Tuesday, August 31, 2010
March 10th, 2010
This is it! The room that will serve as my studio for the next two years. We finally arrive here for a week long site visit just after 7:30. I really wish they could make it so that we arrive during the day instead of after dark. I think I'd feel a little less vulnerable if I didn't have to sleep at a new place five minutes after arriving there and not getting a clear picture of people and things. Sigh...I have to do this all over again, the first two weeks are the hardest but it always gets better after that.
March 5th, 2010
I thought I'd give you a brief glimpse of my schedule the next few weeks.
Tomorrow we find out about our permanent sites and about the NGO's we'll be working for. YAY!!!!!!!
Sat we go to Pretoria to the Vortrekker museum.
Sunday we are holding a village 5k fun run to raise some money for the home care clinic in the next town. This might be utter chaos since they only informed us that we would be doing it this last Friday. We are scrambling to pull it together. Upwards of 2 thousand people may attend. Gah!!!!!
Monday we have language and get out early to pack for our week long site visit. We meet our supervisors on Tuesday and spend the night at Kwandebele College where we first stayed when we arrived in country. Wednesday at lunch we head to our individual sites with our supervisors. We will be making our own way back to Machipe on the following Monday.
We have classes Tuesday-Thursday. Friday we go to Pretoria to do all our shopping for our site I.e. Fridge, pots, plates etc.
Saturday we have our last language class.
Sun the 21st we have our Host family farewell.
Monday- Wednesday we have our language tests etc then on Thursday the 25th we have our swearing in ceremony where we officially become PC volunteers(PCV) instead of PC trainee's (PCT). Yahoo!!!!!! :)
Then it's off to our sites for the next two years. I found out the close of service (COS) is on March 24th 2012. So it's really 26 months not 27 :) unless I decide to extend for some reason.....
Sala kahle!!!!
Tomorrow we find out about our permanent sites and about the NGO's we'll be working for. YAY!!!!!!!
Sat we go to Pretoria to the Vortrekker museum.
Sunday we are holding a village 5k fun run to raise some money for the home care clinic in the next town. This might be utter chaos since they only informed us that we would be doing it this last Friday. We are scrambling to pull it together. Upwards of 2 thousand people may attend. Gah!!!!!
Monday we have language and get out early to pack for our week long site visit. We meet our supervisors on Tuesday and spend the night at Kwandebele College where we first stayed when we arrived in country. Wednesday at lunch we head to our individual sites with our supervisors. We will be making our own way back to Machipe on the following Monday.
We have classes Tuesday-Thursday. Friday we go to Pretoria to do all our shopping for our site I.e. Fridge, pots, plates etc.
Saturday we have our last language class.
Sun the 21st we have our Host family farewell.
Monday- Wednesday we have our language tests etc then on Thursday the 25th we have our swearing in ceremony where we officially become PC volunteers(PCV) instead of PC trainee's (PCT). Yahoo!!!!!! :)
Then it's off to our sites for the next two years. I found out the close of service (COS) is on March 24th 2012. So it's really 26 months not 27 :) unless I decide to extend for some reason.....
Sala kahle!!!!
Feburary 23rd, 2010
Today was really interesting! I was woken up this morning at 5:30am not only by the VERY loud rooster that stays outside my window but to a whole chorus of chickens, chicks and roosters! I had earplugs in and I could still hear them! I have no idea what was going on but I had to close my window so I could go back to bed!
Language went well today, we started learning the vocab for clothes and we have a current Peace Corps volunteer, Jasen (from SA18. We're SA21 meaning we're the 21st PC group in South Africa. He’s an education volunteer who arrived in July 2008. Education volunteers come in July and CHOP volunteers arrive in Feb. so they get a new group every six months. PCV's come help train us PCT's) who speaks Xitsonga (Shangaan) come sit in on our class.
One of the trainers wasn't able to make it today so instead of her session we discussed the diversity panel we had a few weeks ago and our trip last Saturday to the Apartheid museum. It was interesting but so sad what people are capable of when driven by greed and fear. It's amazing though to see how fast race relations have progressed here in the last 15 years.
After lunch we had some training about working with NGO's and I totally spaced out. I've had a hard time focusing the last two days, not sure why...
