Hi all!

Thanks a MILLION to all who donated to KLM for me!!! We passed my goal of $250 and raised just under $400! As a group we raised about $19,000 for KLM, passing the amount we raised last year.... all thanks to you guys!

The marathon is on Saturday, then our trip starts from there. It will be an epic adventure, so hopefully I'm not completely dead from running! Thanks again to all who supported me this year!

Well I have one really good excuse for having not given a good update on life over here… and it is sadly that the computer I have been using has also kicked it. I have built up quite the comprehensive list of electronics that have either been lost, stolen, or broken in my time here: my Macbook laptop (broken power button), camera (only half-working), internet phone (stolen), IPOD (likely stolen in my first month in SA), cheap phone (broken), USB stick modem (currently being repaired, but useless without my comp), external hard drive (broken) and a borrowed laptop (broken). Yesterday my stove/oven also broke. It is not a stretch to say that I just may have some sort of curse that zaps everything I touch. Another PCV has graciously lent me a cell phone that gets online, so at least I can now send and receive emails (though don’t expect me to write long responses… my thumbs are not that strong yet!)

Life without all this has actually not been so bad. The second the laptop I have been borrowing broke, I figured I was just not meant to have a laptop for the rest of my service. And I’m really fine with this, although I had built up a pretty good collection of movies and shows on my hard drive. Looks like I’ll just have to wait until I come home to catch up on the Office! I did have to buy a little cd player/radio, as I was not quite sure what to do with myself without at least a little bit of background music in the evenings. So for the last month I have been reading books, hanging with the host family, and playing with kids like it’s my job! All awesome things. On that note, anyone who has a desire to send a package with a couple burned CDs and a good book… this will be entirely welcomed from my end :)

School has been going well and there is not too much to report on that front. My reading classes were a bit chaotic the first few weeks, but now that the students have a better understanding of what we are doing, our awesome rewards system for writing book summaries, and how to properly treat a book, they are running much more smoothly. It also took the first month or so to establish myself as an actual TEACHER to the kids, since the month and a half I was here last year I wasn’t really teaching. The 4th graders had a hard time adjusting to the fact that me coming into the class does NOT mean they can just run around and scream for an hour, but they are coming along nicely… on the discipline front, at least. Thankfully teaching has been very rewarding this year, and I have loved getting to know all my new students!! Other than that I have been busy doing some computer lessons with our secretary and teachers, helping plan and deliver lessons in various other classes, and working on getting more books donated to the school. Last month we were busy with the S.A. national exams in math and literacy, which we gave to Grades 2-6. These were pretty much a disaster, as the majority of every class failed every subject (that is, scoring a Level 1 out of 7). This is not surprising, as the curriculum here is quite lofty and kids here have about 0 test-taking skills. I really don’t believe that these grades reflect the learners’ competencies in each subject, but rather due to the fact that their reading comprehension is really poor and they do not have enough experience in taking standardized tests.

In a couple of weeks I get to go on an epic vacation! My friend Tyler is coming to visit, and so far our agenda will be as follows: Longtom marathon, hike Sani Pass in Lesotho and end at the highest pub in Africa for some well-deserved beers, travel down the Garden Route to Cape Town (one of the stops includes the HIGHEST commercial bungee jump in the world… ah!!!), and 5 or so days in Cape Town… which will be my first time going there so I plan to hit the major stops including a visit to Robben Island, looking for penguins, checking out a vineyard and drinking delicious wine, and everything else CT has to offer. From there we are heading back to my village to give him a taste of what I’ve REALLY been doing in S.A. Can’t wait!!!

Also, Happy 50th Anniversary to Peace Corps!!! 2011 marks 50 years since JFK and Sargent Shriver (RIP) created the organization. Before we head out to Longtom, the Peace Corps and Department of Education is throwing us a 50th anniversary party in Kuruman, where each PCV will come with their principals and host family. Should be a grand ‘ole time. Oh, and happy birthday to me since I turned 24 last month!!! I feel old….

Thanks SO much to all who have donated to KLM: Jed, Erich & Kristan, Lauren, Eric, the Castlemans, Dad, and Mom & Paul!!!! I am so close to reaching my goal – we are currently at $220. That is only $30 short of my original goal of $250!The half-marathon is just 2 weeks away, and I have been getting in a few practice runs every week. I will probably still die, but at least it will be for a good cause. Some of you have still mentioned you may donate, and there is still time to do so… let’s get that last $30 in!Thanks again for all your support, it means the world to me over on this side of the planet!

Yes, it is that time again... where I KILL myself running a half marathon to raise money for the KLM foundation, an awesome organization!!!!!!! I am by no means a runner, but I was able to run it last year and fully intend on repeating that this year. Thanks a BUNCH to everyone who helped me fundraise last year... I raised more than the required $100 to participate, and as a group we raised more than enough to send a deserving learner to Uplands College, one of the best high schools in South Africa.

I am sure by now, if you are reading this blog, you know what sort of state the public education system is in here in South Africa. Even those students who have serious ambitions and potential often get left behind. The Kgwale Le Mollo Foundation seeks out these students and gives them a five year scholarship to attend one of the best high schools/university preparatory schools in South Africa.

This past year a group of PCVs were able to visit Uplands College (it is called a college, but serves grades 8-12). It is hands-down the best school they had ever seen. Along with a tour of the grounds, they also got to meet the students who are supported by the KLM Foundation.

When asked about their achievements since coming to Uplands College, the KLM learners stated: academics- mathematics and language specifically; sports- netball, rugby, swimming, and football; honors for service; spiritual guidance; community service projects; overcoming personal issues; chess; music- guitar; and being a better person all around.

Uplands College and KLM also give the learners an open door to a brighter future. The KLM learners have great aspirations. The learners aspire to study and become professionals in: marketing, law, animation, graphic design, accounting, medicine, architecture, and social work.

So, how can you help? Each participant is asked to raise at least $100. The money raised each year traditionally pays for 2/3 of the cost of one student. This year we are trying to raise enough to fully support the student. This being my last fundraising project in SA, I would like to beat our amoutn from last year and raise $250! Any amount donated helps.

You can donate two different ways:

Method 1: Online

Go to the KLM foundation website http://www.klm-foundation.org

Click on the Donate photo in the upper left corner.

This opens up a secure https connection for you to donate.

Make sure you put Kristin Mayer in the Longtom Marathon field.

Method 2: Check

Make out a check to: Kgwale Le Mollo (US)

Add a post it declaring which PCV you are sponsoring

Mail it to:

KLM Foundation (US)c/o Bowen Hsu461 So. Bonita AvenuePasadena, CA 91107

I'll give you updates as more money is recieved to let you know how we're doing. Please help donate to this amazing cause... and if you need an extra excuse... my birthday is February 25!!! So it's a win-win... help kids in South Africa have a brighter future AND give me a birthday present from across the world :)

Today marks the arrival of a fresh new group of Peace Corps Trainees in South Africa, the third to come since our group (SA20) arrived in July 09. They will be scattered in various provinces throughout the country doing HIV/AIDS Outreachwork with local NGOs until 2013.

I am always amazed at the different lives people walk away from to join Peace Corps. Groups range from single, recent graduates, married couples of all ages, people in the middle of their career or in the process of changing their career, to retired people in their 70s looking for something meaningful to do. Pretty cool to see people from all walks of life come together while being thrown into this new, crazy environment!

Apparently SA23 has a couple of interesting members too! Sean Smith, the former LA bureau chief of Entertainment Weekly, just wrote an article about leaving his job mid-career to join the Peace Corps and come to SA. Not all of us can say our inspiration to join Peace Corps came from some wise words from Angelina Jolie herself....

Anyways you all should read the article! Gives some nice insight into the process (for some) of leaving their jobs for Peace Corps service...

After many months of planning, applying for grants, choosing "campers", and preparing, Camp GLOW finally took place December 11 - 16. In attendance were 41 girls , all aged 12 - 15 years old, 5 camp counselors who were 17-21, 5 Setswana-speaking facilitators, 4 cooks, and 4 PCVs from the Kuruman area. We each selected counterparts to work with us, girls to attend the camp, and helped design the curriculum and map out the schedule for the camp to come together. It was quite the process seeing this project out from start to finish, but well worth it and was by far the most fun and successful project I've done here in SA!

Girls of this age are faced with a number of challenges in rural South African society. Women are especially vulnerable to becoming infected with HIV. While some of the risk factors for women are biological, there are many cultural factors at hand that can explain why women typically have a higher risk of becoming infected, including cultural taboos regarding sex, gender roles that prevent women from being assertive to men, and the lack of female-controlled prevention methods. Extreme poverty is also a huge factor, as it encourages the exchange of sex for money, food, and sometimes even shelter. I think all of us were shocked at how prevalent having a "sugar daddy" is here in order to find financial support.

This being the focus of the camp, we put together a life-skills curriculum aimed at teenage girls coming of age in rural South African society. We discussed issues such as gender roles in the village setting, how to overcome challenges as a young female, different methods in practicing assertiveness, goal-setting and planning for your future, myths and facts about HIV/AIDS in South Africa (re: having sex with a virgin does NOT cure you of AIDS), the basics of HIV transmission, and methods of prevention. The counselors and counterparts were a huge help in these sessions to break down a lot fo the discussion in Setswana. I was very proud seeing my fellow educators get so into this, as it is really something that is not talked about in the villages!

While this was the bulk of the activities we did, we also had a lot of fun! We did three arts and crafts activities (friendship bracelets, t-shirts, and making banners), played games outside, had the girls do skits, as well as a final talent show on the last night, followed by the loudest and longest singing & dancing session that I've ever seen! I was lucky enough to meet the owners of a farm in the area (Middelpos Guest Farm), which was the PERFECT place for a camp like this, During the free time blocks that we made room for, the girls got to go swimming in one of their 3 pools, jump on trampolines, play soccer on the sports field, and just relax in the entertainment room. One of the greatest parts about the camp was watching the girls go from not knowing anyone to making fast friends with the group!

Here are some pictures from the week:

Session on gender roles

Talking about decision making

Canoeing

Dance party

Bracelet making

Icebreaker games

Me and my girls :)

Skits!

Cafeteria

Whole group pic on the last day

Talent show

Time for soccer..

Showing off the shirts...

Trampolines!

A fun time indeed! My counterpart (who is the health and social studies teacher at my school) particularly enjoyed interacting with the kids in this environment, and is eager to plan another camp with me for our June break. Planning the second time around should go MUCH more smoothly than the first...

In the last day I have uncovered 3 different instances of Peace Corps issues being aired on TV. Unfortunately I can't watch them, but you guys should check them out.

The first two are ABC 20/20 investigations into two different peace corps issues.

Here is a clip of an investigation into the murder of PCV Kate Puzey, which happened in Benin a few years ago. Apparently part of the investigation is into the Peace Corps itself, where apparently the agency did not take enough preemptive measures in dealing with Kate's situation.

Here is another investigation into the mishandlings of Peace Corps when dealing with issues of rape and sexual assault. This has been a hot spot issue in Peace Corps South Africa due to a number of incidents in recent years. I have heard first hand from volunteers in this position of how bad Peace Corps handles issues of rape and assault, and the "blaming the victim" stance is usually taken. Even during our 2 months of training, when the question of rape would be brought up, often the only respone from Peace Corps staff was preaching about what we should and should not do in order to keep ourselves out of situation where this could happen. While this is to a certain extent true, of course there are many situations where this occurs and it was entirely out of the hands of the PCV. Just an unfortunate case of wrong time/wrong place. What anger me is that we were not given any sort of self-defence class (it's against some policy), which I think could be one of the most helpful things Peace Corps could equip us with to be able to get out of these situations. I think there absolutely needs to be a change in policy regarding how staff deal with these issues, especially in a country where the extraordinarily high rape statistics can not be ignored....

Lastly, Peace Corps now has a commercial! This was the only one I was able to watch. I think it's kinda cute, and really who DOESN'T like recieving a public thank-you from Susan Sarandon. This guy does seem like a typical narcissistic PCV who really really wants to tell everyone who will listen about all of the amazing things he did in Africa. A cute (if not cheesy?) commercial though. Woohoo Peace Corps... happy 50th!

This is the term that often accompanies "Happy New Year" greetings in South Africa. Not too sure why this is, but the confusing usage of English phrases in this country is not exactly uncommon. So, compliments to all! I hope 2011 brings everyone lots of goodness.

I recently returned from an awesome Christmas vacation, and I again find myself faced with the post-vacation blues that comes with the transition back into village life after a break. Thankfully this time it seems to be going better than the last. This is probably due to the fact that I have a solid week before school starts for the year, giving me some time to get back into the swing of my slower-paced home here. So far my time has been filled with cleaning out my room because of the piles of dust and dead bugs that have taken over in my presence, washing all my clothes, towels, and sheets, reading my many newly acquired books, getting back into a running schedule, and jump-roping with the kids. Rough life here in Africa, I know!

This year's holiday season was spent on the beach, and needless to say, it was amazing. I was in Cintsa for Christmas week, which is the southernmost village of the Wild Coast, near East London. A group of friends and I camped at Buccaneers Backpackers for the week, a hostel which I highly recommend to anybody going to the area! We spent Christmas drinking cold beer, lying on the beach, and playing volleyball in the sand almost every night. Didn't feel mumch like Christmas normally does, but was nonetheless a glorious time. I then rang in the New Year in Durban, which I wasn't looking forward to as much as other places in SA but was a pleasantly surprising part of the trip. We spent a few days there swimming in the warm, warm waves, going to UShaka Marine World (which is half aquarium, half water park!), eating delicious Indian food, and dancing all night long with more Peace Corps Volunteers than I could count. Speaking of the food, bunny chow is the delicacy of Durban and a really tasty meal. It consists of half a loaf of bread with the inside scooped out and some form of curry in its place. Mmmmm it is so so delicious! Plus you are supposed to eat it without utensils, which makes for a fun, messy culinary experience.

Another highlight of this break was getting to see my friend Dana and her boyfriend Steve, who have just embarked on a trip around the world for the next 10 months! Check out their blog to find out about all the great places they go. It was awesome to get to see someone from home and catch up on missed experiences from the last year and a half. We are both so clearly in these new places in our post-college lives, but it was refreshing to see how easily good friendships fall back into place as if nothing ever changed!

Now it's time to get back into the swing of school. I'm not entirely sure how these next two terms will pan out at school, since as usual we have yet to create any sort of schedule and set plan. No big deal though, nothing I haven't dealt with at the last minute before! Missing you all and hope you are enjoying the snow for me. Crazy to think this time next year I will be back in Colorado reuniting with the wonderful cold weather....

The last few weeks have been marked by the steady downhill of schools getting ready to close for the year. Actually what I really must say is the last 5 weeks when the teachers started preparing for their exams, but luckily I was far too busy with the map project for it to really affect me.

The end of the 4th quarter here always seems to result in a chaotic mess of paperwork, grading, “invigilating” tests, inputting grades (called “marks”), and making the timetable, budget, and updating various policies for the upcoming year. As I have mentioned many times before… things here happen at about the pace of an immobilized snail, so one little piece of paperwork that needs to be done for the Department of Ed. can take weeks.

Luckily, as with most things at Bojelakgomo Primary, things function a bit better than normal here. Because they have the administrative assistant and a couple of volunteers helping, this tedious work was at least started weeks ago, and they clearly have a system of getting all of this done without it interrupting the kids’ work too much.

Inputting the marks into these pre-made excel charts (called “Schedules”) is my least favorite part of school closing, mostly because I always get stuck helping with anything that is tedious computer work. Attention to detail is not one of the stronger points of the Batswana. So last week I helped the volunteers input all of the grades for term 4, only to realize this week that we had to re-do 4 of the 7 grades’ information because of some sketchy saving jobs (or lack there of). Not fun at all!

Our stress reached a high point this week when I got in an argument with one of the volunteers I was working with. In the chart the Grade 3 teacher made us, she got the alphabetical order of a couple learners wrong. So when we had to put the grades into the pre-made schedules, I was explaining to her that we had to switch those 2 grades around since the names were in different places. She could not for the life of her understand why we had to do this or why it was such a big deal to “fuss” over details like this. Well, in this case not “fussing” over this kind of detail would have resulted in the wrong kid failing and having to repeat an entire grade…. so unfortunately it actually was quite a big deal. Finally she let me do it my way, but I don’t think she really realized why it was important to input the grades so carefully. This is most likely due to the fact that schools here are not as learner-centered as they are in the states, so one kid failing when they aren’t supposed to is not the biggest deal in the world.

Another frustrating thing about the end-of-term grading is just the random changing of grades by the teachers OR by the Department of Education themselves, normally in order to push learners ahead so that there aren’t a bunch who are held back in a certain grade. Our district representative came to our school to collect the finished schedules from the schools in our area, and I actually watched her do this with just about every class. A learner only receives an 18% in a certain class? Meh, no biggie, just give them a 35% and call it good. Yes that’s right, a 35% is passing. Pretty frustrating watching this go down with a number of kids, without any regard to whether that individual learner merited such an action or whether it is really in their best interests to do so. It’s all about what the school can show for on paper, but not what the kids can actually do.

So Friday is the official closing day for the year, and schools don’t reopen until January 17th. I am spending Thursday and Friday in Kuruman preparing for Camp GLOW, then Saturday morning the 60 of us leave for Middelpos Guest Farm until December 15th. The camp has been a ton of work to plan and organize so I am thrilled that it will finally actually happen. Should be a great time for all. Around the 19th I will be headed to the Wild Coast for Christmas and Durban for New Years. I can’t think of a better way to finish out 2010, my only full year spent in South Africa!!! My how time flies….

Well after a couple of weeks we have finally finished painting the world map on the outside wall of the school! It was a lot of work but ended up being really fun, and a good chance to get to know a lot of the learners who wanted to help. It's actually a pretty cool project that PCVs do around the world, and was created by a PCV in the Dominican Republic in 1988. Here's an article the Peace Corps recently released on the popularity of the project.

First step was to measure the space, paint a coat of primer, and the a coat of light blue for the ocean.

Then we drew the map section by section using a grid system. Each grid box was held up with string and sticky tack, and then moved over once the section was drawn.

Then came the painting!! With the help of a bunch of my 6th grade students, we took about 5 days to paint all of the countries. It was pretty fun and I think they learned a lot, namely in the geography and mixing colors departments. And I head about 80 comments on how huge Russia is, since it took forever to cover in yellow! The labelling was also a highlight, especially when they tried to pronounce some of the more difficult names...

All the kids who helped with the painting...

South Africa!

All in all this was a really fun project. It was pretty cute there as we were finishing and the kids were finally able to see how it was coming together. They are even taking proud ownership over some of the countries they painted - I heard one of the girls talking to a younger kid bragging about how she was the one who painted China so nicely!!! It was also a nice change to finally be able to do something with my hands that people can actually see. Also special thanks to Hillary and Ryan, who helped with the tedious gridding and drawing portion!

As promised, here is some info about my new school. I am working in another primary school (like before) but this one is only Grade R (kindergarten) through Grade 6. Ones the learners reach Grade 7 they move to the high school, Segopotso High School, which is right next door. There are 307 students here at the Primary School, which is much bigger than in Mecwetsaneng (where we only had 90).

The differences between this school and my old schools are vast. It actually continues to shock me everyday to see a school function so well and kids who are actually LEARNING (gasp… what a concept). The biggest difference that was noticeable right from the start is the fact that the school is not understaffed, and there is a designated teacher for each grade. This is due to the size of the school, since the Department of Education administers teachers to schools based on the number of kids attending. Which is fine in theory I suppose, until you get schools like my old ones that were so small they were only allocated 3 teachers for 8 grades…. hence why the school was such a disaster. I had a hard time finding my place in that mess. I decided at the beginning of the school year that their biggest problem was the amount of teachers, which is why I took over some classes and taught English and Life Orientation. While this is something I enjoyed immensely, I don’t believe it helped my school one bit. My principal and teachers used the fact that I was taking over their classes as a sort of crutch, and now they are going to have to re-adjust to having those classes back. I knew that teaching wasn’t very sustainable going into it (which is likely the case in PC worldwide), but I thought it was worth it to give some kids some sort of education that they weren’t receiving from their school. I also attempted to use my class as a sort of model for the teachers… how to follow lesson plans, how to not hit your kids when they disrupt the class, etc. A nice idea at first, but it was like pulling teeth just to get them to go into their OWN classes let alone into mine to see how things were going… so I don’t think that really did much. I discovered all of this early on in the school year, but decided that maybe Peace Corps can be a bit of a narcissistic experience and if teaching is what I get the most personal fulfillment from, then so be it! I did as much team-teaching with the other educators in their classes as I had time for, so hopefully that helped a little. I’m not convinced it really did anything though, besides enable them to use me to make their teaching load a bit lighter.

