Whew! Is this cutting it close or what? It's the last day of August around 9pm and I'm just getting around to hashing out this entry. This month has been chaotic to say the least. At the beginning of the month, I flew up to the capital of Zambia to meet my brother - Troy - and one of my good friends - Yashwardhan - both of whom I hadn't seen in over a year. It was so nice to see both of them, familiar faces. We drove West to see one of the 7 natural wonders of the world, Victoria Falls, got liquored up and emptied out at the casinos more times that I care to admit, watched the horrible Captain America: The First Avenger (not recommended, full stop), walked with lions, played with cheetahs and even made a stop at a cotton factory just for the hell of it. Needless to say, Zambia was awesome. And the fun was multiplied by three because I was hanging out with my brother and Yash.
After Zambia happened, Troy and I flew down to South Africa and toured around Gauteng and KwaZulu Natal. We made fun of Afrikaaners, met some of my closest Peace Corps Volunteer friends, went deep sea fishing, destroyed a hostel (ask Troy about that one…), drove through the frantic city of Durban in a shitty ass car attempting to master the left side of the road while sitting and shifting on the right side of the vehicle, went camping on an river island near my house, rode the new Gautrain (which opened approximately 1 year late… no bigs), chilled at the beach and partied in the infamous Hatfield Square. And to top it all off, Zambezi Airlines cancelled Troy's flight out of South Africa and made him miss all of his connecting flights back through Kenya, India, Germany and New Jersey.
So all in all, the first half of this month has been hectic. Brutally hectic. Now, since I dipped out on school to take a three week vacation, I'm playing catch up with all of my educators, after-school clubs, debates, projects, proposals and busy work. To say that I am unhappy, however, is a gross misjudgment of what I'm trying to say. Even though I've come back home to a mountain of paperwork, I'm just glad to be H-O-M-E.
It may be hard for you to believe (for me it is anyways), but I have now been in South Africa working as a Peace Corps Volunteer for about a year. Wow, right?! My mid-service training (half-way training) is right around the corner and I'm already being asked by co-workers, fellow PCVs and friends back in the States what I'm going to be doing post-Peace Corps. It's crazy to think about. And if there's one thing I've learned while here in Africa, it is that if something seems crazy to think about (such as planning a year in advance), don't think about it. So that's what I'm doing - living in the moment (or at least trying to accomplish that feat) and enjoying the people around me.
In my village, in a weird sense of the word, I feel at home. I have a family that constantly checks up on me (two families if you count my principal too), I have a house, a bed, friends in the village, friends outside of the village, I know all of the taxi drivers and everyone knows me. It is very rare that I walk around my, Christian's or Katie's village and am asked who I am or where I come from. Everyone just knows that I'm the IsiZulu-speaking white guy who volunteers in the schools and who lives with the S'gubudu family on top of the hill. I am finally at the point where people are starting to resource me for more than you can imagine - sometimes I hear PCVs talking about this phenomenon as finally receiving the trust of the village. Whatever it is, I'm finally feeling accepted and really am starting to understand my role as an American in rural South Africa.
Okay enough of my non-sensical banter. Below are the pictures from Zambia, Troy's visit to South African and some other crazy stuff that I have seen. Hope you enjoy!
Kusasa,
Mvelo Sigubudu
Tomorrow,
Chad Wolver
