Monday, December 31, 2012

There's No Place Like Home

My Zulu home - complete with solar panel.

I was a little unsure at first about spending New Year’s Eve in my village, because I was afraid I was going to feel sort of alone; but then I remembered that New Year’s has never really been my thing, and with few exceptions (like in 1995 when I was at the Rose Bowl) they have been pretty boring and usually involve me going to bed way before midnight. Little did I know that this rural village without electricity rings in the New Year like it’s Times Square! The neighbors had a pretty extravagant party, complete with food, candles, car stereo music, and plenty of beer. And at midnight there were fireworks! Now, it was perhaps the world’s smallest fireworks display, but there were fireworks nonetheless. The funniest part was how quickly it ended after the clock struck twelve. I think that most people here, myself included, are not used to going to bed so late. But it was quite a fun surprise to be part of the celebration.

When I walked around the village on New Years Day to say hello and wish people happy new year (which by the way is translated into Zulu as “happy new year”) a woman told me how embarrassed she was at all the noise from the night before. She explained that she celebrated the new year by waking up at midnight and praying for a prosperous year for her and her family and then returning to bed. But she knows that many people in the village celebrate by drinking too much and being too loud. Then she asked me how Americans celebrate the New Year. I thought about telling her that we also wake up and pray, but instead I told her the horrible truth that our cultures seem to have the drinking and being noisy thing in common. She tried not to act disappointed.

All in all, I am really happy that I decided to stay “home” for this holiday, as it was certainly one of the most unique New Year’s experiences I have ever had.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Christmas in Africa


Can’t even believe I just spent my first of two Christmases in Africa. I was lucky enough to spend these past couple of days with three other PCVs at a site in southern KZN, and we tried our best to make it feel like the holiday season, but there were a few differences…

For starters, it was quite strange to be on “summer vacation” from school; no grading to worry about, no lessons to plan, no midterm exams to prepare. Not that I really did any of those things on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day in America, but it was nice to know that they were not are going to creep up on me just after the holidays.

This was the first time in 35 years that I was not with my parents on Christmas Day. There were years that I arrived home on the 24th and there were years that I left on the 26th, but I have always spent the 25th with them. I know that they are fine without me and I am fine without them, but it is still strange to be so far from home – I have come to realize that most of all, it is family that makes it feel like the holidays.

As I am from the Midwest, I am used to cold and snow this time of year. The past two afternoons were in the high 80s and then a big rainstorm rolled in and cooled everything down to the low 70s. Although I never particularly enjoyed shoveling the snow, my favorite Christmas days involved waking up to a snow covered ground and trees; it certainly did not involve sweating by 8am.

So as we were all craving some Christmas cheer, we did as much as we could to remind of us home. On Christmas Eve, small decorations either brought or recently sent from family and friends back in the States were hung from the rafters of the house. We spent most of the day listening to Christmas music and watching Christmas movies – Rudolph, Frosty, Charlie Brown, the Grinch, The Holiday, and Muppets Christmas Carol ran at various times. 
Christmas Cookie Time!
After dinner we rolled out cookie dough and cut candy canes, Christmas trees, stockings, stars, bells, and ornaments to bake as treats for tomorrow. For some reason, we also took to trying a few more ambitious shapes, like the continent of Africa, the USA, and the states of Wisconsin, Texas, and Ohio. Pretty sure no one except us would recognize any of them, but who cares, it was fun to try. Safe to say none of us will be opening a gourmet bakery at the end of our service.

Christmas morning, we woke up and exchanged small gifts among ourselves and then with the host family we were visiting. 
Christmas Day with my PCV family.
That afternoon, we were lucky enough to be visited by another group of PCVs who joined the family braai (bbq) as well. There was eating, drinking, dancing, and singing. The people were all new, but the spirit was the same. All in all, Christmas had a slightly different feel, but one I will cherish for years to come…another part of the Peace Corps experience.

Happy Holidays to all!




Saturday, December 22, 2012

Highlights from Lesotho


The day after IST ended, I, and three PCV friends, went on a ten-day journey to visit the little country of Lesotho, found completely inside the borders of South Africa. Despite its location, it is geographically and culturally very different, which was part of the reason that I wanted to see it. The quick, quick history is that the Basotho people came to this mountainous region and successfully defended themselves from other African tribes as well as the Boers and the British. Under the leadership of King Moshoeshoe I, they negotiated with the British not to be a state when the Union of South Africa was formed, and eventually in the mid 1960s, they became a completely independent nation. Because it was always just one tribe of people, there are only two official languages in the country – Sesotho and English. In rural areas, the English is poor, but we managed nonetheless.

