I did it! I ran it! My first half marathon is over! Woo hoo! I was fast enough to get a medal (part of the registration fee if you finish before a certain time haha) and slow enough that I was trailing an 80 year old man with terrific legs the whole time. It was so great. We ran up the hills towards Table Mountain at the end which almost killed me, but once we climbed to the top we had an amazing view of the Atlantic Ocean. The bay we overlooked as we came down to the finish line was full of humpback whales and so my friend and I silently ran watching them float in the water. So cool! The next day we brought our two other friends who weren't running that joined us in Cape Town to the same spot to show them the whales. We saw one and photographed him in the same position for about 25 minutes only to find that it was indeed not a whale...but a boulder. Which explains a lot actually. "I never claimed to be a Marine Biologist." I said to my defense after the laughter died and we realized we had wasted precious vacation time. "So...sue me." (Michael from the Office)
We went to vineyards and wine tasted 5 glasses each. I always wanted to be a wine drinker to feel sophisticated and like a woman, but it was difficult to choke down. I guess my calling in life has never been to be an alcoholic. Such a shame when I had all that wine to my disposal. We still toured the farm and walked through the vineyards. None of us knew anything about wine, so we tried to play cool at first and finally swallowed our pride and asked someone to explain. I felt like a fake. Everyone at this fancy wine tasting room seemed to know the best wines and could taste the different ingredients in each wine glass. I thought they all tasted the same...like someone rubbed deodorant all over my tongue and made me ate a tangy grape. My taste buds are not classy. I desperately wanted a Fanta.
It was great to have a car. We rented one and went EVERYWHERE! We drove up and down the coast, past the waterfront, and through the mountains. Cape Town is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. A lot of people speak Afrikaans there (a variation of Dutch) and they look like people from Orange City, Iowa. They would come up to me in the group I was with to speak Afrikaans/Dutch. It was so strange. I didn't know my Dutch ancestry was so obvious in the way I look. I just thought I looked...white. Haha Dutch, German, Norwegian, South Africa, British...they all look the same to me sadly. I guess to these people though, I look Dutch. The Schaap/Kleinhesselink elders would have been proud.
I am currently getting ready for a camp with Baylor University and the Paul Newman Foundation called Hole in the Wall. Peace Corps was asked to be involved with this year's camp. My friend Lisa (who was one of the volunteers who went to Cape Town with me) is also on the planning board. We've been working hard trying to find donors for food, underwear, and crafts for the kids. 100 kids are attending during the Christmas break. All of them are HIV+ and are taking their Anti-retroviral medication. We want to do a camp where they can be with kids like them so that they don't have to be scared of people knowing they are sick, but have the activities and lessons based on life skills and things for the future. Also we will play lots of games and sports. I want to throw a concert together for them too. I was thinking this cool new up and coming Christian rapper called Sieffstyle would be great, but his European Tour may not be over yet... I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Other than that, life is going well. I've been working in the garden and becoming a true Swazi wife. I tie my aunt’s baby on my back when I walk down to the river and race my little brothers down the red dirt road bare foot. It makes me feel good to beat a small child at games I just taught them. My 13 year old brother, Samkeliso, is doing really well. He stopped seizuring and is back to chopping firewood and chasing cows. As much as I have a special place for the girls on my homestead since I myself have only had sisters my whole life, I have really invested in the boys on my homestead. It’s been really great. My teenage brothers talk to me about girlfriends and high school stuff. My older brothers talk to me about work and life's struggles. My little brothers watch soccer with me on T.V. at night and we play Go Fish and build stilts. Either I was supposed to have a brother...or I am secretly a man. Haha I hope it’s the first...but the second may explain some things. Just kidding. I'm thankful my family feels comfortable with me now and they see me as their big or little sister. A lot of learning opportunities have evolved from these relationships and I think God is using them in a bigger plan than I realize.
Miss you all. Braden Bradfield, props to you for the Michael Jackson t-shirt. A single tear trinkled down as the King of Pop himself was lifted from the care package. I've enjoyed all the letters from you guys over the past year. As Michael would say, "You Rock My World". One might say that it’s been quite a "Thriller" to have each of you in my life. I'm sorry. Haha I know, I gotta stop. It’s hard though because my motto has always been, "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough." I can't help it with the cheesy jokes to express my admiration towards you guys at home. It’s just the "Way You Make Me Feel."
