December Holiday

How time flies! One day you are at the onset of a long break from work and a holiday vacation, then next you open your eyes and the first week of work in the new year has already come and gone in flash.

December was a whirlwind of fun and excitement. School ended for the students at the end of November and the staff stayed on until the 4th of December to tie up loose ends from the year. With five weeks of break from schools ahead of us, we felt as though we had all the time in the world to catch up on email, update friends via this blog and post some more pictures of what we have been up to. Obviously those goals seem to have escaped us! Those first few weeks of December were spent doing a good deal of work at the Drop In Center to organize for the end of year party held annually for the children there. It was a busy time, but the event went off with great success and we had a wonderful day. Our final week before heading out on our holiday vacation was spent with friends in the village. We hosted dinner at our place one evening for a good friend to celebrate a good year and all of the help he has given us in getting settled in the village. We introduced him to tacos, complete with homemade guacamole, sour cream and cheese. He was thoroughly impressed and enjoyed every bite! It was nice to have a friend over for the evening. We truly enjoy hosting and it feels like a big step to have already made good friends in these short months to invite into our home.

On the eve of our departure for holiday adventure, Brandon and Rachel came to our place so that we could all leave together the following day to head out for Pretoria. We enjoyed a rather eclectic meal that consisted of anything in our combined refridgerators that needed to be consumed before departing for a couple weeks. It turned out to be a rather cold, rainy night, in fact one of the coldest we have had in quite sometime requiring long pants and socks just to sleep comfortably. The low temp that night dipped into the low 40's farenheit, which we realized later was within 10 degrees of the high temp back home in Minnesota! Not typical for this time of year, but we were not complaining since the alternative is weather in the 90's. En route the next day we stopped in Ellisras, the town where we do our shopping etc. to drop off Safiri. Our friends, Pieter and Denise, were kind enough to look after him for us while we were gone. He lived up to his name by traveling relatively well in his box on Jess' lap all the way to town in the taxi. We tried to be discrete about having him on the taxi with us, not because animals are uncommon on taxis (in fact, chickens are quite common) but because we already draw enough attention to ourselves as it is. Adding a cat in a box with blankets and toys might be pushing the envelope. We did get a few inquisitive stares and confused faces, but all of our fellow passengers thought it was more or less hilarious that we would carry our cat with us to town. I suppose that all we need to do now is get a lease for him and start taking him on walks through the village. Then any doubt about how crazy the Americans are will be put to rest!

With Safiri settled in and introduced to Pieter and Denise's two dogs (quite a shock for all parties involved), a wonderful meal shared with friends, and good night's sleep under our belts, we caught a 5am bus on our way to Pretoria and holiday enjoyment! We arrived and spent the day exploring Menlyn Mall, which is enormous, savouring the taste of a Cinnabun for breakfast, and catching a movie. It is rather incredible that in a few short hours we can transport ourselves from a quiet life in the village to a bustling mall in the suburbs of the city. Most people in our village will never see the suburban, upper-middle class side of their country. They see it on TV and read about it in the paper, but it still remains an idea in their mind, yet to be seen with their own eyes. We feel privileged to be able to live and work in the village, to exchange conversation about our respective lives with our friends here and to be able to learn from each other. Yet at times is easy to feel guilty about the privilege we have to pick up and leave for a time to explore the city and the country. Our mobility is a bit of a double-edged sword, allowing us to connect in ways many others cannot, or do not, and at the same time it clearly defines us apart from those we live and work with. What we have come to realize is that there is no ill feeling toward us for this ability, only a desire to learn about what it is that we do when we leave, where we go, and how much of this beautiful country of theirs we will be able to see.

The following day in Pretoria we ventured out to collect a bag that was being held for us in a nearby suburb. Amanda, a good friend and former colleague of Jess was kind enough to tote along an extra suitcase with her in November when she came to South Africa on business and leave it with a friend for us to pick up. Packed with goodies from home contributed by family and friends from all over we were extremely excited to finally retrieve it. So on a sunny, warm morning we hopped in the rental car with Brandon and Rachel to find our bag. They were kind enough to chauffer us around a bit, and it helped pass some of the time while they waited for Brandon's parents to arrive that evening from home. We met up with our bag and it's handler, Wojtek, who is an exceptionally personable man who invited us in to share a seat on his patio in the shade and chat for a while. It was a great way to pass an afternoon and we very much enjoyed getting a chance to meet. Our hope is to cross paths again the next time we are in the Pretoria area. The genuine sense of welcome we felt at his home is a characteristic that seems to run through most any of the people we encounter on our travels here, one not found in every corner of the world. We have come to appreciate this hospitality more and more everyday.