After that training we split into our language groups for PAL(Practical Application of Language) for about an hour but we were interrupted by the Vervet monkeys who were trying to steal some food. At one point a baby monkey jumped up onto the fence behind Julie. She screamed, the baby screamed, they jumped about 5 feet. The baby monkey climbed high into the wood rafters and proceeded to cry for its mother. Some other teenage female monkey nearby heard it and came over while making threatening moves at us to get away from the baby. She went up and got the baby and the hugged each other (awwww). They finally got down and both quickly ran away. Then a large male came over to steal food and was actually charging people!!! It was a little intense!!!!
So then I get home, very tired and having to pee. Well something I've come to learn about pit toilets during the summer is that there are always flies inside and if you slam the door or the lid to the toilet they will all fly out. Well I did that and one fly came out. I was thinking that they were all out so I sit down to pee and as I start to pee I hear this incredibly loud buzzing sound coming from beneath me. I look down and see TONS of flies flying up out of the pit. I can't remember the last time I jumped so high!!!! ARGH! Bloody flies!!!! I think I got pee on my shoes :(
So that was my day. I'm just sitting here anxiously awaiting dinner and contemplating baking something tonight. By then it will be time for my bucket bath. Machipe is out of water and I'm not sure when the municipality will be coming around with more.....
Feburary 16th, 2010
Well, I had a few firsts today I thought I'd share. I saw zebras in their natural habitat (oh and did I mention that I've seen monkeys and baboons at the reserve where we have our training? I know this is really random but in this species of monkey (Vervet monkey), the male's have sky blue balls...seriously!). The other first for today was that I took my very first bucket bath. Although the family I'm staying with has a shower, the water tank that feeds the shower is empty till the end of the week. You know, it really wasn't bad at all! I used a five gallon bucket and stood in the middle of the bathtub and yeah, it works. This might not be so bad after all! But to be fair, it was more of a bucket shower than a typical South African bucket bath. Attached is a video of our favorite monkey at the reserve, we called her stumpy. She is missing half of her left arm.
Feburary 15th, 2010
Hi everybody! Well, I'm into my third week in SA. We arrived at our home stay’s last weekend and I'm living in a small village called Machipe. I found out the day before I came to the village that I would be learning Xitsonga (x is pronounced sh). I've had a week of classes and a little is starting to seep in. It was an oral (as opposed to written) language so it's often difficult to teach us as we assume there should be lots of rules etc but there really aren't any. The teacher always responds 'it just doesn't sound right' when we ask why it is structured the way that it is, when we think there is a pattern and then she writes something that breaks the pattern. I am staying with the Moloko family. I have my own room inside the house. Gogo Joanne lives in a room separated from the main house with a nice thatched roof (it is much much cooler than a tin roof). Maggie and her three kids, Hope (12), Letabo(8) and Silo(18 months) stay in the main house and Umpo (25?) stays in a room on the other side of the house. Umpo also serves as my translator since Gogo, Maggie and the kids don’t speak English. My host father is a construction worker (he lives and works in Joberg). That might explain why they have a shower and a kitchen 5 times the size of my last one in DC. Don't worry though; I do still have to use a pit toilet (sometimes called a ‘long drop’) that is located outside about 20 feet from the house. Too bad it’s in the front yard where any passerby can see where you’re headed... it's not that bad though. Anyways things are going well. Class schedules are crazy busy but I'm trying keep up with all the info.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Countdown
Well, it's monday afternoon and I'm sitting here contemplating the fact that in less than four days I will be in the 'Rainbow Nation'. The last week has been a blur of finishing work, tying up loose ends with the condo remodel and my brother's car, (which by the way has been heaven sent, thanks guys!!!), saying goodbye to many dear friends in the DC area and packing two years into an 80 lb luggage limit. As I'm getting ready to leave, I've been thinking about the incredible three years spent in DC. What an amazing experience it's been! I've been blessed to be able to spend the last 2 1/2 years working with amazing and generous co workers at NAPHS, and a compassionate Landlady. I've lived with many talented and fun roommates. Met countless inspiring people in the church ward I attend. I'm going to miss DC and all those I'm leaving behind. I'll be back! I'm already planning to return after my Peace Corps service and hope to find some familiar faces still here :)
We reaceived more information from Peace Corps regarding where our two month training will be taking place. We will be located about 2 hours northeast of Pretoria. Our training room is located on a nature preserve and a current Peace Corps volunteer was kind enough to post some pictures for us. It's beautiful!!!!! I need to figure out how to post photos on here....