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Fresh Fish
Its been such a crazy month! I've been so busy. Which is a term never used by Peace Corps Volunteers. I don't know how it happened, but everyone wants a piece of "The Jackster" all at once. haha I've been working on a lot of projects in my community with different groups of people, so I've been making friends. They haven't replaced you guys at home, but they are a good addition to my social life. Or lack of one. I'll take any friend I can get. I'm suprised actually I am making Swazi friends with the way I've been dressing lately. Yesterday I came to the city dressed in a bold colorful striped robe, skinny brown jeans (haven't been shrunk t fit my body in a dryer for a year, so they looked like hammer pants, and some black muddy chuck taylors. My hair was in braids...it was sad. I left my hut to get to the bus without even second guessing my wardrobe. That is sad. It looked like Bob Marley and Willy Wonka had a baby and that baby was now walking the streets of Northern Swaziland.
I'm going to Cape Town, South Africa this weekend. It supposed to be like the "New York City of Africa". I'm so excited. I'll be running...no, sorry, I'll be limping through the finishing line of a 1/2 marathon on Sunday morning along the ocean coastline. Pray for a miracle that I don't go into cardiac arrest. The rest of the trip we've planned to just enjoy the coast, go to vineyards, look at penguins, and enjoy indoor plumbing. I can't wait.
The United States Peace Corps Swearing In Ceremony happens once a year with the new volunteers. The “fresh fish” as Jantina would call them. Last year, mine was hosted at the house of the US Ambassador, Maurice Parker. This year it was at a Swanky Hotel in the capital. We were expecting budget cuts with the food since the US economy is strained, but the US government had mercy on us. They probably realized it’s the first time a lot of us have worn make up, worn a tie and suit jacket, and showered all in the same day within the past year. We ate lobster and shrimp. I was satisfied just looking at it. As we waited for the director of NERCHA and some other VIP guests to begin the ceremony, people quietly sat in the big white tent and made aquantances with some of the esteemed guests. Me, on the other hand, decided to go with my friends Connor and Jason to take “senior pictures” by the pool to kill some time before it started. As I open the Swaziland Times last week, I didn’t not see one familiar photo…but three familiar photos of me laying next to the pool and holding my friend Connor in my arms like he was “Bernie” from the infamous movie “Weekend at Bernies”. The Peace Corps Office didn’t reprimand me for it either after seeing it in the paper the following week. They actually ended up encouraging it as they laminated the paper and hung it at the main Peace Corps Office in Mbabane. The embarrassing part is, this is not the first time. Last year at the same annual event I was caught by the press and also printed in the Swaziland Times horrific photos of me leaping through the air in traditional attire (wrapped like a toga), barefoot, pretending to “spear” my friend mid-air in the Ambassadors backyard. It was titlted, “Volunteers at Play.” I’m serving our country well.
I held a workshop a few weeks ago. I found funding to teach support group living with HIV/AIDS in my area how to make shoes. A percentage of the money they will keep for themselves as an income generating project, but a portion of each profit made by the pairs of shoes sold are going towards buying seedlings for gardens we are starting. The gardens are for the orphans and vulnerable children in the area, so they have a garenteed food supply and also promotes healthy eating for the ones who are taking medication for TB and HIV/AIDS. The workshop went well and we have already sold many pairs of shoes to local members in my village.
Lastly, my host family brother was very sick last weekend. He had a bad fever and was going into convulsions every couple of hours. It was scary because my family associated it to demons, which sadly so many illnesses here are (HIV/AIDS) or to being”witched” by someone. For days I watched my brother get sicker and sicker and I tried helping him with my med kit and doing what I could, but he needed a doctor. Finally, after an emotional weekend, I had a meeting with the elders to get permission to take him to a doctor and I would pay for the hospital bill and hire a car to get him to the hospital. Reluctantly they let me Sunday night. He had seizures in the back of the pick up as we drove carefully but quickly to the hospital. My missionary friends from South Africa live down the mountain and they offered their pick up. He stayed for tests at the hospital for 4 days. He’s 13 years old and this was his first time there. The beds next to him were filled with patients suffering with TB and drugged up on morphine. Poor kid. I sat with him everyday because he doesn’t have immediate family. He is an orphan that lives on my homestead. Me and the kids I live with would make cards for him and I would take them everyday when I went to sit at the hospital so he had something to read. I think although it was a terrible and scary thing he went through, I pray God showed him that there are people who care about him even if he feels alone. He’s been discharged and comes to my room every morning to get his medication. He almost has all his strength back and now we’re even closer than before. He’s a little bit more protective of me with the other kids. Its funny and so cute.