Early the next morning we caught a cab to Pretoria Station and the bus that would carry us south to our main destination, Amanzimtoti. Having met up with some fellow PCVs at the backpacker the night before, five of us climbed aboard at 7am. The drive was scenic to say the least. Initially we drove through Pretoria and Jo'burg to pick up a few more passengers at other stops and then made our way into the countryside. Initially we drove through grassy fields and rolling hills that gradually morphed into crisp plateaus that rose straight up out of the surrounding flatlands. Eventually we came to a point of winding descent into the valleys east of the Drakensburg mountains. Hills and cliffs climbed around us as we snaked our way through and every once in a while we could glimpse the Drakensburg themselves off in the distance. This continued for the remainder of our drive (quite a time when the overall trip took just over nine hours) and as we finally made our last drop toward the coast and Durban we finally looked out upon the end of the land and the vastness of the ocean. We were picked up at the Durban Station by the landlord of the house we had rented for the holiday. A quick half hour jaunt south of and we were there.

The house was beautiful. Room for all 11 of us, with multiple showers to clean off all the sand and salt each day. Five minutes walk to the beach, grocery store, bottle store, restaurants, coffee shop, book store etc. Out of 10 days in Amanzimtoti, Jess and I spent 9 of them on the beach. The water was perfect, large waves crashed on shore all day long, and it was relatively quiet apart from Boxing Day and New Year's Day. Each day we would fill a bag with some light literature, some food to graze on and a bottle of sunscreen. Shouldering the umbrella we would make the trek down the hill and across the beach front road right to the waterfront. Naps were a common occurance. With shade, a cool breeze, and the sound of the water it was hard not to doze off. One of our favorite activities was sending a delegation over to the Indian restaurant for take away. For 9 rand (about $1.30) we would get vegetable curry bunny chow. It was incredibly good and large enough to split between two people. The coast around Durban has a rather large Indian population. Along with that comes fabulous Indian cuisine and we took full advantage. The one day we did stray from the beach, we ventured to Durban proper to explore the Victoria St. Market. Housed in large purple and pink building just off a trainstop and shadowed by the overpassing interstate it is packed with small African craft boutiques and Indian spice shops. Bins full of Masala, Tikka, Biryani and other wonderful spices crowded out of entry ways onto the sidewalk. We mingled around for the afternoon and enjoyed chatting up store owners. It was a Sunday and the market was a bit quieter, which we prefered. After having our fill of shops, we were now thoroughly craving a traditional Indian meal. Taking direction from one of the women who had helped us at her shop, we hopped out onto the street. A few rights and a couple of lefts later we were sitting down to one of the best meals of our holiday. Not only was the food tremendous, but the owner himself took care of us and made the entire experience memorable.

In the evenings after the beach we took to either relaxing or exploring the neighborhood. One night we had a large braai with friends and sat watching the lights of ships pass up and down the coast. Another night we ventured to nearby 'Funland', which was complete with bumper cars, arcade, bowling, and bar. There we stunned the local population with amazing renditions of classics during their weekly karaoke night. The locals also stunned us with their own versions of classics as well as their amazing ability to dress as if it were still the 1980's. Most nights however were spent making dinner with whomever was around the house and playing games. We sat on the patio eating and talking into the night, guarding our food from the monkeys that enjoyed stealing from the table when they could.

It was the holidays and of course we celebrated them together. Christmas morning we all woke and gathered around the table to share a homemade breakfast of egg's benedict and vanilla cinnamon pancakes. Our friend Erin had made Santa hat stockings for everyone and we decorated a paper Christmas tree with ornaments. With our yule log burning on the TV screen behind us, we also played a gift exchange dice game which was a big hit. People took calls throughout the day from friends and family back home telling of sunburns, great food, huge waves and a much needed rest. It was the best way to spend the holidays when you are away from home. A highlight of the day was watching a train of Santa had clad beach goers descend the stairs en route to another day of fun in the sun. We rang in the New Year by heading down to nearby tavern with a patio overlooking the ocean. We danced, talked and took in a beautiful night. As the clock struck midnight we toasted having made our way through everything to get to this point and to a successful year ahead of us all.

