Striding Along

6 August 2013

This journey, though fewer than 6 weeks so far, has truly taken me a world away. My new normals are so very different. Each step, from a distance, seems impossible, and then there I am,  striding along.

Today  my steps took me traveling to the place that will be my home for 2 years. Make and Babe are retired, almost my age, with one son still at home, a couple of nieces and several grandchildren. Everyone seems friendly and kind. My house has 2 rooms, electricity, and a nearby latrine. Water will be either rainwater or from a well, and we'll have a garden. I want to try it some of the permagardening techniques I am learning.

Steps. I'll have plenty of walking to the high school, which is about a kilometer away. Not sure how that will shake down, as I hope to also work with out of school youth. Guess I will have lots of time to figure it out as I learn about my community.

Training has been filling us up with so very much - and now I'll get to begin using some of it. I look over my shoulder at where I've been and I am amazed. Look how far we trainees have travelled! Things that were bothersome are fading as new concerns take their places. I'm still struggling with plateaus in learning the language, but that's just one piece. And the group dynamics are changing as we get to know each other and as we look at where we'll be geographically. Those who are not kindred spirits are self-identifying, and those who may be are opening as well. We've been together long enough for the honeymoon to be over and  for respect to be earned (or not).

This has been a time of mistakes, for me, as I find my balance in a world so very different from the one I've known.  Peace Corps has called it, having observed the process for more than 50 years, but living it is different than hearing about it. Still, it is good to know that it's a time I'm supposed to make mistakes, and to give myself permission to do so. I'm certainly making my share, and learning from them as I fall down and go boom. But the process of encouraging mistakes is really new - and actually freeing! And expected, which is also new. I challenge you to try it -try encouraging yourself to make mistakes as you learn, instead of striving for perfection.

Swazi time - a way to slow down and pay attention to the process. Frustrating!
In so many instances I can't get there from here, 'soda' speak; or, at least not in a straight line, as I'd like to. So, slow it down, be patient, and a way will finally emerge.

It has been said, here, that I am most introspective. Yep. That's what it takes for me to come to peace with situations that bother me. But that aside, I find myself grinning like crazy, with a wild happiness inside, humming along with some ancient rock n roll song as the ibhasi (bus) rocks and rolls on the rutted dirt roads taking us to and from classes. In some strange way, as I study the Swazi language and culture and find my place within the training culture, I'm finding my place in this world.