I miss getting letters, so if you ever get time please send one. My family used to send letters bulks at a time, but now phone cards ruined that idea. Haha Who am I kidding, I enjoy an communication from you guys at home so if its not by letter, I do accept phone calls, email, Facebook messages, smoke signals…I just miss being able to talk to you at my disposal. Take Care! Love you guys.
I'm going to Cape Town, South Africa this weekend. It supposed to be like the "New York City of Africa". I'm so excited. I'll be running...no, sorry, I'll be limping through the finishing line of a 1/2 marathon on Sunday morning along the ocean coastline. Pray for a miracle that I don't go into cardiac arrest. The rest of the trip we've planned to just enjoy the coast, go to vineyards, look at penguins, and enjoy indoor plumbing. I can't wait.
The United States Peace Corps Swearing In Ceremony happens once a year with the new volunteers. The “fresh fish” as Jantina would call them. Last year, mine was hosted at the house of the US Ambassador, Maurice Parker. This year it was at a Swanky Hotel in the capital. We were expecting budget cuts with the food since the US economy is strained, but the US government had mercy on us. They probably realized it’s the first time a lot of us have worn make up, worn a tie and suit jacket, and showered all in the same day within the past year. We ate lobster and shrimp. I was satisfied just looking at it. As we waited for the director of NERCHA and some other VIP guests to begin the ceremony, people quietly sat in the big white tent and made aquantances with some of the esteemed guests. Me, on the other hand, decided to go with my friends Connor and Jason to take “senior pictures” by the pool to kill some time before it started. As I open the Swaziland Times last week, I didn’t not see one familiar photo…but three familiar photos of me laying next to the pool and holding my friend Connor in my arms like he was “Bernie” from the infamous movie “Weekend at Bernies”. The Peace Corps Office didn’t reprimand me for it either after seeing it in the paper the following week. They actually ended up encouraging it as they laminated the paper and hung it at the main Peace Corps Office in Mbabane. The embarrassing part is, this is not the first time. Last year at the same annual event I was caught by the press and also printed in the Swaziland Times horrific photos of me leaping through the air in traditional attire (wrapped like a toga), barefoot, pretending to “spear” my friend mid-air in the Ambassadors backyard. It was titlted, “Volunteers at Play.” I’m serving our country well.
I held a workshop a few weeks ago. I found funding to teach support group living with HIV/AIDS in my area how to make shoes. A percentage of the money they will keep for themselves as an income generating project, but a portion of each profit made by the pairs of shoes sold are going towards buying seedlings for gardens we are starting. The gardens are for the orphans and vulnerable children in the area, so they have a garenteed food supply and also promotes healthy eating for the ones who are taking medication for TB and HIV/AIDS. The workshop went well and we have already sold many pairs of shoes to local members in my village.
Lastly, my host family brother was very sick last weekend. He had a bad fever and was going into convulsions every couple of hours. It was scary because my family associated it to demons, which sadly so many illnesses here are (HIV/AIDS) or to being”witched” by someone. For days I watched my brother get sicker and sicker and I tried helping him with my med kit and doing what I could, but he needed a doctor. Finally, after an emotional weekend, I had a meeting with the elders to get permission to take him to a doctor and I would pay for the hospital bill and hire a car to get him to the hospital. Reluctantly they let me Sunday night. He had seizures in the back of the pick up as we drove carefully but quickly to the hospital. My missionary friends from South Africa live down the mountain and they offered their pick up. He stayed for tests at the hospital for 4 days. He’s 13 years old and this was his first time there. The beds next to him were filled with patients suffering with TB and drugged up on morphine. Poor kid. I sat with him everyday because he doesn’t have immediate family. He is an orphan that lives on my homestead. Me and the kids I live with would make cards for him and I would take them everyday when I went to sit at the hospital so he had something to read. I think although it was a terrible and scary thing he went through, I pray God showed him that there are people who care about him even if he feels alone. He’s been discharged and comes to my room every morning to get his medication. He almost has all his strength back and now we’re even closer than before. He’s a little bit more protective of me with the other kids. Its funny and so cute.
I miss getting letters, so if you ever get time please send one. My family used to send letters bulks at a time, but now phone cards ruined that idea. Haha Who am I kidding, I enjoy an communication from you guys at home so if its not by letter, I do accept phone calls, email, Facebook messages, smoke signals…I just miss being able to talk to you at my disposal. Take Care! Love you guys.
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