As we made our way back up through the hills and watched the ocean disappear behind us on our way back to Pretoria we felt refreshed and ready to head back to our villages. The last few months had been exhausting as we struggled to learn new communities, people and languages. Having the chance to recharge mentally and physically was extremely beneficial and will make a world of difference as we approach this new year. As we walked up to our front door after our journey back, cat in hand, we were greeted by all of neighbors with excitement, eager to know how our holidays had gone. People waved as we went to the store to pick up a few provisions and children were continually asking us if we were going to be back at school this year, wanting to make sure we would still be around to hang out with them. We felt as though people were welcoming us home again, and in many ways this is becoming our second home.

Weathering the Storm

Thanksgiving weekend has come and gone leaving Christmas right in front of us. Though we will not be having a white Christmas, we did have at least a small spell of cool days over the last weekend and it made for some fantastic adventures.

On Thursday we were able to spend the night at Brandon and Rachel's place and enjoy a Thanksgiving meal as well as celebrate Brandon's birthday. No turkey, but still plenty to be thankful for, namely good food, good friends, and electricity. Most of our meals live and die by our access to electricity and Thursday afternoon produced quite a storm. Jess and I were lucky to still be at home when the worst came through, sounding like cannons firing across our tin roof. If not for the iron beams that hold the house in place I thought for sure everything was going to collapse on us. After a solid 30 minute pounding the rain slowed and was building up again on the north side of our little 'mountain' (really an oversized hill of rocks). We made a break for the main road to try and stay as dry as we could. Luckily we happened to meet a truck that was heading toward our destination and were able to be dropped off at the front door in Klipspruit just midnight blue clouds and scores of lightning were descending upon the village. Huddling in their house, Brandon and Rachel informed us that their power was out (as was ours in Seleka after only a few minutes of the earlier downpour). The plan was to have BBQ chicken along with mashed potatoes to complement our green salad, cranberry Jell-O salad, pumpkin spiced pudding and banana cupcakes. Yes, it was as delicious as it sounds! We had finally bitten the bullet and sat down under candlelight to consume what cold items we had. No sooner were our glasses raised to toast salad and good friends when the fan began to whir back to life. It was music to our ears! With the return of power we were able to enjoy our feast in full under the soft glow of fluorescent bulbs, though we kept the candles for a bit of holiday ambiance.

The following day was wonderful! Overcast, cool and relaxing as we worked together on some up coming projects for next year. Officially through with Thanksgiving we merrily turned up the Christmas music on the radio. Towards dinner time the calm, grey clouds of afternoon transformed into a wall of black that was quickly marching upon us; preceded by rolling thunder and lit with spectacular bolts of lightning. We made the decision to quickly head up to the shop to pick up a few items for dinner. Not the wisest move, but hunger was gnawing at us. The enormous revolving eye of the storm seemed to gather speed the further we got from the house. Just as we were in sight of the shop it was as if a wall had come down on the edge of the village and a flood of wind tore through, whipping up a magnificent dust storm that sent us and the few other villagers in sight running, eyes shielded and shoulders braced, the last 1000m to the shop. No sooner had we taken huddled alee of the storm the rain came. It was not the heavy, damaging rain we expected, but a steady, cleansing rain. The clouds overhead began to swirl and move as they passed. Most ominous was the thunder and lightning. Bolts were striking within what seemed a stone's throw of where we stood and thunder crackled across the entire sky. For almost 45 minutes this continued all of standing mostly silent and just watching. Then slowly the rain began to ease. We emerged from our hiding and happily danced our way home around the puddles and small streams that had formed on the main dirt road, laughing about the fact that when we arrived home we knew we would be without power again.

Giving Thanks

Though Thanksgiving is not a holiday in South Africa, we have come to realize people here give thanks everyday for the good in their lives. Their lists mirror ours in so many ways. We all give thanks for family, friends, our home and our food. While we enjoy the comforts of many things, they are often not what we are truly thankful for and we are humbly reminded of this each day in our village.

Spending this day with friends sharing good food and fun stories we will be thinking of home. We give thanks for the opportunity to be here doing this work and we give thanks for the love and support of our family and friends. Today, and everyday, celebrate and give thanks for all that is good in your life.

Happy Thanksgiving
Paul and Jess

Funerals

Although most villagers of Seleka live with many uncertainties (will we be able to stretch our food out through the end of the month, can we afford school fees for the children, when will the rain come, etc), one certainty always remains: with the arrival of every weekend there are
funerals to attend. Since our arrival on September 20th, there have been more funerals than we care to count.

We attended our first funeral a month ago. The husband of one of my colleague passed away unexpectedly on a Tuesday, therefore his funeral was planned for the following Saturday.

