Sometimes when a South African will ask how you're doing, they will ask, "Are you fine?" I have always thought this was funny, mostly because of the connotations of 'fine' that I am used to in American English. Fine can be used as a retort, "FINE!" Or to describe someone, "He's a fine looking man." So I would laugh a little to myself and then reply that I was doing okay.

And that's about where I'm at right now. I'm doing okay. It's amazing how quickly I'm reacclimating to America. I suppose that makes sense because my last three weeks in South Africa were spent in Cape Town and Pretoria. In my guesthouse by the Peace Corps Office, I got pretty far away from what it was like to take bucket baths and fumble for the candles when the electricity went out.

I find myself translating what things cost in dollars into Rand. Sometimes it's pretty pathetic. I don't know why I do it. Habit, maybe. I did really like paying with a different currency. But, for example, a nice "cheap" out-to-dinner meal with a friend in America might cost what, $15 with tip, right? Well, that's 120 Rand. That could pay for two nice meals in Pretoria! Or a week's worth of groceries and toiletries!

When my plane was first landing in D.C., I was so amazed at how lush everything was. The bright green color of the grass and trees was a nice welcome home after living the closest to a desert that I've ever lived in my life! But when we "de-planed" (I love that term : ) the muggy August air wrapped tightly around me. It didn't help that my luggage was so full that I had to wear a t-shirt, sweater, hoodie and my South African winter coat through my 30-hour excursion back home. (And 30 hours not showering plus four layers of clothes in August, eish!, it was something!)

I took my 'welcome home tour' and visited friends in Boston, Ann Arbor, Detroit and Cincinnati. It was nice to see everyone who had been so supportive of me - and to pass out souvenirs! Since I had expected to be in South Africa longer, I spent my last week going between completing my medical paperwork and furiously buying gifts! Of course, I ran out of money. And then I found out that Peace Corps pro-rates your monthly stipend and takes money back from you for the month you leave. Wow. It's not like we made that much anyway. Oh well. I got some nice gifts for most of my friends and family.

I'm moving along with trying to work with D.C. on a policy for survivors of sexual assault and rape - along with other physical crimes. I started a companion blog (since I'm not tech-savvy enough to create a website) for this effort at: http://firstresponseaction.com/. You can also email me at firstresponseaction@gmail.com. The Peace Corps staff person I'm supposed to start this conversation with was on vacation until this past Tuesday. He'd been gone for two weeks, so I gave him this week to catch up on emails. I'll start again next week. I want him to be happy when we talk : ) I'll keep you posted.

In love and laughter,

Casey

My time as a Peace Corps Volunter is about to end.

I am medically separating from Peace Corps South Africa. In about five hours from now, I will be on a plane bound for the US.

I didn't say it before, but I've thought a lot about it these last several weeks, and I feel it's more productive (than not) to share what happened that caused me to move from Mafikeng.

More than a month ago, I was sexually assaulted at my site. Peace Corps pulled me out in fear for my safety, but it's been all downhill from there. The assault has had cultural ramifications for me and I don't feel safe when I'm not around Americans I know will protect me.

I'll definitely be sharing more in the future regarding this issue because I found out through this process that Peace Corps has NO global policy on sexual assault or rape. For an organization that operates worldwide and in some pretty unstable countries, I think this is appalling. I am planning to devote time when I return to working with Peace Corps, PCVs, RPCVs, etc. on this.

But, for the very short term, I'm just focusing on going home.

Visions of hot showers, unlimited Internet and indoor flush toilets flash through my mind. People ask me what I want to do when I get home. All I can think of is just hugging my parents. A lot. And seeing my family and friends who have been so steady for me through this ordeal. I don't care which food I eat first, now I just want to see my family. (And if we share that quality time over Donatos pizza or Skyline Chili, that's even better : )

Looking ahead, it seems like I have a lot to catch up with at home. My NY Times e-mail updates have been talking a lot about this new healthcare reform process and Sotomayor, so I'll have to get up-to-date with my current events.

I'm also excited to hear really silly news again on a daily basis. Like I saw the other day on Yahoo that Paula Abdul is quitting American Idol. I'm so used to hearing about workers striking, more HIV, more raping, young boys dying from botched circumcisions and the like that I'm not sure I'll know what to do with fluffy news again.

I'm nervous about the American economy since I thought when I'd be back in spring 2011, the economy would be in a different place. But, my Peace Corps experience turned out to be very different than I'd hoped and it's not safe or healthy for me to be here anymore. I will have to play the hand I've been dealt.

I suppose, in general, that this blog as my Peace Corps experience is finished. But I hope to keep this as my life experiences blog, which will include working with PC in DC on a global sexual assault and rape policy. If you are interested in helping or if you're an RPCV or current PCV and would like to help this cause, please comment or email me at caseyfrazee@gmail.com. I've never done anything like this before, but I can only imagine that with the US government, it may take awhile and may be complicated beyond my wildest dreams. But if I can prevent what happened to me from happening to anyone else, that is what I will do. If Obama wants to double Peace Corps, we have to get some basics in place first.

Thanks to everyone who has followed my experiences thus far. Even though my Peace Corps chapter is finishing, there's still much more to come : )

And thank you to my Peace Corps friends. I will miss you all incredibly, but am so excited to hear upates about the work you are doing!

Stay well,

Casey

I was lucky enough to be able to visit a game reserve here in South Africa, not too far away from Pretoria. I’ve heard that South Africa is one of the best places to go for game reserves because there are so many wild animals who habitate here (can I conjugate that like that?).

The pictures mostly speak for themselves, so there’s not much more I have to add to this one. I went with other Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs), some of whom are in Pretoria because they’ve been med-evac’d from their countries. Only three of us in the group photo are actually PCVs in South Africa. The others are scattered in various African countries north of us and the person in the Panama Jack hat is the visiting medical officer from Paraguay.

The group of volunteers and med-evacs playing with the baby lion(as you can see, the green scarf has made it into another photo : )

The baby lion got freaked out and started walking across people's laps

Baby lion and me

Rarrrrrr!(look how small his teeth are!)

I love that this baby giraffe has a cloak and a little log cabin.

What an eccentric giraffe to be wearing a cloak! Next comes black nail polish.

Cheetah through the fence - they are so beautiful!

Video with a lioness walking towards us (we think she's pregnant).

Sorry it's a bit Blair Witch with the camera movement, they backed up the car while I was shooting this. Oh - and the background is sort of silly. Enjoy! As for me...more later. Still homeless. Still trying to figure it all out. Sala sentle,

Casey

Last week was one of the more fabulous weeks I've had, in terms of picturesque landscape. I have been planning a trip to Cape Town for the International AIDS Society Conference since last fall when I knew I'd be in Africa.

I volunteered for the conference for each of the four days. It was faciniating to hear the findings of the leading scientists in the field of HIV/AIDS research. Having been on the ground, so-to-speak, for the last six months in the country with the highest HIV incidences in the world, there were some glaring gaps in what the West is doing and then how that's going to work in the rest of the world. All of the session's PowerPoints are online as well as the overview Rapporteur reports. It was a very interesting experience and I'm so glad I got to be part of it while I am in South Africa.

I extended a couple more days to do some sightseeing (pictures below). Since I'm a fan of lists, here are some highlights of my trip to Cape Town, South Africa:

Saw those African penguins! They're actually called Jackass Penguins for the donkey noise they make when mating. Hmm.Got sprayed with lots of frigid Atlantic waters when I did a tour around Cape Point. It's the height of winter here, but luckily the temperature was in the low 20s C, which is around 70F, so not too bad for winter. My friends in Michigan would laugh that this is what people in Cape Town call winter!Discovered chocolate chai latte! Who knew that existed?! I had it every morning I was in Cape Town except for one. The guy at the shoppe probably thought I was crazy. I tried to do a silly "hello again" in a funny voice with a little courtsey to be sort of funny that I was coming back again for the tasty chocolate chai, but he didn't really find it funny, so I didn't do it again.Met lots of fasinating volunteers at the conference representing the diverse history of South Africa. It was nice to have a week break from people yelling "lekgoa!" at me b/c of my white skin. There's only so much racism one can tolerate.Got to walk around at night! Seriously, we (PC volunteers) can't do that in most of South Africa due to safety, so this was a treat not to have to disappear w/ the sunset.Climbed the mountain at the Cape of Good Hope! My calves were screaming at me for a couple of days about that. For awhile, it's almost a straight incline, so it's a killer for the calves.Walked all around Table Mountain. It's so funny to think you can just walk all around on the top of a mountain. There are all these stone paths marked out too, very cool.Ate sushi! My long lost love! I found a place that had half off rolls! Super-great prawn and calamari sushi for half price, who can beat that?!

