Betwixt and Between

30 July 2013


Last week marked the halfway point for PST – Pre Service Training – and we’re right on schedule, according to the Peace Corps, in our transitions: we’re neither there nor here.

I find I’m adapting almost without being aware of it. I still think longingly of a real store, but realize I can find much of what I need within walking distance. Sometimes I eat ‘chicken dust’ at lunch (yummy barbecue chicken with a small salad and a huge helping of liphalishi, a “porridge” that’s thick enough to be sort of solid and tastes a bit like corn bread without the eggs – hard to explain) bought from a roadside stand. Dinner on those days means feasting on whatever fresh fruits and veges I have on hand – perhaps papaya, avocado or baked pumpkin -   all local and flavorful. However, after washing clothes in a washtub, I will never diss another laundromat.

My internal journey is not so easy. I want instant perfection yesterday, as well as to learn without mistakes, judgment (of self or others) or difficulty. Right! Turns out that while I thought I’d be learning all about Swaziland, I’m actually learning more about myself. So I’m making a concerted effort to look for strengths and to adopt a learner’s mind and attitude. We had a whole training session on participatory organizing (look for strengths to build on rather than problems to fix). Perfect timing!

Slowly, too, I am developing rapport with my host family. We laugh a lot and hang out some and all of us are learning, I think, about each other. I like the gradual growth of trust and sharing – gives me some alone time and helps me appreciate what is happening.

Technology has been providing some interesting lessons, too. I finally have a phone, and thought I’d be able to tether it to my laptop and have internet access. Not quite that easy. The charger on my phone doesn’t work, the battery on my laptop isn’t charging, the internet continues to be iffy, and the software to tether it isn’t available yet. Sigh. So much for expectations. I will answer emails – but for now, the answers will be short, since typing on my phone isn’t all that easy <grin>. And these posts will continue to be pictureless until I get things straightened out.

But if all this sounds discouraged – I’m not. At the end of last week we had tests to see if we’re learning, then we got some ideas about where we might be placed, we bought our phones and then – a field trip!

We visited a sustainable permagardening site, then a museum, then a cultural demonstration village. We heard music, saw a traditional dance and toured a mock up of a traditional village. The music touched something deep inside, and the dancers moved with grace and skill. Pictures will be posted when I can.

We wound up late afternoon at Sondzela, a game reserve, and saw zebras and impalas grazing as we drove in. We spent the night, so had time for several walks through the African countryside. I wish I could describe the emotions that washed over me as the savannah stretched in rolling hills before me. The land changed radically when we entered a copse of trees. We went from grassland to forest in a few steps, it seemed. As we followed the path next to the creek, I felt I could be in the Siskiyous, but when we emerged into the sunlight, we were elsewhere again. At one point the path was one-person narrow, winding through vegetation and clay and stone hillsides. We rounded a corner to find a large antlered buck grazing. He was in no hurry to move, so we stood a while, then shooed him forward. He ambled along, unable to leave the path, chomping a mouthful here and there, leading us on. When he was able, he left the path and disappeared into the brush. Magic.

We emerged, at last, at the hippo pond, where we saw no hippos, but a large crocodile swimming serenely along across the water. A couple of huge turtles also sunned themselves sleepily at the shore. We cannot swim or even wade in standing water because there’s a disease carried by snails that would take 2 years to get out of our bodies. Sigh. The call of the water was almost overwhelming.

We headed back, ho humming about the zebras and impalas, stopped to check back in to the visitor center (they make hikers register, even day hikers), and sit blissing out, eating Death by Chocolate bars ice cream and watching the warthogs graze. Then back to the lodge.

Did I mention we had our first showers in 3 weeks that first night? Imagine how luxurious all that hot water cascading over our heads felt. For those of you who have done a Grand trip, think about the first shower off river. Better than that!

Now it’s back to work, to language lessons and learning about the culture and people. Tomorrow we visit a traditional healer. Saturday I will know where my permanent site will be and what I will be doing. Next week we go visit our permanent sites. Peace Corps is taking us step by step towards the day when they will drive us and all our gear to our permanent site and then drive away. By then we will have crossed the between and will begin a new betwixt. For now, this one is enough.