Vacation Part 1: KZN

I was SO excited to leave on Tuesday for the first of my two vacations – it was like Christmas came early! Don’t get me wrong, it was nice to have some down time in the village and hang out a bit more with my family, but mostly I was dodging raindrops, so I was looking forward to traveling to an area with better weather. I was able to make the trip from my village to St Lucia in record time! Four taxi rides and barely any waiting, reinforcing the notion that the holidays are the only time to travel long distances by minibus taxi. Later in the afternoon, I met up with my friend Kelsey and her parents, who drove in from Nelspruit, and our vacation was officially underway.

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater in St Lucia.

On Wednesday, Kelsey and her family wanted to relax and explore a bit of St Lucia on foot. We took a nice walk down to the ocean by way of the boardwalk, and on the way I snapped a few pictures of some birds found in the area. With the help of Kelsey’s mom, I was able to identify them, and I will hopefully print out their pictures to add to the collection I have going at home.

The monkeys that invaded our house!

On Thursday, while hanging out in the house in the late afternoon, two monkeys climbed through the kitchen window to raid our fruit supply. After getting over the shock of seeing them, I chased back out and shut the window, although not before they got away with a banana and a mango. I then had to make sure all the windows in the house were closed because within a few minutes they had found their way to the bathroom window and were starting to climb through.

Birding in St Lucia.

Friday’s weather was picture perfect so I took advantage by taking two walks on the nearby trail (one in the morning by myself and one in the late afternoon with Kelsey and her mom) to try to see some birds. To be honest, I didn’t see a whole lot either time, but it was still a pleasant walk. The time in between was spent reading by the pool and exploring the shops in town.

Kudu, just off the road, in the estuary.

Saturday was another gorgeous day, and a perfect opportunity to see the sites of the nearby iSimangaliso Wetlands. We headed out in the late morning, and not long after we drove past the entrance gate, we began to see wildebeests, warthogs, kudu, and zebras scattered throughout the grasses of the estuary. When we arrived at our destination, the beaches of Cape Vidal, we were taken aback by the strength of the wind. Before we could enjoy the warm Indian Ocean, we had to secure our belongings from blowing away and even make sure all our bags were tightly closed to keep as much sand out as possible. While hanging out on the beach, we ran into three other PCVs from our cohort who were traveling down the coast of KZN with family from the States – a rather small world J. After about two hours splashing around in the surf, we were ready to

The Indian Ocean at Mission Rock Beach.

move on, eager to escape the wind, but also to see some of the other landmarks in the estuary. As we traveled back to St Lucia, we first stopped at Catalina Bay to take in the view of some of the swamp and marshland areas in the estuary. And just a little further down the road, we pulled off to see Mission Rock Beach. Rather than sand, the shore is filled with large rocks and beautiful tide pools that are perfect for relaxing. We arrived home early enough to walk into town and stock up on fruit before the markets closed; and later that evening we enjoyed a delicious sushi dinner. Could not have planned a better day.

The diverse environments of the iSimangaliso Wetlands.

Christmas Time in the Village

Unlike last year, I have been in the village for a lot more of this December school break. Not necessarily my original plan, but this being the case, I wanted to make sure that I decorated my hut appropriately for the holidays. And since I was sent some extra crafts from America, I was able to make sure my family’s house was trimmed as well. Being here also gave me the chance to see how the women in the community organize themselves to prepare for any celebrations around Christmas and New Year.

Oh, Christmas Tree.

Last week, after I returned home on the last day of school, I decided it was time set up everything inside of my hut. I dug up and dusted off the little, faux tree that was left behind by the last volunteer. On it I hung a few ornaments that were sent last season, in addition to a few things I have collected since my arrival. New this year are some trimmings for the mosquito net and the curtains on each window. A friend from home was nice enough to send half a dozen or so packages of holiday crafts, like snowflakes and gingerbread men, that could be decorated with markers, stickers, and glitter. I’m not necessarily sure they were meant for my personal use, but they were too cute to pass up, so I hijacked a few before sharing with the rest of the village. My desk is home to a small wire Baobab tree that I bought in Namibia; now fully stocked with felt snowmen and Christmas trees. This same tree donned pumpkin lights and a large felt pumpkin cutout just a few weeks ago, so I am trying to rotate the décor appropriately for the season. Next up: Valentine’s Day ;-)

A few new crafts sent from America.

My desk has decorations to make the season bright.

My sisters Toe and Niki create a few holiday decorations.

A few days ago (when it finally stopped raining), my host sisters were able to come over and finish decorating the rest of the gingerbread men and snowflakes, which they then took to their house and hung around the living room. I can’t say for sure, but I am pretty confident it is the first time that they have had something like that in the house for Christmas, and they must have said about a thousand times that everyone who came to visit was going to be very jealous. It was quite special to see them so pleased. It was also quite hilarious to see decorated snowflakes hanging around a home that should only see snow at Christmas when the apocalypse is happening.

My sister Philile hangs a few of the decorations
in the family living room.

Women around the village come together at this time
of year to buy many common items in bulk.