Anyways, enough ranting about that. So this school has a teacher for each grade, along with 3 community volunteers who help with teaching and administrative stuff, and a school clerk. So while I can see that being understaffed (in a really big way) was one of the factors affecting the school’s ability to function as a school and to educate the kids, I think the teachers and principal there had just given up because it was too much work. Had my old school had an effective and hard-working principal, I do believe the teachers would have at least tried to do their job a little better. I think my principal could see how bad the school was failing, but didn’t have the energy or desire to really change it.

Ruth (my new principal) is about as different as you could get from my old principal. She is extremely dedicated, hard-working, and actually holds her teachers accountable for the work they are doing. Because of this, the school actually works! What a concept! Just this week I have been helping them do IQMS observations, which is basically the system put in place for both the teachers to monitor and “grade” each others lessons as well as for the Department to come and monitor schools. Of course my old school was supposed to be doing this, but never cared about their own classes enough to monitor and give feedback on others.

It has been amazing observing all of the teachers in their classrooms. They do just about everything I was trying so hard to implement at my old school: planning lessons and following the lesson plan, continual assessment of the learners throughout the lessons, heaving kids come up to the board to do example questions instead of just copying from the board, asking questions to help improve their critical thinking skills… even simple things like displaying the learner’s work on the walls are done here already. They are strict with the learners but do not use any corporal punishment, and if you walk by the classes the kids are actually quiet and disciplined. They teach in English but explain in Setswana when comprehension is really needed, so that the kids are not resorting to route memorization of English phrases without understanding a word of what they are saying or why they are learning it (which is what you see in many classrooms here).

One of the biggest differences I see here is that the teachers actually seem to like their job and want to improve in any way they can to do their job better. They seem to be passionate with the kids and actually teach when they are supposed to. While of course this school is better off than my old one and probably needs less “help”, it has totally changed my opinion on where Peace Corps Volunteers should be placed. Schools like my old ones that are barely at a level of basic functionality can not really use much help from a PCV. Of course we can do little things here and there to make things run more smoothly, but we are in no position to entirely change how a school is run. The only situation where I can see this possibly working is if there is a principal who is willing to completely give in to change the entire system of their school, and who receives a PCV who has had significant school management experience (which is very rarely the case, on both sides of this). Principals here can be very stubborn and are often not willing to change how their school runs even in small areas here and there. And why should they be? This was the system they grew up in, and the system in which they have been working for years. So my thought on this is that your standard PCV (young, maybe some but not a ton of education experience) would be much better placed in schools like this that are already functioning quite well with motivated teachers who actually want you there and actually want to see improvements made in their school. This way we are able to actually help with the things we want to and are able to based on our qualifications and what the school really needs, as opposed to trying to fight the system everyday just to get the school in a place where it is actually running. Obviously this is easier said than done, as is it hard to weed out the schools who have no interest in really improving and changing and who want a PCV merely as a status symbol. So, while it was really difficult leaving my village, it helps knowing that I can actually be put to much better use here. I am so sad for my kids and the dismal future their education holds for them, but I am hopeful that some of them will make it out and be successful. This is something I was never going to be able to change single-handedly anyways, whether or not I stayed there for the full 2 years – or even longer, for that matter.

That said, I am really, truly happy as a clam here. I love coming to school everyday and I am excited about the prospects for projects in 2011. I have an awesome host family and I’ve met really great people in the village with whom I get along really well. While September I spent wondering what the hell I was doing in this country and how I could make my year go by better, I am now actually excited for year 2. OK, I hope that’s enough happy sunshine rainbow blog posting for everyone :)

Here is an interesting artice the Peace Corps recently released about the growth PC has seen this year. 2010 has seen both the highest number of applicants and volunteers currently serving in 40 years, with 13,500 applicants and 8655 PCVs. Also, I apparently fit into all of the statistical majorities concerning PCVs as a group being a young, white, degree-holding, female volunteer serving in an education program in Africa. Not terribly surprising but certainly puts it in perspective.

Peace Corps is definitely growing. In SA alone the education group coming next year will have 90+ people, while our group only had about 44 trainees (of which we are now down to 31). Bringing in new volunteers is great, but of course the increased budget would probably be better used improving what is already there. I can think of numerous improvements that could be made here that would drastically change how successful PCVs are in this country (better/more training, more accountability, more resources, etc.)... but alas that's just me. I'm sure South Africa is run differently than other PC countries, so I can only speak from my experience here. In any case it will be interesting to see how a much larger number of volunteers affects the program here!

I recently got a new address since my old one was my school's PO box. The new one is:

Kristin Mayer

Private Bag 1532

Post Net Suite 9143

Kuruman, South Africa 8460

I also posted it to the side of my blog. Now you can all send me care packages again (wink wink, nudge nudge). Haha, just kidding. But seriously.... mail is always welcome :)

Well my computer seems to have kicked it, at least temporarily. The power button is broken and I am unable to turn it on... if anyone else have had a similar problem with Macbooks and knows how to fix it let me know!

Anyways thankfully last weekend I was able to borrow a laptop from another PCV, and I am again connected to the world.. yay! So now I suppose its time for some updates on moving and the new site..

I'll start chronologically. Exactly 2 weeks ago I went back to my site after staying with a couple of friends at their site. Which on a sidenote, was amazing and thanks to Casandra I got to eat some delectable mac and cheese. Yum! So anyways that Monday I went back to my site to begin the packing process. Thankfully my APCD (peace corps "boss" figure) had gone to my site a week before and informed my school they had decided to move me due to the security issues. My principal did NOT take it well, did not understand why they felt this was the only solution, and would not accept that i was unable to finish my service there. So I knew the actual moving day would not be an easy on. I packed up everything that afternoon and evening and stayed for one last night in my room. I'm thankful i was able to have a full ast day at least to spend with my host family. Monday morning some representatives from the Department of Education came to moving, and after a very tearful goodbye with my host family, teachers, and students, I was on my way to my new site.

My new village was actually just recently vacated by another couple from my group. In fact they were 2 of my best friends in Peace Corps and they both had nothing but great things to say about their experience in the village, so I was pretty happy it worked out that I could move there. The village is about 100km north of Kuruman in the Moshaweng valley, which is now basically just a large dry riverbed. There are a few other PCVs in this area, and one only about 5km from me! So nice to have someone close by.

Honestly I can't say enought about how much I love my new home. I absolutely adore it and I could feel that it was a perfect fit for me from the day I moved in! My host family (the Molefi family) is an older couple in their 60s and are incredibly nice and welcoming. AND they both speak english, so communication is significantly improved! I have a single room (bigger than my last) that has a seperate entrance and a door that goes into the house. After what happened at my old site I was pretty adament that I didn't want a seperate house and preferred to be in close quarters with a host family. I got exactly what I asked for and thankfully I absolutely love the family, so it's really a perfect setup for me! Another bonus to my new home... they have their own borehole (well) in their yard and RUNNING water in the bathroom right next to my bedroom! Which means there is a flush toilet! There is also a bath but nobody really uses it for bathing (its kinda gross), but it's amazing to have the running water right there and a drains! I was doing fine having to walk to my community tap for water at my old site but I will not pretend that it isn't awesome to not have to. Sadly the pump on the borehole is broken momentarily and in the process of being fixed, but im sure the running water will come back to me. I am eagerly awaiting its return.

I will write an entry dedicated to the new school(s) that I work in soon, because I have a lot to say about it and the massive differences from my old schools. Briefly though, my supervisor (Ruth) is the principal of the primary school in Laxey, which is maybe one of the best and most well-run schools I have seen in this country. My experience here so far has actually re-instilled my faith in the education system here seeing that there are, in fact, schools that are thriving even in poor and isolated rural communities. Of course there are a few things here and there that I will be able to help with when the new schoolyear begins in January (grades 3-4 English and math, library stuff/reading classes, and helping Ruth set up a parent/teacher conference thing that she wants to happen every term), but I will have a lot more freedom and time to do fun projects. In the next couple weeks I will be painting the world map on one of the school walls, and I am still busy planning Camp GLOW, which takes place December 11-15. I am sooo so excited for the camp and I think it will be a perfect thing to finish out 2010 with! There is also a high school right next door to the primary school, which I will also helping out at occasionaly (probably with a computer lab that was recently put together there).

Im getting rambly. All I can really say is that life is going great for me here! It was pretty traumatic going through the move and saying goodbye to my old village but for me this just reinforces that everything happens for a reason. I already feel at home and totally comfortable here, and I think this will be a fantastic place to finish out my service. I already get gaggles of adorable little children at my door every day so excited to have a new volunteer and someone new to play with! They have definitely already discovered that I am a sucker for the little cuties and don't mind playing with them after school because so far they've come over just about every day.

OK, that's all for now. I'll post some pics soon as well as more info on my new school. Missing you all and hope you enjoy all the haloween festivities for me!

Most of you have already heard (especially now that this is no longer a public blog) about everything that has gone down at my site. Somebody tried getting into my room while I was alone and sleeping a couple weeks ago. No use getting into the details of what happened, but the important thing is that he never got in and that I'm ok! It was a very scary and surprisingly traumatic experience. It was the first time I've ever really understood what it feels like to be victimized, and feeling like such a target was not an easy thing to go through.

Anyways, the good news is that Peace Corps has been taking the situation very seriously. I had a similar situation happen last September (there must be something about Sept. and drunk men trying to get me...) and because I have reported the incident twice to Peace Corps they are going to move me to another village. The decision to move was partly mine, but if I had chosen to stay in my village the PC would have required to do a polce investigation into who was trying to get in and find me a new place to live within the same village. I felt this would cause many more problems than it would solve, especially because I'm 99% sure it was an uncle in my family. Luckily I have been with my fellow PCVs at mid-service training in Pretoria, many of whom helped me realize how moving is really going to be a necessary step for me to feel safe and productive for the next year of my service. I also did not feel like my counterparts and supervisor in my village were advocating for my personal safety, rendering the decision to move easier. It's unfortunate and I'm not happy about moving, but I know that it's what I have to do for my own personal well-being.

I'll probably be in pretoria until the 6th to finish up my mid-service medical appointments, after which I will head to Kuruman to stay with someone in the area while PC staff figures out my site change. If everything goes perfectly I could be moving by next friday or saturday, so I'm hoping for the best and I'll keep you all posted on where my new home will be!!! Thanks to everyone for being so supportive!!!

Unfortunately the battery camera we were using at Kruger ran out the last day of the trip, but a fellow animal watcher emailed me some pics of our awesome leapord sighting. Because I am at a Peace Corps Training (Mid-Service training, life-skills training, and permagardening!) at a nice hotel with free wifi, figured this would be the perfect time to upload some pics! Here they are...

Mmmm impaaalllaa....

Good times!

Sad news of the recent passing of Tom Maresco, a PCV serving in Lesotho (a country entirely surrounded by SA) who was evidently shot and killed in the capital, Maseru.

My heart goes out to the entire Peace Corps Lesotho community and all those affected by his death. He was also an education volunteer, teaching science and coaching basketball in his local high school, and seemed to be an amazing addition to his community. Here's the statement released from the Peace Corps on his death.

For all of you at home, please don't take this as a call to worry more about me! While violence like this can happen anywhere and to anyone, I feel pretty safe here in my little corner of SA. Seems like this was more of a situation of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. My thoughts are with all of Tom's family and friends!

So it looks as though SADTU (South African Democratic Teachers Union) may go on strike starting Wednesday of this week! This seems to be striking season in the country, as many civic workers have been going on strike for various reasons and for various lengths of time. Apparently a similar teacher strike happened this time of year in 2007 and lasted for over a month... yikes.

As always, it's for more money. The union is asking for an 8% salary increase as well as a R1000 housing stipend, but apparently the Department of Education is only offering a 6% increase and a R600 housing stipend, and if they do not give in to the demands of sadtu by tuesday.... no more school for us! Needless to say I think it's absolutely absurd that the teachers salary increase would rank as more important than children getting an education, but it is not even a little bit surprising given the attitude of the educators here and the failing system of education. Here is a brief article I found on allafrica.com on the impending strike.

Naturally this is happening right as Seniors are preparing to write their final "matric" exams, a test required for those who wish to complete high school and go on to any higher education. This is also one of the hot topics of the failing education system here, seeing as the pass rate is something like 35%. What a better way to fix this than to strike and demand more money... duh!

So what does it mean for me if a strike does occur? We have been reminded over and over again that as PCVs we are not allowed to hold any sort of classes or meetings at the school during a strike, as picketing, protests, and riots are not an uncommon sight during strikes here. I supposed I'll just have to cross that bridge when I get there... I'll keep you all posted as the situation progresses!

In other news, the PCVs in the Kuruman area are getting together this weekend for a little one-year anniversary celebration, which should be a great time! Monday is Women's Day, which is a national holiday that we get off school, so it should be a nice little long weekend in preparation for our possibly even longer strike holiday....

First of all, sorry for my terrible lack of posting the last couple months. In my defense, it has been a very busy couple of months! But here I am, alive and surviving the post-World Cup blues that taken over the country.

So I guess that’s a good place to start… with the most AWESOME 5 weeks ever!!!!!!!! I truly believe I hit the Peace Corps jackpot being here for the World Cup, what an awesome and exciting time to be in SA. I ended up being around for 4 games, where most of the time we would have a big group of PCVs and other friends and go to the fan parks that were set up in the cities that were hosting the games. These turned out to be much more fun than anticipated… they were set up almost like a concert, with drinks, food and even live music before everyone would huddle in the cold to watch the game on the giant screen. I can’t even begin to describe the excitement that swept the country for this event. People from all around were there in support of their countries, and I still can’t believe how patriotic being in that environment makes you! I’ve never cheered harder for the USA in my life.

The most thrilling game for me was the USA/Algeria game in Pretoria, where about an hour before the game we scored free tickets from the backpackers we were staying at, and then were there to witness the USA make an extremely exciting goal in the last few minutes of the game and moving them forward in the tournament. The crowd went absolutely crazy, and I wasn’t even mad when I got hit in the nose with a vuvuzela and had beer spilled all over me… sometimes you just gotta go with it! Each game was also followed by really fun partying/dancing/mingling with more nationalities than I could count.

Sometimes I think the millions and millions spent on hosting the event could have been put to better use in a country with so much poverty, but alas… you can’t win them all. At least SA showed the world it was capable of pulling off such an event without any major problems! Besides, of course, our beloved Paris Hilton getting arrested… but who didn’t see that coming? Thanks for making us proud Paris!

Whew, so that’s my World Cup rant. I’ll say it one more time for good measure.. it was awesome. Needless to say, the transition back into my Peace Corps life has been a bit rough and slow. School started last Tuesday, and only this week have we established some sort of normalcy with teachers actually going to their classes and following some sort of schedule. While it wasn’t easy going from the excitement of World Cup back into “work” mode, it feels good to be back in the classroom.

And now for the typical thoughts of a PCV at their halfway mark: “Oh my god, I’ve been here for a year… now what the heck am I doing?!” The one-year anniversary is being met with a mixture of emotions: I am really excited I’ve made it through what is most often said to be the “worst of it”. I know that my second year will go much smoother, faster, and more comfortably than the first. I know my community and my school much better than when I first got here last September, and I am hopeful that I will be able to make some sort of tangible improvements in my schools in the next year. Of course, I still have days where I want to rip my hair out with frustration. After a year, it amazes me that I still have to explain to my educators that I am not their secretary, and although I now come to expect it, knowing I have only one year left to get something done makes it all the more irritating when things that could be finished in an hour end up taking days.

So what is on the agenda for the next year? I have decided to restructure my work days a bit here and there and change around what my focus areas. I now only work 1 day a week at my school #2 (the tiny one in the next village), for various reasons including the likely even that by next year it will be closed and combined with the school in my village. Which, frankly is what I am rooting for, as the school is barely at a functioning level, and my main school is more than equipped to take on more teachers and students. So my main work at the school this term is continuing teaching Grade 7 English and Life Orientation, Camp GLOW in December, implementing weekly reading hours for each grade and teaching literacy classes in all grades with our new librarian, and team-teaching English in kindergarten and Grades 1-6. This sounds like a lot, but it is actually only 3 classes since grades 1-3 and 4-6 are combined. I am quite excited about this, especially for working more with the really young ones. Nothing makes your day quite like getting attacked with hugs and “good morning teacher” by a bunch of adorable children! And our library project is underway… which is probably what I’m most excited for. In fact, I am currently finishing up writing a Peace Corps Partnership grant in order to raise funds to get the resources needed to finish putting together our school library. What does this mean? That soon a blurb will be put up on the Peace Corps website and all of my wonderful friends/family/colleagues from home will be able to donate to it! Exciting, right?! So if any of you are interested in helping out, I will be requesting your help soon!

OK, that’s all for now. Sorry for the incredibly long post… I’ll try to write more frequently so I’m not overflowing with updates on life in S.A.!

May was entirely too busy of a month, culminating in a weekend trip to Swaziland…….. haha mostly it’s just fun to say you went to Swazi for the weekend. Some friends and I took the weekend to go to the Bush Fire music festival in Manzini and it was amazing to see a new country, some different landscapes, and really fun live music! My favorite was the band Freshly Ground, a fairly popular South African band. Apparently they are becoming even more mainstream with their new song with Shakira – “time for Africa”, the new World Cup theme song… pretty catchy if I do say so myself.

It was definitely interesting to see a new country after being in SA for so long. Because it is a country that is snuggled right into its richer and more developed neighbor, the influence of South Africa can be seen all over. I’ve heard the countries surrounding SA (or surrounded by, in the case of Swaziland and Lesotho) often reffered to as “South Africa Lite” since the country influences so many aspects of this region of the continent. While Swazi does seem to have many similar things (banks, restaurants, transportation, etc.), it was definitely evident that it is significantly less developed (especially if you compare the cities – HUGE difference between a capital city like Pretoria and Mbabane, the capital of Swazi). This may have been because we were there for a festival that celebrated Swazi’s music, art, and culture, but I felt as though the local Swazi culture was much more strongly embraced and present in everyday life than that of the local cultures in South Africa. This is not surprising at all when you think about the long-term effects colonization and the apartheid era had on the traditional African cultures. [As a side note, I think this may be even moreso the case with the Tswana culture. I’m not sure because this is obviously the only place I live, but they seem to embrace their more traditional culture a lot less then their flashier Zulu and Xhosa neighbors.]

Lately I have been meeting more and more PCVs who serve in other countries. This is partly due to the fact that South Africa is the regional medical hub for anyone who is serving in Sub-Saharan Africa who needs medical attention that their host country can’t provide, and partly because Southern Africa is extremely popular for traveling. Many of them (known as “med-evacs”) gush about how amazing it must be to serve in such a developed country with so many amenities. I think this becomes the view of many people who travel here – due mostly to the fact that when you are traveling to SA you are most likely not going to our rural villages out in the bush (especially those of us out here in the deserty north.. there is not much as far as tourism goes out here). While I can’t deny that it is nice to have things like malls, restaurants, and movie theaters when I go to Pretoria or other large cities, it’s hard to get across to people how different life really is in my tiny village that is cut off from access to such amenities. All I can conclude is that SA is just a really interesting and unique place to be a PCV. It also makes me very eager to visit other countries in Africa and see what life is like on the rest of this continent!

In any case, I’m sad I didn’t get to stay longer and see more of the country, and I’m not entirely sure the 2 days of treacherous taxi rides through mountain roads in the rain was really worth the day and a half that I got to spend in the country. But it is most definitely on my agenda for next May, as that will be nearer to my COS date (Close of Service) when I can justify going crazy over the AMAZING craft shopping there ☺.

