:
The fact that Busie spoke in perfect English (with perfect grammer) and I spoke with a very heavy South African accent and utilized every physical gesticulation I could think of with all the ‘Eish’ and ‘Shame’ remarks had everyone quite amused, and yet, we also seemed to get the point across quite well.
And finally, while not entirely related to training, perhaps the best part of LST was witnessing the sheer joy of our counterparts playing at the beach. While it may seem entirely normal to any of us (especially those of us that grew up on or near the beach), the thought of running in the sand and, quite literally, frolicking in the waves was unsurprisingly foreign to our wonderful, South African coworkers. Thus, on the very few days when afternoon sessions allowed for free time on the beach, our counterparts were some of the first to strip down to bras, slips, and other undergarments and go rolling around in the tide! It was delightful to watch – as uninhibited PCVs and spontaneously free counterparts dove under white caps and got tossed onto the beach by every other wave. At one point, I sat beside Busie and Margaret in the surf and asked if they had ever been to Durban before. Both had, but at much younger ages, with family. And Margaret added with a huge smile, “But I don’t ever remember having this much fun!” Yeah, it made me smile too!
So all in all, I think our counterparts took back quite a bit of useful information from our LST lessons and sessions, but more so than anything else, I think we all got a rare chance to see eachother just having fun – acting like carefree kids in a profession and country where we (both volunteers and coworkers) do not typically get a chance to do so. It seemed to me that this was a true vacation.
Last week, Adam and I attended yet another of our –ST’s in Peace Corps! This one, following PST and IST is “Life Skills Orientation Training” (as mentioned in a previous post, apparently the ‘O’ does not mesh well with the acronym, so it is conveniently left out!) LST pairs PCV’s with their counterparts, usually from departments of their organizations that focus on work with orphans & vulnerable children or education with adolescents. The purpose of LST is to train PCVs and their counterparts on the techniques associated with transferring critical, life-changing skills to youth – i.e., responsible decision making, anatomy and sexuality, myths & facts about HIV/AIDS, etc.
Thus, with Margaret (from Jeppes Reef) and Busie (from Thembalethu) in tow, Adam and I made our way to sunny Durban. Well, first of all, not so sunny when we arrived… but that’s okay, we were staying in a hotel with flush toilets, showers, and a 3-times-a-day free buffet!!! Ahhhh, civilization!!
As always, it was great to see some of our further-away-fellow-PCVs, all those Limpopo and KZN people that we only get to fraternize with on the rare occasion that Peace Corps pays for our transportation to get together! And, also as always, the training itself had its high points and its lulls, but unlike some other PC trainings we have attended, the counterparts at LST were surprisingly engaged, communicative, and questioning – oh my!! In fact, the majority of questions and input came from our South African coworkers, rather than our fellow PCVs, a rare and entirely surprising thing to witness! Nearly all the PCVs made some mention of this observation and all of us felt pretty excited to be a part of the experience!!
While the overall training was fairly informative, certain highlights stuck out:
For example, AIDS Soccer…beachside – hosted by our own Nkomazi-based Alex Tran – in which teams were divided into ‘HIV’ and ‘Immune System’. The ‘Immune System’ team was expected to play by all the regular rules of professional league soccer, while the ‘HIV’ team was (conveniently) allowed to push, hit, kick offsides, and in general, create all-out chaos on the pitch. Furthermore, team ‘Immune System’ was often given red cards for penalties such as “falling down when being pushed” or “unfair goals”… for absolutely no reason!! And finally, whenever an ‘Immune System’ player was escorted off the field for receiving these dubious red cards, they were also given a paper describing the type of stigma with which they had been assigned (i.e., ‘Prostitute’, ‘In Denial’, etc.) and another ‘HIV’ team member was invited to join the winning team. Slowly but surely, team ‘Immune System’ was down to only a handful of flagging players and team ‘HIV’ had increased exponentially in size to almost twenty players!!! (Are we getting the metaphor here??) Thus, it was a truly unique and fun way of providing a visual to the HIV vs. Immune System battle and, of course, also allowed for lots of trash-talking and laughs!! Thanks Tran!
The mid-week, Role-Play Teach-Backs were also pretty entertaining. These were performed by PCVs and their counterparts, in pairs or small groups. Each would be given a lesson to ‘teach back’ to the larger group in some type of engaging way. Busie & I were assigned “Decision Making” and decided to focus on the ineptitude of many youth to assist their fellow peers in making tough decisions in life-altering circumstances. In order to introduce this approach, we acted out the following – slightly stereotyped – skit, where Busie played the role of a young female in trouble and I played the role of an unhelpful schoolmate:
Me: Hello SesBusie [Sister Busie]! Howzit [how is everything]?
Busie: Hello sesi [sister], oh, not very good. Yesterday I found out that I am pregnant… And I can't tell my parents...
Me: Eish! Shame…
Busie: Yes, and now I think I will have to marry an older man to pay for everything…
Me: Oh my sesi, ooh…
Busie: And he will not let me go to school, because I will have to take care of his other children…
Me: Oh so sorry…
Busie: And I will have to sleep with him in order to get enough food for me and the baby…
Me: Eh! Shame sesi…
Busie: So I have no idea what I should do, I’m struggling.
Me: Yebo [yes], I see this. I do. So do you want to go to town after school today and look at the new skirts at PEP?
Busie: Ummm… okay.
The fact that Busie spoke in perfect English (with perfect grammer) and I spoke with a very heavy South African accent and utilized every physical gesticulation I could think of with all the ‘Eish’ and ‘Shame’ remarks had everyone quite amused, and yet, we also seemed to get the point across quite well.
And finally, while not entirely related to training, perhaps the best part of LST was witnessing the sheer joy of our counterparts playing at the beach. While it may seem entirely normal to any of us (especially those of us that grew up on or near the beach), the thought of running in the sand and, quite literally, frolicking in the waves was unsurprisingly foreign to our wonderful, South African coworkers. Thus, on the very few days when afternoon sessions allowed for free time on the beach, our counterparts were some of the first to strip down to bras, slips, and other undergarments and go rolling around in the tide! It was delightful to watch – as uninhibited PCVs and spontaneously free counterparts dove under white caps and got tossed onto the beach by every other wave. At one point, I sat beside Busie and Margaret in the surf and asked if they had ever been to Durban before. Both had, but at much younger ages, with family. And Margaret added with a huge smile, “But I don’t ever remember having this much fun!” Yeah, it made me smile too!
So all in all, I think our counterparts took back quite a bit of useful information from our LST lessons and sessions, but more so than anything else, I think we all got a rare chance to see eachother just having fun – acting like carefree kids in a profession and country where we (both volunteers and coworkers) do not typically get a chance to do so. It seemed to me that this was a true vacation.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
RWO: Hey, Hi, Howdy, Hello
“Hello”, in almost all indigenous South African languages, translates literally to “I see you” (yes, think Avatar). And the formal way of greeting someone is in the plural, which symbolizes not only addressing them, but also all those in their family, which we think is kinda nifty. Where we live, it’s expected to greet virtually everyone you see on the road to/from work by at least making eye contact and saying hello, “Sawubona” or “Sanibonani”, and asking how they/their family are doing “Unjani” or “Ninjani”. This becomes especially important when passing Gogos (grandmothers) because they are particularly happy when greeted by visitors, so the procedure usually involves slowing your pace (perhaps almost to a stop in the middle of the road) and often involves much more elongated and inunciated greetings, “Saw-u-boooo-na”, and even sometimes a hand shake/hold as well. The only time that these greetings are waived is during particularly busy travel time, such as when school lets out… simply put, because it is virtually impossible to stop and talk to that many kids! But either way, it certainly does put a new (or perhaps old) twist on the whole nod-and-mutter-greeting that we’ve come to love so much in the States… ahhhh.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Block B: From Big Braais to Boo Bashes
Jess writes:
October has been the month to be in Block B – the town on the East Side of Nkomazi that one of our fellow PCVs calls home. And while Block B may not be the most convenient get together location for all, our Block B PCV happens to have the largest host family home in the area – hence, the place to eat, drink, and be merry! So, this month, Block B hosted two Nkomazi events: A BBQ, dubbed “The Newbie Braai”, and an oh-so-creative Halloween Bash!
