Christmas and New Years

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! For the past couple weeks, I've been entertaining volunteers in my village acting as the pit stop for their holiday travel. Despite being busy and sometimes exhausted, I've been delighted to host my friends and let them use my place as a 'staycation'. Monday was Christmas Eve and also the last day of my reading club for the week. In honor of the holiday spirit, I read to my 25 children the Christmas story around the tree outside the library. Back in the states, my pastor had always done the same thing—that is, gather all the children of the church on Christmas Eve and read to them that same story. As a treat, I gave the kids candy canes. They had no idea what they were, so I had to explain to them that they were a holiday candy. Christmas I was joined by one volunteer as well as my host family from PST; the 5 of them stayed at my place for two days. We enjoyed my Christmas decorations, put together my Christmas puzzle, listened to Christmas music, and shared our holiday stories. Christmas Eve, Sybil the volunteer and I cooked for the family by making them spaghetti and homemade meat sauce. We sat cozied up together on my floor telling them about American Christmas—I'm not sure if that made me any more or less homesick.

Christmas morning came and so did Santa Clause. I had gotten the two children some gifts and left them under my 17" tree. The presents may have been nothing much but I loved seeing Similo rip open his stocking. As the children ate the oatmeal I made for them, my sisi so nicely cleaned my house. Later that morning, my son Solomon dropped and met my family. It was cooling seeing my two "families" meet and play with each other. Eventually we made it to the club for Christmas dinner. The afternoon was filled with Skype dates from family back home. The highlight of the day was seeing Similo enjoy his first time in a swimming pool. Around 4 PM we had a Christmas buffet. It was delicious—far better than any meal I could have ever cooked that's for sure. By 7 PM it started raining and the holiday was over. As much as I had tried to make it feel like Christmas, must admit, it was hard not being in the states for this day. However, I am glad that I got to celebrate it with people I love.

New Years was such a blast! I went with 10 other volunteers to Mozambique. As I have mentioned before in previous posts, the boarder is only 15 minutes away and Maputo (the capital city) is about 1.5 hours away. Once you cross the border, it is like night and day. In case you didn't know, Mozambique was colonized by the Portuguese, and evidence is shown immediately through their architecture. Maputo is a coastal tropical city; it's hard to believe that a world like this exists so close to Swaziland—the city alone is double the size of Swaziland alone! We stayed at Fatima's Backpackers right in the middle of town. The two nights we stayed there, we toured the city looking at all the monuments, museums, and exploring the local markets. We came across the large gorgeous shopping mall; I was the first to run right in. The group I was with and as well as the remaining volunteers who went out later that day, all said they immediately thought of me and said I had found my home. They know me oh so well.

On the 28^th we made an 8 hour journey up the coast to Tofo Beach. Apparently it is acclaimed as the best place in the world for scuba diving. The waters have these whale sharks which is arguably the largest fish in the sea. The whale sharks, despite their scary appearance and name are harmless to humans; divers can swim right next to the beasts. Due to the number of people visiting the secluded beach and the lack of planning, we were unable to schedule a boat to take us out for a snorkeling session. I guess this just means I have to make my way back there. We even met a RPCV who served in Mozambique in 2002. He said that when he came here 10 years ago, this place was deserted; now it is becoming quite the spot.

I absolutely loved Tofo. All I could say for the first few hours was Oh My Gosh! Oh My Gosh! The small beach village is still fairly new to tourists, aside from the scuba divers. That's what makes it so unique—though it was the high season; the beach was still clear and not polluted with people. The ocean was crystal clear; even when I stood chest deep in water, I could see my feet plain as day. Unlike the beaches that I am use to in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, this beach was 100 times more beautiful. The sand was white and hot as can be. When you had to run from the cabana to the ocean, your feet would make the squeaking sound through the sand. I have never been one to enjoy the ocean, I was more a fan of it from a distance; this ocean was phenomenal. I spent the next three days diving through the waves. While in Tofo, we stayed at Fatima's Backpackers again; this time we camped on the beach. The weather so great, you needed no blanket or pillow, the sand was plenty comfortable. Whilst lying on the beach we had local vendors walking by selling the local crafts and fruit. I can't say enough good things about this place.