Me and a girl from Bombay, India (who goes to Harvard, hense the hoodie) and a girl from London who is backpacking her way around the world. These are the girls I climbed around the Cape of Good Hope with and now have the picture to commemorate how ridiculous our hair looked after the screaming winds and Atlantic spray gave us a blow-out.

Me and Obama at an overlook on Table Mountain with the city of Cape Town in the background.Proud to be an American : )

The welcome sign at the International AIDS Society Conference in Cape Town. I volunteered for all four days of the conference - it was fabulous!

Clouds sitting in one of the crevases of Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa. I think it's so cool how the clouds just sit there. I also walked right to the edge of that cliff on the right.

A gorgeous rainbow over one of the seal islands around Cape Point, South Africa

'Jackass' Penguins around Cape Point, South Africa.They're super tiny. I just watched Zoolander on a bus trip, so the small penguins remind me of "what is this, a school for ants?!"

As for me, well, I continue to be homeless in South Africa. But this week I've met with Peace Corps and I think we're moving in a direction. We'll see, I'm taking it one day at a time. I was able to eat some more sushi last night, so I'm feeling pretty happy.Sala Sentle,

Casey

I've been thinking a lot lately about the differences and similarities about AIDS in South Africa versus America. The program I'm in through Peace Corps is CHOP (Community HIV/AIDS Outreach Project). Most of my group is based at Home-Based Care (HBC) organizations. In rural South Africa, AIDS touches a lot of people and there are OI (Opportunistic Infections), including TB, that people with HIV/AIDS get more easily because of their depressed immune systems. The HBCs work with those types of folks to get them proper medication and assess other needs.

I should put the disclaimer that all of the information I'm about to write about is from personal experience, reading books about HIV/AIDS in South Africa, talking with South Africans and Peace Corps sources. There are certainly people who know more about all of this than me. I just think it's interesting to take a look at some factors as to why South Africa has the highest incidence rates of HIV than any other country worldwide and how it differs from AIDS in the U.S.

Learners, youth and everyone hear a lot more about AIDS than in the U.S. It's everywhere. AIDS messaging is on the radio, TV, on posters in community buildings, in churches, etc. I've spoken with some South Africans who say that the constant messaging is fatiguing and that people tune out the messages about safe sex. It becomes background noise at a point. I read a story about a young girl who was diagnosed at 19 and she said she learned about HIV in school but thought it would never happen to her, that she tuned out the information because it was like, yah, yah, heard that before.

Multiple partners are really common and some have dubbed this concurrent partnering the HIV Superhighway. And, along with this comes cheating too. My friend said she read in a South African magazine that only 6% of relationships in South Africa are faithful. Six percet! Now I don't know who they polled, but wow! That's just crazy. And lots of this cheating is unprotected sex where the cheating partner goes back to the original relationship and then they have unprotected sex, thus continuing the superhighway.

Stigma. While stigma tends to be huge in any area, in rural villages of South Africa where everyone knows everyone's name and surname and where they live, etc., there's little confidentiality. Someone could get tested at the local clinic, but (and it's sometimes a big but) how far is the clinic? 5K, 10K, another village even? There's no quick, easy or reliable transport to get there. Sure, these big taxis called kumbis exist, but they cost money.

The person working at the clinic likely knows that person coming to get tested too. The registers where patients sign-in for testing is in plain sight to be viewed by anyone. In communities this small, it's difficult for anyone to keep anything a secret. Now, of course, not every village pushes out their HIV+ community members, some will even protect those among them who are 'different' from the rest. I've even heard of a village where there was a young biological boy living as a girl and the community protected her. I think that's pretty powerful for small community culture.

ARVs (or Anti-Retrovirals) are supposed to be provided at no cost to the public to people who are HIV+. However, the ARVs that are used here are ones that the U.S. hasn't used for years. The most recent development for an ARV used in South Africa is 1994, I believe. Med-adherence is also a big factor. Those HBCs I mentioned earlier have care workers who are supposed to go visit their clients and make sure they are taking their meds. There are lots of potential issues with HBCs, including no funding, fatigued staff, lack of transport to remote areas as well as many others. But I have a feeling I shouldn't discuss those on this blog since I'm working under Peace Corps. Let's just say there's theory ... and there's practice.

"We don't need to worry about HIV anymore, right? There's a pill." Not even kidding, this is what my former host mother said to me. I was aghast. Coming in as an outsider, looking at how South Africa's HIV rates are raging but people in the country seem to be immune to the panic that people outside South Africa are feeling. I'm not sure how frequently these words are uttered by other South Africans, but it scares me.

Before moving to South Africa, I worked for Caracole, an HIV+ transitional living community in Cincinnati (check them out, maybe even make a donation!) so I could get more experience with HIV/AIDS. I learned a lot about the HIV med system (those ARVs I mentioned earlier). Because HIV is such a clever virus, it's constantly mutating and if a person just took one pill, HIV would find a way around it and become stronger. That's why when a person goes on ARVs, they take a therapy of three pills so it's more difficult for HIV to mutate.

Poverty. Living in and visiting impoverished communities has given me a whole new perspective on poverty, but this post isn't about that. It's about lack of access to necessary resources. Most villages in South Africa seem to have electricity (so people can heat meat and kill viruses) and some source of water (which people can boil to kill parasites and use to clean themselves) but often times, access to nutritional food is lacking. Mealies or mealie pap which is basically corn, cornmeal or something similar is very common. People eat pap up to three times a day. You can tell which meal it is by the way it's cooked (thinner for breakfast, like porridge, or thicker for dinner).

When people have HIV/AIDS, nutrition is vital. People in rural areas have a limited diet of pap, maybe some meat and maybe some veggies. Oh, and also, all the mini-shoppes in the villages have chips and lots of soda. I would love to see a study done on how much soda is consumed here. It's crazy. Which brings me to sugar. Thanks to English influence, most people observe tea time. To make the tea taste good (b/c flavored tea is fancy and hard to come by) people will seriously sugar-up their tea. Like 4-6 heaping teaspoons. And for dinner? Rather than spices for flavor, a lot of families use salt. Eish, so much salt! I dare to even put a measurement on how much. My training village host mother made me eggs once and seriously all I could taste was the salt! So, beyond HIV/AIDS, illnesses like diabetes and hypertension are becoming increasingly common.

Those are some of the big factors. There are others like men just not wanting to wear condoms and women not being empowered enough to negotiate safe sex. And re-infection, where two HIV+ partners have sex and think it doesn't matter because they're both +. But it does matter, but they can re-infect each other with different strains. I suppose in some kind of a closing, the HIV/AIDS scene in South Africa is very complicated with many systems involved. This is just scratching the surface.