The Newbie Braai brought together the last-few-standing SA19s (from January 2009), the feet-now-wet SA21s (us, from January 2010), and of course, the shiny-and-new SA22s (from July 2010). We were also joined by some Afrikaaner friends that were assisting with a video project in some of our PCV villages! Coming from the western reaches of Schoemansdal and the eastern reaches of Steenbok (as well as the civilizations of Pretoria), we gathered to cook way too much food and welcome our new Peace Corps family members. Beginning with Mexican food (what else?) on Saturday night and topping it off with an obscene amount of bbq-ed meat on Sunday, we managed to cover everything from Peace Corps paperwork requirements to the best shopping spots in “the pocket” (aka, Nkomazi)! All in all, it was a great way to get to know our newest neighbors. So, to Matt, Kristy, Andrew, Meg and John: Welcome!
The Halloween Bash was just that – as we joined with our Nkomazi crew, as well as some fellow 21s from far-away Mpumalanga lands (okay, not really far-away) and some of the other volunteers/residents from our own Thembalethu family! The highlight, of course, were the very creative and the not-so-creative costumes that accompanied the night. Bottoming out the list, sadly, was our own group from Schoemansdal – due mainly to the last-minute decision to join on our small budget – so… Adam dawned his Porkslap t-shirt and we called it a “beer snob” costume; I put on a skirt for the first time in almost 6 months and called myself a “Peace Corps Trainee”, Hank (the Dutch volunteer at Thembalethu) wore his normal clothes, which screams enough EU-ness to be considered a “Johnny Depp-ish” look; and Corey (our Thembalethu-based American resident) wore, well, nothing that resembled any form of costume, but gets more credit than the rest for driving us all over there in his wonderfully air conditioned car!! Next came the all-blue jumpsuit that designates the typical, South African “Eskom Worker”, made even better by the fact that the pants were more than a couple inches too short; followed by our resident “Cat Lady”, which was basically every-day wear as long as you were carrying around Savannah, the house cat; then the mosquito-netting-winged “Mosquito” costume, paired with a dozen mosquito-borne illnesses on index cards that were egregiously handed out throughout the evening; arriving fashionably late was our “Indian Couple”, complete with a bindi for the girl and a full turban for the guy; there was also a “Coombie”, yes, the entire coombie, made from cardboard and drawn-on with crayons, that fit not only the driver, but even a few raucous passengers; and finally, perhaps the most disturbing of all, was the… ummm… I have no idea what it was: Afrikaaner-esque short shorts, tall socks, sandals, a Springbok rugby jersey, a two-cup beer helmet, and to top it all off, an insanely tacky South African flag cape – circa World Cup 2010. Oh boy… now that was a sight to behold (I encourage everyone to see the Facebook photos for the full effect)!! In order to make the Halloween party as interesting as possible, our genteel Nkomazi government decided to cut the electricity until after dark, which conveniently added to the Haloweeney feel to our night. But as the dark got darker, we mustered all our night-trekking skills and gathered as much brush and as many random branches as possible in order to create some make-shift firelight in a braai pit in the courtyard – hey, you need at least a little light to keep eating, drinking, and making merry, right?
In the end, as October closed, we managed to celebrate not only a successful welcome party but also a happy Halloween afterall… Block B style… with just a little more than a bit of a South African flare!!
October has been the month to be in Block B – the town on the East Side of Nkomazi that one of our fellow PCVs calls home. And while Block B may not be the most convenient get together location for all, our Block B PCV happens to have the largest host family home in the area – hence, the place to eat, drink, and be merry! So, this month, Block B hosted two Nkomazi events: A BBQ, dubbed “The Newbie Braai”, and an oh-so-creative Halloween Bash!
The Newbie Braai brought together the last-few-standing SA19s (from January 2009), the feet-now-wet SA21s (us, from January 2010), and of course, the shiny-and-new SA22s (from July 2010). We were also joined by some Afrikaaner friends that were assisting with a video project in some of our PCV villages! Coming from the western reaches of Schoemansdal and the eastern reaches of Steenbok (as well as the civilizations of Pretoria), we gathered to cook way too much food and welcome our new Peace Corps family members. Beginning with Mexican food (what else?) on Saturday night and topping it off with an obscene amount of bbq-ed meat on Sunday, we managed to cover everything from Peace Corps paperwork requirements to the best shopping spots in “the pocket” (aka, Nkomazi)! All in all, it was a great way to get to know our newest neighbors. So, to Matt, Kristy, Andrew, Meg and John: Welcome!
The Halloween Bash was just that – as we joined with our Nkomazi crew, as well as some fellow 21s from far-away Mpumalanga lands (okay, not really far-away) and some of the other volunteers/residents from our own Thembalethu family! The highlight, of course, were the very creative and the not-so-creative costumes that accompanied the night. Bottoming out the list, sadly, was our own group from Schoemansdal – due mainly to the last-minute decision to join on our small budget – so… Adam dawned his Porkslap t-shirt and we called it a “beer snob” costume; I put on a skirt for the first time in almost 6 months and called myself a “Peace Corps Trainee”, Hank (the Dutch volunteer at Thembalethu) wore his normal clothes, which screams enough EU-ness to be considered a “Johnny Depp-ish” look; and Corey (our Thembalethu-based American resident) wore, well, nothing that resembled any form of costume, but gets more credit than the rest for driving us all over there in his wonderfully air conditioned car!! Next came the all-blue jumpsuit that designates the typical, South African “Eskom Worker”, made even better by the fact that the pants were more than a couple inches too short; followed by our resident “Cat Lady”, which was basically every-day wear as long as you were carrying around Savannah, the house cat; then the mosquito-netting-winged “Mosquito” costume, paired with a dozen mosquito-borne illnesses on index cards that were egregiously handed out throughout the evening; arriving fashionably late was our “Indian Couple”, complete with a bindi for the girl and a full turban for the guy; there was also a “Coombie”, yes, the entire coombie, made from cardboard and drawn-on with crayons, that fit not only the driver, but even a few raucous passengers; and finally, perhaps the most disturbing of all, was the… ummm… I have no idea what it was: Afrikaaner-esque short shorts, tall socks, sandals, a Springbok rugby jersey, a two-cup beer helmet, and to top it all off, an insanely tacky South African flag cape – circa World Cup 2010. Oh boy… now that was a sight to behold (I encourage everyone to see the Facebook photos for the full effect)!! In order to make the Halloween party as interesting as possible, our genteel Nkomazi government decided to cut the electricity until after dark, which conveniently added to the Haloweeney feel to our night. But as the dark got darker, we mustered all our night-trekking skills and gathered as much brush and as many random branches as possible in order to create some make-shift firelight in a braai pit in the courtyard – hey, you need at least a little light to keep eating, drinking, and making merry, right?
In the end, as October closed, we managed to celebrate not only a successful welcome party but also a happy Halloween afterall… Block B style… with just a little more than a bit of a South African flare!!
