February 16
Water at the tap today! That's a big deal, since although it's still raining, we want to save the rainwater for the dry season when the tap may go dry, as it did last winter. So I dragged out my 5 and 7 gallon water jugs, borrowed the wheelbarrow and made 2 trips. Eish! I've lost my muscle tone. I was huffing and puffing, both trips. I'll get back in shape soon, though. Helps me appreciate how decadent those jojo tanks are. Spilled some of the water pouring it into a bucket, so the floor got washed. Sponge cake, as Rachel Naomi Remen wrote. Seeing opportunities rather than accidents. Life here is great practice in seeing opportunities.
February 28
So I did it. I used an umbrella as shelter from sun. And while I felt ridiculous, I LOVED having shade from the intense sun of summer. Ah, the comfort of body over the demands of ego. And what a lesson about giving up my notions of "acceptable". Pants are often a no-no, but two different patterns on garments are fine, as are major amounts of cleavage and nursing in public. Very tight clothing is often the norm, and shoes, including spiky heels, that, to my eye, have no place on rough sidewalks and dirt roads, carry wobbly women. Cutting in lines that have been forming for an hour to catch a bus is "the way it is", and personal space has no meaning on busses. Makes me wonder what people from other cultures find interesting in our givens...
Now I'm learning about patience and how to honor the Swazi customs without giving up my own. And balance. It seems to always come back to balance. How to find my place in my host family, in the workplace, in my interactions with other PCV's?
The people with whom I work do not want to say "No" to me. But they also don't always want what I offer. It's a dilemma, because if I can't trust that they will say "no" then it's hard to offer ideas and opportunities. At the same time, when they say yes and mean no, then it still doesn't happen, I just feel as though I'm trying to get them to do something they don't want to do. It’s a great way to make sure I am including them in the input and decisions.
As always, as I write, thinking it's so different here, I recognize similarities to home, just different ways those things manifest. Wake up calls - interesting stuff.
Something that is different is life for teenagers. All of the kids have chores, starting when they are very young. The older they get, the more responsibilities, so that often teens do all the cooking and cleaning, especially in homesteads with grandparents raising the kids. I went to visit my sisi from my training site - Simphiwe. She is at a boarding high school. At her homestead she cooked (over an open fire, as well as on a wood burning and electric stoves), cut wood, hauled water, cleaned, helped garden, did laundry... you get the picture. At school, she is responsible for her school work and probably also has some cleaning tasks. But visiting her at school is a delight because she's giggly and goofy and laughing and concerned with how she looks and her grades. Who knew that what we consider "normal" teen behavior can be such a joy to see? I consider myself her mentor, and notice how she sometimes pushes the envelope with me. It's okay - I know how to draw boundaries, and want to encourage her trying new things. After visiting, I walk back to catch the khombi with a lightness in my step that I didn't even know was missing.
March 7
I remember my earliest posts. They had themes, and flowed. Now it seems these posts are snippets and snapshots, bits and pieces that I think might interest you readers. No themes, no flow and little connections. Sort of like my life.
So for those of us who are visual learners, picture this:
I'm on my way up the (dirt) road to my tutor's house, ear buds in, the Grateful Dead singing Truckin'. I've got a silly grin on my face, I’m bouncing a little and feeling good. I see a truck being pushed. A couple of men have pushed it one way, the wheel turned, now heading around to the front to push it so it will be lined up to be pop started. I do what any of us would do - I run up and help push, not bothering to take out my earbuds. We push, get the truck lined up, and then I take out an earbud and smile at the men. Okay, now imagine you are one of those men. Here's this old white woman bouncing up the road, and she runs over to push a truck. WHAT!?! I totally loved the expressions on their faces as they said thank you. Doug Burns told me once that it's important to blow your image every now and then. Mission accomplished.
Here's another picture:
On my way to catch a bus to Manzini this morning I crested a rise and tears came to my eyes. The valley in the distance had become a white fog lake, a few hills poking out of the mist. I haven't seen that since I left Orygun, and my heart filled with joy and longing and sweetness and beauty and... I went home for a brief moment.
I wore my Josephine Community Library t-shirt today. JCLI folks, be proud! You're now known in Swaziland. Wound up meeting the librarian at the National Library, partly because I was wearing this shirt. And, noting said shirt, said she saw a passion for libraries in me, then she invited me to read to kids - we'll start with ages 8 - 11. I'll read, she'll translate and we'll both try to intrigue them with the magic of books. If it works, maybe we can expand it to teenagers reading plays aloud. Hilary, I may ask to draw on your experience with reader's theater to help me reach these kids. I so love the stumble technique! It works beautifully...
March 9
Taught a class on the importance of self-esteem to a group of high school juniors (though the age range is much greater here than at home). At the end I asked them to tell me what they would remember from the class. One young man synthesized it this way, so I asked and received his permission to post it here.
"Between possible and impossible there is a fine line. Self perception is the bridge between the two." Castro Gama, Form IVA, Ekukhanyeni High School, March 6, 2014.
Oh yeah, that's why I'm here...
And, a friend sent me down a path that wound up here:
Left Brain
rants and raves,
reasons and rumbles,
powerless
to touch
Beliefs
elusive
unyielding
Beliefs
quietly
creatively
constructing and shaping
our realities
Right Brain
wordlessly
laughs
~Michele
March 9, 2014