We also received a letter to give to family and friends. So, I've pasted it below. Well, I've gotta get on with packing....
Ciao!!!
January 2010
Dear Families and Friends,
Greetings from the South Africa Desk at the U.S. Peace Corps in Washington, D.C.! It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to the Peace Corps circle of friendship. We receive many questions from family members and friends of Volunteers about life in South Africa, so we would like to offer you advice and assistance in advance.
1. Irregular Communication. (Please see #3 for the mailing address to Peace Corps' office in Pretoria, the capital of South Africa) Mail from the United States to Pretoria is fairly reliable; however, mail service within South Africa is not as efficient and reliable. There is enormous variation in the time it takes for mail and packages to arrive at Volunteers’ sites. Generally, Volunteers find that they receive mail and packages from the United States two to four weeks after it has been sent. The same is true for sending mail from South Africa. Of course, there are exceptional cases in which a letter or a package might arrive within a shorter period or be substantially delayed. Some mail simply may not arrive. The destination of mail for Volunteers is as varied as the length of time it takes for mail to arrive.
We suggest that in your first letters you ask the Volunteer to give an estimate of how long it takes for him/her to receive your letters, and then try to establish a predictable pattern of how often you will write to each other. Also, try numbering your letters so that the Volunteer knows if he/she has missed one.
Being a Peace Corps Volunteer is a rewarding experience; however, there will also be times when Volunteers may write home telling of their "war" stories. Letters might describe recent illnesses, frustration with work, isolation, lack of resources, etc. While the subject matter may be good reading material, it can often be misinterpreted on the home front. Volunteers have a wonderful support network in-country that includes counterparts and community members at their site, other Peace Corps Volunteers, as well as Peace Corps/South Africa staff. The Peace Corps’ highest priority is maintaining the health and safety of every Volunteer. Peace Corps/South Africa maintains a medical unit in Pretoria with two full-time medical officers, who care for the Volunteers’ primary health care needs. If the Volunteer requires medical care that is not available in South Africa, he/she will be medically evacuated to the United States. Fortunately, these are rare circumstances.
If for some reason your communication pattern is broken and you do not hear from your family member, you may want to contact the South Africa Desk or the Office of Special Services (OSS) at Peace Corps Washington at 1-800-424-8580, extension 1470. Also, in the case of an emergency at home (death in the family, sudden critical illness, etc.), please do not hesitate to call OSS immediately, so that a message can be sent to the Volunteer. Use the above number during regular business hours (9:00 am to 5:00 pm Eastern Time, Monday through Friday). After hours, or during weekends, the Peace Corps Duty Officer may be reached at (202) 692-1470 and you will be transferred to an answering service. Tell the operator your name, telephone number, and the nature of the emergency and the Peace Corps Duty Officer will call you back.
2. Telephone Calls. The telephone system in South Africa is relatively good and service in and out of Pretoria to the United States is mostly reliable. In the interior of the country, where most of the Volunteers are located, phones are fewer in number and of decreased reliability. Volunteers do not have residential phones; however, many Volunteers choose to buy cell phones or use public phones to make and receive international calls. They will be able to inform you of the actual telephone numbers and the reliability of telephone service once they arrive at their permanent sites in the country.
The South Africa Desk maintains regular contact with the Peace Corps office in Pretoria through phone calls and e-mail. However, these communication lines are reserved for business only and cannot be used to relay personal messages. All communication between family members and the Volunteer should be done via international mail, personal phone calls, or e-mail. Many Volunteers are able to access e-mail at Internet cafes in larger cities and towns on a weekly or monthly basis, depending on their location.
