– July 18,2012
First off, I apologize for the lack of updates on my blog –the internet connection at our training facility is intermittent and generallycrashes as 41 overly eager trainees attempt to savor every precious minute ofinternet time to write to their loved ones at home. I’m going to start uploading several blogs ata time when I can. I’m hoping that whenI move into my permanent site at the end of August I will have a better idea ofwhat communication will look like for the next two years. For now, I’ll make do with what I can.
While training has been fairly hectic and routine is notpart of a Peace Corps Trainee’s vocabulary, I figure I’d attempt to paint apicture of what life is like during an average day of training. Training is certainly far more fast-pacedthan the rest of my service will be and I am more than ready for the slowerpace of life during integration, but for now here’s a glimpse of my life:
5:00 am – Roosters throughout Swaziland unite to wake up theentire country. The dogs generally joinin the fun…and occasionally the cows will throw in a few moos. At this point I beginto ponder, “to bucket bathe or not, that is the question.”
5:15 am – Decide to forego the bucket bath and lay in bedlistening to the madness outside. Peekout my window to catch a glimpse of the beautiful African stars.
6:00 am – Reluctantly roll out of my cozy sleeping bag andstart to boil water to wash my face. Ialso chose to boil some more water to filter, using the steam as my makeshiftheater for my cold room. Reluctantly puton the long skirt and Jesus sandals – Peace Corps chic, I must say.
6:45 am – Attempt to sneak out of the house without awakingmy two newfound body guards/best friends, Chi Chi and Tiga. I fed these dogs twice and they literallyhave not left my side since. Chi Chi isa sweetheart who thinks he is a lap dog, but Tiga is a “f***ing bastard,” as myfriend’s dad likes to call him. Tiga hasmade it is personal mission to ensure my safety and when he isn’t chasing cowsor baby goats, he has occasionally bitten a child or two. This week we’ve had to lock him in a sparetoolshed while I leave the house to prevent him from terrorizing the entirevillage.
7:00 am – Arrive at our stesh(bus stop), where a fellow volunteer sells us warm buns that his make (mother) has made thatmorning. We then proceed to watch thesun rise over the rolling hills of maize fields as we discuss the previousnight’s excitement, exchanging cultural nuances that we are beginning to pickup. Meanwhile, we are entertained by thedaily showdown of tinja vs. tinkhomo(dogs vs. cows). Chi Chi and Tiga takegreat pleasure in chasing cows, so observing this epic duel has become part ofthe morning routine.
7:45 am – Bus finally arrives on Swazi time. 41 Americans pile into a short bus to makethe journey to our training facility. All the locals point and laugh at the vehicle full of umlungus (white people).
8:15 am – Get to training late, which unfortunately cutsinto our language time. We spend thenext two hours in small groups of four or five with our assigned languageteacher. Language lessons generallyinclude a significant amount of time slaughtering siSwati words with ourhorrendous pronunciation and then attempting (and failing) to master theclicking sound, which typically results in spit wads flying everywhere. Laughter ensues. In all honesty, siSwati has been one of themost frustrating aspects of my time thus far. The language is unlike any other language I’ve studied and most wordsinvolve upwards of four syllables. Thusfar we have conquered the greetings, which are key to gaining the respect ofthe community. Apart from that, thephrases I’ve mastered are ngilambile(I’m hungry), ngiyakutsandza (I loveyou), kuyabandza (It’s cold), and sitawubonana kusasa (see youtomorrow). So language wise, things arecoming along fairly slowly. I need toremind myself that we have only been here for three weeks and I am startingfrom scratch without any context for learning the language. Thankfully, my host family speaks perfectEnglish, but I am eager to reach a level of proficiency where I can conversewith a community member who does not speak any English. This, like most things during these next twoyears, will require significant patience, which I’m gradually learning toaccept.
10:00 am – Tea break. Hands down the best thing the Brits brought to Swaziland.
10:30 am – Resume training. Usually this involves some sort of technical, cultural, or medicalsession. Over the past few weeks, wehave been learning a lot of the basic self-care techniques for when we aretruly living the hut life in the middle of nowhere Swaziland. These medical sessions included a two-hourlecture on diarrhea, a discussion of alcohol use (happy hour included),lectures on HIV, and tips on cooking for ourselves, which ultimately ended in acooking competition (think Top Chef, Swazi edition).
12:30 – 1:30 pm – Break for lunch. We all flock to the courtyard, where theinternet signal is strongest. 5 minuteslater, internet crashes. We spend therest of lunch basking in the sun and attempting to mooch of the volunteers whohave avocado trees on their homesteads.