Lately I have really been loving teaching. Many of us came into the education program in S.A. with little or no teaching experience, and I am still a firm believer that Peace Corps is a great opportunity to discover the teaching profession with limited experience. During my teaching English internship in France while I was studying abroad, I began to find that I just really really enjoyed planning lessons and being in a classroom. I was definitely still skeptical of doing it as a full-time career, hence why PC has been a great way for me to entertain this idea without committing long-term.

This came to mind today because of the particularly successful lessons in my English class I have had this week. On Monday I decided to give them a listening and reading comprehension exercise from their book on Nelson Mandela’s famous speech from when he was released from prison in 1990. It was a pretty difficult passage and I was worried it would be too advanced for the class (especially with a few learners who are still at the phase of sounding out their words in Setswana). It actually turned out great and the class ended up enjoying it a lot! I decided to stick with this for the rest of the week and do a similar exercise with MLK’s “I have a Dream” speech. It was nice to show them the parallel between the histories of South Africa and the US, and they were all really surprised to hear that A) black people live in America too (they consider Obama to be “coloured” and not black) and B) that we had a similar history of oppression and revolution.

One thing that’s really fun about teaching ESL is that you can incorporate a lot of other subjects into lessons depending on what you’re teaching. My lessons this week included new vocabulary, listening and reading comprehension, history of SA and the US, human rights, as well as a little geography (MLK’s speech references a lot of the southern states). Fun stuff!

One of the downsides of becoming more sure of teaching as a career for me is the recent increase in thinking about my post-PC future and making plans – and if you haven’t noticed already, I’m kind of an over-planner. With this has also come a recent re-obsession with French. I have been reading as many French books as I can (thanks to my fam for sending some!) and reading French news from lemonde.fr. I know, I’m a huge nerd… feel free to mock me as much as you want! I just can’t help it! Being in a country where I only really understand 1 (and a half, if you count my limited understanding of Setswana) of the 11 languages spoken makes me miss living in France, where I am continually challenged but can understand and communicate quite well. I guess I probably should have fought harder to be placed in Francophone Africa… but there’s no use in pondering the “what if” scenarios… SA is pretty cool too. I am really excited at the prospect of teaching French when I return though, even if it is a ways away… it’s nice to feel like I’ll have some direction after all this.

On a side note, I am going to Kuruman this weekend for a Peace Corps Cinco de Mayo party that will probably rock my whole world, and from there going to Pretoria for yet another week. This time it is for GTOT (General training of trainers), where a group of us will plan sessions for the incoming group of education volunteers who arrive July 15! Crazy to think that soon enough we will have been here for a year and meeting the new group of volunteers!

*** Speaking of which, any new PCVs headed to South Africa this summer... feel free to leave a comment! I know I was fairly fixated on reading peace corps blogs before I came to help with my packing, so i understand…

So I know I mentioned in my last post that the weather had changed, but after months and months of 80-100 degree weather, I don’t know if I really got my point across. It. Is. Amazing. I find that my whole demeanor has changed… turns out I’m just kind of a cold weather kind of girl. The crazy thing is really how abruptly it has changed…. I can safely say it is not just cooler here but actually cold. As in, I have taken out two extra blankets for my bed and comfortably hang out in my room in fleece pants and a hoodie. Granted, it is nowhere near the awesomeness of snowy Colorado winters – a season which apparently has decided to last all the way into May this year! In any case, the South African winter will do for now, and I know it’s only going to get colder for June/July. Bring it on!

I just got back from yet another trip to Pretoria. Peace Corps has been keeping me pretty busy outside of my site, which is not something I had really expected. Actually this time it was mostly my fault, since during PST I volunteered to be the warden for my region of Northern Cape PCVs. Being a warden basically means I get to keep track of when my volunteers leave their sites, so that in the case of any sort of emergency I will be able to contact people. I will also have to organize a consolidation in regional towns if PC ever feels we are unsafe in our region. The warden system is actually pretty cool…. Peace Corps works in some fairly unstable countries and is able to evacuate volunteers from their sites in all sorts of crises. Lucky for us consolidation or evacuation are not likely to ever happen as SA is a pretty stable democracy, but it’s nice to have the system in place just in case! And really if something ever did happen here, our villages would likely be much safer than any town or city.

I shouldn’t complain about going to Pretoria that much… it’s really an enjoyable time! We stay at a backpackers in town and I usually get the chance to meet and hang out with volunteers from other groups. It also means being able to go out at night, go shopping in malls, and get delicious food… on this trip we had really awesome Indian food and some good sandwiches. It will never be less weird to go back and forth between the incredibly developed first-world Pretoria and my tiny tiny village and it always takes a few days of adjustment.

I have been talking with other volunteers lately about a kind of “rut” we feel we’ve been in lately. I am still really happy at my site and feel very comfortable with my life here, but it’s just now starting to weigh on me how incredibly hard the “work” aspect of Peace Corps can be. I think maybe part of it is that I am more invested in my projects and seeing results, making it that much more frustrating when plans fall through, projects are postponed, and meetings are cancelled. Even harder to deal with than that is just the teachers’ general lack of motivation and excitement to do anything that could potentially improve their school. Of course raising learners’ scores is a nice idea, but when it comes to doing actual work it is extremely hard to get people moving. I guess this is all part of the “cultural adjustment” process… sometimes I have to remind myself that I’m in Africa, which means doing about the exact opposite of what I would think is the logical and efficient way to do something.

For example, take our library project. I have been in the village for almost 9 months and the lack of any sort of library was one of the immediate tangible areas where I saw I could help. We had a storage room full of dusty old books (some never opened) and an empty classroom. Put them together and we have the start of a library, right? My school agreed we could use a library, but it took my first couple MONTHS just to convince them that we should take the books out of storage and start using them at all. Their logic is that the kids will destroy and steal the books, and they can’t read anyways, so why should they use them??? Yes, silly from our American standpoint… but after a couple months of fighting to at least display the books somewhere I began to clean out the storage room. So then I spent a month or so sorting them, and we now have nice piles of books sorted by learning area and level. But nowhere to put them. So then I start pushing for one of our 2 empty classrooms to be made into our official library. But, of course, they disagree for another couple months because that classroom is being used for storage. Moving the books out of the storage room and into the classroom and putting the junk that is “in storage” into the storage room was a surprisingly difficult concept to explain. But after some more pushing they seem to agree and we begin that process. The next problem is that we still had piles of books and a classroom, but no shelves of any nature. And we are most definitely still working on this one. We have been asking for donations for wood to build shelves from local business, along with asking the community for anything they can give, neither with any luck so far. On a positive note, after a few months of community meetings and pushing the idea of a library, we officially have a volunteer librarian from the community. She is great and has come everyday so far, even when there has been nothing to do… so that’s a good sign! Our next step is raising money to fix up the room, get tables and chairs, build shelves, get burglar bars and doors, and to ship over more appropriate books. I’m going to look at getting at least 1 computer donated too… so if any of you have ideas let me know!

[I think I could also use the example of the use of corporal punishment here, as it is the thing that frustrates me the most and the thing that will likely NOT change. But, I feel I have done enough complaining about this issue in my blog already ☺]

So in any case, this is all just such a huge learning process of how incredibly long it takes for things to get done here, and it has really taught me to manage (in some cases lower) my expectations. Which is sometimes really hard to do when you have a vision of what could be done how things could change. But alas, this is not just the case in Africa but really a fairly standard way things happen for PCVs around the world. Just have to keep moving forward!

So I am finally back to my village after 4 weeks of traveling South Africa! It was a fun month and nice to get to see some new parts of the country, but pretty exhausting and needless to say I was very ready to get back to my home and not live out of my backpack any longer! So here’s an update on all that went down:

LST

Life Skills Training was my first stop and help at the Sparkling Waters Hotel near Rustenburg – this in itself was awesome as we had incredible meals, nice rooms with awesome showers, two pools, and a SPA! The counterpart I brought was the administrative assistant at one of my primary schools who has been wanting to get involved in some sort of community project. The workshop was run by David Patient and Neil Or…. Two very interesting South Africans who own a company that gives workshops and trainings on healthy living and HIV/AIDS. In fact, David Patient is one of the longest surviving people with AIDS. We learned all sorts of things about the virus itself as well as how to live a healthy life and keep your cd4 count up once you are already infected. My big complaint was that it was mostly directed at the Americans and not so much the South African counterparts we all brought, so it will be interesting to see what they got out of it (hopefully some of it seeped in!). The last half of the training was on project design and management and grant writing, so maybe some sort of community project will be able to come out of this!

Me and my PC besties being awesome...

My counterpart (Lorato) and I

Longtom Marathon

From LST we piled in a coombie to take us to Sabie where we ran the half marathon! I ended up running most of it and finishing in about 2 hours 34 minutes. The marathon went from Sabie to Lydenburg down the windy and hilly Longtom Pass that provided us with spectacular views as we ran! The water stops were also awesome, where people would give us not only water and powerade but also coke, sweets, and at one point even mini potatoes!!!!! Haha… I haven’t done a marathon anywhere else but I have a feeling that was one of those “only in South Africa things”. Again, THANKS TO ALL WHO DONATED!!!!!!!! I ended up raising about $200... 100 more than required, and as a group we raised over $17,000!! That is about $1500 more than last year. So give yourselves a pat on the back for taking part in sending a disadvantaged learner to a prestigious high school on a 5-year scholarship! I look forward to doing this again next year, possibly even training for it and shooting for 2 hours.

Here is a link with some pictures from the race!

Kloofing and hiking

After the marathon (and a much needed rest day on our sore muscles) a group of us decided to go “kloofing” (canyoneering in US terms). This involved putting on a padded wetsuit, a helmet, tennis shoes, and a “rubber bum” (shorts with rubber on the butt), hiking down into a canyon and basically trekking down the river. It was pretty much like a bunch of sports combined – we hiked, did a few small cliff dives, swam under waterfalls, rock climbed, scrambled over boulders, went through a couple caves... at one point we even slid down trees like fireman poles!! IT WAS SO AWESOME! My new favorite sport for sure. The canyon we were in was extremely jungly and made me feel a little bit like Tarzan (in a silly looking suit), making it extra awesome.

Haha I love this picture, we look like little bobble heads!

Us in our awesome suits, complete with rubber bums..

After this we went on a 3-day backpacking trip on the Fanie Botha trail. The first day was pretty easy and we ended up at hut #1, right on the edge of a thick jungly forest. The best part was that there were a whole bunch of monkeys jumping through the trees that we got to listen to all afternoon while we relaxed and napped! Day 2 was much more difficult but incredibly gorgeous. We went through extremely dense forest and had to cross a whole bunch of creeks and stumbled upon many waterfalls and beautiful pools along the way. The uphills were pretty rough and were covered in extremely slippery rocks… it took us almost a kilometer an hour through the hard stuff! Once we climbed out of the forest we were pretty much on top of a plateau and walked through the clouds a few more kilometers to our next hut. We also saw some animals on the way – not sure if they were springbock or gemsbock but they were way cool! Day 3 was mostly downhill and looped back to where we started. Overall it was an awesome hiking trip and I was pretty much like a kid in a candy store being back in the mountains again!!

View from Hut #1

Crossin' a creek..

Bunch of awesomeness at the last hut

Camp GLOW

After Sabie and a stop in Nelspruit along the way, a few of us went to help a PCV who was holding a girls’ leadership camp in Schomensdal (which is right near the border of Swaziland in Mpumalanga). We did sessions on journaling, goal setting, dealing with peer pressure, overcoming challenges, and some guest speakers came to talk about HIV/AIDS, child advocacy, and other issues. We had a lot of fun and learned a lot for the camp we will be holding in December! One of the best parts of this week was the place we stayed, which was a home for orphans that this Irish woman runs. The compound was amazing and there were about 15 orphans living there along with volunteers from all over the world (U.S., Zambia, Canada, and Germany to name a few) living there and volunteering in various places in the community. The kids all have amazing English and are tutored by the volunteers, and the household runs smoothly with everyone helping out with various activities. It was awesome to see and be a part of for a week (although I have to admit I had major site envy to know that a PCV has been living there for 2 years… what an awesome site to have!!!)

The whole group!

One of the facilitators running a session

Pretoria/ Global Camps Africa training

From camp glow we made our way back to Pretoria for a couple days before heading o yet another conference. We had a lot of fun staying at the backpackers, gorging ourselves with delicious food (we found an amazing Lebanese restaurant..), and seeing a couple movies. We then went to the camp training with about 8 PCVs and many other people from organizations all around the country. The days were packed (8am to 9pm everyday!!!) with info on how to run and manage youth camps. Some of it was very helpful – especially being able to network with other South African organizations – but much it was directed at American-style camps and didn’t really include the African perspective as much as it could have. While it didn’t really cater to the South African cultural context, everyone seemed to really enjoy it!

Back home!

Yesterday I FINALLY made it back to my village, after an exhausting ride into Kuruman on Sunday. I have never been more thankful to be back at my site and stationary again. I wasn’t even upset to find my new bug friends that have taken over my room in my absence! I was also THRILLED to find that the weather has actually become chilly!!! Everyone keeps saying the winter has come early…. Which is better news than I could have ever hoped to receive. Today I went to school in both a sweater and a scarf, and I am fully planning on taking out the extra blankets for my bed tonight! I have officially made it through my first summer in Africa.. only one more to go. I am feeling good about my work at school, as I also learned that one of the mothers in the community has volunteered to help with the creation of our school library!!! I could not be happier with this news, as I was really hesitant to begin a library project without having a community member on board to help. My principal kept telling me that no one in the community would want to volunteer their time… so this was a good lesson in persistence paying off! I am much more eager to take these projects head on with a little community support. Term 2 is pretty short since it’s ending early for the World Cup break and I have a lot of work to do for my classes, projects, and PC stuff… it’s going to be a busy couple months!

I am currently killing some time at an internet cafe in town, thought I'd do a little blog post for ya! This morning I had to help my pricipal in town getting internet hooked up to her laptop... which we succesfully did but I'm still confused as to why she needs it. The Department of Ed. has been urging schools to get email, so instantly she just NEEDED an email address (though I doubt shell ever use it). So that was what this week was spent on... good times! School officialy has email. Anyways here's some random thoughts for the day...

Village motto?

So in South Africa, because there are 11 official languages, many people will communicate in their second language, which is most often English. Many people are really fluent in it, but because the education system pretty much sucks at teaching it the english used is often quite incorrect and misused... but it seems to work just fine here as the majority of people don't speak English as their first language. Well, I have gotten over this for the most part (even though simple mistakes like the misuse of he/she as well as horrible butcherings of common phrases still bother me), but there is still one thing that just makes me laugh everyday. Apparently we have a village "motto", posted on a huge billboard at the dirt road intersection to get to my village. It is as follows:

"Together we can forward ever, backward never."

This definitely threw me for a loop the firs time I saw it. I mean I see what they are saying, like always move forward and never backward but as you can see the English used is horribly incorrect. I mostly just laughed at this and never said anything because they always think I'm wrong and say "No this is just South African english". Haha. And anyways, the billboard recently blew down in a big storm. BUT now my school wants to paint an emblem and the motto on the big wall of our school. I just don't know if I can go without saying something..... at a school at least you want the language to be correct right?! But I'm sure they'll just argue with me and then ask me to create a new village motto, which I don't really think I'm in a place to do. Hmmmm do I let it slide? Thoughts?

Tortillas

That's right... this week I successfully made a batch of flour tortillas... and they are delicious!!! I've had one everyday since, usually with eggs and veggies since I don't really have many fixings for mexican food. They have made me so so happy though.... my quest for more mexican meals is on!!

Plans

This last week has been a scramble to get things finished up for the end of the term because I am leaving on Monday and may be gone for close to a month!! I have been in full test-giving and final-grading mode. Next week is Life Skills Training (LST), an HIV/AIDS training that is funded by PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief).. which means we get to bring a community counterpart and spend 5 days at a fancy hotel getting an awesome training. I'm really exciting, and so is my counterpart which is awesome. We're thinking of doing some sort of big community testing drive event, which has never happened in our village so it should be exciting.

After LST we go on to the Longtom Marathon!!!!! Thanks so much to all who have donated... and for those of you who haven't there's still time!

Here's how to donate again:

Method 1: Online (preferred)

Go to the KLM Foundation website.

Click on the Donate photo in the upper left corner.

This opens up a secure https connection for people to donate.

Make sure you put 'Kristin Mayer' in the Longtom Marathon field so they know the donation was made in my name.

Method 2: Check

Make out a check to: Kgwale Le Mollo (US)

Put a post-it note saying the donation is in my name with the check.

Mail it to:

KLM Foundation (US)c/o Bowen Hsu461 So. Bonita AvenuePasadena, CA 91107

After the marathon we're taking advantage of the location and hiking for a few days on the Fanie botha trail, which I've heard is pretty awesome. There are also activities like cliff diving and kloofing... can't wait! Then after this me and a few other girls will be helping facilitate a Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) that is being held by another PCV in Mpumalanga. It'll be an awesome opportunity to get ideas for the same camp well be hosting in December! After this I will either head back to the village or attend another HIV/AIDS training hosted by USAID... this is still up in the air though! In that case I wouldnt be back until well into mid-April... crazy stuff!

So those are my exciting adventures for the upcoming weeks. It's nice to keep so busy, plus it will be great to get to see a bit more of the country!

Here is a really interesting article I just read in the NYTimes on an apparently successful development project in Sauri, Kenya. Pretty awesome and inspiring!

My time here has given me a chance to really see and get involved in “development” in the field, and frankly I have yet to develop any solid opinions on the matter. First of all I haven’t seen very much yet, and my knowledge is very limited to South Africa. The project discussed in this article is really interesting though!

I don’t know too much about this “Millennium Villages” project, but based on the example of the work done in Sauri, it really seems to have been quite successful in implementing its goals. I like the idea of taking these 80 villages around Africa and using them as a sort of experiment in development to see what is really possible. And as this is part of the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), obviously funding isn’t a problem.

But of course the question is is this really a realistic and sustainable project? I do like the idea that each village that is successful in these practices is used as an example to surrounding villages, but with all of the funding being used in each of the villages, it seems unlikely that other communities would just be able to “pick up” these great practices. I guess I just have a problem with the international aid community being so focused on highly-funded projects. Even in the Peace Corps, I have read statistics that there is no correlation between the amount of money put into a project and how sustainable or successful it turns out to be. In fact I have heard (though I’m not sure where so don’t quote me on this) that often the more money put into a project the less sustainable it turns out to be, as the funding will likely completely cease once the PCV is gone. Many PCV’s believe their work in the Peace Corps is much more about relationship-building than it is about actual development. Which in a sense is really true, because really I am only one person, and a foreign person coming from a very different culture… how is it that we are really supposed to “develop” our communities?

I suppose I’m a bit jaded on this matter because of my experience here. Everyone in my villages are soooo focused on just getting money and material items, which is really frustrating for me as someone who has devoted to years to solely HELPING and teaching them… something much more valuable than money or things in my opinion. Even just the other day there were some British missionaries in the Kuruman area, and my school was just about to freak out trying to get them to come here and “help” us. I kept asking them exactly what they did or gave and they just said “they give money to villages to develop them”. It was like nails down a chalkboard for me, as I am here giving MYSELF to them for 2 years but all they can think about is getting money - money does not equal development! It’s all about the immediate satisfaction, not the long-term process.

Of course you hear amazing success stories, maybe not quite to the extent of what happened in Kenya but there is still so much possible in what we are doing as PCVs. But then there is the corruption, which happens everyday here. I’m not sure if it’s quite as bad in S.A. as it seems to be in Kenya, but I know it goes on at both the large scale (government officials taking large sums of money for themselves) as well as the much smaller scale (NGO workers “skimming” money that should be going to AIDS orphans). You hear about it all the time. For example, South Africa spends more per capita on education than almost any country in the world, but where is the money going?! Obviously not to the schools (or at least not to rural, predominately black schools). This seems to be especially bad in this province, the Northern Cape, as the provincial department of education is quite bankrupt and oftentimes schools aren’t even receiving books they need for the curriculum. Much of this is due to corruption (as well as the astronomical salaries for the under-qualified teachers).

