Home sweet home

Today I heard that former Peace Corps volunteers are ineligible to be on the show Survivor. Apparently the shows claims that we’ve “been there, done that.”

Right now I’m currently sitting in my new home for the next two years. Its in a small village, in southern Limpopo province, but first, let me back up and explain how I got here.

About two weeks ago I visited my permanent site for 5 days to check it out before I moved there permanently.  Details about my new home to come. The closest volunteer is about a 30 minute kombi (public transport/”taxi”) ride away. His name is Nick. Figures that I move across the globe and the closest American grew up 3 hours from my hometown. We share the same “shopping town,” which is where we travel on Saturdays to get groceries because the only things you can buy in my village are rice, soda, and tomatoes (literally). Since we live close, Nick and I decided to travel back to our training location together at the end of our visits. That is when the fun began.

Nick and I met in town ready to start the simple journey back to finish up our PC training. Each of us has a bookbag and a totebag, plus Nick was carrying a pair of shoes and a huge pawpaw fruit (similar to papaya). Of course we, and all of our luggage end up squished in the very back of the kombi (taxi) with two other people and about 4 inches of leg room. What we didn’t know then was that on every transfer (we had
about 4 of them) on our 5 hour journey we would end up squeezing into the back, bags flying everywhere, not able to move a muscle, much less take off our jackets, which had begun to make us sweat profusely.
We finally arrived back at our training site, a little sweatier, and a little wiser about packing lightly when using public transport.

After our site visit we had two more weeks of training which included our final language test (I passed!). We also had a picnic for our training host families that included a spontaneous talent show. I accidentally ended up doing a spontaneous ballroom dancing presentation with another volunteer who dances. The South Africans loved it! On September 8, 2011, I was sworn in as an official Peace Corps volunteer and on Sept. 9 I moved to my tiny village on the side of a hill.

I live with an older man, (his name is either Elias or Silas, I still haven’t been able to figure that out), and his wife, Josephine. Their grandchildren, an 11 yr old boy named Nolo, and a 2 yr old girl named Frenchie.  I live in one room of a cement building off their back patio. It has electricity, but nothing else, including furniture as of now. I was doing everything off the floor, cooking, sleeping, storing things, etc, but I was recently able to aquire some desks from school and a few chairs.

Also, I have recently gotten a Blackberry cellphone plan that has “unlimited” internet access, so I should be able to e-mail more and post pictures more frequently.   I can’t watch youtube videos or download large files, but I can post pictures that I take on my phone and do most anything else. It may seem weird to be a Peace Corps volunteer with a Blackberry, but it was the cheapest and easiest way to get Internet access… welcome to the developing world.

Finishing training

I am currently finishing up the 2 months of training in South Africa. I've been living with a host family and learning the Sepdi language, not to mention, figuring out how to live in a culturally appropriate way in South Africa.

In my last post I think I had just moved in with my host family and I was terrified of getting sick. Well, my family has become the best part of my training experience. Other trainees have nicer accommodations, but I have formed awesome relationships and learned so much about life in South Africa. I also figured out who actually lives at the house: Gogo, two 20sih girls, and 3 children. It took me almost a week to figure out who actually lived there because people were coming and going and I had no idea what was going on.  I’ve become really close with my sister Katlego (it’s pronounced like its spelled, good luck with the “tl”) – she has become my confidant and the person that answers all my questions about how things are done. Anything embarrassing, like if its appropriate to use the chamber pot in my room if its after dark, really cold out, but not bedtime, I just ask her and she tells it to me straight.

I also have received a South African name, “Morongwa” it means “sent or messenger” but the dictionary (which is usually wrong) says “angel” so I prefer to think of myself like that. I introduce myself as “Morongwa Maleka” (using my family’s surname) and South African just laugh and laugh when they hear that.

Here are the current happening:
1.      - Snow in South Africa this past month (not where I am, but its that cold). It is getting warmer, thank goodness.

2.       - We met the chief of the village. He had building, and representatives, he decides who gets to build their houses, where.