For New Year's Eve, we danced the night away. Fatima's was actually having an music festival call Ocean Fest, so being that we were staying there, we had free entrance to the event. The Rasta band was cool, but once it came closer to midnight I ditched the band and headed to the beach. When the clock stroke 12, I took off into the ocean. Since I unfortunately had no one to kiss at midnight this year, I approached the New Year head on by diving through waves…. I may or may not have had clothes on. =) Minutes later, other people had the same idea and dove in with me.

This by far has been the best New Years of my life, and I am pretty sure I set the bar pretty high for the years to come.

Birthday Week… err, Month!

 
2012 marked 25 years that I've graced this world with my presence. On the 15^th, I had one of the best birthdays ever… however, my Little Mermaid party is a close second. Typically the whole month of December is dedicated to both Jesus and my birthday, but unfortunately Peace Corps interrupted my celebration habits with a week of IST (in service training). So on the 14^th I started the celebration with one of my friends coming up for a Friday night braai. Then on Saturday the real party began. Can I first just say how excited I was to have a birthday in the Summer time?! It may sound ridiculous, but every birthday so far has been accompanied by cold, gloomy, snowy weather. That is why this year I HAD to have a pool party! It may seem as if I am rubbing my "posh corps" lifestyle in your face, but I can't help it if I was placed with a pool in my back yard. 

By noon, my community was crowded with Americans—we had overtaken the place. Sunbathing, cocktails, good music and food, what more could a girl ask for. The party started at 9am and lasted throughout the night. By midnight I had 12 people stuffed in my house, and another 12 camping in tents on my front lawn. I may have forgotten to tell them about the snakes, but luckily there were no fatalities. Sunday was an encore to the previous day's festivities and so it continued onto Monday. Here it is Saturday again, and I still have people staying with me. I've calculated the dates and I am going to be crowded with people well into the New Year. First comes Christmas in a couple days, naturally it will be spent at the CC. Then almost immediately I will be on the sandy beaches of Mozambique dipping my feet in the Indian Ocean as I ring in the New Year. Can't wait to tell you all about my trip!

Ube Khrismusi lomuhle!

World AIDS Day

    I come from a country with HIV prevalence close to 0%, to now living in a country with the highest rate in the world. HIV isn't a 'them' issue, it is an 'US' issue. I was never really concerned with HIV before I came to Swaziland, simply because I never knew anyone personally affected by it—that is not the case anymore. I don't know anyone personally with HIV, but that doesn't mean my friends, neighbors, etc.. don't have it, they just don't talk about it. I do however know tons of people first hand who have lost an immediate family member due to the virus. HIV isn't just some 'bad thing' you associate with Africa. It is a real disease taking millions of lives and leaving millions of children as orphans. 

December 1^st was World AIDS Day and I was so happy to see the country's response to that day. Fellow PCV's all over the country organized events, while other NGO's also did things to commemorate the day. My community did a survey to determine the current rate of HIV in my community specifically, and at my school I organized all the students to wear red. As someone who is now living on the frontlines of this war, I encourage all of you reading this see what you can do to fight AIDS; even if it's just being educated on HIV, getting tested, praying, or befriending someone who is positive. 

Let's all work together to have an AIDS free generation.

30 Things I’m Thankful For

Every year around this time, people make of list everyday of what they are thankful for. This year I decided to make a list of 30 things I am thankful for since being in Swaziland. These are in no particular order.