On a personal note, I'm still without a site, but my Peace Corps supervisor is back and I'll be meeting with her when I get back from Cape Town week after next. (Yay!) I really want to go cage-diving with the great whites, but I think back to this IMAX show I saw as a kid where my mom and I rooted for the shark... There might be some weird foreshadowing in that, so I'll keep my distance : )

Sala sentle,

Casey

So, yes, I'm currently homeless in South Africa. If I think about it too much I start to get a little anxious, so I just try not to think about it that hard : )Rather than stay in Pretoria through this site change, our Peace Corps Country Director has me visiting volunteers to help with their work. It's nice to be productive during this transition period. With a change of scenery, I'm already feeling better about moving to a new site, wherever that may be.Being temporarily homeless, I was thinking about the people in South Africa who are homeless homeless, like squatter-camp homeless, not like my current couch-surfing homelessness. I'm lucky that I'm under the auspices of Peace Corps so that I can still get money for food and transportation, but there are so many others who are without a solid roof - or they're living in a shanty spot.The South African government has these housing sites called RDP (Reconstruction and Development Programme) where they build low-cost housing for people who are homeless in South Africa. From what I've heard from South Africans, often times the houses are built first without hooking up water or any electricity, so really it's only like one step up from being actually homeless.There are lots of opinions on how effective these housing projects actually are - especially considering the corruption that seems to surround these RDP sites. Some people will buy them and then rent the rooms at a spiked cost.Recently, I was visiting a fellow volunteer friend and near her village is a site of these RDP housing developments. The 'houses' have only two rooms and often times multiple people live in these houses. Most sites have pit toilets (outhouses if you're from the country) and there are normally taps or boreholes nearby where people can get water.I took a video to show you what it looks like. At the beginning of the video, you can kind of hear the beginning of Higher Love by Steve Winwood (from the late 80s/90s) playing on the radio. I thought it was quite the appropriate song to play as I took the video of these RDP houses since Winwood sings "things look so bad everywhere; in this whole world, what is fair?" (The full lyrics are linked in case you're interested. It's a really great song, especially for soundtracks.)RDP Housing Site in Rural North West Province, South Africa

(23 seconds)It's such a different reality to see these types of housing developments and then see the richness of other areas in the country. The gap between the haves and have-nots in South Africa is among the highest in the world, if not the highest.So, for now I'm couch-surfing. But I have some leads on new sites and will hopefully have an update soon.Sala sentle,

Casey

During the Peace Corps application process, during the 'staging' where volunteers prepare to leave and at the in-country training, they warn volunteers of the big ups and big downs they might encounter. I'm fairly level and try to remain balanced so my experiences so far have been really great (albeit ridiculous at times) and I've laughed a lot. But some days it's just not as easy to find the funny.Last week was a string of those kind of days.The big news is that I do not live in Mafikeng anymore. I can't (and won't) say why on this blog except that it's a security matter. I can't say anything because of Peace Corps regulations and I won't just because of my own standards. This site is supposed to be a fun and informative blog about my experiences, not my online journal. But I am safe, so that's good.Since I have a lot going on in terms of finding a new site and home for the duration of my tenure in South Africa, I'm not in funny-writer mode. But since I still want to be positive, I'm going to leave you with this really amazing video of a group of learners at a middle school in the North West Province performing a Tswana cultural dance. I am so impressed, especially by these boys, and what they can do. Enjoy.

Middle School learners from the North West Province doing a Tswana cultural dance

(1 minute, 34 seconds)Whey they sing, "ke mang?" is like "it's who?" and as for the rest .... yeah, I don't know. You can make up your own meaning, that's always fun.Sala sentle,Casey

So the other day I was doing dishes and Ororiseng, my 9-year-old host sister, came up to me:

O: I have a fur coat.

Me: Oh, that's cool, I had one when I was young too.

O: My grandma has a whole lot of fur coats.

Me: Oh, cool.

O: Do you like fur coats?

Me: I don't believe in fur.

O: (blank look)

Me: When I was young, I thought they made fur coats from the fur when animals passed away. But when I got older, I found out they kill the animals to get their fur and sell it. I don't like the thought of hurting animals, so I don't believe in wearing fur coats.

O: But mine's pink.

Aww...

I realize that maybe the fur conversation may have been a bit too much, but I take every opportunity I can to teach Ororiseng something or show her another point of view since she is always looking for information. I think she really listens to me, and I believe in treating youth like growing people and not "little kids" so I am pretty honest with her. She asks me a lot of questions and I think she's really thirsty to learn.

I also think youth retain tons of stuff so I'm also really careful what I say because I know she'll soak it up like a sponge. She's just so special and she wants to learn, which is a fine quality in any growing (or grown!) person.

Ororiseng, my host sister, and me

This situation is also different because of culture. I'm honestly not sure about Ororiseng's culture, Tswana, if they kill animals for purposes other than eating. Another one of the South African tribes, Ndebele, kills animals to wear their hides as a power thing to show that the hunter is fast enough to kill a cheetah, lion, what-what. Makes sense, but I'm still not excited about it. I think Tswanas are more utilitarian and do things for very practical purposes like eating and surviving. But, if wearing animal hides is part of Ororiseng's culture, I don't want to influence her away from that. I still won't believe in killing animals for domination and sport to wear their fur, but I understand it's a realistic part of many cultures worldwide and I respect that. It's also very different for someone to uphold their heritage in wearing a pelt of an animal sacred to their culture than some starlet wearing fur at a Hollywood event with no connection to anything other than fashion. Anyway, that was a lot about fur. And fur isn't even on my top ten list of issues I advocate for, so I'll wrap this up : ) Sala sentle (stay well), Casey

No offense to anyone who loves country music, but I’ve just never been a fan. However, it does seem to be the music most closely associated with good ole American values and the heartland.

So the other day I’m watching this South African program called Flash! which is like a classier version of E! (sorry E!, I still love you) and Flash! was doing their weekly top-something list and this list was about surprising pairings in music. They highlighted the Tim McGraw and Nelly team-up for 2005’s Over and Over Again. I remember at the time not really liking either artist, but I enjoyed the song. And I was excited about the bridge between country and hip-hop.

Like a VH1 show, Flash! has barely-known personalities discuss their list of the top-somethings. One of the commentator guys goes “I mean, Nelly, he’s so cool and hip and then what’s he doing singing country music? And who the heck is Tim McGraw?”

Ack! I say to the TV! Tim McGraw is like the number one country music singer and his wife Faith Hill is like an even bigger deal than he is! Go to Nashville, they’ll ask who you are!

Then I realized I was just defending Tim McGraw to a C-list personality on a TV show I’ve watched twice…

This story illustrates how much of a pro-American I have become. I’ve always been proud to be from America, but living in another country has really shown me how excited I am to be American. (So much so that I defend a music artist I'm not really a fan of!) This is, of course, not to say that America is perfect and without flaws (reading the newspaper will confirm that). But people want things to work. They care about what happens to their communities and there’s a sense of pro-activeness in most Americans that I really enjoy. Things just work more slowly here; it’s a different culture and the dynamics are different.

Take for instance, being a woman. A woman in America who wants it all – career, family, personal life – may feel guilty that she can’t spend as much time with her child because she’s working, but she still works to provide for her family. And, most likely, her husband supports her as they’ve probably discussed the situation at length as they are partners in their relationship.

Here, the cultural vibe (in general) is that a woman working usurps the man’s authority as man and the woman will not work because of this. (I do know of instances in South Africa where women defy this, so like anything else, this isn’t a 100% rule, but this mentality is alive in many men I have met.) I try to keep my social liberalism and feminism in check while working at a men’s organization, but some days it’s mentally exhausting to accept that this is how it works here – women are truly second class in so many ways.

The organization I work for has conversations with teen boys about “What is a REAL Man?” That conversation makes me cringe. Because the boys answer things like “not gay” or “doesn’t cry.” These boys are being socialized in a way that alienates those boys (or men) who are gay or who feel like crying to release emotions. It’s systemic, social and cultural and it makes me so sad. Articles ask why men are so angry in South Africa. They ask: Why is it that 1 out of 4 men has raped a woman? Well, maybe they’re trying to prove this uber-manhood they’ve been socialized to grow up to.

I don’t have an answer for this. However, it makes me happy to think that in America, we have these conversations about it being okay for men to release emotions. There’s more of a social awareness in America about different ways of viewing and living life that I haven’t found here. Then again, that would be individualism and South Africa is still deeply rooted in Ubuntu community culture. (Interesting volunteer blog post about Ubuntu here.) I’m happy that as Americans, we are generally more accepting of who people are (except maybe in small, rural counties in some of those red states : )

I’m not trying to spread “Americanism” or push Western thought, but I’m trying to at least spread an open-minded way of thinking during my time here and question what isn't normally questioned. Will it stick? Only time will tell.

In the meantime, I'll keep defending those pieces of American culture that aren't so prevalent in South African media, like country music : )

Sala sentle, (stay well)

Casey

So my parents, who are so lovely : ), sent me a care package from America! And in this care package along with some surprises for me, my mom sent small toys for my host brother and host sister! They were super excited!

For Realeboga (ray-ah-lay-bow-hah) who is 5, my mom sent some little cars. One of them has a sticker that says “Police” which Realeboga loves because his dad is a police officer. I’m so serious, within two days, they were super dirt-covered and looked like he had them for months! He was so excited!