Preparations for a funeral often take an entire extended family a full week of preparation. When someone dies, extended family will travel to be with the family of the deceased. They will stay through the weekend of the funeral, assisting with all the necessary preparations. Throughout the week, friends will stop by to find a plate of fatcakes (they taste similar to a funnel cake, but without the powdered sugar), and a freshly steeped pot of tea waiting for them. Whereas many of us in the United States may wait for a proper invitation to stop by or attend a funeral, it is an unspoken norm here that if you knew the person, or any member of their family, you are expected to visit that family during the week and attend the funeral.

Towards the end of the week, a tent will appear in the yard, and a cow and/or goats will be slaughtered. All the women will start cooking the meat, vegetables, rice, potatoes, pap (a South African staple–a dense starch made from maize meal and water) and pumpkin using large 3-legged pots. The family will be expected to feed all those who attend the funeral.

On the eve of the funeral, friends and family will stay up throughout the night singing and talking by the fire. Once the first ray of daylight breaks across the horizon, the ceremony begins. Proper attire consists of a blazer and long pants for men, and skirt, and shawl for women. Women are also expected to cover their hair. Once the ceremony has concluded, everyone will travel by foot to the graveyard to watch the lowering of the casket into the ground. Men are expected to stand to one side of the casket, with women on the opposing side. Immediately following the lowering of the casket into the ground, family of the deceased are invited to throw a handful of dirt on top the casket. Although a list of songs to be sung doesn’t seem to be prepared in advance for these occasions, the initiative is always taken by someone to lead the group through a series of songs during the burial process.

Following the burial, everyone will walk back to the house and eat together. It is easy to understand why funerals can be financially all consuming for a family as the cost of feeding an entire village and more can be staggering. Families will often join funeral co-ops; paying monthly dues in order to receive financial assistance when a loved one dies.

To observe the coming together of many to express love and support for family or friends is a humbling experience. It is in these occasions that the spirit of South African Ubuntu, “I am because you are” is unearthed from deep within. To be joined with a people so connected by land, tradition, culture, language, and struggle sheds new light on the notions of community as family, and family as community. We hope to remember and appreciate these experiences long after we have left our new South African home.

Letsatsi go a fisa!

Translated ‘The sun is hot!’, this phrase sums up most every conversation we have these days with people in the village. There are a few reasons for this:

1) It is in fact getting very hot. In recent weeks it has become more and more uncomfortable during peak hours of sun while our days of clouds and cooler temperatures have lessened. Our house does not cool as quickly at night and the mornings are warmer. The fan runs constantly when we are home and ice has become more valuable than gold. We hear it only gets worse from now through February.
2) People here are very concerned that we are unaware how hot it will actually get. We are asked frequently if we have weather like this at home. When we tell them it is similar in the summer, but not this hot all the time, they proceed to be sure we know to drink enough water, wear a hat, and find shade to rest during the afternoons. It is comforting to know that the village is looking out for us. Not so comforting is knowing this weather will last for quite some time.
3) Unbrellas serve a completely different function in Seleka. Instead of their traditional role of helping to keep a person dry, here they are used as a sun shield. Jessica is asked regularly where her umbrella is as she should be using it to shade herself. She has tried to explain the concept of suntanning, mentioning that many people in the US actually go out and lay in the sun purely to darken their skin. This conversation normally ends with her friends and colleagues letting out a rip roaring laugh as this is an entirely foreign concept to them.

If I were to speak only the phrase ‘Letsatsi go a fisa’ for these next few months, I think I could manage any conversation just fine and no one would take notice that I was not saying anything else. It’s just that hot.

Teaching

We have been rather busy in the last few weeks! Schools have been gearing up for final exams that start tomorrow. I have been teaching in a 7th grade classroom for three weeks leading up to the exam period. We were doing review of their work from the year in science and economics. My goal was to gain a bit of insight into the life of an everyday teacher in rural South African schools. It was very wonderful gesture for one of the teachers at the upper primary school to allow me into her classroom and work with her for those few weeks. Due to the installation of a new fence and some repair work on a few of the classrooms at the school, one of the grade 7 classes was displaced from it’s normal classroom and split amongst the other two grade 7 classes for two of the three weeks that I was teaching. This meant that each day when I came through the door to class, I turned to face a small room, crowded with about 75 young faces peering back at me. On my first day, I wondered what they thought of this strange American who has suddenly appeared in their class to teach. The students had seen me around the school grounds, and I spent time with many of them playing frisbee at the drop-in center after school, but most seemed unsure what I will end up doing at their school. With a short explaination in my somewhat improved, yet still inadequate Setswana (and quick blurb of clarification from the teacher I was helping) they understood why I was there and off we went. Over the course of these weeks the students seemed to enjoy having me in class. My lessons were somewhat different than what they are used to seeing, incorporating some fun review games from home (hangman was a favorite and they requested it on a few occasions). Not knowing what exactly had been done to teach them the material earlier in the year it was very much for me, and sometimes for them, like learning it all over again. My accent and swiftly spoken English occasionally took some extra questions and clarification to get the point across. I learned to speak more slowly and to incorporate as much Setswana into each lesson as I could to help the students understand and build their confidence in English. It was a give and take process many days, but as the days went by classes became smoother. Students seemed to be more comfortable asking questions of me, raising their hands, inquiring about help after class and more. Many of them now seek me out to say hello during the day (frequently just to hear my amusing attempt at Setswana in return), or they want to know if I will be playing frisbee after school, do I have my camera to take some pictures of them with their friends, are our other Peace Corps friends coming to visit etc. They are some amazing young people and I cannot wait to continue being a part of their lives.