Friday, October 29, 2010
The Continent
Jess writes:
Remember that West Wing episode where C.J. Craig sits in on a meeting of a cartography lobby group that is trying to convince the U.S. government that our current maps of the globe are wholly inaccurate and, with some truly mind-boggling proof, they manage to completely readjust C.J.’s worldview, resulting in her random outbursts (i.e. “Where the hell is France?!?”) for the remainder of the episode?? Come on, that was one of my favorites!! Well, anyways, off the preamble…
This last week, oddly enough, I was involved in more than one conversation that revolved around the incorrectness of maps and the ginormous size of Africa (yes, many volunteers are dorks, like myself, and yes, we do have these types of conversations sometimes!). Then, as luck would have it, I was sent a link (by someone who is aware of my dorky-ness) that just so happened to introduce me to Mr. Kai Krause and his noble cause, “The Fight Against Rampant Immapancy”! The link itself was a redrawing of Africa with other recognizable countries drawn to scale within its interior, in order to show exactly how ginormous Africa really is! How convenient!!! So, as my excitement would have it, I’ve included this image here:
Remember that West Wing episode where C.J. Craig sits in on a meeting of a cartography lobby group that is trying to convince the U.S. government that our current maps of the globe are wholly inaccurate and, with some truly mind-boggling proof, they manage to completely readjust C.J.’s worldview, resulting in her random outbursts (i.e. “Where the hell is France?!?”) for the remainder of the episode?? Come on, that was one of my favorites!! Well, anyways, off the preamble…
This last week, oddly enough, I was involved in more than one conversation that revolved around the incorrectness of maps and the ginormous size of Africa (yes, many volunteers are dorks, like myself, and yes, we do have these types of conversations sometimes!). Then, as luck would have it, I was sent a link (by someone who is aware of my dorky-ness) that just so happened to introduce me to Mr. Kai Krause and his noble cause, “The Fight Against Rampant Immapancy”! The link itself was a redrawing of Africa with other recognizable countries drawn to scale within its interior, in order to show exactly how ginormous Africa really is! How convenient!!! So, as my excitement would have it, I’ve included this image here:
-2.jpg)
(Since the jpeg is equally enormous, I’d suggest checking out the actual article - click here - to see the original picture!!)
So, as you can see, my recent obsession with ‘The Continent’ and the incorrectness of our world maps is not wholly irrelevant! Africa really is unbelievably huge and our current maps really are unbelievably misrepresentative!!
Anyways, I always find these little tidbits interesting, so I figured I would pass it along. And isn’t it cool to think that if Adam and I ever do manage to do a Cape-Town-to-Cairo trip after our service, we’ll actually be travelling the whole of Japan, India, and Eastern Europe, as well as most of China and some of the E.U.?!? Now that’s a journey!!!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Water, Water (Sometimes) Everywhere
Jess writes:
Today is a water day – that is, the day when the outside water taps are turned on in Schoemansdal – and, due to my new obsession with everything water (think previous site, without water…gr.) I’ve decided to dedicate an entire blog post to the activities that revolve around our water usage. Boring, you say? Well, you might be surprised… or at least thankful for the water that we all have across the pond!!
As it turns out (but nevertheless unsurprisingly) we take for granted the many ways in which we use running water in the U.S. – the pure ease of turning a handle and having hot or cold water at your fingertips – who would have thought it a luxury?!? Well, of course, a bout of service in Africa (or most other places in the developing world) will quickly change your opinion! And now, I can honestly say, I will never take that glorious, running liquid for granted again (much the same with flush toilets, washing machines, and real cold soda!! Ah!)
Water days in Schoemansdal are once every three days (thank god!!) – meaning that, the water taps in the yard (we have one primary and one secondary tap in our yard), come on as such: Monday on, Tuesday & Wednesday off, Thursday on, Friday & Saturday off, Sunday on… etc. And while we are not the luckiest of South African PCVs (some have water on everyday!) we are certainly better off than many (again, think ourselves, at the previous site)!! But since water is such a daily necessity, every PCV develops his or her own system for ensuring that some water is available on the majority of days when the town water is shut off. Thus, on those eventful water days, we take at least a half-day off from work because our focus shifts to hoarding and our schedules are booked with running from the house, to the tap, and back again, with many sorts of water collection containers and water-heavy activities. Take a look:
First, when the water comes on around 8:00am, we get right to the most important item on the water collection list: filling up the reserve containers & restocking our drinking water. As for the reserve containers, we have two, very large buckets (about 5 gallon) that are stored in our kitchen and kept as close to overflowing as possible – this will serve as all the useful water for the following two days. As for drinking water, we have 3 large-handled water jugs (5 litres exactly), 2 metal canteens, and no less than 4 portable water bottles that we fill with ‘clean’ water. To get the water ‘clean’, of course, we have to at least filter the water (we will sometimes still boil the water before filtering, depending on the quality of the water, but usually our taps run often enough to skip this part). Filtering, cup by cup, to fill the 3 large jugs, 2 canteens, and 4 water bottles can take over an hour, with other chores interspersed.
Next, around 9:00am, we move to the chores that require a lot of running water (and time) – namely, laundry and cleaning. For laundry, we fill our “bath bucket” (one of two black buckets, a little less than 5 gallons) halfway with water and some powdered soap and we fill our “bath basin” (a huge, elongated, plastic tub) halfway with water and fabric softener (the whole “bath” part will make sense in a bit… by the way). We then proceed to launder: plunging the clothes in the “bath bucket” with a laundry plunger, or just our hands, and rinsing the clothes in the “bath basin”. A typical load of laundry requires 4-5 changes of soap-water in the “bath bucket” and at least one change of softener-water in the “bath basin”, hence the need to do laundry on water days. Laundry will take anywhere from 1 to 3 hours, depending on the size and will require the rest of the day to dry, hence the need to do it earlier in the morning.
Cleaning, as mentioned above, also requires a lot of water, primarily because everything can get so dirty in the process – i.e., dust rags, the broom, ourselves, etc. And if mopping (which we rarely do, because we both hate it!) we obviously need a lot of water for the mop bucket, which is its own, separate bucket stored in the kitchen with the cleaning supplies. If nothing else, we at least pour a bucket of Jayes fluid down the pit latrine for sanitation sake. Jayes fluid is basically a super disinfectant that you mix with water to keep the pit latrine from getting too smelly or, worse yet, actually unhealthy. But since Jayes fluid is such a harsh chemical, we can’t use any of our reserve, wash or bath buckets for the mixing, so we revert to the mop bucket in most cases.
After laundry and cleaning, we move to the less water-heavy but equally important water-needy chores:
First, there’s washing the dishes, which requires us to fill our hotpot (electric tea kettle) to the top for hot water and to fill our two dish basins part-way with soap-water and clean-water for washing and rinsing. Once the dishes are done for the day, we’ll usually refill the hotpot and two dish basins with water again in preparation for the next round of dishes that night or the following morning (so that we don’t use up our reserve water).
Then, there’s the water needed for cooking. Since we can’t fill every pot and pan in the house with water, in anticipation of needing it later, we will fill our “kitchen bucket” (the other of the two black buckets, a little less than 5 gallons) and store it under the kitchen table.
Next, there’s the elusive bathwater… remember that “bath bucket” and “bath basin”? We will fill the “bath bucket” nearly to the top, with enough room to add some hot water, and bring in the now-empty “bath basin” to stand in for our ‘shower’ (and of course by ‘shower’ I mean pouring water over our head with a plastic cup from the bucket while standing in our basin). And for the hot water, I’ll fill at least one large cooking pot to be heated right before starting. Together, Adam and I use just slightly more than the one black bucket for our two ‘showers’, so if we shower early enough in the day, we can even refill the “bath bucket” for the next day before the water is shut off (so we don’t have to use the reserve water from the blue buckets).
Finally, around mid-day, we will have all buckets filled, all drinking jugs topped off, all canteens and water bottles chilling in the fridge, all clothes & dishes clean (our own bodies soon to be clean too – ah!), and hopefully, enough water collected to last the 48-hours… because the taps dry-up around 4:00pm. Such a sad, sad sight: a tap dripping slower and slower until it… stops. Goodbye water. See you in a few days.
So there you have it! The whole water routine and my reason for being water-obsessive (its understandable now, right?)!! Okay, gotta run… it is water day after all!!
Today is a water day – that is, the day when the outside water taps are turned on in Schoemansdal – and, due to my new obsession with everything water (think previous site, without water…gr.) I’ve decided to dedicate an entire blog post to the activities that revolve around our water usage. Boring, you say? Well, you might be surprised… or at least thankful for the water that we all have across the pond!!