The route up Sani Pass from South Africa to Lesotho.
We started off in Underberg, South Africa and took a public minibus taxi up the Sani Pass, across the boarder to Sani Top, where we stayed for the night. I don’t think any of us realized just how treacherous the “road” up Sani Pass was, which is probably for the best, or we never would have gotten started. The weather was a bit foggy, but even so, we could tell that it was quite a drop on either side of the gravel mountain trail. After making a few inquiries, we were told that there are only three or four taxi drivers that drive the route since it is so difficult, and the trip is done in special taxis that are four-wheel drive with truck tires. Since it was the summer, we didn’t have to deal with things like ice and snow, which I frankly could not imagine encountering. But locals are said to do it all year long to transport goods from one country to the other: mostly South Africa to Lesotho.

The beautiful view at Sani Top.
On Saturday, we woke up early and traveled by public taxi from Sani Top to Mokhotlong. This was a bit of a disaster as we didn’t realize that the same taxi that comes up Sani Pass travels on to Mokhotlong without anyone really getting off at Sani Top. Luckily we figured this out the day before, and paid the woman at the bottom of Sani Pass to save seats for us the next day, so all four of us would be able to fit on the taxi. After arriving in the main town of Mokhotlong, we realized there is absolutely nothing to do, so we headed to our lodging for the evening, St James Lodge. Getting there was not that difficult, although getting back into town the next morning was not as easy, since it was a Sunday. But the experience at the Lodge was worth it.
Local boys wearing Basotho blankets.
The lodge is part of a missionary that works to support the local community and invites people to come and volunteer with a variety of projects. There was also no electricity at the lodge, so I felt right at home! Mostly we walked around the village and took pictures of the beautiful scenery and children, which is more or less the reason we came to Lesotho, so it worked out nicely.

Our goal on Sunday was to travel virtually all the way across the top of the country to the capital of Maseru. It was supposed to be an eight-hour bus ride, which didn’t sound pleasant, but we figured it would be better than a public taxi. We could not have been more wrong. For starters, the bus was packed with people in a way I cannot even describe. I was standing so that I could not move in any direction as the people in front of me and behind me were so close. And then about two hours into the ride, the bus broke down – for four hours. At first it was almost a relief because we had a chance to get off the bus and stretch out. Unfortunately it started to downpour after about an hour of sitting outside and everyone scrambled to get back on the bus to stay dry. So I basically stood on a bus that wasn’t moving for two to three hours. That was not the most fun I have ever had. When we finally got going again, we drove through some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever laid eyes on. It was truly spectacular, although I don’t have any pictures since I was really not in the position to be photographing anything. As we neared Maseru, the bus made a lot of stops to drop people off, which seemed to take forever, but at least a few seats opened up here and there and eventually I got to sit down. I don’t have any idea what time we finally arrived, but it was very late and very dark and we were very lucky we found a taxi to drive us to our backpackers. I think we said two words to each other and all passed out asleep.

Basotho weaving is well-known.
On Monday, we took a day trip to the local craft village of Teyateyanang to get a first hand look at the Basotho women weaving everything from bookmarks to area rugs. They are quite skilled and it was really cool to watch. Then on Tuesday, we traveled to Ramabanta, near the middle of the country, to see the most rural and scenic areas. We had a few days here to relax, hike, and pony-trek – one of the must-do activities if you visit Lesotho. The time we spent in Ramabanta was the highlight of the trip for many reasons. One of which was that it used to be a PCV site. The last volunteer there was Casey, who closed her service in 2008. Since weaving and working with yarn is one of the major cultural aspects of Lesotho, Casey decided to organize a small group of women (about 10) who already knew how to knit, and found a space they could call their workshop. She encouraged them to make just two things, scarves and beanie hats, to sell to tourists that pass through the area. Almost five years later, these women continue to make and to sell their products out of their workshop, as well as out of two very popular hotel/lodges, one in the village of Ramabanta, and the other in the next town of Roma. And, with the help of the lodge in Ramabanta, they are trying to get their knitting into the major gift shop in Maseru. In short, this volunteer did what Peace Corps is supposed to do. She helped establish an extremely functional and sustainable incoming generating project using only local resources, and it has actually grown since she left. It was genuinely inspiring to see, and of course, I bought a scarf and hat, because it’s going to get pretty cold where I live too.

Pony-trekking is a common activity for visitors and locals.

View of Ramabanta from our pony-trek.