Realeboga, my 5-year-old host brother(He's quite a cut-up!)

For Ororiseng (oh-roar-ree-seng), who is 9, my mom sent a package of three small plastic dolls. She loved them! She gave them all names from High School Musical, haha. What’s really cool about these dolls is that one is black, one is Hispanic-looking and the other is white – and the white one is a redhead too! Talk about diversity!

Ororiseng, my 9-year-old host sister

Toys aren’t really around in any household I’ve been to around South Africa, at least not in the way you may see an entire playroom at someone’s house in the states. Which is why I think Ororiseng and Realeboga really appreciated these toys my parents sent.

But having few to no toys makes kids creative. For instance, last weekend, Realeboga made a “helicopter” out of a piece of stick-on-tile that he cut up. I was pretty impressed! Since the family is converting their house into a guesthouse, there’s a treasure-trove of construction goods that he makes toys out of. He's quite clever.

Ororiseng, Realeboga and me

(p.s. I love that he's eating a carrot! It's just so silly!)

Thank you again mom for sending those toys! They loved them so much! Here is a short video of Ororiseng and Realeboga saying thank you. At the end Ororiseng says thank you in her first language, Setswana. You may need to turn up the sound. And sorry it's dark. I'm not really sure how to fix that.

Thank you video from Ororiseng and Realeboga

(29 seconds for those of you with slow Internet)Ke a leboga, thank you and dankie!

Casey : )

So it's June and I bought a heater.

Yes, I realize I'm in the southern hemisphere and it's late autumn/early winter here, but still, it's Africa. A heater is just one more thing I really didn't expect to buy here.

It gets to 5C at night! I'm not totally adjusted to the F to C conversion, but take away 5 degrees and you have literally freezing since 0C equals 32F! Yikes!

At work it's freezing too - lots of tile. My hands have always been colder than the rest of me and all I can seem to do to keep them warm is put them in my armpits. (Sorry)

But then it makes me laugh because I think of Molly Shannon as Mary Catherine Gallagher on Saturday Night Live. So the laughing then makes me forget, if even for a few minutes, how cold I really am.

Molly Shannon as Mary Catherine Gallagher

Promo for Superstar, the movie they made from the character

But don't worry, I just do it for warmth. No smelling involved or jumping backwards onto things : )

Sala sentle,

Casey

And yes, sadly, it was about GM filing for bankruptcy : (

The Detroit Renaissance Center is the mark of Detroit (among many other fabulous buildings, of course, including my favorite, the Guardian Building). The Ren Cen is the stock image for anything from auto commercials to RoboCop (which I saw for the first time in South Africa!) and even to comedy clubs.

One comedian said the Ren Cen is like Detroit giving the finger to Canada (which is directly across the water from it) with that one big building surrounded by the smaller ones.

Detroit Renaissance Center, home of GM

(as viewed from the Canadian side)

Now in South Africa, the SABC anchor woman gives her ongoing report each night of the "global economic meltdown." Way to not soften the blow on that one . . .

I keep wondering, would they say that on TV in America? I know our news can be sensational, but would we say that? Economic meltdown? Eish. Sounds to me like someone pressed the wrong button at the power plant. Or in the hatch on Lost. (Mmm, Lost...)

It's like I'm in a really elongated Groundhog's Day. I was graduating from college in 05 when Michigan really started to feel recession. Then I moved to Cincinnati in summer 08 when the whole country felt recession. Now I'm in South Africa where the "global economic meltdown" has officially hit.

Which is quite sad because the effects of the economic recession will likely be much harsher here than America. Poverty is high - depending on the source, about one-third of South Africans are impoverished. There is little access to water, let alone it being drinkable, shortages of food and people are likely surviving on government grants.

The gap between the haves and have-nots is literally among the highest in the world. And HIV incidence rates here are the highest in the world as well. Eish. Put all of that together with an influx of immigrants and it's likely to get a bit messy. Luckily the South African government is trying to emphasize entrepreneurs and the Department of Labor has a call for proposals out there for grant money available to those who can train workers in new areas. I suppose each country will manage along in their own way, right? Eish.

So anyway, in the meantime, if you should see anything in the classifieds for "Bright, interesting, funny brunettes wanted to be independantly wealthy" let me know! Or anything about spouses wanted for rich shipping tycoons. Preferably Greek, but whatever, I'm flexible!

Sala sentle (stay well)

Casey : )

When people bring up colonialism in Africa …. and then all look right at me

When my training village host mother drunk dials me at night (seriously)

When really professional people’s cell phones ring and it’s a 50 Cent rap about “bein’ up in da club, doin’ my thing” … and then return to work-related conversation like a gansta rap was not just on their phone

When my coworkers tell me I must give them American money when I leave

When a guy at the taxi rank yells "I like your figure! Yrrr!" and then is surprised when I don't stop to chat...

Splish Splash Laundromat in Mafikeng

You know what they say, cleanliness is godliness, right? : )

I’m not a fan of putting lengthy journal-type entries on my blog because, honestly, I feel like if it’s too long people won’t read it. But, I like this story and wanted to share : )

So, like the title says, I try to make my first response funny to everything I encounter. It’s so easy to find the funny when you just look for it.

This weekend I was at Spar, a local supermarket, and they just opened this particular location. I have to admit, I was pretty bummed because the café I typically visit was closed, so I had to go to Spar to get some lunch (they have a really great buffet!). I also don’t really buy or cook meat since I’ve lived in South Africa (too expensive) so I eat meat on the weekends when I can go out and have someone else make it for me. (Haha, I hope that doesn’t sound too stereotypical-American.)

Since this is the Spar Superstore grand opening weekend, it’s crazy! There are tons of kids, the local radio station is blasting music and there are these guys on stilts who remind me of, gulp, clowns. (They even have their faces painted white!) And for those of you who know me, I am like deathly afraid of clowns (thanks mom, dad and Stephen King).

So I’m standing in line at the buffet figuring out what I want when I see – out of the corner of my eye – the stilt guy is walking towards me! Yikes! I think. What does he want? I’m not a kid; I don’t want to talk to a skinny clown on stilts. But, then, as I’m about to have a panic attack because he’s getting ever-closer to me, he says in a thick Afrikaaner accent, “It smells like burning.”

I try to bite my lip to keep from laughing (since said clown who smells burning is still right behind me), but I can’t. I just bust-out laughing. In my head, I keep hearing him say “It smells like buuuurning.” In his accent, the ‘u’ in burning is really drawn out and the ‘g’ goes up at the end – like it’s burning but it ends on a happy note. He’s not trying to be funny, it’s just the accent. Afrikaans is the language created by the old Dutch settlers and it's sort of Dutch/German/Swedish sounding. (Say it out loud, you’ll hear it - or in case you need the audio, here's a clip of my re-enactment:) Casey's janky re-enactmentI have a flashback to when my cousin Patrick and I were kids and used to watch the Simpsons. We’d quote everything Ralph said, like on his Valentine’s Day card to Lisa: “I cho-cho-choose you!” And I swear one episode he says “It tastes like burning” in that dumb sweet kid voice of his.

Now a conversation ensues of where the burning is coming from and the stilt-guy is insistent that the chef go check it out. By this point, I’ve had enough, I’ve got to go, I don’t want to look too crazy laughing to myself!

I eat my food at the food court area and then leave. Thank God. Oh – and while I’m eating, the radio station plays “Karma Chameleon” by Culture Club*/Boy George and “Man, I Feel Like A Woman” by Shania Twain. Where am I?

Ahhh, so anyway. This is why I love the balance of life. Just when there’s a bad day (café closed) something good or funny will happen (skinny stilt-clown smells burning).

I really do love my life. I never know what’s going to happen!

Sala sentle,

Casey

* I was part of starting the Culture Club at my high school. We went to plays and art museums. I thought it was awesome! But I think it folded the year I graduated. Heck, I went to a high school out towards the sticks. Football and confederate flags were much more popular than the Culture Club that the art teacher started. This side note has nothing to do with anything, other than the band Culture Club reminded me of this fun memory of those three or four outings we took before the whole club fell apart. Maybe if we only had a hit song, the club could have made it… : )

When I told people I'd be living in Africa for two years, I got a lot of "but you're so fair-skinned Casey..." I then usually made some joke about stocking up on really high SPF (which I did, in special thanks to my Godmother!) and talked about how much I like freckles - which I really do.