As it turns out (but nevertheless unsurprisingly) we take for granted the many ways in which we use running water in the U.S. – the pure ease of turning a handle and having hot or cold water at your fingertips – who would have thought it a luxury?!? Well, of course, a bout of service in Africa (or most other places in the developing world) will quickly change your opinion! And now, I can honestly say, I will never take that glorious, running liquid for granted again (much the same with flush toilets, washing machines, and real cold soda!! Ah!)
Water days in Schoemansdal are once every three days (thank god!!) – meaning that, the water taps in the yard (we have one primary and one secondary tap in our yard), come on as such: Monday on, Tuesday & Wednesday off, Thursday on, Friday & Saturday off, Sunday on… etc. And while we are not the luckiest of South African PCVs (some have water on everyday!) we are certainly better off than many (again, think ourselves, at the previous site)!! But since water is such a daily necessity, every PCV develops his or her own system for ensuring that some water is available on the majority of days when the town water is shut off. Thus, on those eventful water days, we take at least a half-day off from work because our focus shifts to hoarding and our schedules are booked with running from the house, to the tap, and back again, with many sorts of water collection containers and water-heavy activities. Take a look:
First, when the water comes on around 8:00am, we get right to the most important item on the water collection list: filling up the reserve containers & restocking our drinking water. As for the reserve containers, we have two, very large buckets (about 5 gallon) that are stored in our kitchen and kept as close to overflowing as possible – this will serve as all the useful water for the following two days. As for drinking water, we have 3 large-handled water jugs (5 litres exactly), 2 metal canteens, and no less than 4 portable water bottles that we fill with ‘clean’ water. To get the water ‘clean’, of course, we have to at least filter the water (we will sometimes still boil the water before filtering, depending on the quality of the water, but usually our taps run often enough to skip this part). Filtering, cup by cup, to fill the 3 large jugs, 2 canteens, and 4 water bottles can take over an hour, with other chores interspersed.
Next, around 9:00am, we move to the chores that require a lot of running water (and time) – namely, laundry and cleaning. For laundry, we fill our “bath bucket” (one of two black buckets, a little less than 5 gallons) halfway with water and some powdered soap and we fill our “bath basin” (a huge, elongated, plastic tub) halfway with water and fabric softener (the whole “bath” part will make sense in a bit… by the way). We then proceed to launder: plunging the clothes in the “bath bucket” with a laundry plunger, or just our hands, and rinsing the clothes in the “bath basin”. A typical load of laundry requires 4-5 changes of soap-water in the “bath bucket” and at least one change of softener-water in the “bath basin”, hence the need to do laundry on water days. Laundry will take anywhere from 1 to 3 hours, depending on the size and will require the rest of the day to dry, hence the need to do it earlier in the morning.
Cleaning, as mentioned above, also requires a lot of water, primarily because everything can get so dirty in the process – i.e., dust rags, the broom, ourselves, etc. And if mopping (which we rarely do, because we both hate it!) we obviously need a lot of water for the mop bucket, which is its own, separate bucket stored in the kitchen with the cleaning supplies. If nothing else, we at least pour a bucket of Jayes fluid down the pit latrine for sanitation sake. Jayes fluid is basically a super disinfectant that you mix with water to keep the pit latrine from getting too smelly or, worse yet, actually unhealthy. But since Jayes fluid is such a harsh chemical, we can’t use any of our reserve, wash or bath buckets for the mixing, so we revert to the mop bucket in most cases.
After laundry and cleaning, we move to the less water-heavy but equally important water-needy chores:
First, there’s washing the dishes, which requires us to fill our hotpot (electric tea kettle) to the top for hot water and to fill our two dish basins part-way with soap-water and clean-water for washing and rinsing. Once the dishes are done for the day, we’ll usually refill the hotpot and two dish basins with water again in preparation for the next round of dishes that night or the following morning (so that we don’t use up our reserve water).
Then, there’s the water needed for cooking. Since we can’t fill every pot and pan in the house with water, in anticipation of needing it later, we will fill our “kitchen bucket” (the other of the two black buckets, a little less than 5 gallons) and store it under the kitchen table.
Next, there’s the elusive bathwater… remember that “bath bucket” and “bath basin”? We will fill the “bath bucket” nearly to the top, with enough room to add some hot water, and bring in the now-empty “bath basin” to stand in for our ‘shower’ (and of course by ‘shower’ I mean pouring water over our head with a plastic cup from the bucket while standing in our basin). And for the hot water, I’ll fill at least one large cooking pot to be heated right before starting. Together, Adam and I use just slightly more than the one black bucket for our two ‘showers’, so if we shower early enough in the day, we can even refill the “bath bucket” for the next day before the water is shut off (so we don’t have to use the reserve water from the blue buckets).
Finally, around mid-day, we will have all buckets filled, all drinking jugs topped off, all canteens and water bottles chilling in the fridge, all clothes & dishes clean (our own bodies soon to be clean too – ah!), and hopefully, enough water collected to last the 48-hours… because the taps dry-up around 4:00pm. Such a sad, sad sight: a tap dripping slower and slower until it… stops. Goodbye water. See you in a few days.
So there you have it! The whole water routine and my reason for being water-obsessive (its understandable now, right?)!! Okay, gotta run… it is water day after all!!
Friday, October 22, 2010
50 Years Later - A Call to Serve
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Jess writes:
Aside from the entrance of “Kamikaze October Bugs” for PCVs in South Africa, this October holds some special meaning for Peace Corps worldwide. And before continuing with our typical posts, I would like to take a moment to mention this milestone in Peace Corps’ history…
Last week, hundreds of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, students, professors, and government officials joined at the University of Michigan to honor a call to service that occurred exactly 50 years ago: On the steps of the Michigan Union building, in Ann Arbor’s University of Michigan campus, at 2:00am and in the drizzling rain, then-Senator John F. Kennedy made a speech urging students to serve in developing countries:
Aside from the entrance of “Kamikaze October Bugs” for PCVs in South Africa, this October holds some special meaning for Peace Corps worldwide. And before continuing with our typical posts, I would like to take a moment to mention this milestone in Peace Corps’ history…
Last week, hundreds of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, students, professors, and government officials joined at the University of Michigan to honor a call to service that occurred exactly 50 years ago: On the steps of the Michigan Union building, in Ann Arbor’s University of Michigan campus, at 2:00am and in the drizzling rain, then-Senator John F. Kennedy made a speech urging students to serve in developing countries:
“How many of you who are going to be doctors are willing to spend your days in Ghana? Technicians or engineers, how many of you are willing to work in the Foreign Service and spend your lives traveling around the world?... On your willingness to do that, not merely to serve one year or two years in service, but on your willingness to contribute part of your life to this country, I think will depend the answer as to whether a free society can compete. I think it can. And I think that Americans are willing to contribute.” (October 14, 1960)
It was dubbed the great “Call to Serve”, and while 2011 will be the momentous “50 Year Anniversary” for Peace Corps (as it was founded in 1961), last week actually started it all.
Aaron Williams, our current director of the Peace Corps, made a statement at the ceremony, commenting on Kennedy’s vision of the Peace Corps, "The movement that began here in Ann Arbor went on to change the way America sees the world…” and, most importantly, he added, “…and the way the world sees this country.”
The ceremony itself drew people from every corner of the country, and gathered together people that have experienced Peace Corps in very different ways. One man, Bob Dascola, has a barbershop just a couple blocks away from the Union building, and was only 14 years old at the time. But he convinced his parents to wait up for Kennedy to arrive, heard his speech, and the next day rode his bicycle alongside Kennedy’s motorcade as it left the campus. Bob was never in the Peace Corps, but he says he remembers that experience like it was yesterday.
Gene Schreiber, age 72, was one of the first volunteers in Tanzania in 1961 and is astonished to see that the Peace Corps has continued for half a century. He says candidly, “It was a pioneer type of spirit then… You go and do something new, you don’t really expect it to last.”
