Six Months In and A Fresh Start

Happy 6^th Month Anniversary to me! Hard to believe, but I swore in on September 2, 2012 and arrived at my site just one day later. So 25% of my service has been completed already! There is no explaining where the time has gone; in so many ways I feel like I just arrived.

It has not escaped my attention that in my first six months I have not kept up with my blog…at all…in words or pictures. But with 18 months to go, there is still plenty of time for me to tell a few stories of my adventures teaching grade 5 maths, library use, and basic computer skills in rural South Africa. And since I finally bought a new camera, I may even try my luck at uploading some pictures.

So here’s a quick six-month recap. I arrived in September 2012 to a cold and rainy spring, which made me think I was not necessarily cut out for “the Peace Corps life.” But I stuck it out, and with the help of my host family and teachers, I got to know my primary school and community during the last term of 2012. For the most part, my days were spent visiting neighbors, re-organizing the school’s library, and observing classes and activities at the school. In those first three months, I also figured out the big things: like how to live without electricity (solar panel) and how to deal with boredom (crossword puzzles and a Rubik Cube). And I adjusted to the small things: like how to walk to school through the mud (rain boots) and how to dispose of trash (burn everything). When December finally arrived, I was reunited with my fellow volunteers for a two-week In-Service Training before traveling around Lesotho and southern KwaZulu-Natal for “summer vacation”. I arrived back at my site just in time to ring in the New Year, and rested up for the start of the school year in mid-January. The last month and a half have been filled with the normal ups and downs of teaching primary school, as well as a few side trips to see fellow volunteers and explore South Africa. I was fortunate enough to attend an international soccer game (South Africa v. Mali) in Durban in early February. And just last weekend, I traveled to Pretoria to start working on a committee that organizes resources for current and future PCVs in South Africa. Just when I was starting to think I hadn’t done anything since I had been here!

As school is in full swing, I suspect that most of my upcoming posts will be about my experiences in the classroom, but there are certainly experiences in the village worth sharing from time to time as well. Weddings, funerals, and ceremonies of various other types continue to teach me about the rich and beautiful culture of the Zulu people. Here’s to hoping that I can keep up with it all!