3. Sending packages. Parents and Volunteers like to send and receive care packages through the mail. Unfortunately, sending packages can be a frustrating experience for all involved due to occasional thefts and heavy customs taxes. You may want to try to send inexpensive items through the mail, but there is no guarantee that these items will arrive. Even though many Volunteers choose to get local post office boxes, you may also use the following address to send letters and/or packages:
Name of Volunteer, PCV
U. S. Peace Corps
PO Box 9536
0001
Pretoria
SOUTH AFRICA
It is recommended that packages be sent in padded envelopes or bubble envelopes if possible, as boxes tend to be taxed more frequently and might pose as a greater target for theft. For lightweight but important items (e.g. airline tickets), DHL (an express mail service) does operate in Pretoria. If you choose to send items through DHL, you must address the package to:
Country Director
c/o: U. S. Peace Corps
126 Verdoorn Street
Sunnyside
Pretoria
SOUTH AFRICA
The phone number for the Peace Corps office in South Africa is (27) 12-344-4255, as DHL will need this information. If you send the item to the Country Director, no liability can be assumed. For more information about DHL, please call their toll free number, 1-800-CALL-DHL, or visit their web site at www.dhl.com. Other courier services may operate in Pretoria - DHL is only one possibility.
We hope this information is helpful to you during the time your family member or friend is serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in South Africa. We understand how frustrating it is to communicate with your family member overseas and we appreciate your using this information as a guideline. Please feel free to contact us at the South Africa Desk in Washington, D.C. if you have any further questions. Our phone number is 1-800-424-8580, ext. 2331, or locally, 202-692-2331.
Sincerely,
Fernando Moyle
South Africa Country Desk Officer
202-692-2331
We reaceived more information from Peace Corps regarding where our two month training will be taking place. We will be located about 2 hours northeast of Pretoria. Our training room is located on a nature preserve and a current Peace Corps volunteer was kind enough to post some pictures for us. It's beautiful!!!!! I need to figure out how to post photos on here....
We also received a letter to give to family and friends. So, I've pasted it below. Well, I've gotta get on with packing....
Ciao!!!
January 2010
Dear Families and Friends,
Greetings from the South Africa Desk at the U.S. Peace Corps in Washington, D.C.! It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to the Peace Corps circle of friendship. We receive many questions from family members and friends of Volunteers about life in South Africa, so we would like to offer you advice and assistance in advance.
1. Irregular Communication. (Please see #3 for the mailing address to Peace Corps' office in Pretoria, the capital of South Africa) Mail from the United States to Pretoria is fairly reliable; however, mail service within South Africa is not as efficient and reliable. There is enormous variation in the time it takes for mail and packages to arrive at Volunteers’ sites. Generally, Volunteers find that they receive mail and packages from the United States two to four weeks after it has been sent. The same is true for sending mail from South Africa. Of course, there are exceptional cases in which a letter or a package might arrive within a shorter period or be substantially delayed. Some mail simply may not arrive. The destination of mail for Volunteers is as varied as the length of time it takes for mail to arrive.
We suggest that in your first letters you ask the Volunteer to give an estimate of how long it takes for him/her to receive your letters, and then try to establish a predictable pattern of how often you will write to each other. Also, try numbering your letters so that the Volunteer knows if he/she has missed one.
Being a Peace Corps Volunteer is a rewarding experience; however, there will also be times when Volunteers may write home telling of their "war" stories. Letters might describe recent illnesses, frustration with work, isolation, lack of resources, etc. While the subject matter may be good reading material, it can often be misinterpreted on the home front. Volunteers have a wonderful support network in-country that includes counterparts and community members at their site, other Peace Corps Volunteers, as well as Peace Corps/South Africa staff. The Peace Corps’ highest priority is maintaining the health and safety of every Volunteer. Peace Corps/South Africa maintains a medical unit in Pretoria with two full-time medical officers, who care for the Volunteers’ primary health care needs. If the Volunteer requires medical care that is not available in South Africa, he/she will be medically evacuated to the United States. Fortunately, these are rare circumstances.
If for some reason your communication pattern is broken and you do not hear from your family member, you may want to contact the South Africa Desk or the Office of Special Services (OSS) at Peace Corps Washington at 1-800-424-8580, extension 1470. Also, in the case of an emergency at home (death in the family, sudden critical illness, etc.), please do not hesitate to call OSS immediately, so that a message can be sent to the Volunteer. Use the above number during regular business hours (9:00 am to 5:00 pm Eastern Time, Monday through Friday). After hours, or during weekends, the Peace Corps Duty Officer may be reached at (202) 692-1470 and you will be transferred to an answering service. Tell the operator your name, telephone number, and the nature of the emergency and the Peace Corps Duty Officer will call you back.
