In South Africa

I've written this entry offline not knowing when I might actually get to a computer to post it. No matter, since things should be pretty stable for the next few weeks. At times it's hard to believe we're really in South Africa, and at others it seems like we've been here for a very long time. Suffice it to say it's been wonderful!

Our group of 82 Peace Corps Trainees (PCTs) left Philly on July 26 after 1 1/2 days of staging there. We bussed to JFK and flew to Joburg without incident, arriving tired and feeling as if we'd lost a day. PC met us at the airport and we were transported on buses to a youth camp near Dennilton. Rondovels (round huts) were our home for 6 nights. Each day we either rode in the PC van or walked to a nearby nature preserve where we held our first of many training days. Here we continued to bond with the group, which slipped to 80 by the end of the week. We are split into 34 of us in the NGO HIV/AIDS group and 46 in Education. There are two married couples in each group and about 15 of us over the age of 50. It's hard to count exactly since we've been separated from the Ed group since Aug 2 when we moved to our village. We had begun the training before splitting up with a variety of sessions on safety, culture, language and a little tech, plus getting shots. We had outside speakers but for the most part sessions were led by PC staff including language trainers and a few current PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers). We also had our interviews with our NGO boss. We began by learning greetings in several languages: Zulu, Sepedi, Ndebel, Setswana. By the time we left the youth camp for our host family stay in the village we had been assigned to a specific language group. This was determined by the location in which we will be placed. Though we won't know our placement until September we surmise we'll be placed in the Limpopo province since that's where Sepedi is spoken. I know there's so much to learn but I am pleased with how much we have learned in 10 days. Our trainer Primrose is very patient and a good teacher. There are only 4 of us in our class and another Sepedi class of 3. So the 7 of us may be near each other once placed permanently. One of the young women in our class, Steph Frazier is from Mequon, an '02 grad of Homestead. It's such a small world!

So for the next 5 weeks or so we'll continue to live with our host family in the Mpumulanga village of Boekenhoudhoek. It's a large spread out rural village. Dave and I feel so lucky to have been placed with a wonderful family who is also fortunate enough to afford a nice 4 bedroom house. We live just across the street from a tiny store where we go almost daily to buy bread. The old age home where we have classes is just a hundred yards away so most days we come home for lunch. Lately our language sessions have met at one of the other host homes at 8 AM, then we head to the center for other sessions, again focusing on culture, tech, etc. Last week we had two outstanding speakers from whom I learned more about HIV/AIDS than I could have thought possible.

Last weekend, our first here in the village, we were busy with a morning culture session and then actual cultural experiences. On Sat afternoon we walked over to the home of the bride whose wedding was that morning. Some people, like our host family, had received invitations, but the whole community is expected to attend. So several of our 34 were at the reception, which was beautiful, decorated with flowers and white satin covered chairs under the tent. We received and ate huge plates of food. After leaving there we stopped by a neighbor's, where an initiation was happening. We had been told a couple of days before to come. We were invited in for tea and cookies and were told we must come back Sunday for the celebration (after the cow was slaughtered in the back yard). A boy in the family had been one of three in the village to become a 'man'. They had just returned from a two month stay in the mountains where they were circumcised and taught to be men. This only occurs once every few years in each village; so our timing couldn't have been better. On Sunday we returned to a huge feast and the ceremonial gift-giving. It was a full weekend.

This weekend was more restful with more family time and a little shopping trip. Sunday we attended church with Betty, our 'sister'. The rest of our family includes her brother and a niece. But the undisputed head of the house is Gogo (grandmother) who is funny and loving. Everyone speaks English, mostly very well, with our sister speaking 9 languages. We have a room in the main house; the house is in great shape and immaculate. We always have electricity except in brown outs and our kitchen has everything, a frig, stove, microwave. The pit toilet is in the backyard, then at night we use a chamber pot. We have a tv that gets 2 channels; once in a while there is an English speaking show. We have goats and chickens always in the yard and roosters crow at all hours. Most roads are dirt and people walk everywhere, except to do shopping, which is a 20 minute taxi ride. There are no pay phones here which is why we have yet to call anyone. We have an internet cafe about 1/2 mile from home, which has 2 computers in a small room. Since our group's arrival it's constantly busy. It works slowly and we have given up on finding any wireless hotspots--haha.

The weather has been great for the most part. We had a rainy cold spell for several days, but it's been cloudless and very comfortable for the most part. It still cools down at night a bit then warms up to the low to mid 70's during the day. We are in the hills and the sun is beautiful on the distant hills. It's just very dry. The night sky is incredible.

Soon we know where we will end up and that's probably the next time we'll get to update this blog. So, this might be farewell from Mpumulanga and hello ???Limpopo. Take care and please email us; we do get to the internet now and then, just not consistently.