Before I give you a basic run-down of my past month, I found out yesterday that I will be spending the next 2 years of my life in Magaga, KwaZulu Natal Province!!! It's near Nqutu, KwaZulu Natal Province if you can't find it on google maps. I am currently scheduled to move to this permanent site on September 16, 2010. I'll give you the quick run-down on my site: no electricity, I'm going to be fetching all of my water from a stream/spicket about 300m away, transport to/from Magaga is "infrequent," I have a goat/cattle corral in my front yard, I will be living in a rondavel (round, thatched-roof building), one of the schools that I will be working at is 5km away, and I can "explore the possibility of buying a bicycle [to facilitate travel to and from] although the sand roads may make cycling difficult." HAHA I ALREADY LOVE MY SITE!!! We are supposed to have a week-long site visit starting Monday, but it looks like union strikes are going to be preventing that from actually happening (more on this later in this update). I also wanted to post a couple of pictures of my South African family and some really cool African pictures but my camera broke. I'm trying to find a solution to this though so I'll keep everyone posted.
Everything over here in South Africa is going unexpectedly well. I'm still in the first phase of training, Pre-Service Training (PST), but I feel like I am accomplishing so much. I already reached the minimum language competency for Peace Corps service, which is Intermediate Low, and I am now striving to achieve Intermediate High. The only difference is that instead of being able to recite sentences in response to certain questions, I will have to be able to answer more detailed questions on the fly. I think the reason that I'm doing so well, besides the fact that I study a lot, is because isiZulu is a really fun language. There are at least 6 different clicks and a few "aspirated sounds." I'm still not sure what that last part means but apparently that is semi-important haha. Whatever, I have a few years to figure it out.
Right now I am living in Ga-Phaahla, Mpumalanga Province right next to a larger-ish town called Siyabuswa. Among all of the 51 remaining education volunteers (a few have dropped already because of illnesses and such), 5 different languages are being taught. Here are the other languages: Sepedi, Xitsonga, isiNdebele, and SiSwati. Peace Corps staff has shipped all of the volunteers to 3 distinct villages: Ga-Phaahla, Mohanawabushwa and Waterval. In my village, Ga-Phaahla, there are about 20 volunteers who are all learning isiZulu. The volunteers are then split into smaller language groups so we get more individualized instruction. I am in a group with 3 other volunteers who are all really cool. Our instructor, Nonjabulo, is unbelievably funny/insane/outgoing and has definitely inspired me to learn all about the culture in which I will be living.
As for the Peace Corps training, it has been relatively crazy to say the least. Many of the Peace Corps plans have been shattered as a result of widespread and powerful public worker union strikes here in South Africa. Students have not been going to school for the past week and a half in all of the country because the teachers are demanding a substantial raise from the government. We actually were supposed to be interacting with students and teachers (called learners and educators here in SA) for the past few weeks but we have not been allowed in any of the schools for fear that community members might misinterpret our presence as an act of defiance against the unions. And that type of misinterpretation could lead to several very drastic results including union members burning down the schools and/or our host families' houses. It's a very different world here in some respects.We have been conducting most of our training at Ndebele College, which has been deemed a safe area to train and learn for our purposes.
I also wanted to tell you about my PST host family, the Legwai's. I think the best way to frame my experience for you is that I am the 14th-ish person who is living in my small, 3-bedroom house. I have three younger brothers (Kabelo who is 12, Willy who is 10, & Thato who is 6); four younger sisters (Mahlehse who is 17, Lebo who is 13, Neo who is 9, & Palesa who is 1); three different mothers (one is Paulina but I don't remember the other two) who all work in Pretoria and make the 3-hour commute about once a month on a weekend; a father (Bernard) who is sometimes around; the father's brother (Johannes) who lives in the house with us; and the grandmother of the entire family who is very much active in the daily happenings of the household. The entire family speaks Sotho (similar to Sepedi) and the two oldest sisters can speak broken English. Our house is situated in a Sotho-isiNdebele speaking area so most of them can also speak isiNdebele (which is very similar to isiZulu) so I try to speak to them as much as I can in isiZulu. It is a chore to communicate, but I'm trying to learn as much from the Legwai family as possible.
The food that they prepare is very much different as well. With every meal, they serve pap, which I have come to understand as a strangely textured mashed potatoes type mixture that is made from cornmeal instead of potatoes. It has very little nutritional value but it fills the stomach, so they pile it on. The first night I ate dinner with my family, I couldn't even see the other side of my plate because the mountain of pap obstructed my view. They also salt everything - and I truly mean everything. I swear I saw them putting salt on their cereal one morning (just kidding but I wouldn't be surprised). I have had some truly awesome food here - all of the fruit dishes, vegetables (especially cabbage), the regular chicken parts, the milk, fresh cow - and I have had some terrifying food here as well - chicken neck, cow intestine, chicken intestine, chicken kidney, chicken brain, canned fish, chicken feet, chicken intestine juices. My stomach has hated me and my stomach has loved me.
As for my hygiene, I am adjusting. I take baths with fire-heated water, a bucket that I place on the floor and a small rag. We call it a bucket bath. If I'm lucky, I can heat water in the electric kettle - oh goodie! I have electricity in my house, but I only have one plug. We do not have running water in the house so we fill up 10-gallon buckets from the pump in the front yard. It's pretty awesome, I have to admit. Although things are fairly different here, I'm managing to maintain a positive attitude towards all of the changes. I wake up every morning to the distinctive call of the neighborhood roosters and I am instantly reminded that I am in Africa, an astounding 10,000+ miles away from where I grew up and spent the first 22 years of my life. I purposely take a few minutes to remember why I came all this distance - to make a real and empowering investment in others. Although I have only completed the initial 5 weeks of training, I already feel accomplished and my sense of true adventure has been renewed.
In the spirit of Ubuntu,
Chad