Perhaps my favorite mini-story of the occasion was that of Tom Hayden, age 70, who was editor for the Michigan Daily when JFK made his speech and when the Peace Corps formally began months later in 1961. He told reporters at the ceremony last week, “I wouldn’t have missed this. You simply don’t get many opportunities to relive important moments like this in your own life.”
Over the last 50 years, Peace Corps has had more than 200,000 volunteers respond to Kennedy’s “Call to Serve” in 139 countries around the world. So, to the Peace Corps, from a currently serving Peace Corps Volunteer, I say this: “For all your good and your bad, your tough and your insufferable, your hot and your buggy, your patient progression and small steps forward… for your vision of change, one volunteer at a time… Happy early anniversary.”
(Excerpts of this post taken from Detroit Free Press, Ann Arbor Chronicle, NPR, and Google Images)
Thursday, October 21, 2010
RWO: Kamikaze October Bugs
Jess writes:
Recently, we have discovered that the early summer brings out some crazy things in South Africa. Some of these are typical – the heat, the rainstorms, the snakes – and some of these are not so typical – power outages, more water (what?), and some crazy bugs. In particular, we have dubbed one bug in our South African English, “The Kamikaze October Bug”, which loosely translates in American English to, “The Dumb June Bug”. Simply put, this mini creature begins appearing at the start of summer (our summer starts in October, opposite of June) like a June bug, is about the size of a June bug, with a hard-ish shell like the June bug, and comes out in the evenings due to its attraction to light and warm ground like a June bug. The primary difference with our “October Bug” is that it is downright idiotic… hence “Dumb”. Specifically, in addition to being attracted to light, it seems to be attracted to anything that spins at a dangerous velocity in which it can get caught, whirled around, and then propelled at unnatural speeds to its crashing death… hence, “Kamikaze”. Without fail, each evening, these stupid little critters find their way into our bedroom, fly themselves into either our ceiling fan or our standing floor fan, and become nature’s very own pinballs against our concrete walls. Worst of all, since their pinpall pattern is so entirely erratic, there’s always a likely chance that their Kamikaze dive will end up hitting one of us, instead of a wall – and man can those little guys hurt at that speed! Nevertheless, they seem to lessen as the summer’s heat increases, so eventually we expect that they will no longer be dive-bombing us while we eat dinner and catch up on episodes of old TV shows. Until then, we just have to protect ourselves under mosquito netting from the World War Arcade Game that has become our bedroom in the evenings! Eish!
Recently, we have discovered that the early summer brings out some crazy things in South Africa. Some of these are typical – the heat, the rainstorms, the snakes – and some of these are not so typical – power outages, more water (what?), and some crazy bugs. In particular, we have dubbed one bug in our South African English, “The Kamikaze October Bug”, which loosely translates in American English to, “The Dumb June Bug”. Simply put, this mini creature begins appearing at the start of summer (our summer starts in October, opposite of June) like a June bug, is about the size of a June bug, with a hard-ish shell like the June bug, and comes out in the evenings due to its attraction to light and warm ground like a June bug. The primary difference with our “October Bug” is that it is downright idiotic… hence “Dumb”. Specifically, in addition to being attracted to light, it seems to be attracted to anything that spins at a dangerous velocity in which it can get caught, whirled around, and then propelled at unnatural speeds to its crashing death… hence, “Kamikaze”. Without fail, each evening, these stupid little critters find their way into our bedroom, fly themselves into either our ceiling fan or our standing floor fan, and become nature’s very own pinballs against our concrete walls. Worst of all, since their pinpall pattern is so entirely erratic, there’s always a likely chance that their Kamikaze dive will end up hitting one of us, instead of a wall – and man can those little guys hurt at that speed! Nevertheless, they seem to lessen as the summer’s heat increases, so eventually we expect that they will no longer be dive-bombing us while we eat dinner and catch up on episodes of old TV shows. Until then, we just have to protect ourselves under mosquito netting from the World War Arcade Game that has become our bedroom in the evenings! Eish!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
G.O.L.D. Camp
Jess writes:
As I look back at our recent blogs, I realize that I actually missed a pretty great two-weekend activity prior to leaving for our visit to the States: The 2010 Peer Education Camp. Since we were super caught up in pre-visit plans and spent our first couple return weeks just laying around missing AC and flush toilets, I never did get around to mentioning our time at the so-called “GOLD Camp”. So here goes…
Thembalethu hosts a program for 14-16 year old students who are nominated by their fellow learners to be “peer educators.” This program, sponsored by the South-African based G.O.L.D. (Generation Of Leaders Discovered) Program emphasizes the importance of leadership, smart decision making, and the importance of transferring knowledge from student to student. Each year, Thembalethu puts on a two-weekend camp for its newest Junior Peer Educators (JPEs – the new “nominees”) to learn about life orientation, lesson plans, and being role models. As the newest volunteer additions to Thembalethu, Adam and I (as well as Heleen, a short-term Dutch volunteer) were invited to join and facilitate the activities. In short, we had three primary roles:
1) “Guest Star Judges” – A name generously given by the Peer Education Coordinator (and Thembalethu’s Deputy CEO), Cleopas, to us. Basically, we were responsible for awarding points to the ‘teams’ of JPEs based on G.O.L.D. goals (i.e., leadership, teamwork, creativity, etc.) and, most importantly, for their presentations at the weekend-end Talent Show.
2) “Ask The Volunteers” – A mid-day lesson brake based on a make-shift question box designed to allow the JPEs to ask any questions they wished of the volunteers (within reason, of course) about ourselves, our countries, etc.
3) “The Obstacle Course” – To supervise the afternoon, team-challenge obstacle course and to award winners, as well as additional points based on the aforementioned G.O.L.D. goals.
Needless to say, this was a pretty easy job – with all the perks of getting to oversee the “fun” activities of the weekend camp!! But specifically, each of our functions had its own highlights:
For example, being the “Guest Star Judges” meant that all the teams were always in a constant competition against one another to win over our attention… So whenever a session started and we entered the room, each team would begin to sing, dance and try to outshine their counter-teams. This usually ended in a completely chaotic scene of roaring song, crazy dance, thunderous stomping, and stupendous table thumping, but it still made us laugh every time at the sheer amount of enthusiasm displayed!! (And of course we always awarded points!)
The “Ask The Volunteers” responsibility was always the most interesting, since many of the questions we were asked – while similar each weekend – each had their own unique, and quirky spins. For example, the most common question pertained to what it was like to live in the United States. However, it was always asked in some great manner resembling, “What is it meant to live in the US where you live where you are from?” And usually, this was followed with something similar to, “And please do you know Mr. Obama or Beyonce?” Ha! I loved these ones!! Another particularly popular topic was the cost of flying to the United States from South Africa, or vice versa, and the cost of other amenities such as cars, houses, school, etc. And in general, there was always a random smattering of completely off-topic and non-question related additions, such as, “I love you! You are so fun! I can go to the US with you now?” We usually got hugs from a lot of those same learners as well – so adorable!
And finally, our role as supervisors of “The Obstacle Course” was perhaps the best of all. Not only did we get to watch all the kids attempt a fairly challenging course – with obstacles ranging from the basic monkey bars and balance beams to cargo nets and cross-tie rope walks – but we also got to witness many of them at their best, and sometimes their worst, but always trying to work together. On so many occasions over those two weekends, while watching all eight of the JPE teams compete, there were times when we were so completely excited when a team would figure out a trick to help eachother out or finally, finally, after many tries, manage to get all of their team members over an obstacle. Of course we yelled and cheered for them while they went through the course, but I feel like more often than not, it was those little thoughts to myself – those, “Yes, there you go, come on, you’re almost there…!” – that were the greatest of all. And sure… it might sound mushy, but it was truly great to see those kids work together to get something done!