One thing that has really rang true with me here is that change on a large-scale has to come from the inside, from the people who are themselves affected. If the communities don’t have the drive to change, then it won’t happen... no matter how much money is put into it. Anyways, this was sort of a rambly post but I thought this little development experiment was really cool... you guys should go read it!

Well I wish there was a bunch of stuff to update on but apparently once you hit a certain point in your Peace Corps service life begins to become a little bit less of an exciting adventure and more of a routine and well, more of an actual day-to-day normal life! This has actually been a pretty great transition for me. Although the language is still a very difficult hurdle to overcome, the culture is much less exhausting to me than it once was, and integration into my community seems to happen more and more everyday with much less effort. Most of all, life here in the village has become very comfortable… really that’s all that I could have asked for!

One big change I’ve noticed in myself is my capability of dealing with free time. During training and for the first few months at site, I had no idea what to do with my copious amounts of free time. I would read, pace around, journal, and pretty much just count down hours until it was time to do something (prepare a meal, go to bed, fetch water, etc.). Not that I didn’t enjoy it, because it’s definitely not a rough lifestyle. It just took some adjustments. Especially coming from the insanely busy year I had before the Peace Corps with two packed semesters to graduate, a thesis to write, work, applying to the PC, along with the normal jam-packed social life of a soon-to-be college grad.

Now I find myself basking in my free time, and most of the time just loving it. I can now spend an entire weekend in my village without going to town and carelessly find ways to fill my time. Even weekends where I don’t have to wash my clothes (which is normally occupies half of my Sundays). It’s great, and though I am normally one to find joy in a busy life, I recommend everyone adopt a little more careless free time into their lives. I spend my days reading, cleaning, journaling, coloring and playing with the kids, lesson and project planning, jogging every now and then, and just sitting around with my family. It’s awesome!

The only downside to this new feeling of normalcy is work actually feeling like work. Who knew Peace Corps was actually a job? It is definitely more fulfilling than most jobs, and small successes feel better than I could have ever imagined (even if it really is as small as one of my students remembering a vocabulary word). The only real issue is that I feel like I am constantly in a struggle with my educators. One day it will be about how I am not a secretary and shouldn’t be called every other second to type something. I’ve been remedying this lately by flat out saying “no, but let me sit down with you while you type it” and show them how to use things like excel and word. The next day it will be either them pulling me out of the classes I am teaching for some pointless “meeting” (I am not even going to get started on how much South Africans love their useless gatherings), or pulling my students out of my class for some menial task (like running to the shop to buy them soda…. and no that is not a joke). Really frustrating. Most of the time I’ll just walk to the meeting, ask what it’s about and if they really need me, and walk straight back to the class. Maybe… just MAYBE they’ll begin to see the importance of a teacher actually…. gasp…. TEACHING. I know, quite the concept!

The worst of it all is the corporal punishment that I’ve been witnessing. You know what? I hate the term corporal punishment…. this is flat out child abuse and I think the phrase just covers that up. It seems to only be getting worse with my educators becoming more relaxed around me, although they know my firm stance against this. The worst part about this is that although they know how I feel, they think its funny how sensitive I am. For instance, one morning when I was on a computer working on something while the morning assembly was going on, I looked out the window only to see my principal going down a line of students smacking each of them over the head with a meter stick for being late. One of the teachers walked in and laughed at the horrified look on her face, saying how funny she thought it was that I get so upset. I was nearly in tears... really really funny I know. The worst is that the kids are huge tattle-tales. The second one learner does something wrong someone else runs and tells on him, only resulting in the smacking of all those involved. You’d think they would learn that telling on people is a lose-lose! I lost even more hope the other day when the ONE teacher that I was almost positive did not hit her kids ran at a group of kids with a whip (yeah, the kind used for donkeys) for fighting. She also is a firm believer that the reason Matric (the test for seniors to graduate high school) rates are so low is because S.A. has made corporal punishment illegal. I’m not even going to start on how illogical that is.

I’ve been trying my best with them, I just know that it’s going to take a while for them to see where I’m coming from. These things are all they’ve ever known, and then one day it just became illegal. I want to show them why the government decided to take that step, and that hitting kids really doesn’t make them learn better. This may be one of those uphill battles, but I am going to keep trying!

Anyways, this post wasn’t really meant to rant about things bringing me down, because all in all life is good. The great part about being in this phase of my service is that I am very invested in my community and my mind is overflowing with wonderful ideas for projects, and I’ve had an awesome time collaborating with a couple of other volunteers on them! It’s hard because I don’t want to become too invested in any one idea, I really want to follow up with the ones my community wants and sees the need for. I am trying to maintain my realism in all of this – I know that the actual lasting impact I have on my schools may be very small (as almost any previous volunteer will tell you), so I’m just holding onto each small success with all I have and going with it.

I turned 23 last week! Yay for me! It was a very relaxing birthday, and a pretty normal day in the village, which is a pretty good reflection on what this next year has in store for me. I did receive a plant from my school for my room and the kids sang to me in English and Setswana.

This turned out much longer than I expected… my goal was to start writing shorter posts on more specific topics instead of the all-too-general update on life in S.A. thing. Oh well, maybe next time! Oh also, I’ve made a little resolution to get more pics up on here, so start expecting that at least! One thing about life becoming so normal here is that I feel much less inclined to take pictures of things, especially in the village. I’ll work on that for the sake of my fellow readers. Tomorrow I am headed to a workshop on creating libraries in a neighboring village and then to a pasta dinner and sleepover with some volunteers! Should be fun!!

One of the hardest things about being gone for so long is what happens at home without you there. I was very saddened upon hearing about the death of my Grandpa John, which happened last Tuesday morning. Apparently he had been going downhill for a few weeks before that, and suffering from dementia more and more in the last months. Unfortunately this followed my other Grandpa’s (Bill) death by only a few months. I am aware that I am at that age where people typically start losing their grandparents and that it was definitely both of their times to go, but loss is never an easy thing to deal with. I have to say that being away from home and my family during this time is very difficult, and I find myself constantly thinking about everyone, and wishing I could be with the family during this time.

One thing that’s for sure is that it really was his time. I wasn’t around for the worst of his mental state but from what I’ve heard it didn’t seem like his quality of life was very good. I am thankful that my last memories of him are very positive and that he still knew who I was. Hopefully he’s in a better place now and we can all be assured that he isn’t suffering anymore!

This post is just to let the Mayer family know that I’m thinking of you guys all the time and really wish I could be there for his funeral tomorrow! I hope that I am still there in spirit. R.I.P. Grandpa John!

Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend the lobola ceremony for my host “sister”, Mpho (I use quotations because she doesn’t live here and is actually one of the many grandchildren of mma and pa mokhukhedi), and it really turned out to be quite the ceremony!!!! The lobola, or the bride price the husband has to pay to the bride’s family to get married, is one tradition very much still followed here in South Africa. Traditionally this is paid to the family in the form of cattle, and the wife’s family would decide on a lobola price during negotiations that occur right before the wedding. Nowadays it seems that this is mostly paid in rand, although there are still people who follow the traditional practice and pay in the form of livestock.

Commonly the lobola isn’t paid for a while after the actual wedding, giving the husband time to accrue the funds. This was the case with Mpho and Dick, as they were married about a year ago. So the actual ceremony where this is paid is quite the event, and lasted for well over 24 hours! It all started last Friday afternoon, when Mpho shows up and mentions this will be taking place that night. In my experience with other South African ceremonies, I was expecting a long and involved meal, probably including both families and members of the community. What I didn’t anticipate was this meal occurring at 5am, following a giant all-night party!

The party was at my host family’s house, so I was pretty much there for the whole thing. At about 10pm people started showing up, and the women got to the kitchen to prepare for meal #1, which was pap and mince meat. The women were all pretty excited that I stayed with them and cooked, and this was definitely a much better option than hanging out with the men who were getting drunker by the second! After this meal people just kind of hung out, danced, pretty normal party stuff. I began helping Mpho with the big meal that was to occur in the morning, and the preparation for this meal was pretty big! We cooked pap and rice over the fire in extremely large cauldrons in the old mud/thatched roof house. This was fun but after a while I just about died of coughing from inhaling smoke (little ventilation) and had a giant bloody cut on my foot from trying to break up wood with my feet in the dark (not smart).

At about 1am I had to retire to my bed for a nap. I was so, so, so exhausted. Not only was it just way past my bedtime, but dealing with drunk men and trying to understand Setswana in the wee hours of the morning is not an easy feat! After an hour or so of napping I re-entered the party and continued to help prepare for the meal, this time cutting up more squash than I could fathom in my tired state. So up until now the party has been strictly with the wife and her family… in fact the husband doesn’t attend this ceremony at all. At about 4 the husband’s family starts arriving (from a neighboring village), and welcomed by our party with singing, dancing and cheering. Mpho was pretty stressed at this point because the meal was not yet finished. So the women and I all gathered in the kitchen and tried to get everything finished! Meanwhile the husband’s family gathered in the living room and were presented with drinks of all sorts, including the traditional bottle of brandy that just sits in the middle of the table all night as an offering from the bride’s family. During this time there were also many speeches, prayers, songs, etc. Finally around 5am we brought the meal out, which included the meat (a sheep slaughtered that day in our backyard!), squash, rice, pap, tomato/onion gravy, green beans, and a mayonnaisey carrot salad.

It was really quite the night! I noted many interesting cultural tidbits throughout the night (I was a question-asking machine… I found it all very fascinating), like how Mpho and her daughter Nolly had to wear part of the sheep’s intestines as necklaces for the night and the next day! Not sure where this practice comes from or what it signifies, they just told me it was “tradition”. Also tradition was that Mpho and Nolly weren’t allowed to partake in the big meal prepared, and instead had to eat all the random sheep parts that were cooked together and served with rice! Mpho said it was pretty disgusting, but again just another tradition! Oddly enough I never even saw when the actual lobola was paid to the Mokhukhedi family… at some point I do believe they were presented with R8,000 (about $1500). I went to bed around 6 when the husband’s family left, because frankly I could barely stand at that point. I expected others would start going home and do the same… but alas I was wrong again. I woke up and bathed around 9 and everyone was still at the party and never slept! And they stayed til like 4pm on Saturday! This is including my 80 year old gogo, who was drinking beer and dancing well into the afternoon. Yup, I was outpartied by my 80 year old African granny.

It’s times like these where I realize how truly exhausting it can be to attempt immersion into another culture. The whole night I felt like I didn’t know what was going on, what was being said, not knowing what people were yelling about (and they yell A LOT), constantly being approached by strangers wanting to know me (and me having absolutely no idea who most people were), etc. Of course this is what I wanted in this whole experience… to learn about a new culture and be pushed out of my comfort zone and past what I thought were my limits. But truthfully the actual process can be one of the most draining things ever!!! It really is a constant learning experience though, and at least now I’ll be able to get through weddings and funerals just fine because in comparison to the lobola those are nothing!

This leads me to think about what it would be like to have a price negotiated by my father in order for someone to marry me.. doesn’t seem like an idea I’d like to entertain. What I wonder is how weird this must be for the girl… is it like they are determining the worth of the girl or is it just decided based on the wealth of the family? Perhaps after two years I will know the answers to such questions. I will say that it seems to be less about the actual money that’s paid and more of a process of uniting the two families. Either way it was all very interesting for this western girl!!!

P.S. Sorry for the lack of pictures... in an unfortunate series of events my camera battery died and the adapter i need for the charger was broken. One day I'll have pics for you guys!

Hi everyone!!!

So as some of you know, I have decided to participate in my first half-marathon, one that is convienently also a pretty awesome Peace Corps fundraiser! The Longtom Marathon is in a small town called Sabie in the Drakensburg Mountains (Mpumalanga Province) and is March 27th!

The marathon is used as one of the main fundraisers for the Kgwale Le Mollo Foundation, which was created by two South Africa PCV's in the SA11 group. The KLM Foundation sponsers disadvantaged youth from rural areas to attend Uplands College, a private secondary school and a leading institution in South Africa. KLM sponsors the selected stundents to attend the school from 8th grade and on, providing a 5-year bursary covering tuition, housing, and academic support. The students are chosen based on leadership potential, academic success, as well as a commitment to social responsibility.

Here are some websites with further info:

Longtom Marathon site

KLM Foundation site

As participants running on behalf of the KLM Foundation, we are each required to fundraise a minimum of $100. Spread out, this could be reached (and passed) very easily! In fact, over 60 volunteers participated in 2009 and raised $15,000 - pretty impressive!

In my opinion this is one of the most sustainable things I have seen from Peace Corps Volunteers in South Africa. Not only is the foundation an amazing way to change the lives of youth that would never have access to such an opportunity, it utilizes a fun event that a very good number of PCVs attend every year to raise money. This is a great chance for PCVs from different groups in South Africa to meet eachother, run a marathon, and help a GREAT cause!!!

Don't you love when it gets to the asking for money part??? Really $100 could be reached very easily so the littlest bit definitely counts. Here are the two ways to donate on behalf of yours truly:

Method 1: Online (preferred)

Go to the KLM Foundation website.Click on the Donate photo in the upper left corner.This opens up a secure https connection for people to donate.Make sure you put 'Kristin Mayer' in the Longtom Marathon field so they know the donation was made in my name. Method 2: Check Make out a check to: Kgwale Le Mollo (US)Put a post-it note saying the donation is in my name with the check.Mail it to: KLM Foundation (US)

c/o Bowen Hsu

461 So. Bonita Avenue

Pasadena, CA 91107

It will be interesting to see how the running part of it all goes! From October-December I was doing really well running 4-5 times a week, which is very unusual for me as I have never really been a runner. But Dec/Jan it has been a struggle to keep going with vacation, training, and the insane HEAT. The only slightly cool time is around 5am! So I'll definitely have to kick it in gear for the next 8 weeks or so! There are plenty of people walking it, so really I'm OK with doing maybe a run/walk, which will also give me a chance to take some pics of the spectacular scenery!

Like I said, any little bit counts, its tax-deductable, and for a truly worthy cause. That's what I call a win-win-win!

In the land of Peace Corps acronyms (which could be a blog post in and of itself), this one stands for In-Service Training. I’m not quite sure if IST is the same in every PC post, but for South African volunteers it’s basically meant to re-group everyone after our 3-month lock down phase, discuss what we learned, challenges we faced, and possible projects for the school year. While some of the sessions were pretty informational, what it really meant for us volunteers was a week of hanging out and having fun, catered meals 3 times a day along with morning AND afternoon tea breaks, and a couple days in Pretoria since most of us cannot make it back to our sites in a day. Overall a very good time was had by all!

We arrived last Friday at a teacher training college in the Mpulanaga Province and training began with a day and a half of language sessions in small groups. This was nice in theory, but to me it seems kind of silly to think we were really supposed “learn” much in this short time. It did help to reinforce and review some grammar points, which are sometimes hard to pick up on when your language learning is almost solely conversational and informal. It did make me realize I should work harder at finding a language tutor in my village, because the potential is there to become really proficient in Setswana. When I first arrived here I made it a point to look for a tutor, but it became sort of half-assed when I realized the only ones jumping on this opportunity were men who wanted the chance to pay me regular “visits”. But perhaps with some more diligent searching I’ll be able to find someone with better intentions!

Other sessions included how to deal with corruption, being a “resilient” volunteer, the state of education in South Africa, cross-cultural issues, and of course got a few more shots! I was hoping for more sessions on things like project design and management, but I guess that comes more at LST (Life Skills Training) in March. It was nice for the new teachers in the group to get some advice and ideas from the more experienced teachers for different activities and methods to use in the classroom!

Of course the week wasn’t all educational, and we took full advantage of every evening we had to all hang out together! Activities included a “PCV” themed costume party, a mini-Gossip Girl marathon, mattress skateboarding in the hallways, a couple giant and epic games of capture the flag on the campus (I have battle wounds to show for it!), a really hilarious talent show, and Peace Corps Prom (obvi). Kinda felt like a big high-school sleepover, but much better! I guess this is what happens after months of little socializing…

We definitely took advantage of our days in Pretoria and lived it up in the first world. Within the two days I was there I saw three movies: The Stepfather, New Moon, and Brothers (in which I cried from beginning to end), gorged myself on pizza, Chinese food, ice cream, and beer, and spent entirely too much time in malls. It was awesome. We also did a lot of file-swapping on our hard drives (yay new movies and music!) and I got about 10 new books to read… not bad!

Now I’m back in the village again, and thankfully this transition has been a lot smoother than the last. IST gave me the little boost of motivation I needed to really get some projects going. These gatherings are great if only for the opportunity to talk with the other volunteers about their sites and get ideas for different projects... it’s great to see what everyone is up to!

So what’s on the horizon as far as projects go? A couple of girls in my area are equally as enthusiastic about doing a girl’s leadership camp for sometime this year, so we are going to start planning that (which I’m super excited about… I’ve heard from other volunteers who have organized this that it was one of the most rewarding things throughout their service!). I am also going to try and start up an after-school girl’s club that focuses on life skills and HIV/AIDS education, along with fun things like crafts and games. Hopefully this week I will start volunteering a few days a week at the adult education program that happens after school – I will gladly accept advice/ideas from anybody with experience teaching adult literacy! I really want to get involved with the clinic and do some sort of community health project, so I am going to make more of an effort to meet the right people who would get involved in something like this. Other than teaching my own classes, I will be using time in school to plan lessons and team-teach with other educators (specifically with Grades 1-3 Numeracy and Grade 4 English), work on putting together a library, and help sort out the administrative mess that both my schools are in by digitalizing their records and documents. I’m sure other projects will come up as the year progresses but I think this will be a good start! Wish me luck!

It’s true, the “rollercoaster ride” is a huge reality of life here. While I am overall quite pleased with how life here has taken shape for me, I am a passenger on this ride just about everyday.

Let’s start with vacation: a HUGE up. We’re talking one of the funnest times ever, with awesome people who understand each other, who can effortlessly converse and joke around, in one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to, blacks and whites interacting without shocking stares, etc.

Of course, that area of SA is not without problems. In fact, I would say (at least the area we were in) is more poverty stricken then where we live. Makes me think about how many more provinces the Peace Corps could migrate into to help….

In any case, vacation was really, really awesome and traveling is obviously a huge perk of this job.

Upon returning to the village, I was actually still riding the “up”. I was really happy to be back! I was embraced by my gogo in a big hug, and enjoyed the visits from the villagers asking how my holidays were, why I didn’t bring them anything from America (no matter how many times I say I didn’t leave the country…), or why I didn’t bring any seawater back (why didn’t I THINK of that?!). I was especially pleased that it really felt like I was returning home, thrilled with how comfortable life has become here as I’m coming up on 6 months in SA!

But, of course, after about a day of being back something started to weigh on me and bring me down a bit. I had an entire week in the village with nothing to do before school started, so perhaps it was due to just pure boredom and not having much to do. Maybe it was the sweltering heat, preventing me from even wanting to move, let alone do something productive. This kind of boredom was like nothing I had ever felt before, because there really were productive or useful things I could have been doing. But instead I just kind of paced around, took a lot of sweaty naps, and half-heartedly attempted to get back into my routine. I dunno, maybe it was just a little post-vacation blues settling in…

So there you have it, last week was just kind of a down for me. I felt really unmotivated, unsure of how the school year would begin and how teaching would pan out, and yes I’ll admit it: a little homesick. Luckily it didn’t really get to the point of really unhappy or sad, just kind of blah. (Perhaps my next activity should be to actually sit down and study my GRE vocab list, as “blah” seems to be the only word I can find to describe my feelings haha…)

Sunday things started to look up a bit with a gigantic all-day rainstorm. Turns out all I needed was for things to cool off a bit for me to actually get some things done!

School opened back up this week, and Monday and Tuesday I spent with the staff getting things in order for the learners to come on Wednesday. Frankly I was thrilled to get back in school – I finally remembered what my purpose here is and what it feels like to be… gasp… BUSY! What an incredible feeling… something I took for granted at home! Being at school makes me feel really good, and I generally really like working with my teachers. So school starting = things starting to look up!