My interaction with the teachers before school, after school and durning lunch were just as much of a learning experience for me as my time in the classroom. Being able to plan lessons and discuss activities with my counterpart teacher for these weeks was incredible. My knowledge of the workings of the school has expanded enormously and I feel that many doors are opening to possibilities for projects and other work that I can undertake in the coming year. On top of that, just spending time with the teachers in conversation makes for a pleasant day. The staff at the schools are very welcoming. We sit over lunch and talk about the day, the weather, family, the village, sports, etc. As I continue to make friends at the school and deeper connections with the community, more and more I realize the scope of what it means to live in rural South Africa.

There are some amazing things taking place yet at the same time some gaping holes in areas of life that need immediate attention. The task set before us of creating a meaningful, practical and sustainable impact on our village is rather daunting. We constantly are reminding ourselves that this change will take time. Very likely it will take more than our two short years in the village. However it is apparant that there are people, teachers and otherwise, in this community and this country who are working diligently toward the improvement of life here. They are qualified, motivated and doing great things all around. Continuing that in the future means raising the children to believe they can do the same. We see this happening at the schools and the drop-in center and find ourselves drawn to spend much of our time with the youth of the village. We realize that every day spent with the children here is a day we can put down in our books as a great day.

Minnesota Connection

Each day in the village we are reminded how different the life is that we lead in South Africa. A far cry indeed from the bustling city life we led back in Chicago. Hours are spent fetching water from the tap in the street, cooking, washing dishes and clothes by hand, sweeping and cleaning from all the burnt orange dust that gathers in each nook and cranny of our home, walking to the shop to pick up our eggs and vegetables, etc. The list goes on. It is not at all a bad life to lead though, and we enjoy many of the simple pleasures that come with our days and weeks. We read more, take early morning walks to enjoy the cool mornings and spectacular sunrises, play cards (Uno has become very popular) and frisbee with the kids in the afternoon, and sit on the front patio in the evening to watch the stars come out and escape the heat inside the house. Our work keeps us busy during the day, however with the heat of summer upon us, being busy often means working to find a bit of shade a hopefully a rustle of breeze. Not quite the weather we associate with the holiday season. We are reminded of that each time we go to town to pick up groceries and see silver tinsel lining the windows of shops and green and red wrapping paper sold at all the stores. Crisp fall/winter mornings and a warm cup of coffee back are frequent thoughts of holidays back home when we are pulling out shorts and a t-shirt for the day thinking even that will be too hot to wear. Sometimes home feels like a long way off.

Yet, just when we think we have left home for good for these next two years we find that there is a bit of truth to the phrase ‘it’s a small world’. On one of our forays into town a few weeks back we heard tell of a woman from Minnesota who, with her husband, is part owner of a BuildIt store (hardware store similar Menards). We had the chance to meet them the other day and come to find out that Chanda, originally from Minnesota and her South Africa husband Jacobus, lived on a hobby farm just outside of Nerstrand, MN (the next town down the road from Northfield where Jessica and I grew up). Sitting in their office here in South Africa over a cup of coffee we were exchanging names of mutual friends and neighbors, popular hunting areas (Jacobus is an avid bowhunter), favorite places in Minneapolis/St, Paul and more. It truly felt like catching up with old friends (the popular, yet very positive, stereotypes of ‘Minnesota Nice’ and ‘The Long Goodbye’ were played out in full). They are extremely welcoming and generous people whom we hope to spend more time with, perhaps sharing a front porch, a little lunch and making the holidays seem a bit more like home.