1. My laptop. Without this thing I would be bored out of my mind. Every week I spend countless hours listening to music, watching TV and movies, writing my blogs, typing reports and projects, uploading and editing pictures, and the obvious facebook stalking.
2. My iPod. This thing serves as a force field when I walk the streets of my community. All I do is put my headphones in and it's like I disappeared. Sometimes walking along the road gets exhausting when every day you have to say "Sawubona" to 100 people. It also comes in handy when the preachers on the khumbi yell the whole trip.
3. Refrigerator. This is the best investment I've bought since being here. This place is so hot, and being able to have a cold water bottle or even a refreshing spoon full of yogurt sure makes everything much better. Then there are those times when just sticking my face in there for 5 minutes is all I need to survive another day.
4. Country Club. My oasis. Whenever I want to sit in the nice air conditioned relaxing uninterrupted space with friendly staff, I come here. Taking a dip in the pool, jumping on the trampoline, exercising in the gym, or acting like a kid on the giant jungle gym are some of my favorite times. I also love this place because they host the Fun Fair, which was hands down the best weekend I've ever had.
5. Hlane Game Reserve. I love the fact that I can drive down road at any given minute and see baboons the size of a school child, monkeys running freely stealing the sugar cane, beautiful impalas grazing, and the occasional giraffe and elephant. Despite my 1^st world surroundings, this reminds me that I am in Africa.
6. Thoko Gama (Danni S). My neighbor and closest allies. We were neighbors during PST and now we live only 10 minutes away. To add to my wonderful set-up, I am fortunate enough to have another PCV live so close to where we see each other 1-2 times a week. Having an American friend close by is great and helps my sanity, but the fact that we help each other with our different projects is another blessing. We're able to have a greater effect on our communities when we work together.
7. My Swazi friends. I've made several close friends since being here. At times I do feel like no one understands me, and at times I know they don't even understand me, but the fact that they stick around during my mood swings means a lot.
8. My children. I have mentioned my 4 girls and 1 son to you all before, but I just say it again—these kids mean the world to me.
9. My PST host family. They were the foundation of my introduction to Swaziland. Through them I've learned that I don't know how to wash my clothes, cook, clean, and I am too sensitive. I still don't know how to wash my clothes, I am getting better at cooking, I don't really care about cleanliness anymore, and most importantly, I've developed a "so what?" attitude which is key to survival here.
10. Malaria Pills. Without them I would be dead. I have on average 15 new mosquito bites a week—if anything this is a great conversation started amongst the Swazi's.
11. ORS. This stuff brought me back to life. I was dehydrated and puking my guts out. Drinking my ORS revived me and within a week I was healthy again.
12. My weak immune system. For several weeks it took a hit, and as a result I've lost 25 lbs since being here!
13. Mango and Avocado Season. Between June and July avocados grow everywhere, and the same for mangos during Nov and Dec. My taste buds are in love with these treats!
14. What Should PCVS Call Me. This blog is 100% hilarious and 100% true. Take a few moments to check it out.
15. Skype. Thanks to technology, I have yet to be homesick. Love that at any one point I can see my mom, dad, boyfriend, or friends.
16. Care Packages and Mail. I love getting stuff in the mail, and thanks to everyone who has sent me something! I don't care what it is in the boxes, but when I see something sent from America and gives me a little piece of home, as well as give me a sense of assurance that I am not forgotten over here. A BIG THANKS AGAIN to everyone who has sent me something. It really does mean a lot!!!!
17. Art Supplies. Despite the fact that children gravitate towards me, I never really know what to do with them. Now that I have crayons, markers, and paper, I can entertain the kids and keep them occupied for a few hours a day.
18. Birkenstocks. Back in the States, I hated these shoes. I always gave my mom a hard time when she wore them, but now I find myself wearing these as my go to shoe. These things seriously are practical, comfortable, and for the setting—they're cute. I don't think I'll wear these when I get back, but in the meantime, I love em'!
19. Deodorant. Enough said.
20. KFC Ice Cream. So McDonalds is nowhere to be found in Swaziland, but KFC is everywhere! And the best part is that they have this soft serve ice cream for 3 Rand—that's only $0.37!!!
21. Chicken Dust. My favorite food in Swaziland is by far this little treat known as Chicken Dust. It got its name by its location. All throughout Swazi, there are braii stands on the side of the road grilling chicken. When the wind picks up or cars fly by, the dust from the road covers the chicken. This stuff is so freaking good I wish everyone could try it!
22. My Mom. My mom is my lifeline. She is the one that gets me. I am so thankful that without a doubt I can call her with anything good or bad. She even knows just what to get me—those care packages, it's like she went inside my room and picked everything out. She also realizes my love for coffee and keeps me supplied with all those goodies.
23. Jason. My partner in crime. This man has been by my side for the last four years of my life and without him I honestly would not even be here to write about Swaziland. I owe him a debt of gratitude. I hope he realizes just how much he means to me. It takes a real man to let his girl go off and follow her dreams, and an even bigger man to wait. Te amo mucho….
24. Christian Culture. Swaziland is obnoxiously conservative for my liberal life, but I appreciate the fact that they still acknowledge God through every facet of life.
25. My French Press. See # 22.
26. "Where There Is No Chef" Cookbook. This PCV gem is what has helped me with my cooking skills. I definitely had no idea what I was doing before in the kitchen, but with this book, I've been able to explore my culinary side.
27. Sex in the City. Seriously my favorite show ever. Whenever I watch an episode, it makes me feel like I'm back at home. It also gives me a sense of satisfaction whenever I get the urge to go shopping or I miss wearing my heels on a daily basis.
28. Tea Time. Swaziland was colonized by England. The Brits are long gone, but one thing that stuck was "tea time". Every day between 10 and half past, Swazi's break for tea, coffee, and biscuits. My new favorite tradition.
29. NGO's I Work With. Working with an NGO makes my job a lot easier and productive. The NGO I have had an opportunity to partner up with is SWAGAA (Swaziland Action Group Against Violence).
30. PCV Vehicles. Never will I ever enjoy a khumbi ride in this country. See # 2 again. I'm sorry, there is just no way that cramming a ton of sweaty bodies and screaming babies on an old van bouncing up and down on a rough road can ever seem like a good time. Therefore, I am thankful for when the white knight rolls into town!

