Hey everyone! I wanted to catch you up quick on some things that are going on! First, I shadowed a girl named Allie who has been in the peace corps for a year now. She works at a school in the rural parts of Swaziland. The headmaster just started his job there and is related to the king. Swaziland is the last African monarchy…and maybe the last one in the world I think. The people are governed by tradition and culture which has close ties to the King and Christianity mixed with past witch craft. I live next to a traditional healer if that tells you anything. My friend is staying in my room tonight because her family’s grandfather, mhkulu in siSwati, died 2 years ago today and all the relatives are staying up all night to have a night vigil. Its very common. Funerals are another story, but I haven’t had to go to one with my family yet. The Zion church is influencial here too. There are different types and they were different colors, but the red group are a little more aggressive and scare me. One volunteer from a past group went to one of their services and they started pulling her hair. They are known for beating each other up and themselves by biting and hitting. I don’t fully understand why, but they scare me and I try to stay clear.
I have visited some kagogo centers (community centers) and also some clinics. We are going to be interviewed soon for placement. We also have our siSwati test coming up and we have to be at a level 4 this year. Previous years volunteers have only had to pass a level 3, so I’m a little nervous. The language has a lot of clicks and stuff, so its difficult to remember.
My community doesn’t seem to have a high number of HIV/AIDS victims. That is only by the naked eye though and its difficult to tell. We went to the school in my village though and 80% of the kids we talked to knew someone or was living with someone with it. That’s nuts. They are polygamous here which doesn’t seem to help. I live with one of the wives of my Babe (father pronounced in Spanish vowels). Its surreal sometimes when I look around and think that I am actually here…and alone! It’ll be good for me though and it will give me time to think about future plans, personal goals, etc. A girl as young as 11 yrs. Came to the clinic in the nearest town to be tested for HIV/AIDS because of sexual activity. It’s really sad. We’ve been interviewing kids to find out when their freetime is to try target those times to do activities to keep them out of trouble. It seems like HIV/AIDS has affected so many people, you don’t really know where to start. All I want is to be useful. I don’t want to waste this time by not being effective at all. My hope is to help at least one young teenager in my area or mentor someone or anything at all to make me feel like I helped even a fraction of what’s going on.
I was getting water from the watering hole the other day with another volunteer. We had our buckets. A bunch of kids were filling their buckets too. I know limited siSwati but the kids love it when we try. I yelled Jiyva (which means dance) to a little girl who was dancing around the water spring. She laughed and soon I formed a circle of little kids and made them clap their hands to a beat. When someone would get in the middle we would sing, “Sinenhlanhla likes to dance. Oh she likes to dance. Who will dance for me!” And then I’d pick someone. The kids were really good dancers and they loved to see me try. They were all ages. For the finale, I did the robot. Needless to say…it was a hit. The robot is universal. It’ll always be a good idea. When in doubt…do the robot.
Lastly, I confirm again and again how irreplaceable my friends and family are. It would be nice to be able to talk to you guys during all this. Maybe God wants to use this time to help me recognize and appreciate the relationships he gave me while I lived at home.
We listened to Mariah Carey in a taxi on our way to town yesterday. It made me happy because A) it was a piece of America and B) it reminds me of friends: singing til my vocal chords almost exploded with kate trying to hit the high notes on our way to see Melinda and thinking of sieff’s little mini crush on Mrs. Mariah Carey Cannon…I miss you all!
One more thing...I went to a church today that was amazing. Chuch usually lasts 4hrs. around here so it gets long. When you are white, its hard to sneak out...so you don't. It was good though and it was translated into English. The usher invited me because I met him at a store earlier this week and he helped me find the rice krispies because I am making bars for my family. They requested them. :)
Write me letters! Get the address from my mom or sister! Its so hard to check my emails and really expensive. It’s about $5 US to use this and I get money to keep me living at the standards of the area around me…so not much. I would love to get a letter though because I can re-read them over and over again in my room at home if I am homesick. I think of you all often and have pictures that I show everyone.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
You Think You Know, But You Have No Idea. Real World Swaziland.
So this post might be a little random and all over the place, but I don't have very much time to write! :) I wanted to let you guys know what's going on now that I am here! It's been crazy. We've been everywhere so far. We flew into J'burg, South Africa about two weeks ago. It was interesting and the hotel was really nice. We drove into Swaziland which didn't take too long (about 4hrs). It looked a lot like South dakota actually. There were fields and everything. :) We got up into the mountains though and it was beautiful. We stayed in the capital for a few days. We've been having language class every morning and then culture and first aid classes in the afternoon. Mon-Sat. When I was in the capital we were doing medical classes and briefly talking about HIV/AIDS. We've been getting lots of shots and taking malaria pills. I was waiting for my shot outside of the building since we had to go in one at a time and a monkey ran past and up the avocado tree about 20 ft away. It was so weird that this is a part of my life now. Omaha zoo has got nothin' on this place.
The language is hard. I am trying, but it's tough. I just have to keep practicing! The majority of the people just speak SiSwati and rarely speak English unless they are annoyed with trying to make you understand what they are saying. They cave in eventually. :)
My host family picked me up last friday. My name now is Sinehlahla Zulu. I am part of the Zulu family in one of the communities in south swaziland. I have electricity at this home, but there is no running water. i get it from a spring near the home. fill my bucket and go. I have a water filter and then I have to put chlorox in it to kill what wasn't filtered. Needless to say it tastes horrible, but I don't want to have more parisites than what I have to. I eat with my family every night after class and cut the food, help cook, saw the wood for the stove, and wash the dishes in the basin. It feels so weird. I've done things like this before, but its a lot more work here because I try do it for my family too so doubles the task. :) I haven't done my laundry yet....I have a lot.