Even with SPF though, I've managed to get quite a few new freckles. Most of them came out during training when it was still summer (February and March). I thought I'd do a classic Before & After to show you some of my new African Freckles, especially my forehead.

And, yes, sadly my hair also gets frizzy in hot environments, so my pre-PC hair was much smoother. Remember, I moved to Michigan for college for a reason : )

Now that I'm working and not having to tredge through the sandhills everyday in direct sunlight, it's a little easier. The sun is pretty intense here. I pray for cloudy days - even just a little! It's funny because I equate bright sunlight with beaches and I am soooo far away from a beach right now. Thank God vacation is coming! Or, holiday, I guess they say here, thanks to English influence : )

Sala sentle,

Casey

I am in the Peace Corps group SA19, the 19th group to volunteer in South Africa. Our swearing-in was 2 April 2009. Representatives from the US Embassy were there and lo and behold they wrote something for their website about it! The article is here.

My hair is in the first one, I'm making a weird face in the bottom-left one (we were singing the American National Anthem) and the other...well, I'm tall and wearing heels, so you can kind of see my head in the back : )

Disclaimer: The following facts were taken from Peace Corps, South African news sources (SABC) and talking to South Africans. Should someone who knows more than me about South Africa see an error, please let me know. None of these facts were blatently made up.*

South Africa's nickname is The Rainbow Nation due to the mixture of people from various world cultures and religions.

South Africa's unemployment rate is 23.5%.

South Africa's population is 48 million.

There are roughly 5.7 milion cases of HIV in South Africa (approximatly 12%, +/- depending on the study). This compares to the US's population of 400 million with an average of 1.5 million cases of HIV.

Same-sex marriage is legal (although not entirely welcomed and de-stigmatized culturally).

If a political party gets 2/3 of the public vote in the presidential election, the party has the power to legally change the constitution without going through any other political channel.

During Apartheid, black South Africans had to carry passes (like passports/IDs) with them whenever they left their village/town/city to show proof of who they were. They could also be forcibly removed from an area if they were there more than the allotted time (like 2-3 days).

Only 35% of South Africa's new entrant workforce (who have passed metric - like a high school diploma) will enter the workforce. Of those, 10% will drop out and 55% will never work. (Courtesy of SABC News)

Afrikaans, the language created by European settlers in the 1600s, is the newest world language and is only spoken in South Africa.

South Africa provides for 10% of the whole of Africa's GDP. A good portion of that is revenue from the mines of diamonds, gold and platinum. (Side note: I live 200K from a platinum mine).

A Google search and leafing of NationalGeographic.com reveal that lion deaths are not very common in South Africa and, in fact, lions outside of game preserves are actually more in danger of being killed by poachers. Lions also do not kill friendly, dark-haired women from America, it goes against The African Lion Code.

*Except the last sentence of the last bullet, that's for my dad : )

I guess it says something about your less-than-fabulous ability to handwash clothes when your laundry inventory list from the laundromat lists "1 - light pink towel" when you don't own any light pink towels and those used to be purple.

Le sigh.

5:45 a.m. - Wake up, get ready, eat breakfast6 a.m. - Do those morning breathing exercises that Dr. Oz on Oprah said to do.7 a.m. - Leave for work with my host family (6 of us squeezed into a Kia Picanto, which is like a clown car) and my host mother drops her kids at three different schools, me at work and then goes to work herselfKia Picanto (very smalll!)7:15 to 4 (ish) - Work - which includes all or none of the following (depending on the day): trying to understand what or who my coworkers are gossiping about (in a mix of Zulu, Xholsa and Tswana), writing reports, reviewing documents, editing grants, going to meetings, doing stuff for Peace Corps, etc.

Work Side Note: It's especially funny at work when I hear my coworkers gossiping and then I'll hear 'Kess-ee', which is how they pronounce my name, or 'lekgoa' which means white person. 'Lekgoa' it's usually followed by screaming or really loud laughing. I know some lekgoas, and we can be funny, but I'm not sure that's why they're laughing...) 1 to 2 p.m. - Work lunch break wich I use to go get groceries or do other shopping. There's a mall two blocks behind where I work and the Post Office is about 5 blocks. There's a grocery store and my bank about 3 blocks away.4:30 p.m. - Get picked up from work by my host mother5 p.m. - Go for a walk/jog, sometimes with my host sister and host brother6 p.m. - Make dinner (I've upgraded to peri-peri mac-n-cheese, yum : ) My host sister asks me if I can actually make anything other than mac-n-cheese, potatoes & onions or pasta with red sauce. I tell her yes, but I'm a lazy cook. Which isn't really true, I love to cook, I just wish I had my own kitchen space to cook. Sharing a kitchen with a family of 7 makes it hard to move around much. 6:30 p.m. - Watch 7 de Laan : )7 to 9 (ish) - Write, do work, watch DVDs, plan for vacations, balance my checkbook, watch TV, clean, etc. Sometimes I make short phonecalls to the US since the rates drop drastically at 8:30 p.m. Before 8:30 p.m., it's the equivalent of like $1/minute! Yikes!9 (ish) - Plot out how to kill the next flat spider and do one last spider/bug check of my space before sleep.9 (ish) - Do those evening breathing exercises that Dr. Oz on Oprah said to do.9 or 10 p.m. - Go to bed and most nights include listening to the neighbor's dogfighting at night. There's like a huge doghouse (taller than me!) and who knows how many dogs, but at night, they fight pretty rough. Naive me, the first time I heard it, thought 'good dogs, I bet they are scaring off an intruder', yeah right. It's every night. I'm thinking it's a suburban dogfighting cell.

Weekends

Hand-wash my laundry - which I'm hoping may change soon b/c I found a laundromat in town and it seems clean and safe enough. It's actually a split Landromat/Tattoo Parlor. Fun combination : )

Some of my laundry on the line

Walk to town - it takes me about 45 minutes to walk to town and generally very pretty. There's this cute cafe that one of the volunteers showed me and I love the atmosphere! I sit, read, write letters and drink bottomless tea. I usually also go grocery shopping, go to the bank, etc. in town on the weekend. This weekend I actually ran into people I know! It's weird and exciting to actually recognize people now. But that means I always have to wear make-up when I go to town. Well, win some, lose some : )

Hang out with other volunteers - there are a few volunteers arond Mafikeng who are actually leaving between June and September. All the other volunteers from my group are clustered in other provinces, but the closest volunteer to me from our group is maybe 2-3 hours driving. Haha, so since I can't drive, that's like a half-day on a public taxi-bus.

That's pretty much my life right now. But I'm continuing to meet people and get the guts to ask for rides (I feel like such a mooch doing that!). This weekend I'm going to take the pilgramage to the laundromat and then check out a pizza place (!!) that I found the other day. Sala sentle,Casey

Tusk Mmabatho Hotel & Casino pool and dining area Seriously.

It started by going to Tusk Mmabatho Hotel & Casino for some drinks with fellow volunteers.

It ended with a complimentary night's stay, breakfast buffet and lounging by the pool the next morning under a large canvas umbrella.

I love my life.

Casey : )

While I'm endlessly glad that I bought a whole bunch of $5 DVDs on a Day-After-Thanksgiving Sale (gosh will I miss those sales for two seasons!), I am pretty excited about some things I've been able to find in South Africa that are truly South African.

1. DOOM!

So my two biggest worries coming to Peace Corps were (1) bugs and (2) hygiene. During training, Peace Corps gave us this stuff called Doom, basically like Raid, but cooler! This stuff smells better (honestly, they have like 'spring fresh' Doom) and it kills fast! I once shot a couple sprays at a mosquito and he fell down immediately. This is totally why I could never be Buddhist, I like killing bugs too much. Oh, and it can kill those 'flat spiders' - it takes lots more than two sprays, but it'll get 'em!

2. Simba Mexican Chili ChipsI'm not even a chip person, but I love these! I think it's because they have very little salt and mostly flavor. Simba brand has all these crazy flavors like Spare Ribs (seriously!), Tomato Sauce (basically ketchup), HSM Balls Chutney, Salt & Vinegar and I think something else meaty. Who would have ever thought to put meat flavor on chips?!