Naturally, things head back down on Tuesday afternoon. We found out that the Department of Education has decided we no longer qualify for one of our teachers OR our administrative assistant. Apparently these decisions are made based on the number of learners in the school… so to them it only matters that there is an average of 35-40 learners per teacher and not that ONE teacher has to handle 3 grades and 8 learning areas (subjects) in one class. Oh, and we only learn of this the day before school officially starts. So now we are down to only 4 teachers, thanks DoE! And of course, everyone starts looking to me saying “So what can we do about this, Lorato?”. My response: ummmmm, welll…….

A big, BIG down of the past week and a half: there is no water coming to the community tap in the village. I’ve done some investigating on the topic, and apparently something at the municipality that controls our water supply is “broken”. Huh? Thankfully there is someone with a borehole in a nearby village, so my host family has taken the donkey cart there a couple of times and filling my buckets along with their own. I’m still in crazy water conservation mode, though, because if I run out I don’t know what I’ll do! (An upside to this: I’ve discovered that about 20 liters of water can go pretty far and last days! Read: I am getting kind of smelly, but so it goes in village life…)

Since then things have been kind of a mix of ups and downs throughout the days. The upside: teaching!!! I love my Grade 7’s. And there are only 9 of them this term (technically Grade 7 is part of the “Senior Phase” and therefore can not be combined with any other grades…), so this should be a pretty fun project for me. I know of other volunteers teaching with over 50 kids in a class, so I guess there are benefits to small schools, no matter how understaffed we are ☺. The downside: now that we have no administrative assistant, I spend a lot of time hiding from my principal because every time I see her she throws something at me saying “Type this, Lorato” or “Print this, Lorato” or something of that nature. No matter how many times I tell her I did not join the Peace Corps to be a secretary, she just doesn’t quite seem to get the whole point of my presence…

Overall the ups outweigh the downs, by a lot actually. I was still all smiles when my kids picked me up to walk to me school or when my Grade 7 cheered when they found out I’d be their teacher 3 days a week! But it is a kind of funny feeling to never really know what each day, or even hour, will make me feel like. Shall we henceforth name this PCBS: Peace corps bipolar syndrome?

Happy 2010!

So I have safely returned to my village from my AMAZING trip to Coffee Bay. The area we were in is called the Transkei, and charactized by gorgeous green rolling hills, dense forests, and the best: tiny little village with TEAL rondaval huts everywhere! I guess they use this color because they use to make paint from some green plant, but now they just buy paint that color because it is traditional. It was a place I was just made to be.. so so pretty. The vacation was the perfect mix of doing fun adventurous things and just relaxing - we did lots of hiking, cliff diving, but most of all playing in the ocean! I realized that I become a little kid when I get to play around in big waves... it's pretty much the funnest thing ever. I was going to do surfing lessons but unfortunately the day I signed up for got cancelled. It's ok though... I'm sure in 2 years I'll have another chance considering South Africa is like a surfer's paradise!

The backpackers we stayed at (Coffee Shack) attracted a very interesting crowd of young people. I met people from more countries than I can even keep track of! It was really cool to hear about all of the amazing trips people are taking.It kind of reminded me of backpacking around Europe and meeting a bunch of travelers, but S.A. seems to attract more long-term travelers than I have ever met. Most of the people we met seemed to be traveling for at least multiple months, some even for years! The Eastern Cape is mostly home to the Xhosa people of South Africa, so I also got a chance to hear a new language (Xhosa has four different clicks in it and really hard to learn!) and see a new culture. It was interesting to see the things that are typically South African and those that are more unique to each ethnic group.

Another good thing about the trip was that I got to spend 2 nights in Pretoria, so i am becoming a little more familiar with the city and how to get around. This is where PC headquarters is so I'll definitely be having to make trips there throughout my service. It's crazy being there.. it's basically like being in any American city and does not make me feel like I am in Africa at all. We went to the mall, had some really good food (including an incredible Indian lunch buffet) and went out to the bars one night. The 1st world/3rd world juxtaposition in this country is something that is still really hard and confusing to deal with... but I won't pretend that it isn't nice to have amenities somewhat nearby. Oh and we went and saw Avatar... weird at times but I liked it a lot! We got to see so much different landscape on the way and back, and now I can't stop thinking about all the different possibilities for future trips.

Now I am back in the village and jsut getting my life back in order for school to start. I am very excited for this schoolyear to begin, especially now that I know what I will be doing and I am no longer in "observation" phase. At the school in my village I will be teaching Grade 7 English and Life Orientation. L.O. is basically like a life skills/health class, which will be good because I want to be able to show the educators I work with how to implement more HIV/AIDS education into the curriculum, and I think this will be a good way to do it. Along with teaching I will be holding teacher workshops on things like alternatives to corporal punishment, classroom management, lesson planning and delivery, positive reinforcemnet, etc. I will work at my other school Tuesdays and Thursdays and trade off working with each of the teachers. This way I will be able to do some team teaching and help the (2) teachers deal with having 3 grades in a class (not an easy feat). I am really happy I will get some solid teaching experience here, it's obviously really good experience to have long term and it will help me get to know a group of students a lot better... and hopefully my classroom will be a model for the other teachers on how to teach without beating your children! So this week I'm spending getting my lesson plans for the term ready to go and school starts up on the 11th.

These next few months are going to be really busy and probably fly by. In only 2 weeks we have our next Peace Corps training, called IST (In-Service Training). The purpose of this week is for 2 days of further language training and to discuss what sort of projects we will all be taking on in the coming year! It will be so nice to get the whole group back together and see how everyone's doing (there's even talk of a Peace Corps prom that may occur...). In March there is supposed to be the next training (LST - Life Skills Training), along with the Longtom Marathon and another 2 weeks of school break in between terms. The World Cup begins this summer and should be a crazy time in S.A.! I have a feeling summer (winter) will arrive pretty quickly...

Hope everyone had a great christmas and new years!!!! Pictures will hopefully come somewhat soon....

Tomorrow I leave to go on my first vacation as a PCV and I simply cannot wait! I'm leaving early in the morning to take a bus into Kuruman, where I'm meeting up with another volunteer. From there we take a khumbi to Vryburg, where we're hopefully meeting 2 other volunteers, and by evening we should be in Pretoria to stay at a backpackers (hostel) for the night. Wednesday we'll have the day in Pretoria to do some last minute shopping and hopefully grab a good meal and some drinks. Our bus for Mthatha leaves at 5:30 and we should get to Coffee Bay on Christmas Eve, where we'll be spending the rest of our trip!

While I strongly believe that as a volunteer I shouldn't have to rely on these vacations to get me through my service, I can't deny my excitement. First of all, it's been so so hot here and I don't think I can put into words my anticipation to swim in the ocean and hang out on the beach with a nice cool breeze. It will be glorious. And, as you may have guessed from my Thanksgiving posts, I kinda like my fellow volunteers. 11 days of uninterrupted fun with them will be pure magic... can't wait!! And lastly, some of the activities that are on the list of possibilities: camping on the beach, surfing (!!!!!!), cliff diving, hiking, cookouts, christmas eve meal provided by the backpackers, and hopefully some sunrise jogs on the beach - gotta keep the running going!

Some random notes on the past week:

My principal took me on a day trip to Kimberley! This is the capital of the Northern Cape and famous for it's diamond mines (and the first mine in S.A). We weren't there for too long, but we did get to walk around a bit and see the Big Hole:

This was a mine from 1871 that became the world's largest diamond producer, ushering in the Industrial Revolution in S.A. In fact, before Kimberley's diamond production, it was assumed that diamonds could only be found in rivers. Interesting stuff! Now it is just as it says... a big hole that is 214 meters deep with this beutiful green water. Unfortuantely we didn't have time to explore the mine, perhaps on another trip (I do have 2 years, after all...).

Saturday I got to go on a school trip with a volunteer friend (the one closest to my site) to Wonderwerk Cave, which is less than 2 hours away from here! This was really cool and brought out the anthropology nerd in me, as it is a famous archaeological site with evidence of human habitation dating 800,000 years ago! Some of the cave was closed for renovation, but we did get to see most of the cave paintings from the San bushmen. Sooo so cool! Then we did a little hiking in the surrounding hills which were beautiful and gave a nice view of the area. (And a shout out to Mom - I couldn't stop thinking about how many of the cool rocks she would have stuffed in her backpack to carry back with her... they were the neatest rocks ever!!!) Unfortunately I forgot the memory card to my camera, but I'll steal some from Jenneffer and post them later.

I also ran the 8 miles to her village and back (luckily with a night's rest in between) last week. Hopefully this is preparing me for the half marathon I've signed up to run in March! I've never been much of a runner, so we'll see how that goes...

Other than that I've just been sweating it out in my village and trying deal with my new insect residents that have come with the heat. These have included gigantic wasps, gigantic bees, gigantic beetles, cockroaches, flies, mosquitos, and ANTS! The ants are by far the worst... they're the meanest things ever. One day they decided to invade my living space and I couldn't even walk on my own room floor without them crawling up my legs and biting me all over! They are nasty, nasty creatures. Luckily the next day I bought some bug killer (lovingly named DOOM), and since then the ants have been no more!!! Success!!! I'm feeling quite lucky I haven't had (or at least seen) any scorpion visitors yet, I've seen the stings from them and it does not look like fun. Knocking on wood!

I've been hanging out a lot with my host family since break started, which has been pretty nice. One weekend I even went to a funeral, a wedding, and a church service with them! Not really my cup of tea to do this all the time, but I could tell my family and community appreciates these gestures. The only downside is that since it's break family from ALL over is coming to stay here and I haven't had much privacy or time to myself. On the upside I've fully put into use all of the soccer and volleyballs that have been sent to me! The kids are constantly a-knockin and we just have a ball playing together... haha couldn't resist the bad pun, sorry. Thanks again to my family and Tyler!! You guys rock!

OK, that's all for now. I miss you all so much and hope everyone has fantastic holidays!!!! I read about the gigantic snowstorm hitting the east... is it headed west also? Luckily since it is blazing hot and summer here it doesn't really feel like Christmas, so hopefully I won't be too homesick :) I won't have my internet phone with me, so you may not hear from me until January.

Salang sentle

Well December is in full swing and South Africa is apparently shutting down for the holidays! Well not really the whole country, but the schools pretty much called it quits weeks ago. This resulted in extreme boredom on the work front for a few weeks... with the teachers giving final exams and trying to sort out all of the end-of-the-year adminstrative BS that the Department of Ed. (reffered to as the DoE) requires, there really was not a whole lot of work to be done. I helped proctor ("invigilate" as they say here, not a pretty word... although proctor isn't great either...) a few exams, helped type some things, showed my admin assistant how to do the budget records in Exel, did stuff on their computers (mostly installing programs, organizing things into folders and de-virsuing as best i could..) and taught some games to grades that were done with their exams (noted that heads-up 7-up in Grade 4 causes utter chaos). Good times!

Last week was the official end of the schoolyear and actually a pretty great week, probably the best I've had in the village so far! I attended a lot of end-of-year meetings, including numerous SGB meetings (similar to PTA), staff meetings to discuss my plans for next year, community meetings, parent meetings, and the like. It reminded me a lot of my first couple weeks here.. but this time around I noticed some significant changes: I am no longer CONSTANTLY stared at (still stared at, but without so much confusion this time), I am not uncomfortable when a handshake lasts multiple minutes, I understand a bit more Setswana - probably more than I'm giving myself credit for but this seems like its coming very slowly, I am used to things starting and running HOURS late, and I understand that such gatherings will entail lengthy speeches/songs/prayers/dances at random. People are much more comfortable with me here now, and I am beginning to be approached by the community for help with little projects here and there. These past few months have been filled with ups and downs, rendering the reality of the Peace Corps "roller coaster" very very true. But I am now just days away from the 3-month "community integration" phase (lock down) and will soon be allowed to actually teach, start projects, and travel wherever and whenever the hell I want! (not really true but we can pretend)

Last Tuesday was the closing party for my smaller school and a REALLY fun time. The school and village are both so tiny that I was surprised and what an event this turned into... and what a gigantic feast was prepared. Many attended - parents, community members, teachers from my other school, learners and their siblings, the chief, the SGB, etc. We handed out awards to the 6th graders who are continuing on to a new school next term and grades 4-6 performed cultural dances. I helped the women cook and clean and just smiled and laughed at how they sang the entire time (did i mention how the BaTswana are always, always singing?). OH and the best part? My staff bought me vegetarian sausages from a store in town so that i could be eating "meat" with them... very random but definitely thoughtful!!! Overall it was a really, really good time.

Another highlight of this last week was our school trip to MiddelPos farm... an Afrikaner-owned farm a couple hours away. The kids were able to jump on trampolines, picnic outside under big trees, row boats in a pond, and swim in a pool! The latter was especially exciting but probably not the smartest thing as most of them have no clue how to swim. No worries though, they all came out alive and wet! If you were curious to see what 40 South African kids who don't get out of their village much look like when going on a field trip, this could give you an idea:

If that isn't pure joy, I'm not too sure what is!! Oh, and did I mention they sang the whole way at the top of their lungs, there and back???!!

I also bonded a lot more with a couple of my teachers and SGB members, which was really nice. I got to talk with the owners of the farm (very much a missionary family), and they were really excited about the Peace Corps and what we were doing in the villages. In fact the wife was very enthusiastic when I asked if they would be willing to host a girl's leadership conference (called Camp GLOW - girls leading our world) that I've been wanting to organize for next year, she said that's exactly the kind of thing she'd like to get involved in. So yay!!! A possible project in the works! There were also some really awesome mud houses that they turned into guest houses that were INCREDIBLE and I want to live in one:

Two other things made last week a great one: One of my best PC friends who lives far away from me came for a surprise sleepover in my village! Her principal was headed to Kuruman and she got a ride directly to my doorstep.... we made french toast and talked pretty much all night and it was awesome. Then one afternoon one of the gogos in my village showed up at my doorstep with her adorable Dachshund named Lizzy, told me she had puppies, and that I could have one! This was great for multiple reasons - I wasn't really sure who this lady was, but word had somehow gotten out that I really like dogs (probably because im the only one in the village who pays any attention to them/ doesn't kick them), and she just decided that I should have one! I love dachshunds and am really excited about the prospect of having an adorable puppy here. I was going to get it last week but we decided since I will soon be leaving for 10 days that it's best if I just pick it up when I get back in early January. I hope it works out because now I can't stop thinking of having a dog!!!

There's more I wanted to blog about, but I'm tired (it's almost 9:30 and past my village bedtime) so I'll just post again this week. Here's a pic I took of a storm coming in last week... you know it's gonna be a big one with the dark-blue sky like this one:

A nice little sunrise from outside my room this morning....

Happy thanksgiving!!

Holidays are always a difficult thing to spend away from home, especially in another country that doesn’t even recognize the holiday. But I am very happy to report that spending the day with my fellow volunteers in Kuruman turned out to be one of the better Thanksgivings I’ve ever had! One of the volunteers here, Jonelle, had stayed at a bed and breakfast in town a few weeks ago, and upon hearing that there was a group of American volunteers living in the area, the owner agreed to cook us a FABULOUS thanksgiving dinner. For the equivalent of about $14 each we got the whole spread…. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing (sooo good…), green beans, salads, and pumpkin and pecan pies for desert. And in true thanksgiving fashion, we ate so much we thought we were going to die. A perfect recipe for overeating: take a Peace Corps volunteer who lives off rice, beans, and peanut butter sandwiches and give them more food than they could ever imagine. It was awesome. Afterwards we hung out at this beautiful guest house for the night just drinking and enjoying each others company and relishing in the fact the we were able to have fluent conversations in English with people who all understood each other.

Most of us stayed in town for a for a couple of days to continue the fun, and I have to say it was maybe the best few days I’ve had in South Africa so far. Activities included walking around town a lot, hanging out in air conditioned rooms, a night of pizza and beer, and mostly just eating a lot (yeah, we were spoiled for a few days…). It’s really cool to think how the 43 of us who didn’t know each other at all before July 22 have quickly become a family. It’s also really good for us to hear about what we’re all doing in the villages, challenges we’ve come across, and plans for the future. Because no matter how alone we may feel at our sites, it’s comforting to know we’re really all going through such similar things. Sometimes it is rough to go back to the village after sharing such great company for a couple days, but I actually felt really good coming back “home”. After over two months here at site I realized this really is becoming a place where I feel at home and totally welcome. I think this little mini-break allowed me to get a nice little recharge, and I feel like I have a fresh new perspective on my life and work here. Which is great, because the last month has been filled with difficulties, including feeling overwhelmed with the fact that I might not be able to make a big difference here, trying to explain to my staff what my role is (AKA not their secretary), coping with the boredom of this 3 month “lock-down” phase and village life in general, and working out plans for next term. Luckily I still really feel happy and comfortable here, despite this.

Somehow time is flying by and in only a couple of weeks school will be out for the year, and a week or so after that I will be embarking on a glorious Christmas vacation to the Wild Coast (Coffee Bay if you want to google pics and be jealous…) with about 12 other volunteers. It will be my second Christmas spent abroad but definitely my first on a BEACH! Yeah, I’m pretty stoked.

I had a conversation with a few other volunteers that I’ve been meaning to write about for a while now. Basically we all agreed that at some point since arriving in South Africa, the general perspective among (most) volunteers has changed from “we get to spend 2 years in the Peace Corps in South Africa” to “can I really do this for 2 years?”. Luckily I still really want to stay and I can still visualize how I will cope with everything until 2011, but I won’t deny that I sometimes feel like this experience is now all about “making it through”. I’m not sure when this changed occurred, but I think at least for me it was at some point during training when we realized the Peace Corps is not really just the romanticized and exotic “African” life many of us have pictured before coming. It became clear that living in poverty is actually extremely difficult, and while the dusty village roads do still remind us of this idealized notion of what Africa should be like, we are mostly faced with challenges of unmotivated staff who are resistant to change, sexual harassment, extreme cultural differences, linguistic barriers, constantly being asked for money/food/presents, horrendously gross pit toilets, and infestations of all sorts of bugs. It also didn’t help to find out that the group (SA16) that was going through their COS (Close of Service) while we were in training had made it to the end with less than HALF of their original group… and then learning that this statistic is actually not that unusual.

This change in attitude just strikes me as so funny considering what the application process entails to get into the Peace Corps. We all spent months upon months, some even 2+ years busting our asses finishing the application, getting recommendations, constant trips to doctors and dentists to get medically cleared (also the high cost all of this entailed), piles of bureaucratic paperwork, months of not hearing anything about our placements, and finally the crazy preparation of leaving our American lives for our next adventure. When people asked me what I was doing after graduation I would smile and proudly say “moving to Africa to be a peace corps volunteer”. And then there is the fact that we are all crazy lucky to have even gotten an invitation to serve, considering the huge increase in applicants and decrease in positions the organization has faced.

Basically the moral of this story is that I’ve resolved to get back to the point where I remember everyday what it took to get here and that this is an experience that I am very fortunate to have, not something that I should feel like I am suffering through. While I am, of course, faced with more challenges and difficulties on a daily basis than I could have ever imagined, this is exactly what I wanted out of this experience. I knew that the Peace Corps would push me in ways I didn’t know possible and I knew there would be no better way to spend my first couple years in the “real world”. I now have my invitation letter hanging on my wall as I constant reminder that this is, in fact, something I get and chose to do (because yes I am a HUGE nerd and think things like this are really sentimental… it’s just how I roll). I think it really is helping to keep my attitude positive every day!

So, amongst all of the other things living in poverty has made me so very thankful for, this year I am thankful that I was lucky enough to receive a position in the Peace Corps and to live in a country people pay buckets of money to visit! It's not sunshine, rainbows, and butterflies all the time, but its a pretty sweet gig overall.

Hey guys! Here are a couple of interesting articles I've read in the past week, due to my severe addiction to internet news. Enjoy!