I helped cook food my first night. A bat flew into the kitchen. If you know me....you know my bat phobia. I could barely move but I had to keep making the food because my family sat there watching me....yes, uncomfortable when they watch. :) The bat kept swooping by my head. I was wigging out. I pretended I was bent down to tie my show. My mom "Make" took her towel after a little bit once she saw I was scared and towel snapped the bat to the floor. The bat landed next to my foot. All I thought is "I'm going to die in Africa." haha I went to my room and went to bed. It was like 8pm. The sun goes down at 5:30pm here so if you don't have electricity you go to bed after supper. If you do have electricity you sit in your room by yoursefl until you are tired and crawl in bed. haha. I am happy to be here usually, but it's tough at night when I am by myself or when I am with my family at supper and they are talking about me in SiSwati. Everyone watches everything you do, so you have to be careful what you say or do.
The group that came a year ago and are serving there last year now already made a nickname up for me. They call me Jenna Bush. Its funny. They are really nice to me though so its good to see them.
I have a little boy at my homestead. He is 2 yrs. and doesn't ever wear pants. During class he came into the room and another kid in my language class (4 of us) kept cracking jokes like, "Just hanging around." and I sang "free falling." Those moments where I can laugh really hard at something that really isn't that funny are the moments that keep me sane.:) That little boy is really cute though, but cries when I leave for school in the morning. It kind of makes me feel good...at his expense I guess. haha Just because he likes me so much that he cries when I go makes me feel like he cares that I am there, ya know? God is really humbling me while I am here and I am really thankful for what he is going to do.
I took another bucket bath last night. Our room is 3x4 meters. I do everything in that room and next week I will start cooking in there too. I took my bath in a small bright blue basin. I tried to find a way to wash my body when my hair was done. I sat in the basin thinking I was a genius because my legs could dangle out. I forgot that with water in the basin there isn't room in it for a whole mid section of the body too. I plopped in and all the water gushed over the sides splashing out like the Niagra Falls. I spent last night mopping my whole room up with dirty wash cloths. :)
I miss all of you very very much. I am going to mail some of you soon. I hope some of you can come visit!! Think about it... I will call as soon as I can. Love you all!
The language is hard. I am trying, but it's tough. I just have to keep practicing! The majority of the people just speak SiSwati and rarely speak English unless they are annoyed with trying to make you understand what they are saying. They cave in eventually. :)
My host family picked me up last friday. My name now is Sinehlahla Zulu. I am part of the Zulu family in one of the communities in south swaziland. I have electricity at this home, but there is no running water. i get it from a spring near the home. fill my bucket and go. I have a water filter and then I have to put chlorox in it to kill what wasn't filtered. Needless to say it tastes horrible, but I don't want to have more parisites than what I have to. I eat with my family every night after class and cut the food, help cook, saw the wood for the stove, and wash the dishes in the basin. It feels so weird. I've done things like this before, but its a lot more work here because I try do it for my family too so doubles the task. :) I haven't done my laundry yet....I have a lot.
I helped cook food my first night. A bat flew into the kitchen. If you know me....you know my bat phobia. I could barely move but I had to keep making the food because my family sat there watching me....yes, uncomfortable when they watch. :) The bat kept swooping by my head. I was wigging out. I pretended I was bent down to tie my show. My mom "Make" took her towel after a little bit once she saw I was scared and towel snapped the bat to the floor. The bat landed next to my foot. All I thought is "I'm going to die in Africa." haha I went to my room and went to bed. It was like 8pm. The sun goes down at 5:30pm here so if you don't have electricity you go to bed after supper. If you do have electricity you sit in your room by yoursefl until you are tired and crawl in bed. haha. I am happy to be here usually, but it's tough at night when I am by myself or when I am with my family at supper and they are talking about me in SiSwati. Everyone watches everything you do, so you have to be careful what you say or do.
The group that came a year ago and are serving there last year now already made a nickname up for me. They call me Jenna Bush. Its funny. They are really nice to me though so its good to see them.
I have a little boy at my homestead. He is 2 yrs. and doesn't ever wear pants. During class he came into the room and another kid in my language class (4 of us) kept cracking jokes like, "Just hanging around." and I sang "free falling." Those moments where I can laugh really hard at something that really isn't that funny are the moments that keep me sane.:) That little boy is really cute though, but cries when I leave for school in the morning. It kind of makes me feel good...at his expense I guess. haha Just because he likes me so much that he cries when I go makes me feel like he cares that I am there, ya know? God is really humbling me while I am here and I am really thankful for what he is going to do.
I took another bucket bath last night. Our room is 3x4 meters. I do everything in that room and next week I will start cooking in there too. I took my bath in a small bright blue basin. I tried to find a way to wash my body when my hair was done. I sat in the basin thinking I was a genius because my legs could dangle out. I forgot that with water in the basin there isn't room in it for a whole mid section of the body too. I plopped in and all the water gushed over the sides splashing out like the Niagra Falls. I spent last night mopping my whole room up with dirty wash cloths. :)
I miss all of you very very much. I am going to mail some of you soon. I hope some of you can come visit!! Think about it... I will call as soon as I can. Love you all!
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