3. Zing Tropical JuiceUmm ... it's delicious. All my favorite fruits made into once juice for my enjoyment. So good.

4. The soapy, 7 de LaanSoapys here are crazy! There are so many of them, tons of different languages and some crazy stuff happens. 7 de Laan is the Afrikaans soapy and I'm almost afraid to admit how much I like it. I kinda planned on not watching TV here, but my host family put a TV in my room and I got bored one evening ...

I'm not a soap opera person which is why I think I like this one. It's much less 'soapy' than the rest. No one is getting killed, there aren't any crazy accidents or drug addicts like other soapys have. It's more like a sitcom to me.

And it's all in Afrikaans (with a tiny bit of English) so I can understand this one better - oh, and it's subtitled, but I'm picking up a few words. Most other South African soapys have like 6 of the 11 official languages and it gets confusing, even with subtitles. Some of the other soapys stop subtitles when a character speaks English, but b/c of the accent, I sometimes miss that it's English.

Anyway, 7 de Laan, very good.

5. Black Cat natural Peanut ButterIt's just peanut butter. And it's not marred with all the crazy stuff they put in the peanut butter sold in America. This is just natural for natural's sake. I love it!

6. Tag LinesSo there are some pretty funny tag lines for stuff here. This picture is of Sasko bread's tagline: "Since forever." For whatever reason, it strikes me as so funny b/c there are so many products that are like, "Since 1972" "Since 1909" "Since 1890" - and I think that 1890 one is the Wheat Bix I eat for breakfast... This Sasko one just feels like a little kid who's like, "Oh yeah, your bread is from 1972, well ours is since, uh, well, since forever! ha!"

There's a supermarket called Spar and their tagline is "Good for You" and the lady on the commercial says it kind of condescending with undue inflection on the 'you', it's pretty funny. I tried to find a clip of it, but I couldn't. It's like, why not good for me and my family? Why not good for my wallet? Nope, just good for me. haha.

7. Law & Order: SVUYes, it's here! And I think they're the new ones! SVU is my favorite among the L&O series and I've pretty much seen every one ever made and the one last week was totally new to me - yay! I've also found 30 Rock (season 1 though...) and some crazy show I've never heard of - Work with Me. Anybody? It's got Nancy Travis, who was in So I Think I Married An Axe Murderer with Mike Myers from the 90s. It's also got that adorable guy from Can't Hardly Wait, the guy who's in love with Jennifer Love Hewitt. Anyway, it looks like it was a sitcom in the 90s but I totally don't remember this.

That's the short list and I'm sure I'll have more as I continue to live here.

Sala Sentle (stay well)

Casey

My little 5-year-old host brother, Realeboga, talking to his 9-year-old sister, Ororiseng, in the car. The radio show was talking about the election results and mentioned ANC president Jacob Zuma.

R: "Zuma presidente ka eng?" Zuma is the president of what? (huge grin on his face)

O: (blank look)

R: "Presidente thaltswa dikoloi!" President of washing cars! (huge belly laughs while he makes a 'wax-on-wax-off' motion)

O: (rolls her eyes)

Haha, kids.

I decided it's easier for me to have my own P.O. Box so I can check when I need to (and the key at work kept disappearing...).

My new P.O. Box is 1973. That's the only part different, the rest is all the same. It's updated under Coorespondence too.

Best,

Casey

I began to realize that lots of people had the same layout I previously had (surprise, when I picked it from a group of templates ...). So I decided to switch it up.

I also really love green : )

Best,

Casey

This Wednesday marks the third election of post-apartheid, democratic South Africa. There has been quite a bit of buzz!

I will mention upfront that I am certainly no expert on politics in South Africa. I just wanted to talk a little bit about the way politics work in South Africa, from what I've heard and understand.

And, honestly, since I'm still bouncing back from election fatigue and campaigning in the US, I've mostly avoided any election news or debates. We had almost two years of that in America, so I'm finished for awhile!

Anyway ... : )

Since 1994, the ANC (African National Congress) has been leading the country. It's the party Nelson Mandela was part of that elected him the first black president of South Africa. There is quite a bit of history with the ANC, which I won't go into, but for more info: http://www.anc.org.za/.

There are multiple visible political parties in South Africa that represent each racial or geographic demographic and some that are for unity, etc. (Unlike the major two-party system I'm used to in the US.) Due to the racial skewing during apartheid, when the country became democratic, the government made sure each racial group had representation.

Also, in South Africa, citizens vote for the party and then the party elects the president. That was also something quite new to me.

There are posters everywhere and so when I was walking to town I took pictures of the ones I saw (since some parties are more geographical in nature, not all parties are represented with signage in Mafikeng).

And the ID sign, I just love their hutspah!

On some signs, since they appeal to racial and geographic areas, they'll write in English and the mother tongue. The dominant language in Mafikeng is Setswana and you can see some Setswana on the SAPP and STEM signs. Pretty interesting.

The elections take place on Wednesday and it's a public holiday, so people have the whole day to go and vote - isn't that nice?! So I'll have that day off too. I'll probably just handwash some laundry : )

South African citizens internationally had an opportunity to vote last week and I watched some coverage about that. The majority of South Africans living abroad are located in England. They also showed polls in DC, New York and LA. But I think they said only about 1,000 South Africans had voted in the US. They said about 7,000 votes were placed by South Africans living abroad.

From what I've heard, results should be announced on Thursday or Friday. There has been a lot surrounding this election, so it will be interesting to see in which direction the country will go.

That's all from my news desk. Good night and good luck : )

Casey

Dumelang!

I thought it would be fun to post a video of the shopping complex closest to me. It's about a 10-minute drive or 40 minutes walking. There's a grocery store, Wimpy restaurant, Clicks (like CVS), FNB (my bank), a Fruit & Veg shop, Internet cafe and an eating cafe. It's pretty nice.

I feel pretty lucky b/c in the village we stayed in, Seabe, there were like three identical shops that sold basics like rice, drinks, canned food, bread and such. And, seriously, that's it. No banks, no fresh fruit/vegetables, no restaurants, etc.

Video of a Mafikeng Shopping Complex

During training, Peace Corps just gave us food boxes w/ staple items. Luckily, I got to take some of those items with me to Mafikeng. (Mostly so I could save money and not buy new stuff for awhile!) So I've been trying to come up with new food dishes, especially things I can put curry into : )

I've come to the realization I can't make restaurant-quality Indian food, so I've given up on that and pretty much just try to put curry into other stuff!

So ....... I made curry mac-n-cheese! I have to say I felt like a Zingerman doing crazy new things with mac-n-chz! (Although this mac-n-chz was quite a bit cheaper than the stuff in Ann Arbor!) Sometimes I even put diced tomatoes into it - yum! : )

Yum - curry mac-n-chz!

(sorry it's blurry!)

When I was walking around town this weekend, I thought I'd take a picture of the SAMAG office. It's a relatively small office, 7 staff plus me. And, oh yeah, everything has barbed wire on it, so you can see that on the door.

SAMAG officeBest to you for a fabulous week!Casey : )

It's kind of funny; people keep telling us that "winter is coming" but it's hard to believe when the sun shines bright everyday and the temperature is 28 C (around 82 F). At night it gets kind of cold, like low 50s and will apparently get into the 40s by July. Generally my theory is that winter only comes at night and then goes away.

In any case, I'm very excited for winter! It sounds like it's just about perfect - beautiful and warm during the day and cool for sleeping at night.

I thought I'd put up some pictures since I haven't had good connections before to post photos.

Mandela sign at the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg (Joburg)

Scenery in Marapyane, Mpumalanga Province(Just down the road from the training college)

Our Setswana language group at swearing-in: Amy, Glenn, Magdeline (teacher) and me(not pictured from our small group: Jackie) Anne and Casey at Swearing-In

Some of the ladies at the Family Farewell functionBack row: Laura, Casey and AmyFront Row: Nadine, Nisah and Sharleen

The whole group at Swearing-InAs goes the curse of being tall when pictures are taken, I'm in the back, you can kind of see my face near the middle...(The country director, McGrath, is on the far left of front row and the associate director of training, Lisa, on the far right standing.)