Here's one on the race issues still going on here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7512700.stm

Rainbow nation - dream or reality? By Audrey Brown

BBC News

When Nelson Mandela became president of post-apartheid South Africa in 1994, he promised he would build a nation where people of different races could live together in peace and harmony. The racial bloodbath feared by many had been averted. "The time for the healing of the wounds has come," Mr Mandela, who has now turned 90, said at the time. "We enter into a covenant that we shall build the society in which all South Africans, both black and white - will be able to walk tall. A Rainbow Nation at peace with itself and the world." His words ushered in a collective reverie as white South Africans discovered their common identity as Africans.

Those who were not white looked forward to the opportunity of earning a decent living and educating their children. Although there was recognition that it would be hard to reverse apartheid's legacy, there was a general feeling that - with Nelson Mandela at the helm - the country would pull through. A Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up to lay bare the horror of the past and put it to rest. But not everyone noticed that this rosy view relied on the goodwill of the very poorest South Africans who were expected to forgive and forget - even though there were reminders everywhere that this new South Africa did not necessarily include them. Any talk of the differences between black and white lifestyles, attitudes or expectations was shouted down - no-one wanted to wake from the dream. 'Black diamonds' Yet white South Africans, basking in their new-found acceptability, maintained their wealth and advantages.

Only a few middle-class black and mixed-race South Africans, the so called "black diamonds", were able to gain an education, get government contracts and tenders - their share of some of the spoils of a powerful economy. Motsoko Pheko, a member of parliament for the Pan Africanist Congress - a rival to the ruling African National Congress during the long anti-apartheid struggle - said government policies were "pure appeasement". In truth, the only area where rich and poor, black and white have any shared experience is crime. It is a terrifying reality for everyone, although white South Africans - on their farms and behind their high walls - believe they are the real targets. They point to the racially charged language sometimes exchanged between black criminals and white victims. Bronwyn Patterson, a white woman who was robbed and had to listen while her daughter was being raped by black men, spoke of being called a "white bitch".

Some black South Africans in rural areas speak of unbridled brutality against them as armed white farmers "mistake" them for baboons and shoot to kill. Timothy, a black activist in a small agricultural town west of Johannesburg, says people get paid too little for back-breaking work. There have been some widely reported incidents when black people have been attacked by vicious dogs - and even lions - as they go about their business on farms that their ancestors once owned and they now work on. Mapule Lottering's child Nkarabile was shot and injured in an incident in which four of her neighbours were killed by a white man. Armed, white farmers also fire shots and throw missiles at the flimsy shanty dwelling where she lives. Xenophobia Fourteen years after Mr Mandela's new nation was born, the country's newspapers are still filled with stories of snubs and rejections as white establishments blatantly refuse to allow black people in.

Yet white South Africans vote with their feet as they complain that their opportunities are dwindling, as the government promotes its policy of Black Economic Empowerment. The re-cutting of the economic cake, it seems, is leaving most people dissatisfied. More and more black people are also leaving the country as the dream starts to fade. South Africa's streets may not be paved with gold, but as local people leave, millions more come from other parts of the continent to try and make a living. This has added to the country's racial and economic burdens because more poor black people add to the competition for scarce resources like houses and jobs. Earlier this year, these tensions spilled over into a shocking outbreak of xenophobic violence, which left more than 60 people dead and thousands homeless - attacks which Mr Mandela condemned. For me, racism has never been something that I've even contemplated

Jamie Patterson, rape victim "Remember the horror from which we come," he warned. Professor Neville Alexander of the University of Cape Town says South Africa's racial mix presents a unique opportunity but also a danger. "We've been given the historic opportunity, because we have a black majority that suffered and has struggled in an anti-racist movement to bring about a non-racial order. "We have the historic duty, I believe, to demonstrate to the world that it is possible to live in a raceless society. "But unless we handle it carefully, it can turn into its opposite and I think that most political people haven't thought deeply enough about this - if we fail, it's got the ingredients, like any other racial order, of genocidal conflict." Perhaps the best hope for Nelson Mandela's lofty ideal of a true melting pot comes in the words of Bronwyn Patterson's daughter, Jamie. She was born in 1990, the year Mr Mandela was released from 27 years behind bars, and says her black rapists were definitely full of "hatred". "But to be angry at black people would be stupid," she says, remembering how black church members from Soweto gave her an award after overcoming her ordeal. "When they prayed for us, it brought tears to my eyes because it was with such sincerity. "For me, racism has never been something that I've even contemplated."

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And here's one on new PC Director Aaron William's visit to South Africa. A couple of the volunteers from my group recieved a visit from him at their sites... luckies! http://allafrica.com/stories/200911110044.html

U.S. Peace Corps to Bring New Focus to Food Security The Obama administration earlier this year named a former United States Peace Corps volunteer, Aaron S. Williams, as the program's new director. The Peace Corps, which will soon celebrate its 50th anniversary, draws thousands of Americans who want to work abroad and under the new administration, it is looking at its areas of focus and how best to continue implementing its programs most effectively. Williams spoke with AllAfrica during a visit to South Africa.

Is this your first visit to Africa since your appointment, and what role does the Peace Corps currently play on the continent? Yes, this is my first visit since I was appointed two months ago as director... As you know, the Peace Corps is all about trying to promote world peace and friendship. That's our principal mission and it has continued to be that way for nearly 50 years. We're about to celebrate our 50th anniversary in 2011 and right now we have 7,500 volunteers in 74 countries around the world and we're in 23 countries in Africa. Which countries have you already visited on this trip, and what issues have arisen which you believe to be the most important? I'm only going to visit one country on this trip to Africa: South Africa. I'm here primarily to meet with the country directors of all our programs in Africa and from here I go on to Bangkok to meet with our directors in Asia and the Middle East.One of the things that I do when I visit a country is of course go out and visit our Peace Corps volunteers. I went to visit volunteers in Mpumalanga [province] and the North West [province] to look at volunteers who are working in programs in health and education. Those are the two principal sectors in South Africa.Can you tell us what differences in policy or emphasis the Obama administration will bring to the activities of the Peace Corps? This is a marvelous time for the Peace Corps as we approach our 50th [anniversary]. President Obama has issued a call to service to Americans and Americans have really responded in an extraordinary manner. Applications this year are up 18 percent. We have approximately 15,000 applications for about 4,000 positions right now so we're seeing extraordinary interest on the part of Americans.We also teach about 250 languages worldwide and the reason for that is so that Peace Corps volunteers can really reach out and work as partners in communities, with grassroots organizations around the world. One of the things that we try to do is that we want to be a responsive to partnerships. We're a people-to-people organization. We work directly with communities.Which African countries have benefited the most from Peace Corps assistance? I think nearly all African countries have benefited… Historically, the first country that the Peace Corps went into was Ghana. Ghana is going to be the first country to celebrate its 50th anniversary and we have had uninterrupted service… [there] for nearly 50 years.I think certainly here in South Africa we're working in areas that are of great interest to the South African government and to South African society, civil society and business. We're focused on education, we work on HIV/Aids. I had a chance to speak to South African government officials while I was here, in the ministries of health and education, and we want to support national priorities and we will continue to do so. Of course, our role is to work at the community level. What are the Peace Corps' biggest achievements, and its failures, in Africa over the last five years? I think our biggest achievement has to be capacity development. We work with young people throughout the continent in terms of improving their learning ability. For example, we work with deaf children in many countries in Africa. We work with orphans who have been orphaned because of the HIV/Aids epidemic. We work in areas of small businesses and development with young people. As a matter of fact, probably two-thirds of all the people that we reach in Africa are children… And now a new departure has been the new food security initiative. Secretary [of State Hillary Rodham] Clinton is very interested in food security; it's going to be one of her primary initiatives and has the full support of course of the Obama administration. It is a priority at Peace Corps, and we're going to do more to expand our work in agriculture. Agriculture has always been an important part of Peace Corps' involvement in working at the community level.What would you like the Peace Corps in Africa to be doing in three or four years?I would like to see us continue our program in education; we're very much involved in teacher training … hands-on involvement with teachers in the schools. I want to see us continue to expand our work in health, not just in HIV/Aids, but also in malaria and tuberculosis. We have trained skilled volunteers who work at the community level, really strengthening the capacity of NGOs at the grassroots to work in these areas. I want to see us having a broad, expanded role in food security, especially because in Africa women play an instrumental role in the agricultural sector. I want to see us reach out to women who are involved in agriculture. I want to see us reach out to young people and introduce them to the importance of agriculture and food security. So those are the areas [where] I'd like to see us really establish a broader presence and deeper involvement at the community level.

Actually this should be entitled “attempting to outrun a giant storm, failing, and then being rescued”, or perhaps “how a crappy day can turn pretty decent”. But let’s start from the beginning. Firstly, as I have probably previously mentioned, it is definitely rainy season here and the rainstorms are epic! They typically come out of nowhere and just pour rain like nothing I have ever seen. We’re talking monsoon style. Rain on a tin roof creates the loudest, most magical sound ever, and although my tin roof is a bit leaky and I get a nice misty drippiness in my room, I have come to love storms often just for the fact that they give me the most uninterrupted, relaxing time I could hope for in my room. Let me also say that some storms are so intense that they have made me feel like a little kid or puppy who gets scared when there is thunder. But I swear to you I have heard thunder and seen lightning so epic here that it feels like it happened right outside my window and totally shakes the house. It’s ridiculous!

So anyways, last week I was working at Baduana in the next village over, which takes me about 50 minutes to walk to or a 15 minute bike ride if my bike is rideable. Last Wednesday was not the greatest day. Not the worst, but just one of those blah days. I was exhausted and not feeling well all day (knock on wood that this is NOT a flu coming on), bike tire goes flat on my way to school and I realize I must have a hole, principal doesn’t show up for whatever reason, and I’m just feeling pretty useless overall. So at 1 I decide I would just call it quits and head home early to get some rest. Now to put this day into context, it was bright and sunny with no clouds in sight… I had a hot and sweaty walk to school at only 7am. I was in class all day monitoring the grades 1 and 2 learners take their National Assessment standardized exams, thus not noticing the change in weather.

So I walk outside at 1 to leave and realize that there are some extremely menacing, dark clouds rolling right towards us. Complete with the really intense lightning one sees in the South African desert. Due to the previously beautiful and hot weather, I did not pack my umbrella or raincoat. Crap. Naturally, my principal is the only one with a car who could have given me a ride, but not today as he didn’t come to school. All my teachers have to say: “You better walk fast it’s going to rain soon!”. Guess that’s the only option!

I put on my backpack, gather up my things, and begin my uncomfortably fast-paced trek home in my skirt. And between that village and my village, there is literally nothing. Just any old dirt road in the desert, and the only thing I typically see traversing this distance are a couple of goats. So I’m not really expecting anyone to come along and rescue me. Well I get to the intersection that marks about the 1/3 way home, about 15-20 minutes in. Clouds are approaching with ever increasing speed and proximity, wind is picking up, I feel a drop here and there… and I am at least 30 minutes from the village. Crap crap.

I walk about 8 more minutes, picking up my speed as drops are coming down with more frequency and are the really big drops that kind of hurt when they hit your face. I could not hear anything but the wind and thunder, and was startled when a donkey cart came out of nowhere to my right. It rode past me with a couple and their son motioning for me to jump on the back of the cart to get a lift back. RESCUERS! So I’m running in my skirt and sandals trying to catch up to the cart, since well donkeys aren’t the smartest and don’t just stop instantaneously. Finally I get to them and somehow make it on to the rickety wooden cart, not thinking twice about the strict “no accepting rides from strangers” rule that the Peace Corps has placed on us. Surely this can’t be talking about donkey carts anyhow?!?! It probably didn’t look as epic, but to me it totally felt like one of those adventure movies where someone runs next to a moving train trying to get on. By the time all of this occurs the rain is really coming down and we are all getting soaked. But alas we make it to my village, and the nice family drops me off right at my doorstep (because of course everyone, regardless of whether or not we have met, knows where I live). I thank them about a hundred times, and run into my house just in time for this storm to unleash hell on the village. About 10 seconds later it was hailing giant balls of ice and there was wind that I could have sworn was about to rip my tin roof off of my poor little room. Absolutely terrifying to think I could have been caught walking in it. I thought that the sound of rain was intense on the tin roof, but nothing compares to this hailstorm. But at last I was safe in the comfort of my room. I soon cuddled up with my book and headlamp and was able to unwind and laugh about my not-so-great day.

Never in my life would I have thought I would have been rescued by a donkey cart as I try to outrun a desert storm. It was one of those nice moments where I realized what a cool and unique experience this is. I have moments like this pretty often where I just kind of stop and remember “Wow.. I’m living in Africa and that just happened”. In any case, it definitely turned my bad day into a pretty ok one! Lesson learned: Always keep a raincoat handy, no matter how clear the day looks.

This is just one of the many experiences that have reaffirmed the fact that my village loves me and has my back, which is a really nice feeling in what can be otherwise a very lonely life. Just yesterday after a day of grocery shopping and hanging out with a few other volunteers in town, I hop on my taxi at about 1 with others headed back to my village. This is always fun because all of the women on the bus yell "Eeeee Lorato Mokhukhedi!!!" and greet me, excited that I am sharing a taxi with them (I can't remember who most of them are). Sometimes always being the commodity and center of attention in my village makes me want to hide in my shell and I sometimes ache to go back to a life of anonymity. But on taxi rides, having everyone know me is a much more pleasant eperience than a mass of people just staring at the weird white girl who rides taxis.

In any case, after about 10 minutes of waiting for the taxi to leave, I get a drunk man visitor sitting entirely too close to me telling me he loves me. Oddly enough this is actually the gardener at one of my schools, who during the school day never says a WORD. Guess it just took him a little booze to express his love. I make it very clear I don't want him there... I ignore him, I never look him in the eye, I tell him to go away, it even got to the point where I was having to physically push him off my seat.. my space was being far too invaded. Right before departing, the taxi driver stands up, physically pulls him out of my chair, and tells him to sit in the back. I mouth "ke a leboga" at him, thanking him for taking care of it. But of course, a few minutes later he stumbles his way back up to my seat. After a few minutes of the same routine, 3 of the other men on the taxi start yelling at him to leave me alone, and get him to move again to the back. Then, in true South African fashion, the taxi makes a pit stop at the gas station/bottle store, and drunk man takes advantage of the situation by getting just another couple beers. Great. As the taxi is leaving he stumbles his way over AGAIN, same routine follows. But this time one of the old gogos stands up (as the taxi is moving down a bumpy road), comes over and just REAMS him out for harassing me, takes him by the shoulder to pull him out of my chair, and sits down right next to me and uses her bags to take up the rest of the sapce so he can't come back. She didn't really speak any English, but I thanked her about a thousand times and we enjoyed an exchange of pleasantries along the way. It just made me laugh so hard that this old woman was the only one who could really fix the situation, and man was I happy about it. I can't express enough how much the gogos rock... while men here are horrible and untrustworthy, the older women are the kindest, strongest, and most caring people I have ever seen. It felt really good to know that everyone was looking out for me!!

I will no longer be using Picasa because i hate it, but here are the links of a couple albums I posted last month for anyone who didnt see them:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=KristinJMayer&target=ALBUM&id=5384331836749277361&authkey=Gv1sRgCLrRtuysq8Llcw&feat=email

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=KristinJMayer&target=ALBUM&id=5384317320879697361&authkey=Gv1sRgCMzikIS8gvGRiQE&feat=email

My internet connection is having a hard time uploading any on here, so I'll do that when I'm in town next and can go to the internet cafe...

Friday, Oct. 16 was a great day in the states….. because I am now an auntie!!!! Welcome to the world Indie Morgan! Most of you who read this probably already knew that, but I just had to give a shout out! She is a healthy baby girl and Alanna seems to be just loving everything motherhood has to offer. Very exciting news. I’m not gonna lie, this exciting event presented perhaps this biggest challenge I have faced since arriving in S.A. It was definitely a stark realization that life is going on without me at home. And not just the usual normalcies of life but big, life-changing exciting things! I wish everything could just be put on pause for a couple of years while I go through this, but I knew coming into this that being gone for 2 years would mean missing out on some things. There’s no getting around the fact that it sucks I’m missing out on Indie’s first 2 years, but I have to look at the bright side… at least I’ll be that cool aunt who gets to tell stories about Africa!

On a much different note, I have recently been introduced to an extremely important part of South African culture: funerals. People here are deeply religious and deaths are just constantly occurring (rampant HIV/AIDS + little access to healthcare = ☹ ), so it’s not a huge surprise what an important role the funerals play in their culture. In fact, the only community group that seems really active in every village is called “Society”, which is basically a group of (usually older) women in the community who get together and work out the costs of whatever funeral is to happen that Saturday. Funerals are big events… you typically will go to one even when you didn’t know (or ever even meet) the person who died, all it takes is some sort of community or family connection and you would feel obligated to attend. The first funeral I attended was sadly on the same day I found out I was an aunt, and was for two brothers who died very near each other – aged 16 and 18. Needless to say this was a really hard day for me. I have thankfully been to only a couple funerals in the States, but I can safely say that funerals here are pretty different. They are always on Saturdays and everyone gets super dressed up and heads to the cemetery VERY early that morning. So there is just a giant crowd of people watching the burial, participating in the songs, etc. Women cover their heads with scarves and the ones who are in mourning are usually more covered. As my SeTswana is still pretty limited, I had a hard time understanding who was talking or what was being said, but I think it was mostly a lot of scriptures and whatnot. What I did notice was that without any sort of program, everyone knew when to burst into song and what was to be sung. This is something I’ve noticed at other events also and still remains a mystery to me! Their songs are really beautiful though, so it was at least pleasant to hear them.

The ceremony took about an hour and a half and from there everyone walked together (VERY slowly might I add) to the house of the boys’ mother. The house had a really big tent set up and the family had been cooking I think the entire day before to prepare for the big meal/party that follows the burial. I feel weird saying “party” but in all honestly sometimes it’s hard to tell one social gathering from another. They all include the same kinds of foods (pap, chicken, coleslaw, potato salad, other mayonnaise-y salads…), the same big tent, the same sort of atmosphere (perhaps less dancing and singing was happening at the funeral, but it wasn’t super gloomy either..), house music, and drunk men (mind you, this meal is occurring at about 9am). Funerals are actually very social affairs, I have been asked multiple times by my teachers what funeral I am going to on a particular Saturday. It’s definitely one of the strongest traditions in the culture and the highest way you could show your respect for a person, family, and community. All in all, I have been able to avoid attending church on Sundays (not without much explanation to my Christian community) but I think that funerals will be an inevitable part of my service. But eish let me tell you… they are sooo very exhausting. So many people came that many of them had never seen me before which basically led me to having to greet and explain my presence to more people than I could count. And dealing with drunk men is, as I have already mentioned, the worst part about living here. And they don’t mess around when they drink, they get DRUNK drunk. Nothing I can’t handle though.

So anyways, that’s my spiel on funerals…. Thought I’d give you a little insight into the culture here. It’s sad to know that death is such a huge and normal part of life here. People here are also very secretive about the reasons for death here. They’ll always just say “Oh they were very very sick…”, in fact I’ve never even heard them mention HIV/AIDS at all in relation to a cause of death. In a country some say has THE highest HIV/AIDS rate... one can only assume that it’s a cause for many (if not most) of the deaths occurring. Sad, sad stuff that it still remains such a taboo in the culture.

Things at my schools are slowly but surely moving along. Something that has been really hard for me to deal with is just the complete lack of logic or reasoning used when doing anything. I understand and accept that things are moving in “Africa time”, but certain things my teachers do I just cannot wrap my head around. The biggest thing I’ve been dealing with is the fact that the teachers just don’t teach! Not only do they not teach but they won’t even be present in the classroom for hours and sometimes entire days. These absences are a completely normal part of the schools and are not questioned at all. I’ve been having a hard time drawing the line between what are in some instances just cultural differences but in others just EXTREME laziness. For instance, I can’t tell you how many times I have seen my teachers go to class, do a half-assed lesson for maybe 30 minutes without checking for any understanding and instead just make them memorize and repeat what they’ve said, and then walk out acting so very exhausting from the grueling 30 min of teaching. Maybe they will come back 20-30 min later and do it again, but often they will only be in the classroom for less than a couple of hours in an entire day. It’s one thing if they really were truly busy doing other things that they need to… but many times this is not the case! It’s frustrating when all I hear them say is “we are really suffering, this is a big big problem” yet they just kind of sit around a lot not doing anything that even slightly resembles work. I really just can’t understand how this can be an accepted practice in a school where there are at least 3 7th graders who can still barely read or write.