The markets in Maseru.
On Friday, we were headed back to Maseru, happy with all that we did. Since we got back so early in the day (for once there were no issues with public transport) we found some time to walk around parts of Maseru and see the markets as well as the large cultural center that is in the shape of a giant Basotho hat. Along the way, we noticed a few Christmas decorations as well, which made me laugh since I almost forgot it was that time of the year.

The main Cultural Center and gift shop in
Maseru - in the shape of a Basotho hat.
The next morning, we were up early and out the door to travel by public taxi all the way around to Qacha’s Nek (found in the Southeastern part of the country) and back to South Africa. As Maseru is in the Northwestern part of the country, we knew we were in for a long day, but it went relatively smoothly, and were made it back to South Africa before it was dark. It probably would have been smarter to cross back in at the main bridge in Maseru, but live and learn. Overall, it was quite an adventure that I am happy to say that I had.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

A Happy Reunion

The Battlefields crew at In-Service
Training 2012.

After the few days of workshops with our principals in Richard’s Bay, the twelve other PCVs that were also in attendance, headed out on Sunday morning to Pietermaritzburg (PMB) to meet up with the other 24 members of our cohort as well as new counterparts from our schools, for another week and half of meetings and training sessions. As with all trainings in every sector of the workforce, some sessions were quite well done and some sessions had me wishing for a stick to poke my eyes out just so I would feel better. But it was nice to be reunited with the rest of the volunteers, and we stayed at a beautiful hotel with an amazing buffet provided three times a day. I think I gained something like 10 pounds in the last two weeks. Given that I otherwise live on peanut butter and ramen noodles, I thought it was fantastic.

The days were filled with sessions on how to lesson plan, tips for starting a library, implementing a successful secondary project, and the like. Most of the evenings were free to watch TV or movies. There was a small plaza shopping center about a 20 minute walk away and it had a video store that actually let us check out movies. Passport not required. And on this, our last day, we had no sessions at all – the day was completely free! One of the volunteers made arrangements for us to go to a nearby mall, which means….I finally bought a new camera! I was so happy, and just in time for my upcoming vacation. Pictures will be now accompany most of my blog posts.

Since I didn’t have money to buy anything else (I didn’t actually have money to buy the camera either, but whatever), I decided to go see a movie after my big purchase. I really wanted to see “Skyfall” and luckily it was still showing, so that worked out nicely. Perhaps the strangest part of the experience and the reason I mention it at all, is that in South Africa you buy an assigned seat to see a movie. No joke. When I bought my ticket, which cost the equivalent of only $5 by the way, they showed me a screen with a seating chart and asked me where I would like to sit. I was a bit surprised, so I just picked somewhere in the middle. I cannot even imagine trying to implement this system in the US, but everyone there found it perfectly normal. I find it pretty funny that of all the crazy things I have experienced here, one of the oddest happened in the “first world” as opposed to my village. I guess surprises can happen anywhere.

After a great day of shopping and movie-watching, we had small holiday party complete with gift exchange. From what we figure, it will be the last time we are all together as a group until September of 2013, when we come together again for our mid-service training. I hope all goes well between now and then.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Under the Iceberg


On Thursday of last week, the future principal of my school and I headed to Richard’s Bay, a medium sized city on the coast of the Indian Ocean, for a Peace Corps workshop to help us plan for the next school year. For me, it was the beginning of nearly two weeks of meetings and training sessions of various sorts with various people at two different locations, although my principal left yesterday to be back at school today.

In general, the goal of the few days was to make sure that we were on the same page as far as what was to be expected of each other. How many classes would I teach? When would those classes be scheduled? What procedure should be followed if I am not able to come to school? Those sorts of things. I would also have a chance to share some of the observations that I made during my first three months at the school. It was a time for us both to reflect on the past three months since I arrived and to plan ahead so that the rest of my service is as useful to the school as possible and as successful as possible for me.

At one session in particular, I remember an analogy being made that I really took to heart and wanted to try to remember as I move forward in this journey. It was said by the Peace Corps staff member that ran all of the sessions that right now we only see “the tip of the iceberg” when it comes to knowing about each other. That we should not be fooled into thinking we obtained all the information there is to know in three months. If you think about an iceberg, there is far more of it hidden under the water than what we can see above the surface. This does not mean we should be scared or worried, but that we should not be surprised that in the coming weeks and months after the new school year begins we will continue to learn new things about the ways we operate and communicate. I just need to keep this in mind when things creep up on me that I may not like or want to deal with.