And to top it all off, each weekend ended with a presentation by each team that they had practiced for the previous two days. The teams were told to make it fun, creative, and inspiring and they really did a great job at putting together some awesome creations! Most involved some form of song, dance, and skit – each with their own style, but many with very entertaining dance moves and surprisingly funny jokes in broken English! But one group in particular, the “Better Lifestyle Team”, put forth the best presentation of all: beginning with a ‘stomp’ routine that turned into a dance routine, transitioning to short series of teamwork challenges (think circular “trust falls” – pretty impressive!), and ending with few songs that culminated in a soft background hum while a few of the members stepped forward to do spoken word about why the youth of this country are so important and about how South Africa has the potential to move away from its past and more forward to a better future. Yeah… I won’t try to hide the fact that the skit performed by that team was pretty incredible.
So all in all, the weekends we spent with the JPEs at the 2010 Peer Education Camp were truly great – a fun way to meet the Peer Education learners, spend more time with Thembalethu staff, and perhaps, for the first real, tangible time, to feel like something we were doing was actually making an immediate impact on someone’s life. I remember telling my parents that during the camps I had a couple of those “warm and fuzzy Peace Corps feelings” while hanging out with a lot of those kids – to see how happy they were to eat tons of really good food, to stay up late in their huge bunk beds, to play all afternoon on a super cool obstacle course, and to take pride in their new roles as leaders – to see them not only have a good time, but to step up to a new challenge… and to be a part of that. It was a great two weekends!
As I look back at our recent blogs, I realize that I actually missed a pretty great two-weekend activity prior to leaving for our visit to the States: The 2010 Peer Education Camp. Since we were super caught up in pre-visit plans and spent our first couple return weeks just laying around missing AC and flush toilets, I never did get around to mentioning our time at the so-called “GOLD Camp”. So here goes…
Thembalethu hosts a program for 14-16 year old students who are nominated by their fellow learners to be “peer educators.” This program, sponsored by the South-African based G.O.L.D. (Generation Of Leaders Discovered) Program emphasizes the importance of leadership, smart decision making, and the importance of transferring knowledge from student to student. Each year, Thembalethu puts on a two-weekend camp for its newest Junior Peer Educators (JPEs – the new “nominees”) to learn about life orientation, lesson plans, and being role models. As the newest volunteer additions to Thembalethu, Adam and I (as well as Heleen, a short-term Dutch volunteer) were invited to join and facilitate the activities. In short, we had three primary roles:
1) “Guest Star Judges” – A name generously given by the Peer Education Coordinator (and Thembalethu’s Deputy CEO), Cleopas, to us. Basically, we were responsible for awarding points to the ‘teams’ of JPEs based on G.O.L.D. goals (i.e., leadership, teamwork, creativity, etc.) and, most importantly, for their presentations at the weekend-end Talent Show.
2) “Ask The Volunteers” – A mid-day lesson brake based on a make-shift question box designed to allow the JPEs to ask any questions they wished of the volunteers (within reason, of course) about ourselves, our countries, etc.
3) “The Obstacle Course” – To supervise the afternoon, team-challenge obstacle course and to award winners, as well as additional points based on the aforementioned G.O.L.D. goals.
Needless to say, this was a pretty easy job – with all the perks of getting to oversee the “fun” activities of the weekend camp!! But specifically, each of our functions had its own highlights:
For example, being the “Guest Star Judges” meant that all the teams were always in a constant competition against one another to win over our attention… So whenever a session started and we entered the room, each team would begin to sing, dance and try to outshine their counter-teams. This usually ended in a completely chaotic scene of roaring song, crazy dance, thunderous stomping, and stupendous table thumping, but it still made us laugh every time at the sheer amount of enthusiasm displayed!! (And of course we always awarded points!)
The “Ask The Volunteers” responsibility was always the most interesting, since many of the questions we were asked – while similar each weekend – each had their own unique, and quirky spins. For example, the most common question pertained to what it was like to live in the United States. However, it was always asked in some great manner resembling, “What is it meant to live in the US where you live where you are from?” And usually, this was followed with something similar to, “And please do you know Mr. Obama or Beyonce?” Ha! I loved these ones!! Another particularly popular topic was the cost of flying to the United States from South Africa, or vice versa, and the cost of other amenities such as cars, houses, school, etc. And in general, there was always a random smattering of completely off-topic and non-question related additions, such as, “I love you! You are so fun! I can go to the US with you now?” We usually got hugs from a lot of those same learners as well – so adorable!
And finally, our role as supervisors of “The Obstacle Course” was perhaps the best of all. Not only did we get to watch all the kids attempt a fairly challenging course – with obstacles ranging from the basic monkey bars and balance beams to cargo nets and cross-tie rope walks – but we also got to witness many of them at their best, and sometimes their worst, but always trying to work together. On so many occasions over those two weekends, while watching all eight of the JPE teams compete, there were times when we were so completely excited when a team would figure out a trick to help eachother out or finally, finally, after many tries, manage to get all of their team members over an obstacle. Of course we yelled and cheered for them while they went through the course, but I feel like more often than not, it was those little thoughts to myself – those, “Yes, there you go, come on, you’re almost there…!” – that were the greatest of all. And sure… it might sound mushy, but it was truly great to see those kids work together to get something done!
And to top it all off, each weekend ended with a presentation by each team that they had practiced for the previous two days. The teams were told to make it fun, creative, and inspiring and they really did a great job at putting together some awesome creations! Most involved some form of song, dance, and skit – each with their own style, but many with very entertaining dance moves and surprisingly funny jokes in broken English! But one group in particular, the “Better Lifestyle Team”, put forth the best presentation of all: beginning with a ‘stomp’ routine that turned into a dance routine, transitioning to short series of teamwork challenges (think circular “trust falls” – pretty impressive!), and ending with few songs that culminated in a soft background hum while a few of the members stepped forward to do spoken word about why the youth of this country are so important and about how South Africa has the potential to move away from its past and more forward to a better future. Yeah… I won’t try to hide the fact that the skit performed by that team was pretty incredible.
So all in all, the weekends we spent with the JPEs at the 2010 Peer Education Camp were truly great – a fun way to meet the Peer Education learners, spend more time with Thembalethu staff, and perhaps, for the first real, tangible time, to feel like something we were doing was actually making an immediate impact on someone’s life. I remember telling my parents that during the camps I had a couple of those “warm and fuzzy Peace Corps feelings” while hanging out with a lot of those kids – to see how happy they were to eat tons of really good food, to stay up late in their huge bunk beds, to play all afternoon on a super cool obstacle course, and to take pride in their new roles as leaders – to see them not only have a good time, but to step up to a new challenge… and to be a part of that. It was a great two weekends!
Saturday, October 2, 2010
RWO: Poop In This
Jess writes:
It's been a while since we posted our last RWO, so I decided to opt for a real, basic observation (and because I'm still dreaming about those glorious, porcelin contraptions we experienced once again on our U.S. vacation... ahhh...)
So, as it turns out, pit latrines really are more dependable than flush toilets. They may be gross, smelly and home to stupendously large cockroaches (and yes, the kind that can fly – eek!), but they do always work. We have friends that are living with flush toilets – a true luxury for PCVs – and they are often dismayed to discover that after a long awaited trip to the loo, their luxurious flush toilet is currently not flushing. You see, when the water gets shut off in an area (and this happens frequently in many of our villages), toilets no longer have the capability to flush… I had never really thought about this in the states. So while we have to squat daily in our scary, concrete little hole, at least we can walk away knowing that our business is “out of sight, out of mind”.
It's been a while since we posted our last RWO, so I decided to opt for a real, basic observation (and because I'm still dreaming about those glorious, porcelin contraptions we experienced once again on our U.S. vacation... ahhh...)
