PST

Fun Moments of PST

Where shall I even begin? Pre-service Training (PST) has been like summer camp and school in all actuality. The two months while in training I’ve only been thinking about getting to my permanent site, unpacking my suitcase for good, and starting my real job. But now looking back, PST has been pretty fun. There was that time I killed a chicken, the time I went to a cultural village and saw the dancing as well as monkeys! There was also that time when we went to Ngonini and learned how to garden, then about 20 of us had diarrhea for a week. Then there were only 10 of us that had it… and then we all bragged about how much weight we lost. No connection though… I don’t think! Lol Oh I guess this is a good time to mention my recent 3 day encounter with a fever of 101 while trying to study for my final exams. On a healthier note, there was the time when Swazi took on USA in a soccer match—naturally we won, just don’t ask about the rematch. There were also the other various soccer tournaments in the community that always had my attention for one reason or another.

I’ve actually had some pretty cool experiences that have been on my bucket list. Our training village in the Manzini region is surrounded by all these beautiful mountains. In our free time, which was few and far between, a lot of us volunteers went mountain hiking. I’m a sucker for a good view, and boy did I see some! I once hiked to the top of a waterfall and was able to see Mozambique and the Indian Ocean.  I say this a lot, but God is amazing. If I had to go home tomorrow, I would still be ok, because I have been able to see more and more of His beautiful creation. I serve a creative God. This is the #1 reason why I love to travel, because I feel like I get closer to God each time. As Christians there are many ways to feel close to God, praying, fellowship with other believers, reading the Bible, evangelizing, and being in nature. Doing the latter has really strengthened my relationship with God while I’ve been here.

Another thing that I’ve been able to try out in PST that will carry on over the two years is my interaction with food. I actually cook it now. Really I do! Now I didn’t say I cook well…. But I cook well enough to eat it which is a great leap for me! Every time I cook a meal that looks good, I take a picture of it as evidence for the day after. A few of the things I’ve made have been scrambled eggs and spinach with roasted potatoes, stir-fry several different ways, tuna salad, alfredo and marinara sauce from scratch for my spaghetti, and my own vegetable soup.  Once I get set up at my house I plan on cooking a lot more adventurous things.

The best part about PST though has got to be the friends I have made. Granted I’ll be with the volunteers the whole two years (God forbid anyone ET’s), but this is the one time where we’re all close together. Now we’ll have to take 3 hour bus rides to visit each other. Not only did I make friends with the other volunteers, but also my host family. I truly do love them to death and will miss them dearly. I’m kind of happy that I won’t have a host family at my new site, because I would hate to compare. I know that I will always be a Magongo.