I reached my absolute breaking point with this the other day. Wednesday I had planned to be in the Grade 2/3 class all day and help the teacher in class. Of course, as things here never really go according to plan, my principal felt this morning would be much better spent switching the staffroom and the grade 2/3 room. Her reasoning: the staffroom gets too dusty when its windy. Naturally this would be a much better environment for the students. Like I said… logic = NONEXISTENT. So after 2 hours of making every single learner carry desks, chairs, papers, even a fridge, back and forth, the classrooms were officially switched. Ok, so not quite the morning I had planned on but maybe the afternoon would go better. OR maybe not. After about 15 minutes of break, my principal calls me into the new staffroom saying “oh we have a big big problem can you help us”. So of course I go to help them. With what? Inputting all of their 2008 budget information into this horribly complicated chart. Duh, what else would be so important? The rest of the DAY was spent working on this, with me doing most of it because I am apparently much better with a calculator. The problems with this: 3 out of the 5 teachers at my school DID NOT EVEN STEP INTO THEIR CLASSROOMS FOR A WHOLE DAY, we employ an “administrative assistant” who was supposed to do this (so that the teachers could TEACH.. what a concept) but who apparently does not do his job, and how in the hell is updating 2008 budget info more important than being in your class?!?!?!?! It’s been 3 days of working on this and they haven’t gotten past October’s numbers. And the 2009 numbers: still to come. These are times where I have to take a step back, a deep breath, and remember this is probably the way things have been done for decades. I will try my best to get these teachers in the classroom more but frankly I’m questioning how much you can really change adults who are set in their ways.

So it’s been a frustrating couple weeks at school only because I think I’m just beginning to grasp what an administrative mess the education system is here. In fact, I would say utter “shambles” is an appropriate word. I suppose that’s why we’re here though right? I am now very thankful for this 3 month observation period though… it’s pretty hard to figure out what’s really going on in a situation when you are just a beginner with the language and culture.

Another interesting thing that has happened as of late is my first introduction to Afrikaner culture. This weekend I met some other volunteers in Vryburg, a town about 2 hours away from where I am. We stayed the night at this hotel in town where a couple people had previously stayed and met the owner, a middle-aged Afrikaner man. Not only did he give an amazing discount to the group of volunteers staying there, but he also invited us to a braii (bbq) at his house with his family. So about 10 of us show up at this house only to realize it is a very intimate family gathering. The host still seemed happy we showed up and we ended up hanging out at his house all night. The house was RIDICULOUS… I guess being a hotel owner is not a bad gig. First of all, the house is situated in a neighborhood that made me feel instantaneously transported back to any normal middle-class American neighborhood. A really weird feeling after living in my village for 6 weeks! The house was complete with many rooms, a full bar (of which we were allowed full use), an oversized pool table, a pool and waterfall in the courtyard, but let’s not forget the most shocking part: stuffed animal heads EVERYWHERE, including springbocks, zebras, a giraffe (yes, a giraffe), and a fully-stuffed lion! Apparently game hunting is a hobby of theirs. While it was a little awkward at first being in such a different environment than we were used to, and facing the many questions they had about what we could possible be doing living among the blacks in the villages, it turned out to be a great evening. We were lucky enough to have a night of cold beer and really interesting talks, both with each other and with the family. And when I say this was an Afrikaner family I mean it in the greatest sense…. There were even medals on the walls that members of their family had received during WWII and the Anglo-Boer War.. crazy stuff! They were absolutely fascinated by what we were doing in the villages. It was nice to get to explain to them that while Tswana culture was very different from their own, in the end we are just people living among other people. It’s funny how these people have been living with each other for centuries and can still act like they are from different planets. Overall it was a great weekend though, and just another fascinating cultural experience I can add to my list.

Well, weeks seem to be just really moving along and I can't believe it's already November! I'm looking forward to this week, I found a French press coffee maker in vryburg this weekend, along with regular, non-instant coffee... which means I will now get to enjoy ACTUAL coffee, something I never knew I could miss so much.

So I finished writing my last update and I decided I would let you know about another big part of my life here – being white in South Africa. And because it takes so many megabytes from my internet to update my blog… I figured I’d just write it now! Anyways race has been a big part of my life here, and the first time I have ever experienced something like it. I have always learned about race relations in American history, but it is really not something I have ever felt like I directly experienced. Since my arrival in South Africa, I have been constantly aware of the color of my skin, and it has really changed my perspective! In fact, I wrote in my journal about it a couple days ago… so I’ll just put that up here.

“Every time I go to town I am struck by how much the race relations fascinate me. Race is really not something that has never been a big part of my life, at least not directly. Here I find myself constantly aware of the color of my skin and how my race affects the way people perceive me. This was a really big deal to me when I first arrived in my village, since most of the people here had never really interacted like this with a white person before. Some of the younger kids had never even seen a white person up close before. But as people in the area began to know me, my name officially went from being “lekgoa!” (white person) to “Lorato” – a pretty big moment! So here in my village I am becoming less and less concerned with the fact that I am white. Although I do still notice how it affects my daily interactions with people. I am spoken to in Afrikaans a lot (a language in which I only really know how to say how are you and good morning), and people have a really hard time grasping the fact that I am white but don’t speak it. I also get asked for money a lot, which is particularly uncomfortable but they are beginning to understand that I am a volunteer and not making a lot! The most annoying thing, though, is people constantly assuming I am an expert at things, even when I know nothing about the problems – like cars, or land care. I noticed this a lot today with Mma Maqondose (educator for grades 1, 2 and 3). I have been observing her for 2 days and anytime she has her kids do an exercise she looks at me and says “Am I doing this right?”, “Is this ok?”, or “Was that the right answer?”. The topic was Setswana phonics… pretty sure she’s more of an expert than me! I appreciate that she is eager for help, but it gets really frustrating being looked at as a wealth of knowledge because of my skin color.

It took the kids a couple days of me being in the school for them to get used to me. Some of them even seemed to have a hard time looking me in the eye. Now we have obviously all become best friends ☺, but it really didn’t come that easily!

Now where the race issue really fascinates me is in town. There is a significant Afrikaaner population there and it’s really a culture I do not yet understand. Mma Magketla (my supervisor) has given me interesting insight into the issues and how they’ve affected her. Like how she owns a house in the middle of a white neighborhood, and some of her neighbors are still really racist and not OK with her living there. She is very open to talking about things like this, which is awesome for me to learn from someone directly affected by the government I have learned so much about - her life was significantly changed after apartheid ended (she wasn’t even allowed to own a house or any other land before then!). The Afrikaaners who do make an effort with the black Africans really stand out, even if it’s just the smallest attempt to speak their language or interact with them on a totally equal level. I’m amazed at Mma Magketla’s attitude towards it all – I can see how much racism has affected her life but she still has the outlook that even though many of them are still very racist, many are getting better and life is steadily improving.

I’m almost more aware of my color in town where there are white people around. It’s like there are these unspoken “rules” of where white and black people are supposed to stand, shop, eat, etc. As someone being thrown into the situation without any knowledge of these regularities, and on top of that being much more comfortable and immersed in Setswana culture, I find I feel out of place no matter what. A good example of this is when Nate and I were waiting for a ride back to our villages and we were standing on a curb in front of the gas station. These (Setswana) men approached us, curious as to who we were as we were “clearly not from around here”. We asked if it was the way we looked that made us stand out as Americans, but they said it was in fact just because we were white people standing next to the taxi rank – it’s something that just doesn’t happen! The good thing is that these small gestures seem to be taken really positively by people, like I’m trying to say “I’m white but I don’t mind doing things as the black people do them”. If I can make just one person smile because of where I decide to stand on the street, or buying fruits and vegetables from an old woman’s cart instead of in the grocery store (um, hello it’s way cheaper).. then I say my work here is at least having a positive impact in that sense! The funny thing is that when I go to town I feel more awkwardly stared at by the local Afrikaaners… they can immediately tell by the way I dress and what I do that I am not from here, and they just seem fascinated with who I am and why I ride in cars with black people. Honestly I’ll feel good if I make just one person see that it really isn’t that weird to not just interact with people of the other race but live like they do too, then I will feel really good about life.”

Anyways just thought I would give you all an insight into the complicated issue of color here in South Africa. It’s really not that surprising since color was the entire foundation of their government for so many years, but people say things really are improving with time. Makes me wonder what it must have been like here during Apartheid….

Dumelang!

Time for more on life here in Afrika Borwa. Things are still going really really well for me in my village! I’ve been here 3 weeks and feel like I’m really getting the hang of things. I spent the first week at the school in my village, Mecwetsaneng Primary, and I have consequently fallen in love with every single kid in my village. Last week school was on break, but I ended up going to school almost every day to help my principal. She teaches grades 4, 5, 6 and 7 and was having a really hard time getting her lesson planning done, but I was happy to help as it gave me some more knowledge on how their curriculum works and what regulations the Department of Education puts in place (which happen to be abundant). I also spent a day helping her create the Whole School Evaluation, School Development Plan, and School Improvement Plan. This is something they do every 3 years, but the Dept. of Ed. has recently changed the format they have to use, so I helped her understand exactly what they were looking for. It was nice to get to see the school’s issues from her perspective and how she thinks they might be fixed, but I kind of felt like she was just rushing to fill out the papers for the Department and that she didn’t really intend on doing most of the things she was writing down. She is really passionate about her school, it’s just that many of the issues are out of her control since there is no time for her to do them as a full-time educator and principal. Needless to say, she’s putting me right to work! I was happy about this though because even though this first 3 months is supposed to be solely observation, I don’t think I can physically handle not doing any work at all!

During break I also got to meet up with some of the other volunteers in the area in Kuruman… a really nice change of pace from the monotony of my village! I was actually really proud of myself though, as much as I was happy to see them, I didn’t feel like it was something I really needed to do or I would go crazy. Luckily I feel really comfortable and happy in my village so I don’t feel like I’m counting down the days until I see other Americans. Of course its awesome to meet up with them though, as we have a really great group of people and are all getting really close!

This week I have been spending at Baduana Primary, the school in the next village over. I was lucky enough to receive a bike from my school so that I can ride it the 3km there and back the weeks that I spend there. Riding my bike with the view of the sun rising over the Kalahari is really not too shabby! I have been having some issues with the principal there, but I think it will all work itself out. He is a 30 something year old crazy Rastafarian man who tends to hit on me absolutely constantly. Men here are extremely hard to deal with, it doesn’t really matter how many times you tell them you aren’t single or aren’t looking, they just feel like they have the right to continually harass women (and of course being white only results in more of this attention). I have learned to deal with it from the drunk men at the Shebeens (the taverns in villages), but to receive it from one of the principals I’m working with was something that really really frustrated me. I wouldn’t say he harasses me necessarily, it’s more the uncomfortable things he says, like always commenting on how nice I look and calling me late at night “just to talk”, always asking me when he can come visit me, etc. It has been very hard to deal with this week, but after a couple of days of being very forward and forceful with him saying he can’t act that way, the situation seems to be improving. I’ve been reinforcing the fact while women in this culture may accept that as normal practice, it is not acceptable for me and I will not be able to work in an environment that makes me uncomfortable. So in any case, it’s been a part of the culture that is really hard to deal with, but I know that he doesn’t mean any harm and that hopefully it isn’t something that will continue.

Despite the way he treats women, he is a really great teacher and is probably one of the most liberal and progressive people I have met in rural South Africa. He is strongly opposed to corporal punishment and is all about finding new methods of learner behavior and classroom management. There is only one other educator in this school, and she seems to abide by this system. Yesterday one of the girls who comes and hangs out at my house after school everyday (coincidentally my new best friends!) was sitting on my porch telling me about how she had a bad day at school because her teacher (the male educator at Mecwetsaneng Primary) beat her in class. The principal at that school is also opposed to corporal punishment in theory, but she as no time to observe the other teachers as she is always in the classroom herself. So I think this is an issue I will try to tackle at some point – I had tears welling in my eyes as this sweet girl was telling me about getting smacked right in the middle of class and in front of everyone. It makes the learners terrified to ever make a mistake, resulting in the total fear of speaking up in class. I think he’s the only educator I work with who actually still hits his kids, but I can tell it’s been the way these kids have been brought up. Sometimes when I’m with them in class I’ll go up to one of them to pat them on the shoulder and say “good job” with a smile, like many teachers in America would, and the kid will flinch like I am about to smack them across the face! But anyways, the principal at Baduana is hard for me to deal with but luckily has a really great education philosophy – this will be one less challenge for me at the school.

On the note of my schools, I just have to mention how absolutely in love I am with these children. Most of my education experience has been with students from 13-17, which I thought was what I preferred, but I am really loving working with the really young ones. In both of my schools my favorite days have been with Grades 1, 2 and 3 – words cannot express how cute they are! An added bonus to working with them is that I’ve realized I’m at about a 2nd grade level in Setswana, so I learn a lot in their class too! But you can tell they don’t get a lot of attention at home… the second they realized that I will play with them and encourage them they started getting really excited everytime I come around. When I ride my bike to Baduana Primary they wait at the fences of their houses and run next to my bike the rest of the way to school! I can’t think of a better way I could start my day….

One thing I have particularly enjoyed about these first few weeks is getting closer to my host family. At first I was pretty nervous about living with a family for two years, but I was lucky enough to be placed with one who is really eager to help me be a part of the community and the family (which really go hand in hand as I am finding out I’m practically related to everyone in my village!). My gogo (aka my grandmother… Mmamma Mokhukedi) is maybe the cutest and welcoming woman I have met. She doesn’t speak much English but it’s been a great way for me to speak more Setswana. Some of my favorite times are just sitting on the porch and drinking tea with her and the kids in the evenings. Papa Mokhukedi is too old to hear anyone, so our communication is really no different than anyone else who talks to him! I absolutely love my host brothers who live here, too. In fact, Tsepisho and Olefeng (ages 13 and 9) went running with me this evening! And they did the whole thing without shoes… showoffs. We spend most evenings playing together… our favorite activities include riding my bike around, playing soccer for hours and hours (with a ball made from balled up bread bags… heartbreaking!), and drawing pictures in the dirt. Sometimes we also like to race to the community water tap… and of course I let them win all the time.

Summer is on it’s way and it’s getting hotter everyday. The heat hasn’t been too big of a problem for me yet, it seems that it’s only really hot in the afternoons, but it’s been cooling off in the evenings. I don’t know if that’s because we are in the desert or because it’s still spring, but I’m hoping it lasts through summer… as long as I can sleep at night all is well! What does suck about summer coming is that the bugs are coming out, and anyone who knows me should know this is not something I handle particularly well. The big problem here seems to be flies that swarm everywhere in the heat. Which has coincidentally turned me into a total clean freak… I swear I’ll freak out if cockroaches start becoming a part of my life!

Alright, time to make some dinner! Oh also I have an address in Kuruman now so let me know if you want to send anything and I’ll give it to you.

Sala sentle! (stay well)

PS - more pictures to come soon! Picasa really just sucks so I'm trying to find a better photo program to use that doesn't use up too much data to upload photos....

Dumelang ditsala (friends)!!!

Time for another long update on my life here in S.A. THings are going really well here, and I am very safe, healthy and happy - what more could I ask for? The past few weeks have been really crazy and awesome, so I'll split this entry into sections for your organized viewing pleasure....

Last days of training

The end of training was super fun and bittersweet. We took our language, safety, cultural, medical, and technical tests, which sounds a lot worse than it was. In my opinion all you had to do was just be present during the 8-week training and you'd be fine. I got "high intermediate" on the Setswana test which pretty much just means I was able to have a coherent conversation.. though after moving into my village this is much much harder than it was at training. The last Saturday we had a farewell party at the college with all of the trainees and their host families. We had a big lunch (chicken, pap, potato salad, beets, coleslaw, and custard - pretty much your typical S. African feast), some speeches from the trainers, and we sang both national anthems. That tuesday we went to Pretoria to visit the Peace Corps office, which was awesome because I got to stock up on like 10 books from the resource center. Then we got to do our shopping for our site move-ins - I got my internet phone and some basic household things for my room (dishes, basins, etc.) Tuesday night about 10 of us decided to stay in the dorms at the college to swap files on our hard drives and have one last hang out. We made a campfire and shared some yummy snack we got in Pretoria - it was a really fun night!

Swear-in

Wednesday we travelled to Mafikeng with all of our luggage and new purachases (stressful!) for the swearing-in ceremony. It was at the Mmabatho Palms resort, which super swanky and awesome. Hot showers, a bar, delicious buffet meals, and all of the PCTs together for the last time! It was so much fun, definitely a little bittersweet though. We had the ceremony after breakfast on Thursday. I think this was one of my favorite days so far.. it sounds cheesy, but it was pretty inspirational to hear the country director, our trainers, representatives from the Department of Education, and the Ambassador. Speaking of whom... he's from Boulder and we had a little geek out session on the gloriuos state of Colorado. Yeah no big deal, just kickin it with the ambassador! From there we travelled with our supervisors to our villages...

Home sweet home!

So I have been in my village for about 5 days now and I am really starting to get into the swing of things and feel at home here. The people here have been incredibly warm and welcoming - I can't even go outside my house without someone waving to me and yelling "Dumela Lorato!!", no matter how far away they are. Yep, Peace Corps has totally given me celebrity status. I have actually really enjoyed getting into my routines here. I've begun to love the sounds of our sheep (which is ALL DAY LONG), watching donkey carts go by outside my window, fetching water at the community tap (literally, this is my favorite daily routine for some reason..), and not to mention I have perfected my bucket-bathing skills. I have also been trying to run on a regular basis, not just for exercise but also for something to keep me busy and a way for me to be seen in my community. I really like to go on the main streatch of gravel road to the next village (where my other school is) and back, which turns out to be about 6km - I'm glad I brought my trail runners as there is no paved road for miles and the roads here are really bumpy and rocky! Sometimes this can be a very mentally exhausting task - I can't go very far without people yelling at me, running out of their house to greet me, kids running with me, and sometimes even cars completely stopping to figure out what I'm doing. I'm sure this will ease with time though. I've really started to love all of the time I have to myself (especially on weekends). This will probably be challenging at times but for now I'm loving reading (my books are dimishing at an astonishing rate... HINT HINT if you ever want to send something ;) ), journaling like crazy, listening to music, and cleaning my room (I'm weird, I know)!

Food

Many of you have been asking what the food situation is like for me here - and I'm happy to report it is much better than I ever expected joining the Peace Corps! The S. African cuisine in the rural areas pretty much consists of porridge (made from cornmeal and water), pap (also cornmeal and water) and meat (we're talking every part of the animal - brains. feet, the works). Needless to say, because SA has fully stocked American-style grocery stores in the towns, most volunteers opt to buy their own food and cook for themselves, as I have. This way I can eat what I want and continue being a vegetarian. So mostly I have been eating a lot of yogurt and granola (which I hope to start making myself soon...), fruits, oatmeal, rica and beans in any form, eggs, and potatos. Oh yeah, and I am a fully addicted to peanut butter, at any time of the day. Not bad overall!!

My shcools!