2. Telephone Calls. The telephone system in South Africa is relatively good and service in and out of Pretoria to the United States is mostly reliable. In the interior of the country, where most of the Volunteers are located, phones are fewer in number and of decreased reliability. Volunteers do not have residential phones; however, many Volunteers choose to buy cell phones or use public phones to make and receive international calls. They will be able to inform you of the actual telephone numbers and the reliability of telephone service once they arrive at their permanent sites in the country.
The South Africa Desk maintains regular contact with the Peace Corps office in Pretoria through phone calls and e-mail. However, these communication lines are reserved for business only and cannot be used to relay personal messages. All communication between family members and the Volunteer should be done via international mail, personal phone calls, or e-mail. Many Volunteers are able to access e-mail at Internet cafes in larger cities and towns on a weekly or monthly basis, depending on their location.
3. Sending packages. Parents and Volunteers like to send and receive care packages through the mail. Unfortunately, sending packages can be a frustrating experience for all involved due to occasional thefts and heavy customs taxes. You may want to try to send inexpensive items through the mail, but there is no guarantee that these items will arrive. Even though many Volunteers choose to get local post office boxes, you may also use the following address to send letters and/or packages:
Name of Volunteer, PCV
U. S. Peace Corps
PO Box 9536
0001
Pretoria
SOUTH AFRICA
It is recommended that packages be sent in padded envelopes or bubble envelopes if possible, as boxes tend to be taxed more frequently and might pose as a greater target for theft. For lightweight but important items (e.g. airline tickets), DHL (an express mail service) does operate in Pretoria. If you choose to send items through DHL, you must address the package to:
Country Director
c/o: U. S. Peace Corps
126 Verdoorn Street
Sunnyside
Pretoria
SOUTH AFRICA
The phone number for the Peace Corps office in South Africa is (27) 12-344-4255, as DHL will need this information. If you send the item to the Country Director, no liability can be assumed. For more information about DHL, please call their toll free number, 1-800-CALL-DHL, or visit their web site at www.dhl.com. Other courier services may operate in Pretoria - DHL is only one possibility.
We hope this information is helpful to you during the time your family member or friend is serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in South Africa. We understand how frustrating it is to communicate with your family member overseas and we appreciate your using this information as a guideline. Please feel free to contact us at the South Africa Desk in Washington, D.C. if you have any further questions. Our phone number is 1-800-424-8580, ext. 2331, or locally, 202-692-2331.
Sincerely,
Fernando Moyle
South Africa Country Desk Officer
202-692-2331
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Fighting - 20 Days to go
Well, as luck would have it, I think I'm coming down with something. I've been trying to fight this off for a while now and still determined to beat it. A bad sleeping schedule, holiday sugar and being ultra busy don't lend to good health. This is definitely NOT good timing, too much to do and only 20 days to do it in.
Right now i'm trying to figure out what to pack. We only have an 80 lb luggage allowance. One thing, though, is that South Africa is unique to other countries the Peace Corps goes to, in that the larger cities have anything and everything that you could find in the US or any other 1st world country. So do I buy here or buy there? Do I want to spend my living allowance or my savings? What if I already have it but it weighs a ton? Do I buy a camp shower or do I just do the bucket bath? Should I take a laundry plunger or just use my hands? What type of Jacket should I get? A wind breaker? A Rain Coat? What about a sleeping bag? Some PCV (Peace Corps Volunteers) say take it, others say they never used it. Oh and what about a solar powered battery charger? Gah! To many choices to make! :)
Right now i'm trying to figure out what to pack. We only have an 80 lb luggage allowance. One thing, though, is that South Africa is unique to other countries the Peace Corps goes to, in that the larger cities have anything and everything that you could find in the US or any other 1st world country. So do I buy here or buy there? Do I want to spend my living allowance or my savings? What if I already have it but it weighs a ton? Do I buy a camp shower or do I just do the bucket bath? Should I take a laundry plunger or just use my hands? What type of Jacket should I get? A wind breaker? A Rain Coat? What about a sleeping bag? Some PCV (Peace Corps Volunteers) say take it, others say they never used it. Oh and what about a solar powered battery charger? Gah! To many choices to make! :)
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