Back to School Bash and Other Exciting Things

Finally! After months of planning, we finally had our back to school bash hosted by our Girls Club. It took a lot of work and patience, but we did it. With the help of SWAGAA (Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse), we were able to use their sound system. The bash happened on a Friday after school, it was “semi-optional” to attended, because really- these kids have their own agenda, and they would walk out even if it were not allowed. To our surprise, all the kids stayed. It lasted about two hours and was full of entertainment. We had 2 rap performances, raffle drawings, games, music, and my dance crew I manage led us out. Apparently people in a neighboring city were even talking about it the following day. I’ll take that as a good sign.

Well after this bash was done and over with, my stress level didn’t go down. I had to prepare for to take the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT). It is the entrance test to work at the State Department (working for the American Embassy all over the world). Just like any government job, this takes nearly two years to get in- application process and what not. So no, I will not be leaving Peace Corps early; I just want to get a head start. I had spent a lot of time studying, though it is nearly impossible to study for this test. The FSOT consists of: US history, US government, foreign affairs and policy, technology, pop-culture, economics, business, management, math, and grammar. There are only 70 questions that you have to answer within 40 minutes. The best you can do is try to remember all the junk you learned in high school social studies class, cross your fingers and hope for the best. In addition, there are three more sections, all which are timed, that cover previous work experience and your comprehension of English grammar. All in all, the test is 3 hours. I did feel good about the test the first time I took it, that was until the computer system crashed with only 10 minutes left in the test.

I was writing my essay, when all of the sudden an error message popped up on the screen. In a panic, I had the facilitator take a look. We tried everything, and when we called the office in America, they were no help. It was over two hours of communicating over the phone, shutting down and logging on to computers that we had to call it a night. This then led me to be stranded in the capital city at night….. this is something I never want to experience again. To make a long story short, I was ok, and made it to safety. It just made me miss home a little bit; had I of had my car and a job that actually paid me, I’d not have to worry about money for lodging or a taxi. Oh well- it’s the Peace Corps experience isn’t it?! Anyways, they told me I might not be able to retake the test on Saturday because normally you can only take it once within the testing window. The State employee, who was very helpful, managed to get them to agree to let me take the test on Saturday, since it was their fault and not mine that the computers messed up. Sadly though, I had to take the whole test over again.

Despite the inconvenience of having to make another trip to town, I was happy that I was able to retake the test- gave me more time to study. I was happy to retake the test, until I started having an episode and couldn’t focus. I had woken up extra early to meet in town with another PCV, my lack of sleep was killing me, and so I loaded up on coffee. This normally would have never been a problem for me. In fact it never had been until that day. When I got up to the leave the restaurant where we were eating, I started to shake. I had no idea what was wrong, but I thought whatever and just went with it. By time I had arrived at the embassy, I was a wreck. Sitting down by the computer I was all jittery, I couldn’t focus on the questions, and knowing that time was against me, it made me panic even more. The first time I took the test I was cool and calm; I even had time to go back and check my work. This time around I was so frazzled. What really frustrated me was the fact that I am unsure of my English score. The grammar section which is my best, had me all confused; not because it was hard, but because the way it is displayed on the computer, it had my eyes racing and I was getting confused. In the event I do fail the test, it is not the end of the world, and I am ok with that. I will just take it next year. Fortunately I will be with Peace Corps (yea, I think I am staying that third year after all), so I still have time.

The last thing worth mentioning is that the internet availability is very limited now. I don’t want to say the wrong thing or get kick out of this county, so I’ll just sum it up to say that if you want to talk to me via skype or something, you’re going to be waiting. The wifi service shut down Feb. 1 and will be down until further notice. So as I write this blog and a few others, know I am doing it in real time and I’m not just slopping something together out of negligence. I still have my cell phone which uses data to access my email and facebook, but aside from that, I’m S.O.L. So today, and many many other days, I am thankful that I come from a country where internet is reliable even if it is slow. I will never take for granted my precious hours of free wifi while sipping on my chia tea latte from Panera Bread. Ok I got to go now; I’m making myself homesick… hmmm.