And those are my 30 things. Happy Thanksgiving America!

Consider This

Like many Americans this year, I wasn't thrilled will either candidate nominated in this past election. Additionally I was less thrilled with the results. Nevertheless, I still voted. To those of you who didn't vote for whatever reason, that's ok. It was YOUR choice. Just like it was MY choice to vote for whoever I wanted. Even if my party didn't win, as an American I will respect my President and continue to show love for my country.
America is the country that the rest of the world looks up to. Even in my little Swaziland, I had almost all of my colleagues at school engaged in this election. People look to us for leadership, for direction, for inspiration, and for a new start. Sometimes when we're stuck in our situation we forget how good we really have it. Thankfully at this point in American history I am glad that I have the chance to step back and take a look at all the positive things about our country, although it does get discouraging when reading some facebook statuses.
Prior to November 6^th, I had a lot of people ask me who I was voting for and they asked my opinion about Obama. You should see the shock on their face when I told them that he wasn't really my cup of tea, but once I gave factual substance to support my view they certainly understood. Then when Obama won, those same people were sympathetic and respected my choice. I wish people back home could be more like that….. The thing I loved most though was everyone's sense of support and admiration for our government. The morning after the election, my Head Teacher sent me an email saying he was sorry my candidate had lost, but congratulated us on a successful election. I had another expat say how much he admired our people in the fact that despite there being more than one party, we as Americans rally behind the person who won. I have more instances where people were just so impressed about how our electoral system works and how much they like democracy.
    For those who don't know, Swaziland is one of the last absolute monarchies in existence today. They have a king, Mswatii III who still holds all the power. To set the record straight, I am not disrespecting any one government or government authority, but I wish to purely compare and discuss the nature of my American government that I see so many of my fellow citizens taking for granted. Here, the king is not voted for, he is chosen amongst the royal family and he is king for life. The people here are subjected to him and must follow what he says. Yes, there is a parliament that is voted in, but ultimately the king still has the final say. One Swazi made the comment to me that really put things into perspective. He said, "If you guys have a bad president he will be out within 4-8 years, and if he wants a second term he will actually try to do a good job to get reelected. We on the other hand don't have that system. A king could be good or bad, it doesn't really matter because he will be king for life." If you really think about what that statement means, especially how it affects the Swazi people, you won't want to take our democracy for granted.
Civilization was founded on monarchies; the Old Testament is littered with them. 1 Samuel 8:6-11 even tells the story of the Israelites asking God for a king to rule over them. So I am not saying monarchies are bad. The root of what I am saying though is found in the scripture passage I just mentioned. The Israelites thought they could do better than God. They saw what other nations where doing and they wanted that. The warning with that comes in 2 Timothy 4:3-5, there will be a time when people will ignore what they know is right for what they want to hear and makes them feel good. What I am seeing today in America is that likeability is more favored. We want to do what will please people and not necessarily what is morally right. Sadly, some of those who see this problem continue to only see the negative and again, get stuck with just complaining. Like I said in the beginning of this post, I am glad that I get a chance to step outside America and see all that is good. Yes America is not in the best place it could be, but we are still very very fortunate that we have the power to change the course of the nation and we can do so freely without fear.

