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.