3.      -  I’m getting quicker at bucket baths – it helps that I only wash my hair 2 times a week.

4.       - It’s been windy lately, which means dust is constantly in your eyes, but does decrease the smell of the outhouse.

5.       - There was a wedding across the street from my house. Please see pics for more details.

6.       - I volunteered at an old age home with my South African sister – we mopped the floor.

7.       - The PC volunteers visited the Vortrekker monument (basically about the Afrikkaner trek similar to our westward expansion, like Oregon Trail) and the Aparthied museum.

8.       - I’ve taught a couple times at the local high school.

9.      -  Our training coordinator hit a porcupine with his truck, so he skinned it (see pics for more details).

10.   - This is now my mantra “Life is never so good or so bad that it can’t be improved by a hot shower.” Something to think about.

I wiIl visit my permanent site on Wednesday. It is about 2 hours southeast of Polokwane in a village that is not on the map. I'll give you more details about that when I get back.

Arrival!

Well I'm here! I'll be staying in SA for the next few months learning Sepedi (also know as Northern Sotho) and experiencing the local culture.

We spent one night in DC last week (hard to believe it was only a week ago) getting prepared for what to expect and meeting our fellow PC trainees. There are 56 Peace Corps trainees in my group. Most are around 23 years old and either have just graduated or graduated a year ago. There are about 6 of us who are late twenties and then there are a couple of 40ish people. We even have a guy who is in his late 60s, lives in a house made out of old tires in Tennessee, and left his wife there for two years while he is in South Africa. There are 3 married couples, 2 of them are recently retired and the other is in their mid-twenties. Its a good group of people with a variety of life experiences.

The first thing I have to say about my time here is that it has been really cold. There is no heating or air conditioning in any of the buildings, and it is the middle of "winter" (which is very similar to a Florida winter). During the day I am fine outside in a sweater but when you are inside, without sunlight, and at night I have been freezing by butt off.

We spent the first 4 days staying in "blocks" (an 8 person house with a hall bathroom) and learning at a university. It was a good way to get oriented into a new place. We learned introductions and greetings in 4 different languages and started learning about the practicalities of life in SA (bucket baths, safety concerns, water treatment, what our job will be like, how to identify the different types of diarrhea, etc.)

People in our group will be learning 4 different languages based on where we will be located. At the end of our two month training we find out where we will be permanently located. I'm learning Sepedi language so that means that I will probably be stationed in southern Limpopo (a province), about 3 hours from the capital, Pretoria.

Right now we are staying with host families. Let's just say that my host family is really preparing me for what life will be like when I get to my permanent site. I am living with a "gogo" (grandma) and her 3 grandchildren. Her daughter comes by every once in a while (more on her later). My gogo doesn't speak great English and neither do the children, so communication is a problem.  I have my own room and there is a pit toilet in the back - it's kind of like a port-a-pottie and smells a bit like creamed corn (don't ask). You can't go out to the toilet at night, so when it gets late you have to pee in a bucket in your room and empty it in the morning. My first chamber pot experience!!!

I am boiling and filtering my water. We have electricity and a stove, but sometimes gogo cooks over a fire in the shed out back.

I have never eaten while watching TV, but I come to South Africa and my family watches TV while eating dinner! Evenings consist of bathing, watching TV, and doing my homework, which the kids help me with and then try to teach me new words.

My first night at the house, my new "sister" Francina, who is 25 years old comes in and starts boiling water for her bucket bath. After she finishes preparing her water she says to me, "Now you come with me to my room." When we get there she shows me where I can sit and then begins to take off her clothes to bathe!! I had literally known her for 5 minutes at this point. She chats with me while she bathes and I get a good demonstration of how actually to execute a bucket bath. Apparently this is culturally normal to bathe with girlfriends, but it was certainly a shocker to me!

It's going to be a tough two months, getting out of bed when it is freezing outside and then taking a bucket bath.(I'm thinking about chopping my hair since it is a bit difficult to bucket bathe with long hair;)