I will end with this passage founded in 1Samuel 12:14-16 [this is Samuels farewell speech].
        "If you fear the Lord and serve and obey Him and do not rebel against His commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the Lord your God—good! But if you do not obey the Lord, and if you rebel against His commands, His hand will be against you, as it was against your ancestors. Now then, stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes!"

Chinese Food

While people back in the states are bundling up in their chunky sweaters, cute jackets and knee high boots, I'm sitting over here sweating my butt off and it's only just Spring! PCVs and Swazi's all warned me that my city is the hottest in the country, but oh my gosh(!) this place is really really hot. It gets to be about 40 degrees Celsius with very little breeze. And the fact that my house is like a giant oven doesn't help. So it's no wonder why I got dehydrated. But before you all start to point your finger at me saying that I need to drink lots of water, let me stop you and announce that I drink water nonstop all day long; it was just one of those unfortunate bound to happen things.
Since Wednesday of last week I had felt under the weather. It might be because of the Chinese food I ate, or the unrefrigerated leftover Chinese food I ate, or it might be the fact that Obama was re-elected; regardless of what it was, something in my stomach wasn't agreeing with anything. To spare all my non-PCV readers the details of my bodily functions (which are now a normal topic amongst my circle), I will just say that I had gone3 days without eating anything and was still hanging out in the bathroom like it was giving out free money.
Saturday came and was the day of my first hip hop event—it about killed me. I almost passed out a few times in public and couldn't seem to keep it together. After about the 5^th person telling me I looked bad, I knew I needed to go see the PCMO. Sunday morning the nice white air conditioned PC truck rescued me and whisked me off to Mbabane and that is where I spent my next 4 days in the Med Unit. Tuesday I was finally eating again and not having anymore…"episodes", and since I had watch 2 seasons of Modern Family, I figured I was good enough to go.
And that is where I am now, safe and sound in my cozy little place I like to call home. So the lesson learned in this situation is stay away from Chinese food and vote Republican… or maybe not?

Happy Halloween!

So I've now had my second holiday in Swaziland… Halloween! Just like I celebrated 4^th of July (read it here), I went all out for this holiday as well. The benefits of having my American friend and closest PCV being only 15 minutes away, means that whenever I want to act like an American, I can just take a quick khumbi over to see her. Prior to Oct. 31, I ate all the candy corn my mom sent me, I've been drinking my pumpkin spice Starbucks coffee, and I watched the Halloween classic "Hocus Pocus". And despite being Spring here, the weather this past week has felt like Fall weather back in the states. I couldn't be more happy!
After prepping for the holiday I was ready for Halloween; sadly however, no one here celebrates it. So I wore my orange and black to school with only myself knowing the significance of the colors. I animatedly exclaimed "Happy Halloween!" to my students with them responding in "sooooo?" My little girls came to the house without any costumes and I had to prompt them to at least return with a knock on the door saying "Trick or Treat". After years of being excited for this day due to my niece and nephews, I was ready to go see Thoko (my PCV friend) and get my Halloween on. 

Turns out Halloween was not lost after all! Thoko's kids knew exactly what to do. She had over 20 kids come over and knocked on the door for candy. We then went for a walk at night to the sitolo to get ingredients for the cookies being made later when I ran into "Kanye West". I wasn't planning on doing any costumes, but I ended up being his Kim Kardashian. Back at the house, Thoko and I came up with the idea of melting the left over Halloween candy to make caramel apples. The idea was right, but the end result was poorly executed. The toffee was colored black and when mixed with my brown caramels made it look gross, but since it Halloween, it worked. Too bad it tasted horrible. 

Thanks to my mom, Betty Crocker, and Thoko's oven, I was able to make the pumpkin spice cookies, which eventually ended up as a cake because we forgot to take the pan out when we preheated the oven. When we stuck the fork in the cake to see if it was done, it took a big chunk out of the middle. IDEA! We decided to make a face in the pan of cake/cookie and within moments, my Halloween was complete—I had carved a pumpkin face, kind of. To top this evening off, we watched Harry Potter 1. Now the rest of my week will be spent watching the rest of the HP movies… thanks Thoko.


Next up: Thanksgiving din din at Thoko's. 

Happy November!