South Africa is a very interesting place to be with some first world areas, some third world areas and lots of Western influence. Mostly from the U.K. and America. I thought it would be interesting to highlight some of these similarities.

Soapys! These are like soap operas only much more intense! (And they move faster than American soaps.) I think a better comparison is that South African "soapys" are like Tele Novella in Mexico. Very dramatic! Here's a clip to one called Generations on YouTube. There are several others like Soul City, Isidingo and 7 de Laan (Afrikaans soapy).English phrases. Like the bathroom is called the 'loo.' (I haven't seen an elevator yet, but I have it on good report that it would be called a lift!)Cricket, rugby and soccer is actually called soccer. So silly me, I thought that outside the US they called soccer football, but in South Africa, I haven't heard anyone yet call it football. And I thought cricket was played with mallets, but it looks more like a cross between hockey and baseball .... (what are the shin guards for?!)

Setswana Words and Phrases (Just for fun!)

Sharp, Sharp (or just Sharp) - meaning: it's all good, cool, etc.Le kae "luh-kai" - meaning literally: where are you?; taken as: how are you?Ke teng "kay-tang" - meaning literally: I am here; taken as: goodKe a leboga "kay-ah-lay-boh-hah" - meaning: thank youGape "hah-pay"- meaning literally: again; taken as: repeat (I used this a lot!)Ema "ay-mah" - meaning: stopGa ke itse "hah-kay-eat-see" - meaning: I don't knowGa go na matatha "hah-hoh-nah-muh-tat-hah" - no worries, no problem (think Lion King, Setswana is close to Swahili, where they have the phrase "hakuna mathatha"

Short left or short right - meaning: asking the taxi driver to make a short stop (yeah, I know it's in English, but I still think it's funny)On a happy note, I passed my language exam (yay!) and I'm officially in Mafikeng at my new site! We swore-in on Thursday and I arrive about 9:30 that night. Now I'm just unpacking and getting into the local culture.

Much love,

Casey

Dumelang! I have less than two weeks before I am an official Peace Corps Volunteer!

On April 2 I will be sworn-in and on my way back to Mafikeng, where I will live for the next two years. I am incredibly excited! (I should also have better Internet access once I'm in Mafikeng!)

This past week we had a Supervisor's Workshop to meet our new supervisors and then do a site-visit. The organization I'm going to be working with, South African Men's Action Group (SAMAG), is fairly well-connected in the community, so I was able to meet with various partners and board members. The office has 7 (now 8 with me) and it was so great to meet everyone. I am excited to get back there and get to work!

My Setswana language is coming along ... but where I am, the language of business is primarily English. I am still going to try to learn Setswana so that I can speak to people and surprise a few when I'm the American who can converse in Setswana!

In Mafikeng, I'm staying with a big family - mom, dad and 5 kids! The youngest kids in the house, Ororiseng, 9 and Realeboga, 5, are so much fun! I never had younger siblings, so it's been lots of fun to get to know them. They also speak English incredibly well; I'm so impressed!

Since I have had trouble uploading photos, here are a few pictures. There's my homestay, local school kids, tribal dancers and then a few from a Braai that Peace Corps had for us, it's like a bar-b-que.

Oh, and sorry about my green scarf being in two pictures! I actually do have other clothes, I just really love that scarf! And apparently the only time I take pictures is when I'm wearing it!

Much love,

Casey : )

p.s. I got a cell phone! The number, when dialing from the US is: 011-27-71-278-4962. The actual number is 071-278-4962, but you have to add the country code and such.

I wouldn't normally put my cell phone out there like this, but what are the odds someone will spend the money to prank-call me in South Africa?! (Or, in Setswana, 'diatura!', too expensive!)

My current Seabe homestay

Grade 1 schoolchildren at a Seabe primary school in the Mpumalanga Province

Tribal dancers

(If you look closely, you can see the pink feather dusters in their hands!)

Almost-Volunteers Nisah and Casey at the Braai

Almost-Volunteers Anne and Casey at the Braai

Yay! So I found out my site placement! I'm going to live in Mafikeng in the NorthWest Province, about 2 hours away from Johannesburg (Joburg) and maybe 3 hours from Pretoria, the capital. The organization I will be working for is the South African Men's Action Group.

My tentative job description is this (as I'm sure more will follow!):

Financial and office management training.Mobilizing the community in fighting men's human rights.Assisting in developing gender-based violence programmes focusing on male youth and adult men.Outreach programs on the role of men in the fight against HIV/AIDS, religion and culture.

I'm incredibly excited! It sounds exciting, interesting and challenging! Tomorrow we go to a Supervisor's Workshop in Rustenburg, NorthWest and I'll find out more then.

I'll also meet my Mafikeng host family this week. I've been told by my Peace Corps supervisor that I have a one-room building on the family's compound with .... (drumroll) ... a flush toilet! : ) I will also have electricity. For safety's sake, volunteers in South Africa are placed, in general, with host families, but in a separate house.

People have told me that Mafikeng is a decent-sized town with like three malls. Crazy, huh? That will be nice to have access to things in the town where I'll be living and working. In case you're interested, here is a link to the city of Mafikeng w/ more information. It's also close to Sun City, which is like the Vegas of South Africa. I'm pretty excited about the travel potentials!

Oh, and for fun, here's a list of ....Things That Continue to Surprise Me When They Shouldn't:That no matter how many times I add curry to the rice and chicken I make, it doesn't make it restaurant-quality Indian food : (That the sheer will of me not wanting to get bitten by mosquitos will not actually make them stop.That when my host mother tries to call me by my real name, she calls me Kayzen... Close, but not so much.Haha, so that's all for now : )Peace,Casey

Haha, so this post is actually about where I may be going, but I thought that was a funny title : )

I was actually concerned that people in South Africa wouldn't think I was funny b/c I had heard that the cultures were more literal and I can be sarcastic. But I've found that facial expressions and physical humor seems to work just about anywhere.

So! Big exciting almost-news!

On Friday, we get our site annoncements! We had a big meeting yesterday and my language group, Setswana, will be in the NorthWest Province or Mpumalanga. I've included a map below, but the image isn't the best, so here's the link too.

Map of South Africa's ProvincesGenerally, if we're in the NorthWest, it will be near the Botswana border, which equals desert! Yikes! With my fair Irish skin, it makes me a little nervous. BUT - they said the night gets chilly, so that's good.Peace Corps provided us with these camel-colored fur blankets that, at first, I was like, 'wtf, we're in Africa' but now it makes sense. I joked that I may fashion it into a fabulous coat, ala Kwame Kilpatrick : ) haha.More updates later on where I will be! My day to check Internet is Monday, so probably then.Much love,Casey : )

In case you're curious, here's the Cliff's Notes version of what I've been up to these last month:

Met the royal family of the Ndebele tribe (in-deh-bell-ay).Moved in with my host mother, a 72-year-old retired teacher, who commonly refers to herself as an "old lady" - it's pretty funny.Started learning Setswana, one of South Africa's 11 official languages.Organized a Cooking Day to share recipes! Tons of fun and delicious too : )Attended my first African funeral or home-going as it's called here.Watched a dozen (and counting!) colorful African sunsets - seriously, they're all so beautiful!Saw a ton of stars in the night sky that seem so close b/c there is like no light pollution! It's gorgeous!Did my laundry by hand! (At first it was novel ... on week 4, it's getting tiresome. Do you know how difficult it is to hand-wash a bath towel?! Crazy.)Met the Seabe tribal chief.Ate a pomegranate! Seriously, I never did that before!More later!Peace and Ubuntu,Caseyp.s. Everyone loves when I wear my Obama shirt - the whole world (or at least my new little slice of South Africa : ) is excited he's the new US president.p.p.s. Related to the last post ... Eleanor is a boy : ( New name: Elea-norton ... ?

Hello and Dumelang!

It feels so good to be able to get to a computer again! Since we arrived in South Africa on February 4, we've had really limited access to phones or computers. They want us to be immersed in the culture (which is good), but it's so nice to be on the Internet again!

Through March, our access will still be limited. We are finished with training and move to our "sites" on April 2. Hopefully there I will have better access to Internet and I should also have a cell phone.

So I've had lots of new "African" freckles pop up in the last several weeks! : ) Since I don't have the ability to tan, I really enjoy seeing new freckles.

