Ndi madekwana!
I have officially made it to South Africa, where I have been
living for almost 3 weeks now. This
next post is my very best attempt at summing up the past two weeks that have
been as packed as some of the buses I have rode on during these weeks.
The first part of our journey after a full day of
orientation in Philly, a 4 hour bus ride to JFK airport in New York, and a 15
hour flight (that I slept 9 hours of) was 4 days of intensive orientation in
South Africa at what we liked to call ‘the compound.’ We spent these days going through intensive training on
safety, culture and logistics and nights bonding with the other 52 volunteers
that will serve as our support systems for the next 2 years. We, of course,
filled these nights with games of Cards Against Humanity, oversharing details
about ourselves, and enough laughing to serve as our ab workouts for the entire
week.
[our welcome sign in Joburg]
[These are some of my friends that I've made within my fantastic cohort - my support system]
After this training, we traveled to the area we will call
home for 10 weeks. We entered a
room full of families who would soon call us one of their own and looked elated
to see us. I have never seen such
an amazing, joyous event, as was the meeting of our host families. We all sat separated by an aisle down
the middle anticipating whom we would be matched with as they read off each
family name paired with a volunteer one at a time. Each time a family got matched with a volunteer, the amount
of joy and smiles in the room quadrupled from its already high amount and each
volunteer was greeted by a dancing, cheering host family member.
After the ceremony, we moved in with our host families and
started living life as members of our new South African families. I was very lucky when I moved in,
because for the next 10 (now 8) weeks, I have a flushing toilet and a bathtub
to use at night in addition to our pit latrine in the yard. There was also not a bucket in my room
to pee in at night. Note: this is
only for the next 10 weeks…bucket baths, pee buckets, and pit latrines will be
my life once I move to my permanent site.
My family has been very welcoming – I have 3 brothers and a
sister. My sister also has two
children – ages 2 and 5. I’m
extremely spoiled here as until this week, my sister made my lunch for me
everyday, my family is constantly making sure I’m okay and well taken care of,
and I have plenty of people to talk to in my family. While my family mostly speaks Zulu, most members of my
family also speak at least a little bit of English. This has made communicating a lot easier.
 |
| [My Moteti family (minus one) during an impromptu photo shoot] |
The food here has proved to be quite different and
carbohydrate based. Almost all
meals are focused around and full of carbs such as pap, rice, or potatoes. In addition to the high carb diets,
portions are also very large here.
Every time we have a meal, my host mom expresses her concern that I am
on a diet since I’m not eating enough and that I don’t have to be skinny. It is quite the struggle, but we are
learning to compromise.
I will spend my next 10 (now 8) weeks in training from 8 AM
– 5 PM Monday through Friday with some events occurring on Saturdays as
well.
While we have our language
classes in the garage of one of the host families, some of our sessions that we
have with everyone are at S.S. Skoshana – a nature reserve just up the road from
where we live.
At S.S. Skoshana,
there are monkeys running around everywhere and baboons that come down from the
mountains to look for discarded food and what looks to me to be people
watching.
[an example of the monstrous monkeys after he stole someone's orange] ------------------------------->
Our Thursday this week was the best day of the week by far
to us since this meant that we would all find out more details about our new
homes for the next two years. The
anticipation in this room was as high if not higher than that of the ceremony
in which we met our families.
However after a grueling 20 minutes, I found out that I received my
first choice placement in the village of Dzimauli Mukondeni on top of a small
mountain in Vhembe. Next week, I
will even get to visit it.
Notable things that have happened since I have gotten here:
- ·
A monkey stole a banana out of my lap while I
was eating lunch.
- Got asked if I was on a diet since I don’t eat
enough.
- ·
Got called beautiful in Zulu
- ·
Found a giant spider in my room
- ·
Found out that my host brother knows Kendrick
Lamar and likes King Kunta
- ·
Watched soapies with my host mom in her bed
- ·
Started learning tshivenda
- ·
Got sick for about a day with the stomach flu
(ish)
- ·
Received my first pick for site placement
- ·
Traveled to Pretoria with my host brother
- ·
Got treated like a celebrity by the children and
women at the initiation parties
- ·
Finished an entire sleeve of oreos by myself in
one sitting
 |
| Celebrity status while walking down the street in my Moteti village. |
Kha va sale from South Africa!
When I came home from site visit, I found my Moteti host mom in the kitchen. She promptly explained that she wanted pancakes. I was taken by surprise that she had heard of pancakes before, but I was excited at the opportunity for American food. So we attempted to make pancakes together, and despite not having syrup...it was a success!
Friendship has become not only a wonderful part of this adventure...but an essential part of the adventure. I couldn't have been any more blessed with some of the greatest people and support system.
I may or may not have taught my learners how to do the weasle. Some of them nailed it for sure. Its a dance move sweeping the world.