That same day, I also helped my family bring home a huge delivery of groceries in preparation for the holiday season. My host sister Philile explained that at this time every year, groups of women get together and pool their money (in some cases as much as R20,000 per group), and buy things like flour, sugar, rice, eggs, beans, etc, in bulk, thus giving everyone a good discount. The groups are formed based on how much money each individual is able to contribute and the groceries they are interested in buying. After they have formed their group, the women will choose a day to go to town (everyone in the group participates), shop around to compare prices, and then buy everything that they can. In order to get the goods home, they pay someone with a bakkie (a pick-up truck) to deliver all the items to

Niki, Toe, and Philile are responsible for carrying most
of the groceries through the village back home.

a central location in the village. From here, everyone collects their share of the order, so usually the members of the shopping group also live relatively close to one another, but that is not always the case. I asked if there was ever any drama to forming the groups; like certain neighbors being excluded, or if it was a terrible thing if you changed from one group to another from year to year. I was only given a quizzical look, and told “no.” Some years you can afford more, some years less, so you find whoever can pay about the same amount as you and go from there. It is good to know that logic prevails every once in a while.

Although I was a bit disappointed that my trip to Pretoria was cancelled this past week (mostly I was desperate to escape the rain and cold that consumed the area for nearly two weeks, but it was considered a security risk to be there because of all the events surrounding Mandela’s death), it was a blessing to be able to plan for the holidays with my family. And sun came out eventually.

The Passing of an Icon

This past Friday morning, I woke up early and leaned over to see I had received an SMS (text) message at some point during the night. Odd, I thought. I don’t get many SMS messages and I certainly don’t get them when I am asleep. It turned out to be from the Peace Corps and it was a brief statement to let us know that Nelson Mandela has passed away. I couldn’t help but wonder what was in-store in both my shopping town and my village. Shutdowns? Chaos? Vigils?

Wrong on all accounts. Since I was making my way from a local lodge back to my village that Friday morning, I was going to need to catch a few taxis and pass through town. As I walked along the road to catch the first taxi, I could not identify anything that would point to transport being any different for the day. Minibus taxis seemed to be up and running as usual. When I got on the first taxi, I noted that the driver had the radio tuned to a local news station that was reporting news about Mandela’s death, but no one seemed to be paying much attention. Since I had to go through town to get back home, I had a chance to walk around and see if anything was up. Nope. It could have been any other day. The post office was fully operational – and by that I mean they were as slow as ever in finding the five packages that were waiting for me. Stores and shops were all open for business and people were queuing up for purchases. I almost wondered if there had been some error and that the news had not been delivered. As I sat at the rank and waited for my next taxi to fill, I heard people mention his death without much excitement, but it confirmed the information was out there; it was simply not a big deal. When I got to school later that morning (after stopping at home to drop off all the great stuff from the mail), I briefly spoke to my principal about his passing. She shook her head and said that a great man had died. And that was it. When I asked what she thought would happen next, she simply said, “nothing.” In fact, she went on to say that she believed he may have been dead for a while and his family was just waiting for the right time to make the announcement. Unlikely, although certainly an interesting theory. Otherwise, she did not see any major changes happening any time soon in the area, unless there are upsets or surprises in the elections scheduled for next year.

As for the rest of the weekend, I wish I had some amazing story to tell about a local ceremony or function that was held to honor his historic life, but I do not. What I came to realize is that the people in my village certainly think Mandela was a great man and he did great things, but his death was not relevant to their day-to-day lives. Those who have access to a radio listened to the reports and plans for the upcoming memorial service in Soweto and funeral at his birthplace in Qunu, but nothing was planned for our village. I even asked my host family more than once to tell me if I was going to miss something. They said they couldn’t imagine anything happening, but they would let me know if they heard differently.

It is hard for me to say at this point if I am surprised by this reaction. At first I would say I was quite surprised. I, like many volunteers, believed that his passing would be a defining moment in our service, when one of the greatest leaders in the country’s history left the stage – how could it go so unnoticed in the village? But now it does not seem so surprising. The event did not go unnoticed, it was just not recognized with the fanfare and spectacle expected in today’s media. Many of the churches were said to have spoken solely about Mandela at their services yesterday and today, and individuals prayed for him and for the country as a whole. But there was no reason to do more than that. They honored him in a manner that was best for them – quietly and gallantly – the same manner in which Mandela led his life. A fitting tribute indeed.

My 2nd African Thanksgiving

I know I have said this before, but it is a strange feeling to be in my second year here and repeating major events, like Thanksgiving, as a PCV. I can’t help but think about how fast time has gone by. I can’t help but wonder what it will be like in another year when I am back in the US. And I can’t help but be amazed that I was able to get my hands on a few pieces of turkey for the big day.

As a quick reminder, last year I went to school in the morning (as it is not a holiday here), was picked up in the early afternoon along with the rest of the volunteers in the area, and taken to a nearby guesthouse that allowed us to use their kitchen to cook Thanksgiving dinner. It was nice to be with friends, old and new, to celebrate and be thankful, although I was not a fan of the cooking aspect of the event.

The Thanksgiving turkey prepared by the hotel.

This year had a bit of a different feel. Last weekend I traveled to Limpopo to be a part of the In-Service Training for SA28, the next group of education volunteers, for the week. This meant that unlike last year, I would not be near the volunteers in my area, but I would still be able to celebrate with Americans. It also meant, that unlike last year, I would not have to cook any of the food, but would still be able to eat many of the traditional Thanksgiving fare. The hotel went out of its way to get a turkey (not a popular food item here) and prepare some typical Thanksgiving dishes for our group. And even though there were sessions and presentations throughout the week and weekend, Thanksgiving Day was a free day for us to relax and enjoy, which for me meant a lot of reading, writing, eating (of course), and watching a movie. There was no Macy’s parade watching or Black Friday planning, but those things will be there when I return. For now, I had a chance to be thankful for experience I am having (both the good and the bad) as a Peace Corps Volunteer in South Africa.