This week marks the end of Term 3, so the learners go on break for a week tomorrow. This week I am spending at Mecwetsaneng Primary (the one in my village) and when school reopens I will begin at my other school (Baduana Primary). I have literally loved every second of being in the schools so far. My supervisor - Mma Magketla - is one of the most wonderful people I have ever met and has been great in helping me get the hang of things at school. Yesterday I spent the whole day with Grades 2 and 3 (taught by the lovely Mma Modise) and had so much fun - there is nothing in the world cuter than these kids! Today I spent with the Grade 7 class, taught by the only male educator Rra Meremintsi. At first the kids were really shocked to have me around and were pretty shy but now that they are more used to me they get SO excited anytime I'm nearby. Like today when I decided to sit with the Grade 7s they started cheering when I walked into the room! haha I'm telling you... im a total celeb. These two great girls from grade 6, Oratile and Lerato, like to wait for me at the community tap by my house so that they can walk with me to school in the morning, it's so so cute. I'm still not positiver what projects I will focus on once I am out of this 3 month "lock down" phase, but as of late I'm thinking I will do a world map project where you get paint supplies donated and paint a big world map on the outside of the school. They also have a school garden that rocks, but they have only been winning 3rd prize in the school garden competitions and next year they want to shoot for first, so I'll have to think of ways to help with that. These are all the small projects I will do though, I'm still not sure whether I will jump into teaching or focus on teacher training or what. I think I can help them get a computer lab and maybe a library though, so maybe I'll start there. For sre they need a lot of help with literacy and maths (not a typo!), so I'll be focusing on that. For the next few weeks I am going to take pictures of all of the students and their teachers and put up posters in the classrooms with all of their pictures... this really excited them as some have never seen a picture of themselves! I really want to spend these first couple months working on getting the kids self esteem up.. this is really an issue with S. African kids! They have virtually no positive reinforcement in the classroms, and everytime they do anything slightly wrong they are either scloded verbally or hit. I have yet to actually witness the corporal punishment but I have heard the educators threaten it, and everytime you go near a child they flinch like you are about to beat them. It's really sad, so I really want to put my energy into having fun with the learners and giving them some postivity in their lives!

So as you can probably tell, things are are going quite well and I'm really excited to see what the future holds! I feel really lucky to be in such a safe, welcoming community - and one that really wants me to be here. Sometimes the tasks before me seem really daunting, but I'm sure it will be easier to visualize solutions to the problems once I've been here a little longer. I see why they put us here for two years though... development is a very slow and long process!

Hello from Mzanzi!

I just got back from my site visit and had a pretty crazy week! During site announcements our group was broken up based on whether we were going to live in the Northern Cape or the Northwest Province, then they told us a little bit about our villages and what our shopping town is. My village is in the Northern Cape about 35 km east of Kuruman, which is the shopping town I share with about 12 other volunteers placed in the province. Monday my group left for our supervisor’s workshop, which was 3 days at a hotel outside of Kuruman so we could get to know the principals we are working with. This was really a lot of fun because the hotel was really nice and we got really good meals, hot showers, and a really good view of the hills just by Kuruman… an unusual site as it is right in the Kalahari! Oh and there were baboons! Awesome. On Wednesday we all packed up and went with our supervisor to our site.

My village (which I can only tell you the name of in an email… PC policy) is really cute and small, which is nice because typically the smaller the village is the more community-oriented and safe it is. It’s a pretty desolate, barren area, so there is not much to look at, but in my mind its really what I thought Africa would look like so it works for me! There are a couple of slight hills where I am, and right in between them is a small stream with a little bridge over it – which is right down from my house. I guess during the rainy season the water in the stream gets pretty high and the landscape turns green pretty fast so that should be cool. In fact, the name of my village means “Little rivers” because I guess at one point there was a lot more water in the area… not anymore as it is the desert! I’ll post pictures as soon as I decide to take my camera out in my village…

My host family has been really friendly and welcoming, and I think they will be one of the best parts of this whole experience. It’s the Mokhukhedi family, and the main people that live there are the two, very elderly grandparents. They don’t really speak any English but we somehow find ways to communicate and they are just about the two cutest people I have ever seen in my life. The Mokhukhedi family is pretty extensive in the community, it seems like everyone is somehow related. My host “sister” Mpho, the granddaughter, is 30 and we have already become fast friends. She has a 33 year old husband named Dick and a little 6 year old daughter named Onolo. They actually live maybe 20 minutes away in a different village but they are around at my house a lot and even stay there for days at a time sometimes. Onolo (Nolli for short) and I are obviously already best friends! I’ve met many aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. and I’m still not sure what everyone’s names are and how they are related but I guess that will come with time. We live right next door to the chief, who is a very nice man and the added bonus there is that its extra safe when you live next to the chief cause no one messes with him! But like I said, the family has been amazing to me and are so excited to make me a part of their family. They even held a little prayer ceremony right when I got there with some community members to officially “induct” me into their family, so I am now “Lorato Mokhukhedi”. Pretty cool! Haha, this was quickly followed by someone trying to “give me away” to their son to marry and make me officially a Tswana… I respectfully declined indicating I had a boyfriend!

My room is a separate bedroom that’s attached to the front of the house and has a separate entrance. It’s a nice bright pink color, which I totally enjoy. There is electricity but no running water, and thankfully the community tap is not too far from our front gate! And they were telling me that since the tap is on a slight downhill, it will always have water running to it whereas some of the others end up drying out at certain times. I will take pictures of the house once I get back, that will be much easier than trying to explain it all here! It’s a cute house and I’m really comfortable there, so that’s all I can really ask for! Because my room is attached to the house it will be kind of difficult to establish my privacy, but I think if I focus on that right when I move there it should be fine. South Africans seem to do this knock-as-they-enter thing – the concept of privacy is really a different cultural thing here!

I will be working in 2 primary schools, one is the only school in my village and then the other is in the next village over about 4 km away. Luckily one of my schools got bikes donated to it for those who have to travel from other villages and they are going to let me use one to go back and forth between my schools. Both are extremely small and extremely understaffed and don’t have many resources. The one in my village has about 80 learners (in South Africa it’s learners and educators instead of students/teachers) and 4 teachers, and the other has only 40 learners with one teacher other than the principal. So in both cases a huge problem is multi-graded classes… for instance grades 1, 2 and 3 will be in one class together and 4, 5 and 6 in another. The educators are barely present in the classroom because of administrative and family issues that need to be addressed, leaving the learners just sitting in their classes without anything to do! My first term in the schools (3 months) will be spent just observing and figuring out where I can be the most help, but so far I think they really need me to help them do lesson planning that goes along with the OBE system and can deal with 3 or 4 grades in a class… a very daunting task but really needed. They also need to have these lessons planned for the whole year and turn them in to the Dept. of Education, which neither of my schools have been able to do. Each school has a couple of working computers so I think that I will get some programs installed that I can train the educators how to use to make things run more efficiently and effectively. The problems in the schools are numerous though, so I have my work cut out for me! I really do want to help them teach because of the staffing problem, but I’m worried that this really won’t be sustainable at all. If they get used to me filling that space and lightening their load, there isn’t much they can do to keep that going when I leave.

My smaller school actually has some alternative and progressive teaching styles, and they teach the learners traditional Tswana and Zulu dances for their “Arts and Culture”. I got to watch them perform them for an entire afternoon for my first day there, in their costumes and everything! It was really a lot of fun, the principal hooked up a stereo and I got to hear a lot of traditional songs. It’ll take me a little while to learn the dances but they’re convinced I’ll be an expert by the end!

My village is very small (no tar roads and only one very small tuck shop) but I’m not too far from Kuruman, which is a pretty nice little town where I will do my shopping. It’s weird to have the amenities so close by, the comparison of living standards in the rural villages, townships, and towns are still so dramatic, something definitely still leftover from the apartheid era. I think that’s one thing that makes South Africa such a difficult place, there is a crazy contrast between the wealth and poverty. And the poverty is REALLY bad, like a tiny tin shack that you truly wonder if you can stand up in housing 10 people. This is mainly what you see in the shantytowns and townships (in South Africa the pc term is “locations”) outside of the towns, but it’s really visible and very shocking. I will also have to write more later about the race relations in Kuruman itself, it’s pretty crazy to see and much more of a separation than I thought there would be.

This is our last week of training and we have our language testing Thursday and Friday. I think it should go fine, and regardless of how I do I think I will find someone in my village to continue tutoring me so I can become more proficient in the language. I’m beginning to pick up a lot more in conversations but the speaking is still pretty hard. Speaking of which, today is our language test signifying the end of training so I hope it goes well!! MOnday we have a couple more sessions on moving to our sites, Tuesday is shopping day and visit to the PC office in Pretoria, Wednesday we travel to Mafikeng and Thursday is our swear-in ceremony where we officialy become PCVs and then move to our sites! Should be an exciting week!!

I should be getting regular email soon (via my first internet phone, haha the irony...) so keep the updates coming! Love hearing from everyone!

So we are in our fourth week of training which means we are about halfway through! Actually we are a little past halfway because training seems to fizzle out during the seventh week and then week 8 will be devoted to going to the PC office in Pretoria and getting stuff that we need for our permanent site move-in. But I’m definitely getting into a routine here and everything is starting to feel more and more familiar! I’m even starting to find a soft spot for doing everything out of buckets (bathing, laundry, even a pee bucket for the night!), so moral of the story is that I think if I try hard enough I can really get used to anything!

Last week was definitely a good one! We had 2 school visits, one where I observed a teacher in her class and then the next day I “team-taught” a class with this girl Zita. The observation was really interesting… the school we are in is actually one of the top-ranked high schools of its kind (as in, it competes with the scores of some white schools) and the teacher I observed was the deputy principal. Because of this I expected this class to maybe not follow the pattern of bad teaching that we have been learning about. But in fact it was a textbook example of the effect Bantu education has had on these teachers. It was an 11th grade English class and she was having them read this article on HIV/AIDS.. obviously something that could have been a really interesting class! But instead she just kind of had them silently read it, and then instead of checking to see if the understood the content, vocab, etc, she just preached to them for 30 minutes about how abstinence is the only way to go and that condoms are pointless. Luckily I did not witness any corporal punishment, this school seems to be opposed to it in their school policy (it’s illegal but practiced in many schools).

We taught the next day in another 11th grade English class and it was really fun! It was with a different teacher who teaches literature mostly, so we did a short story that they had been working on for a couple days. We had about 4-5 students whose English was absolutely flawless, so it was a little hard to get the others to speak up. It’s possible that they were maybe the only ones who could understand us and our different accent though! Overall it was a great experience, I would absolutely love to teach at that level of English – it would be very interesting!

This weekend we went to the Apartheid museum in Soweto, which is the biggest township in Joberg. It was definitely one of the better, but definitely most depressing museums I’ve been to. I found it really interesting to see the Bantu education stuff, because the pictures of classrooms from the apartheid era they were showing honestly weren’t that much different than the ones we have been in. There’s definitely still a long way to go in that respect. Afterwards we got to go to a mall in Joberg!! I had a veggie burger and fries at the food court, and it was just amazing. We didn’t have time to do much shopping though, so I only got a couple of little things. The weekend was kind of brought down by the fact that I have been suffering from my first round of sickness, along with many others in our group. It seems to be a flu with the body aches, chills, fever, and inability to keep food down combined with a cough coming really deep from my lungs. Every day it seems like 4 or 5 more people get it, pretty inevitable when we spend all of our time together and don’t really have the capacity to wash our hands as much as we’d like. Luckily everything seems to have gone away for me except for the cough and throwing up, hopefully that’ll be next! Too many new sicknesses and germs to get used to…

This week we have 2 more school visits, one where I teach a class alone (!!) and then another we do something with the school that shares American culture, we haven’t decided what we’re going to do yet though. Should be fun! At the end of next week we have our site announcements and then the week after is our site visits so we can get to know where we will be living! I’m pretty excited to find all of this out and be done with training…

Thanks for the mail!! It seems like it takes about 8-15 days for something to get to me, which isn’t too bad. Oh also I forgot to tell you my Setswana name – “Lorato”, which means love. They just think it is hilarious and awesome that a white person would have a setswana name, it’s pretty funny! You can still address my mail to Kristin though, haha. Anyways hope things are great at home!

Sunset we saw from the airplane upon arrival in Joberg!

Dumelang!

Things here in S.A. are just moving right along! We are in our third week of training, which actually sounds kind of crazy because they’ve really packed a lot of things into a fairly short amount of time, it feels like we have been here forever already.

The first week was spent in the dorms at the Marapyane education college, which is actually one of many abandoned teacher training colleges around the country since they decided teachers should be trained at the regular universities. The first night we arrived we were greeted with song and dance from our LCF’s (Language and Cultural Facilitators) followed by a traditional South African meal… a perfect welcome to Africa! We’ve been in our host families ever since in the villages surrounding the college.

Our training consists of General Peace Corps Policy and medical stuff, Setswana language, and technical training – everything education related. Before we really got into the technical stuff we had a lot of sessions on the history of South Africa, a lot about the apartheid and where we fit in in post-apartheid SA, history of the South African education system, etc. A big part of our role here will be helping implement the Outcomes Based Education system that was part of South Africa’s transition into a democracy. OBE is pretty much the system we are used to in the States – just the basic idea of having set goals and ways of assessment for every subject at every grade. During the apartheid era the black Africans were only educated under the “Bantu Education” system which kept blacks far behind white schools in every subject and prevented them from gaining any higher education. This created generations of black Africans (80% of the population) that couldn’t be anything more than laborers or domestic workers. So even though it has been 15 years since the apartheid government was overthrown, many of the teachers were raised and educated under this system and are therefore not familiar with what OBE looks like. Many are not equipped to teach the subjects to which they are assigned and some haven’t even had the proper schooling that is required to teach. This is also coupled with the fact that many of teachers are suffering from or have died of HIV/AIDS, resulting in a huge lack of teachers.

Basically we are learning that the problems facing schools here are plentiful and they don’t stop with the teachers. There is a really big issue with teens getting pregnant and becoming infected with HIV/AIDS. Many of their parents are forced to leave and work in Joberg or Pretoria, leaving the kids without supervision or a strong mentor and even leaving some with younger siblings to take care of. And let’s not leave out the severe lack of resources due to economic disparities in rural areas and the problem with corporal punishment practiced in many of the schools. Basically we have our work cut out for us!

Many of the PCV’s that are part of previous groups have been helping with aspects of the training and given us a good idea of what to expect at our permanent sites. We swear in on Sept. 17 and have about 3 months at out site to just feel it out, develop our bearings and connections in the community, and learn as much as we can about the schools, after which we decide what we want our focus to be depending on their needs. Right now I am doing my school visits (part of technical training) in a secondary school, but whether I work in a primary, middle, or high school will largely depend on which school has the biggest need and where I can be the most help. I might even end up teaching something other than English (many end up doing math, science, health, geography, etc. just because there may not be someone else who is qualified) just depending on the situation in the school. I indicated that I would prefer starting out primarily teaching – I think this will give me a good opportunity to really get to know the schools, students and teachers before I start trying to make any changes in the school itself. I think ideally I would teach English in middle school – mostly because primary school can get pretty difficult with the lack of English knowledge and the high schoolers often think I’m 16 and not a teacher. But who knows – I think I could find positives in any of these situations! Some PCVs decide that they would rather focus on HIV/AIDS education, getting a resourced library, teaching IT, alternatives to corporal punishment, training teachers and holding workshops on OBE, or extracurricular activities and projects. I think the great thing about the flexibility of the SCRP (school/community resource project) is that it really is tailored to meet the actual needs of a community…

Wow, only as I’m writing this am I realizing how much we have really learned in these last few weeks! It’s been great though, our group is extremely diverse and intelligent and they are really fun to work with on all this! Most of our training is done by South Africans (many who were previously teachers/principals) so I think we’re getting a pretty solid knowledge base to prepare us to go into our communities.

Adapting to our host families has been a crazy experience. Mine is very nice – my host mother is a woman named Elisabeth and her son Thabiso is 16. She, like many of the women in rural areas, works in Pretoria as a domestic worker and lives there during the week with her older son (who I haven’t met). Thabiso is a really polite and smart kid who actually goes to the high school that I do some of my training at. One thing I’ve definitely noticed about students here is that no matter the extreme lack of resources at their schools, they are way more eager and ready to make something of their lives than students in the states. It’s very inspiring!!! But the housing situation has been fine, because of our differing schedules I mostly cook my own food and allows me a little more independence which is great! Thabiso is also a great resource for me – im learning all sorts of things about challenges facing students in South Africa and the students’ vies on education itself. My host mom came home this weekend, so I decided to go with them to a confirmation of one of the cousins in the family on Sunday. What a CRAZY experience. It involved getting up at 5 in the morning, long walk to the taxi and then my first “koombie” ride, a nearly 6 hour hot, stuffy, African Catholic church service (of which I only really understood the words “modimo” – god, and “tshegofatso” – blessing), and a crazy party after with thumping techno music (yes, techno… not quite the African music I was expecting). I was also required to go around and greet EVERYONE there, and be stared and gawked at for hours. Definitely got a lot of pointing at me with people yelling “lekoa!!!” (white person). I got home around 6 pm to the comfort of my bed, and I have pretty much decided it was one of the longest, most exhausting days of my life. It’s crazy how much culture shock and the inability to communicate can take out of you! So, I don’t think I will be going to church very often but at least I got a great cultural experience! I think the anthropologist in me is definitely coming out in this whole experience…

Anyways I guess I don’t have to write a novel for you all to read! There is still so much to say, this is by far the craziest, most challenging and incredible I have ever done… maybe that I ever will do! Internet usage has been sporadic, but hopefully more updates are to come soon! This week we are shadowing teachers in our high school and then team-teaching a class so it should be fun! I honestly can’t wait to see what this whole experience has in store for me – it really is different for every person that goes through it.

I'll try to update more soon! Miss you all and hope everything is going great stateside :)

So the first, exhausting day and a half of staging is over and I'm getting closer to departure for South Africa! So far so good, our group (SA20) is really diverse, interesting, and awesome! Lots of married couples, retired volunteers, recent grads like myself, and everyone in between. The PC is great and gives us walking around money for meals and small items that we need... it's great because it kind of feels like we are a bunch of kids on a big field trip! In a good way though..

Tomorrow we check out of our hotel, go together to a clinic to get some shots, then it's off to the airport. We arrive in Johannesburg Friday evening and are pretty much shuttled to our training site right away!

I may not have internet/phone access for these first couple months, but hang in there and I'll send updates as soon as I can!

À bientôt! (I'll let you know when I learn how to say that in Setswana..)

Hi everyone!

This will be my blog I'll post on throughout my time as a Peace Corps volunteer. Today Im in Washington DC en route to South Africa to be a School and Community English Resource Specialist. The basic elements of this position, taken from that assignment description I recieved from the Peace Corps, are as follows:Assist teachers in improving their teaching, content knowledge base, and classroom practicesProvide direct instruction to learnersComplement the Department of Education's training of teachers, school management teams, and principals on outcome-based curriculumSupport initiatives to promote HIV/AIDS awareness and education in schools and communitiesStrengthen partnership between school governing bodies, teachers, parents, learners and community membersInitiating, supporting, and strengthening programs in the community which empower out-of-school youthYep, a lot of very broad duties! I'm sure I'll find much more out about what really I'll be doing when I get there, this is just to give you an idea of the basics.

I just found out there will be about 46 of us in our group, and all of us will be stationed in either the Northern Cape or the Northwest province.. so you can kind of see where those are at on the map. Our first 2 months of training are at an old teacher training college at a place called Marapyane... not sure if you can really see it on a map but its pretty close to Pretoria.

Here's my basic timeline:

July 22-23: Staging (Pre-service orientation) in Washington DC... this is where I'll be able to meet everyone else!

Thursday July 23 5:40 pm: Flight leaves for SA! It's about 18 hours long, so we will actually arrive Friday evening (SA time)... which will be morning time here.

For about 1 week we will be staying in dorms at our training site called Marapyane.. it's in the Mpumalanga province near a town called Bela Bela (in Limpopo) if you can find it on a map. After that we get moved to our training host families!

September 17: We officially become volunteers and get placed in our permanent sites for the full 2 years.

I had such a great month before I left, filled with a trip to Seattle, camping trips, climbing 14ers, seeing friends and family, and of course preparing!

I miss you all already and I will update this every chance I get (however scarce this may be..), make sure to inform me on what's going on in your lives too!

My address during training is:

Kristin Mayer, PCT

Peace Corps

PO Box 9536

Pretoria 0001

South Africa

And to leave you all with a pretty picture.. here's our climb up Mt. Cameron and Mt. Lincoln - Ill miss Colorado!!