1:30 pm – We spend the rest of the afternoon in training. While some of the sessions have been fairlystraightforward and somewhat tedious, I have really enjoyed the technicalsessions where we have learned more about different techniques and tools to useto get to know what the community needs once we are in our permanentcommunities. Peace Corps’ approach todevelopment really emphasizes helping people help themselves. The volunteer’s role is mainly to help thecommunity identify their needs and to help them recognize ways in which theycan tackle the problems themselves. Ireally agree with this approach to development because not only does it requirethe integration of the volunteer into the community, which simultaneouslyincorporates an aspect of cultural exchange, but it also is sustainable in thesense that the community is really the one creating the change while thevolunteer simply serves to offer an alternate perspective and problem-solvingapproach. I am eager to get into mypermanent community and start to build the relationships that will be thefoundation of my work and also probably the most valuable aspect of myexperience in Swaziland.
4:00 pm – Training is out for the day. At this point I start to get antsy from aday of sitting in class. Not only that,but the timeliness of the bus determines whether or not I can squeeze in a runbefore the sun goes down at 5:30. Thelack of control over my exercise routine has probably been the hardest aspectof my time in Swaziland thus far. Running is my most reliable form of stress relief and I have definitelynoticed that the lack of consistent exercise is beginning to interfere with myability to cope with all of the changes being thrown my way. I’m sure that as I settle into my permanentsite this will cease to be an issue, but for these initial few months I amlearning to find alternate methods of stress relief (cooking, yoga,meditation). I have been able to managegetting in a couple workouts per week and have found several other volunteerswho enjoy running, so we’re planning on running the half marathon in Cape Townnext April.
4:45 pm – Return to my homestead where the dogs greet mebefore I have even reached the gate. Igenerally spend the next couple hours chatting with my sisi while she preparesdinner. It has been so fun to have asisi that is my age. I am so impressed with her maturity and ability to carefor her two-year-old daughter with such calmness. I can’t say that I’d be capable of doing soat this point in my life. Last week we started cooking for ourselves, which hasbeen a great opportunity to have some alone time. I’m pretty sure my family thinks that I amcompletely inept at cooking, which is partially true, because every time theystop by to watch me cook I tend to light something on fire…I’m still working onmastering the two burner stove…The majority of my evening is spent cooking,cleaning, sweeping, and chatting with my make and sisi in the kitchen. Simply living takes a lot of time and efforthere – washing dishes in a basin, bathing in a bucket, boiling water fordrinking, and doing laundry by hand. Idon’t think I’ve ever appreciated the idea of a washing machine and dishwasheras much as I do here. It definitelymakes you appreciate the work ethic of the Swazi people.
8:00 pm – Drop everything to join the family in watching Generations, a South African soap opera– 30 minutes full of pure drama! I’m notgonna lie, I’m an addict. I have seenevery episode (Monday-Friday) since I moved in with my host family. Think Spanish soap operas on crack…Wegenerally all eat dinner while watching TV – not much different from a lot ofAmerican families, right?
8:30 pm – Generationsleaves us hanging with a suspenseful and drama-filled ending. Despite the excitement, I am struggling tostay awake after the day. I excusemyself to go study, while my family teases me that my lights will be out 15minutes later. Usually they’reright. I’ve taken a break from studyingover the past week after finishing our midterm exams. Part of these exams included a languageproficiency interview, during which we had a conversation with the languagedirector and he evaluated our progress. I must say that this interview was quite traumatic, mostly due to thefact that my marriage proposal to my interviewer was promptly rejected. I was even prepared to ask how many cows hewas willing to pay for me. Maybe for myfinal exam I’ll be able to form a more elaborate proposal, something like, “I make a mean cow’s head and I would cookit for your every day, will you marry me?” I’m hoping this will make me even more irresistible…
9:00 pm – I drift off mid-flash card, eager to discover whatkind of absurd and vivid dreams I will encounter that night, courtesy of themalaria medication. Latest dreamhighlights: I weighed 750 lbs (don’t worry, just a dream). Overall, life during training is prettyhectic and the long days on top of the time and effort it takes to simply liveleave me pretty exhausted by the end of the night. Once I am sworn in as an official volunteerand move to my permanent site, I will be able to adopt a more Swazi pace oflife, which I am eagerly anticipating. For the meantime, I am focusing on enjoying the perks of training:getting to see my friends every day, spending time with my incredible hostfamily, learning as much as I can, and asking as many questions aspossible. While some days have certainlybeen harder than others, I am still very at peace knowing that this is exactlywhat I am supposed to be doing at this stage in my life. I’m still in awe at the fact that I’m inAfrica, but I’m loving every minute of it!