So, as it turns out, pit latrines really are more dependable than flush toilets. They may be gross, smelly and home to stupendously large cockroaches (and yes, the kind that can fly – eek!), but they do always work. We have friends that are living with flush toilets – a true luxury for PCVs – and they are often dismayed to discover that after a long awaited trip to the loo, their luxurious flush toilet is currently not flushing. You see, when the water gets shut off in an area (and this happens frequently in many of our villages), toilets no longer have the capability to flush… I had never really thought about this in the states. So while we have to squat daily in our scary, concrete little hole, at least we can walk away knowing that our business is “out of sight, out of mind”.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
From our “Home Sweet Homes” back to our “Home Away from Home”
Jess writes:
As a brief primer: Adam and I recently took the very long 40+ hour round-trip route home to spend some much-needed time with family and friends, and to be a part of a very special wedding! Oh, and did I mention that this trip also gave cause to enjoy some of the finest luxuries in life… namely, running water, a toilet? Ahhhhhh… As a previous post mentioned, we were in the gloriousness that is our “Home Sweet Homes”. And yes, two of them, the Midwest one (with our two, amazing families and many, amazing friends) and the East Coast one (with some of my oldest, amazing friends)!
And how was the visit back?? For lack of a better string of words: unimaginably, indescribably, unmistakably, ummm, incredible! :-)
To begin, we crammed our first weekend with as many parties and get-togethers as humanly possible: first, a much-needed Mexican dinner with both families to celebrate “Christmas in August” (ahhh… Mexican… and Christmas!!)! Next, an always-crazy-and-awesome Duffy’s Night with the whole Duffy’s crew and of course all our amazing friends from every corner of the Midwest, including those that drove in from the Chicago suburbs, Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio (you are all awesome!)! Followed by a thoroughly relaxing day by the Aleksy pool with great food, drinks, and tons of family and friends from not only the Midwest, but also from California, Kentucky and Virginia (it wouldn’t have been the same without you!)! To round out the experience, we even fit in an educational day discussing our work with Peace Corps to Juniors and Seniors at St. Bede Academy, Adam’s alma mater (see an article about our visit in the previous post, titled, “In the News”). And finally, we topped it all off with a “Post-Weekend Partying Party” in the suburbs in honor of our good ‘ol “Tuesday Night (Wine) Tastings”!! (…okay, so that a specific Krajniak doesn’t feel the need to correct my blogging: I was sick for that last event, but Adam went… and can you blame me? I was exhausted!!) Whew!
The following days were filled mostly with family catch up time about the most important things going on in our lives – new houses, new relationships, new pregnancies, new jobs, new ups and some new downs, and so forth – for a full week of relaxed family time. Of course we talked lots about Peace Corps (it’s almost obligatory, right?), but what was best of all was hearing – finally in detail! – all that had happened since we had left. And to actually see people’s faces when they told us funny stories, or talked about plans, or just mused on the moments of love and life from the very full past months… something phones – and not even Skype – can ever fully capture. There were lazy mornings on the front porch and long afternoons at the lake house and all the while we found ourselves doing what one always does when you’ve been this far away from home for a while… looking around at the people surrounding you and thinking to yourself, “Yup, this is home.”
It was pretty much perfect. Just too short.
And then we were off to my second of “Home Sweet Homes”… the oh-so-homey-because-it-smells-a-little-like-old-dirt-and-salt of Cape Cod. Ha! Everything about landing on the East Coast brings me back to what I love about growing up there and once I’m reunited with friends I very quickly revert to a slightly plumper version of my seventeen-year-old self, only now with margarita in hand!
This trip was also too short, but we managed to fill it too with plenty of friends and conversations: late-night discursions en route from the airport, old-time chatter in the back of a friend’s workplace, mass catch-all catch-ups at wedding-related functions and one-on-one laughter in the pre-shift midday. And of course, we did this all over as much seafood as we could possibly scavenge – seafood raviolis, fried calamari, clam and quahog chowder and plenty, oh plenty, of lobster!!
And I have yet to touch on the actual wedding itself – Kimme & Brian’s – in which I was a very high-heeled, champagne & mahogany, bridesmaid! It was stunning! And while I would have loved to have had the entire weekend to eat raw confetti cake batter with Kimme in our pajamas on the couch… *wink*… I was beside myself to see her – in her beautiful ivory lace, all smiles… and some tears – on the day that she got to marry Bri. I had jokingly told Kimme & Bri that theirs was the most we had ever paid for a wedding present (that, being the tickets home), but the truth is that not much would have stopped me from being at that wedding… not even the entire Atlantic ocean. (And both of our incredible families knew this as well, so all the thanks go to them for making the whole thing possible!!)
So… all in all, we had the very best of possible trips home: family, friends, and more love to give, receive, and be a part of than we could have ever asked for!
But, eventually, we had to get back on that plane…
And now we’re back in our new home, our “Home Away from Home”, as many of us like to call it. And while we would never trade in any of our experiences in the Peace Corps thus far, it is nevertheless difficult to come back after such a great, albeit short, trip back to those other “homes”. So our first days back have been long… and hot… and once again we are readjusting to bucket baths, and pit latrines, and fans that simply do not have a high enough setting.
In fact, in a phonecall the other day with a friend and fellow PCV, we were asked “So how’s the transition back?” I laughed to myself, as I pictured ‘Transition’ as this allusive medical condition that every PCV accepts upon entry to Peace Corps, a pre-existing condition of sorts, which every PCV must self-medicate and treat on a monthly, weekly, and sometimes daily basis. All these ‘Transitions To’ and ‘Transitions From’ that pop up like nasty allergies when you finally think you’re becoming immune to the local ailments… argh. “So, how’s the transition back?” she asked. “It sucks.” I answered, but with a laugh. “Yeah,” she replied, “It’ll take time. Geez… that’s gotta be weird.” Yes, weird it is.
But just last night someone from home – someone that can always make me smile – sent me some encouraging words to ponder, my favorite of which was a quote by Thomas Paine: “What we obtain too cheaply, we esteem too lightly; it is the difficulty that gives everything its value.” This reminded me somewhat of the slightly borrowed-and-altered PCV philosophy of, “What doesn’t kill you, makes for a great story.” I guess the truth is, none of this will probably kill us (except maybe the gargantuan millipedes) and while all these ‘Transitions’ are obnoxiously persistent, without them there certainly wouldn’t be any value in the stories that we will one day be able to tell about our time here. And most important, regardless of any of the difficulty, I wouldn’t have given up visiting home for anything – to share those stories we’ve already made here and to bring back ones that we’ve just been a part of – well, that’s worth the whole world right there.
We love you all… and miss you always.
Salani kahle!
As a brief primer: Adam and I recently took the very long 40+ hour round-trip route home to spend some much-needed time with family and friends, and to be a part of a very special wedding! Oh, and did I mention that this trip also gave cause to enjoy some of the finest luxuries in life… namely, running water, a toilet? Ahhhhhh… As a previous post mentioned, we were in the gloriousness that is our “Home Sweet Homes”. And yes, two of them, the Midwest one (with our two, amazing families and many, amazing friends) and the East Coast one (with some of my oldest, amazing friends)!
And how was the visit back?? For lack of a better string of words: unimaginably, indescribably, unmistakably, ummm, incredible! :-)
To begin, we crammed our first weekend with as many parties and get-togethers as humanly possible: first, a much-needed Mexican dinner with both families to celebrate “Christmas in August” (ahhh… Mexican… and Christmas!!)! Next, an always-crazy-and-awesome Duffy’s Night with the whole Duffy’s crew and of course all our amazing friends from every corner of the Midwest, including those that drove in from the Chicago suburbs, Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio (you are all awesome!)! Followed by a thoroughly relaxing day by the Aleksy pool with great food, drinks, and tons of family and friends from not only the Midwest, but also from California, Kentucky and Virginia (it wouldn’t have been the same without you!)! To round out the experience, we even fit in an educational day discussing our work with Peace Corps to Juniors and Seniors at St. Bede Academy, Adam’s alma mater (see an article about our visit in the previous post, titled, “In the News”). And finally, we topped it all off with a “Post-Weekend Partying Party” in the suburbs in honor of our good ‘ol “Tuesday Night (Wine) Tastings”!! (…okay, so that a specific Krajniak doesn’t feel the need to correct my blogging: I was sick for that last event, but Adam went… and can you blame me? I was exhausted!!) Whew!