We are in really rural South Africa and if I showed you a picture, it would look a lot like the American South. Lots of farmland, small houses far apart, etc. I do have running water and electricity at my homestay, so I consider myself very lucky. Sometimes the water has a tint of brown, but it hasn't done anything to me yet!

I'm excited to begin really travelling and see places like Cape Town, Durban (the Indian center of the country) and go to a game reserve to see the animals! Right now, all I've seen are chickens, donkeys and cows...

Oh - and big bonus for me - I'm not allergic to African cats! My host mother has like 5 cats and I don't sneeze around them! I'm thinking of taking the littlest one with me. What we'd consider pets in America, cats and dogs, are really mistreated in some South African cultures and this little baby cat is so cute! I'd hate to see her be abused. Tentatively, I've named her Eleanor : )

So far our training has been focused on adjusting to our new climate (in the 70s, 80s, it's beautiful!), bugs (yuck! I've been introduced to 'flat spiders', gross), illnesses, local community, learning language and learning about HIV/AIDS in South Africa.

I'm learning Setswanna, which is spoken in the NorthWest Province, Limpopo and Mpumalanga primarily. It's the inverse of Arabic in that they use a ton of vowels. Like to say 'taxi' it's 'takisi' but I'm getting the hang of it. My host mother speaks really fast, so I'm trying to keep up with her.

She did give me my Setswana name, Lesogo ("lay-say-hoh", the 'g' is pronounced gutterally like an 'h'). It means luck! How cool is that?! She's also quite the chatter in the neighborhood, so I get greeted by people I don't even know, "Hello sister Lesogo." It's kinda fun : )

I find out on March 13 where my "site" will be and the following week I do a 5-day site visit to check it out. I'm so excited! I will let you know as soon as I can after I find out.

In an effort to be word-conscious, I will wrap-up (especially since I don't have any pictures transferred yet to break up the words :).

Lerato to you all! (lerato is love, "lay-rah-toh")

Casey : )

p.s. thank you to people who wrote me letters! I love them! I've read a few so far and I'm saving more for when I really need them. Thank you : )

I was up this morning at 4:10 to get ready! Luckily, I packed and re-packed three times yesterday so I was good to go this morning!

Me and my 77 lbs. of luggage (literally - and that's only the checked stuff) made it safely to the CVG airport. I kissed my parents good-bye and I was off!

Don't let this luggage fool you b/c it's spread out - the stuff on the left is 77 lbs. combined! And it all tips forward ... I think after Peace Corps, I'll design luggage that doesn't tip. Now I'm at the Holiday Inn in the Historic District in Philadelphia. All the volunteers are here tonight for a 'staging event' and then tomorrow we get shots and head to JFK airport.

And, yeah, I realized when re-reading paperwork, we're taking a bus to JKF. I just assumed we were flying. I hope it's one big bus b/c there are around 22-25 of us and we all have lots of luggage!

For the last few weeks, I've been trying to make my rounds to see everyone. Despite the ridiculous snow storm in Cincinnati, I did get to see my friend Amanda.

Which, by the way, (and this may sound shallow - my apologies!), but be prepared to see lots of pictures of me without make-up. I am generally a girl who wears make-up, but I'm taking a brief hiatus from eyeshadow while I'm in Peace Corps : )

Amanda and me

And I also got to see Lisa and Kevin, yay!

Kevin and Lisa

Well, I think I'm going to find my way to the art museum. It's the one they used in Rocky where he ran up the steps. Pretty cool!

Casey : )

I'm getting so nervous, excited and everything inbetween that I'm going to be flying out on Monday to start this adventure! The frantic dreams are upon me!

I got more paperwork this week regarding the Pre-Service Training (PST) that we'll be doing in Marapyane in the Mpumalanga Province, north of Pretoria, the capital of South Africa.

In the paperwork, there's a sample agenda of a day during training. After breakfast with our respective host families, language training, orienting ourselves to the community by walking around, then there's this:

"13:00-13:30: Break fo lunch under a tree somewhere in the community." Aww : )

Then there's more language training, Asset-Based Community Mapping and then we go back to the host family for dinner. I'm so excited to get there and figure all this out!

In the meantime, there's a snowstorm going on in Cincinnati (and much of the Midwest and Northeast). I'm snowed-in just packing and organizing.

My parent's street blanketed with snow.

I had a lot of fun this weekend with a girl's night with some Cincinnati friends and Wenoka who came in from Ann Arbor.

Katie, Lesley, Winnie, Casey, Rhonda out for dinner & drinks.

Hopefully, if this weather clears up, I'll be able to see a few more friends and family members before leaving. Fingers crossed!

I am incredibly grateful to my family and friends for making these last several weeks before departing for South Africa so fantastic!

I was able to perform with the improv troupe I was in when I was in Michigan, Generation Gap. It was so fun to play with the troupe one last time, or for awhile at least, at the new improv club, Go Comedy!

Which, by the way, you should totally visit the club if you live near Ferndale, MI. Check out http://www.gocomedy.net/. Support local business!

Generation Gap at Go Comedy!Back Row: Peter, Gerald, Andrew, Amy's head, Casey, CharlesFront Row: Susan(not pictured: Alan)

My fantastic parents threw a going-away party for me today and my family came as well as some close friends. My Aunt Polly and my cousin Marilyn helped make food and I played the Temba Africa CD that my best friend Lesley got me. (Which, I think my dad hated it ... the minute people left, he unplugged the CD player, haha.)

My good friend Katie and me

It was such a great afternoon! My sincerest thanks to my family and friends for being there and being fabulous. I love you all so much!

Much love,

Casey

So I get asked lots of questions about what I'm about to do, why I'm doing it and such. So I thought in case there was anyone reading this who had questions, I'd answer a few of the ones I hear a lot.

Where are you going to live? The first three months of my stay in South Africa will be in Marapyane (which isn't technically official, but my sources are pretty good). Marapyane is north of Pretoria, which is north of Johannesburg. It's relatively close to the border of Zimbabwe, compared to other parts of the country. During training, I'll be living with a South African host family.Are you going to live in a hut? Yeah, maybe. There are a variety of living options. The one I've heard most frequently is a small concrete house with a tin roof. I know some volunteers who are in South Africa now who live in a small house that's on the compound of a family in the community.How long will you be gone? Training is 3 months and the actual site placement is 2 years. I should finish up roughly early May 2011.Do they speak English? Yes and no. From what I can gather, the communities where they place volunteers also speak one of the 11 official languages of South Africa. Setswana tends to be one of the more popular languages. (I'm really excited about this b/c this is one of the languages where they use tongue clicks!)Are you going to come home during the 2 years? Since airfare is so expensive and I'll be making fairly little on U.S. standards, probably not. Volunteers do get a ton of vacation time, so I plan to travel around South Africa and the surrounding countries.Will you have Internet access? From what I've heard the vast majority of the 170+ volunteers currently serving in South Africa have Internet access - even a lot of the remote volunteers! So while I'm not sure, it'd be nice.Why did you want to do this? Lots of reasons. I really wanted to experience living internationally, while I'm still young-ish and have few attachments. I also want to move into community development work and I thought this would be an intensive, grassroots way to do it. I also really love helping people, but I don't think I'd be a good social worker. This is my way to use my talents to help people. Plus, Peace Corps is so well-known and world-renowned for language and cultural training - among other things. I wanted to do a volunteer program that people would recognize when I got back to the U.S. Peace Corps also really takes care of volunteers - in terms of medical needs, safety, etc.There are also several other questions that I don't get asked that I bet people are wondering about. I'll post those in another blog. Or, post your questions here and I can answer them.Peace,Casey : )

It's finally here, I've got less than one month before I am in South Africa! I accepted my invitation in October 2008 to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the HIV/AIDS Community Development program. The group I'm going with will train for three months north of Pretoria (capital of South Africa) and then live at separate sites for two years working within the community.

Before our group departs to South Africa, we will all meet at a U.S. city to do final paperwork and immunizations. I just found out yesterday that I'll be flying to Philadelphia on Feb. 2! This is the last big step for me in the Peace Corps process and I'm so excited!

I'm hoping to post pictures, community info, language lessons, etc. for my friends and family to enjoy South Africa as much as I'm hoping to!

Much love and peace!

Casey : )