The following days were filled mostly with family catch up time about the most important things going on in our lives – new houses, new relationships, new pregnancies, new jobs, new ups and some new downs, and so forth – for a full week of relaxed family time. Of course we talked lots about Peace Corps (it’s almost obligatory, right?), but what was best of all was hearing – finally in detail! – all that had happened since we had left. And to actually see people’s faces when they told us funny stories, or talked about plans, or just mused on the moments of love and life from the very full past months… something phones – and not even Skype – can ever fully capture. There were lazy mornings on the front porch and long afternoons at the lake house and all the while we found ourselves doing what one always does when you’ve been this far away from home for a while… looking around at the people surrounding you and thinking to yourself, “Yup, this is home.”
It was pretty much perfect. Just too short.
And then we were off to my second of “Home Sweet Homes”… the oh-so-homey-because-it-smells-a-little-like-old-dirt-and-salt of Cape Cod. Ha! Everything about landing on the East Coast brings me back to what I love about growing up there and once I’m reunited with friends I very quickly revert to a slightly plumper version of my seventeen-year-old self, only now with margarita in hand!
This trip was also too short, but we managed to fill it too with plenty of friends and conversations: late-night discursions en route from the airport, old-time chatter in the back of a friend’s workplace, mass catch-all catch-ups at wedding-related functions and one-on-one laughter in the pre-shift midday. And of course, we did this all over as much seafood as we could possibly scavenge – seafood raviolis, fried calamari, clam and quahog chowder and plenty, oh plenty, of lobster!!
And I have yet to touch on the actual wedding itself – Kimme & Brian’s – in which I was a very high-heeled, champagne & mahogany, bridesmaid! It was stunning! And while I would have loved to have had the entire weekend to eat raw confetti cake batter with Kimme in our pajamas on the couch… *wink*… I was beside myself to see her – in her beautiful ivory lace, all smiles… and some tears – on the day that she got to marry Bri. I had jokingly told Kimme & Bri that theirs was the most we had ever paid for a wedding present (that, being the tickets home), but the truth is that not much would have stopped me from being at that wedding… not even the entire Atlantic ocean. (And both of our incredible families knew this as well, so all the thanks go to them for making the whole thing possible!!)
So… all in all, we had the very best of possible trips home: family, friends, and more love to give, receive, and be a part of than we could have ever asked for!
But, eventually, we had to get back on that plane…
And now we’re back in our new home, our “Home Away from Home”, as many of us like to call it. And while we would never trade in any of our experiences in the Peace Corps thus far, it is nevertheless difficult to come back after such a great, albeit short, trip back to those other “homes”. So our first days back have been long… and hot… and once again we are readjusting to bucket baths, and pit latrines, and fans that simply do not have a high enough setting.
In fact, in a phonecall the other day with a friend and fellow PCV, we were asked “So how’s the transition back?” I laughed to myself, as I pictured ‘Transition’ as this allusive medical condition that every PCV accepts upon entry to Peace Corps, a pre-existing condition of sorts, which every PCV must self-medicate and treat on a monthly, weekly, and sometimes daily basis. All these ‘Transitions To’ and ‘Transitions From’ that pop up like nasty allergies when you finally think you’re becoming immune to the local ailments… argh. “So, how’s the transition back?” she asked. “It sucks.” I answered, but with a laugh. “Yeah,” she replied, “It’ll take time. Geez… that’s gotta be weird.” Yes, weird it is.
But just last night someone from home – someone that can always make me smile – sent me some encouraging words to ponder, my favorite of which was a quote by Thomas Paine: “What we obtain too cheaply, we esteem too lightly; it is the difficulty that gives everything its value.” This reminded me somewhat of the slightly borrowed-and-altered PCV philosophy of, “What doesn’t kill you, makes for a great story.” I guess the truth is, none of this will probably kill us (except maybe the gargantuan millipedes) and while all these ‘Transitions’ are obnoxiously persistent, without them there certainly wouldn’t be any value in the stories that we will one day be able to tell about our time here. And most important, regardless of any of the difficulty, I wouldn’t have given up visiting home for anything – to share those stories we’ve already made here and to bring back ones that we’ve just been a part of – well, that’s worth the whole world right there.
We love you all… and miss you always.
Salani kahle!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
In the News...
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Section: Front Page-A3
By Matthew Baker
NewsTribune Reporter
One St. Bede Academy alumnus got a very early head start on homecoming with a visit back to the academy Monday with tales from the other side of the globe.
Adam Aleksy and his wife Jess spent the day speaking with students about their experiences in South Africa as Peace Corps volunteers.
Using his trombone skills, St. Bede Academy junior Joe Mauck (from left) plays a South African vuvuzela as classmates Mike Venegas, Ty Dobrich and Ali Braboy look on during a classroom presentation by Peace Corps volunteers Adam and Jess Aleksy. The Aleksys are working with the Peace Corps in the village of Schoemansdal in South Africa. (NewsTribune photo by Amanda Whitlock)
For the past seven months the couple has been living in a country filled with disparity.
South Africa’s major cities are very well developed, but the country’s rural areas are basically the third world, Adam explained.
“We live in the third world part of South Africa,” he said.
They are currently residing in a small tin-roofed home in the village of Schoemansdal.
The home features fairly consistent electricity but dishes are washed in a set of tubs with the used water being dumped outside the house. Similarly, the closest they get to a bath is a set of larger tubs in which they stand while pouring heated water onto themselves.
“I had my first actual shower in seven months a few weeks ago,” said Jess with only slight exaggeration.
Their house also comes with lizards, which aren’t such a bad thing once one realizes the lizards eat the roaches and mosquitoes, Adam said.
Despite lacking in creature comforts, their South African experience has been “fantastic,” Adam said. They still have about a year and a half left to serve in the country.
While in South Africa they are overseeing a café and local craft shop that will cater primarily to tourists. Jess explained the revenues generated by the shop will support the Peace Corps’s humanitarian efforts in the area and the business will create local jobs.
Along with discussing their experiences, Jess gave a short primer on the more interesting aspects of the Siswati language, one of nearly a dozen spoken in the country. The students were most interested in the non-English clicking sounds incorporated in the language.
Students also had the opportunity to try blowing a vuluzela horn – made infamous recently for the loud, droning tones the traditional South African horns produced during this year’s World Cup matches.
Still, not all is well in the country, which explains while the Peace Corps continues to send volunteers into South Africa.
The Rev. Robert Pondant, O.S.B., questioned the couple on a recent report of human trafficking in South Africa.
“There is a massive amount of human trafficking in our area,” Adam said, noting that the problem appears to be on the rise.
Jess said HIV and AIDS continue to be a serious problem in South Africa, as well. In some areas of the country, especially within the immigrant population, the rate of people testing positive for HIV/AIDS is staggering, as much as 62 percent in some cases, she said.
One senior student questioned them on what the Peace Corps does to address such problems.
“What Peace Corps drills into you as a volunteer is: you don’t go in a country and say, “I’m going to do this for you,’” said Jess.
Instead, Adam explained, volunteers work with local organizations to help them build and strengthen their internal infrastructure, thus increasing the organizations’ abilities to grow, increase revenues and perform necessary functions.
The couple also provided information for students who may consider applying for the Peace Corps in the future.
“Over the past few years the Peace Corps has become a very competitive program to work for,” Adam said.
A bachelor’s degree is almost required, but just as important is experience volunteering.
“They want to see a history of volunteerism in your past,” Adam said, adding that St. Bede students, who are required to perform volunteer service hours throughout their high school careers, have an advantage in that area.
He also said students don’t need to worry about having a particular major in college in order to be accepted into the Peace Corps.
For more information on the Peace Corps, visit www.peacecorps.gov.
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