21 April 2006

21 April 2006

Hope everyone had a good Easter. Ours was good and eventful, to say the least. Getting back from our trip, we needed a few days to decompose and smell better. So we decided to relax for a couple of days.
Good Friday was interesting. We told our host sister we would go to church with her. Upon arriving to church, we noticed that everyone was wearing black. I know it is suppose to be a somber mood and I had thought about wearing darker clothes but it seemed as though we stuck out even more than normal!?
Saturday was uneventful until after dinner. Our mother wanted us to make a turn (this is South African for go to church, funeral, wedding, etc. for what is believed to be a short time…and ends up being a long time!?) at the church that the minister lives right behind us. We wanted to because this is the only other church that we have not yet attended. So we arrive, and it isn’t church but something called festival. A kind-of fundraising talent show where you can pay money to make some go up front and sing and dance and you can also pay money for making them stop. Most were children from 5-18 that would sing and dance. There was one point that the 10 year olds were dancing a little to provocative…for church at least!? After about an hour or so, we were getting ready to go but we wanted to donate before we left. Well, like everything else here, it turned into a bigger ordeal than we thought it would. Some talking with our host mother and the emcee, we pick a guy that lives behind us that like to partake in alcohol every once in a while. So this guy comes up front, takes his coat off and places the KNIFE in his pocket on the floor. The man is smart, he is about to dance and it obvious that dancing with a knife in your pocket is dangerous…..it is just not something that I am use to seeing. I am not taking about a pocket knife that is folded but a large steak knife!? No worries though, he is a nice guy and he likes us (I hope!!!)!
Easter Sunday was good. Back to the same church as Saturday. No knives but plenty of dancing. The service was unusual for a few reasons. One, it was in Afrikaans not Setswana so there was NO CHANCE of understanding anything. It was a nice service, or at least I think it was. TWO, and it is a big two, is that the service almost reached 5 hours in length. Yes, five! The number preceding six and following five. The plan said on it the service was from 9 until 12. We arrived a bit late 9:20 and things hadn’t started and didn’t leave until almost 2 (or I think it was about that time, I was so delirious that I am not quite sure what time it was!) So yeah…it was long and it and even stranger language to us!
School is back in so you all can stop being jealous about our long vacations! I have actually been busy (at least African busy) which is exciting!!!! Other than school the other major event is my magic that I have performed for our host family…which they still can’t get over. Our host family has a lemon tree in their front yard. Lemon, cool I thought. So I mage myself lemonade one day. Very tasty. Made it again the next. Again, tasty. So then I thought to myself, I need a bigger container to make it in. So I borrowed a 5 liter jug from the family and made 5 liters of lemonade and offer them some. WOW…it was amazing. They loved it. And had never had it before. They have a lemon tree but have never had lemonade…weird. I have shown them the light. So the story continues on. The first 5 liters I made by hand, gently squeezing all the juice out of each lemon. So, I thought maybe they have a juiced. After some description of what a juicer is, we believed they had one and just didn’t know what it was. So after some searching through the cabinets, I found a very nice glass juicer. Upon finding it, I showed it to our host mother and she said she thought it was an ashtray. Suffice it to say, I washed the juicer and have been amazing everyone with the magical drink called lemonade! (You are thinking, what did they do before with all the lemons…gave them away to neighbors and make a cold remedy with it consisting of slicing the lemons and putting them in hot water!?)

That is all...next week is a 3 day week so check back for more stories after our long weekend!

Thabo

12 april 2006

12 April 2006

Back from our Journeys!

We arrived home yesterday after a few days on the road! Nothing says home like that warm cozy bed, good home cooked food, and yes, crapping in a hole! Our journey was awesome, great, and incredible to just name a few. It is nice to be home though; we were both starting to drag a little with all the stuff we packed in. So what has been new since last time….a lot.

Before we left we were able to accomplish quite a bit…it was kind of weird. We spent Human Rights Day helping our neighbors (the people that live behind us and put up a tent every Sunday for church) build the foundation of their new church just down the road. We helped haul rocks and fill in the holes as they were pouring the cement of the foundation. Yes it was a good time and hard work but it was all made better with the assistance of a donkey cart. Our first authentic transportation in a donkey cart!!! Very exciting and that is now crossed off my list of things to do.

The school term also ended on a couple of high notes. One school, the smallest, was excited about some of the fundraising ideas that we had come up with. They pushed the ideas at the parent meeting at the end of the term and the principal was excited that it was going to work. They hope to raise money for a photocopy machine and to pay for a school trip. This would be great because I think some of those kids have never been to town and it would be a great achievement for the school. The other high point was a meeting at the high school. We were invited over to see and discuss the new computer labs at the high school. The high school got 50 computers (30 from one company and 20 from another). I think they all work and the 30 group is brand new with an encyclopedia and Office and some other good stuff. The only problem is that only a handful of the 20 educators at the high school know much about how to use them. This is where we come into play. We are going to begin training the educators, and then (hopefully) the learners on how to use a computer. Anyone out there that may have some good ideas on how to teach computers, please let us know. We are starting with people that have never used a computer….should be interesting.

So with school out, that means hitting the road for our first African holiday. I know what some of you are thinking, you have been on holiday since you left….yes and no. This was our first holiday in our bigger holiday, or something like that. After a quick stopover in Pretoria (I am planning the visit of my parents in June and that includes a safari, so I was get safari packages quoted and such. No need to worry Joel, everything is under control!?) it was off to Swaziland!!! The beautiful little country pretty much encapsulated within South Africa. Swaziland, known for its King, the greenery, craft markets and white water rafting! After another quick stopover in the city of Mbanane…nothing there to see, trust me. We got to Mliwane Game Reserve and our backpackers (hostel) situated on the south end of the game reserve. Great location let me tell you. We got to the main camp in the reserve and took a 15 minute hike through the park to the backpackers. I am sure some of you are thinking that I am crazier that you ever thought I was because who would walk in a game reserve in Africa without a large riffle. That is the great part of Mliwane. It is a game reserve without any predators…with the exception of hungry hippos and crocs, but they are easy to avoid. Don’t swim in the ponds! This place was great we took several hikes within the park and saw lots of animals: zebra, impala, nyala, warthogs (the parks main animal and very humorous to see in person) hippos, crocs, fish eagle, lots of other cool brids and on and on and on…. On our first night at the backpackers, we were treated to some traditional Swazi dancing at the main camp with lots of drums and some traditional stick fighting.

On our third day in Swaziland, we signed up for an adventure caving trip. This was a blast. Our guide took us and we did some serious spelunking - kind of like the cave was giving birth to us!? After about a 45 minute hike up a mountain, we finally came upon the entrance to the cave. Zipping up our sexy overalls and donning our hard hats and lights, we ventured into the cave. And this ain’t no stairs and handrail cave. When we got in, we got down and dirty. Crawling, slipping, inching, squishing and clawing our way through holes and cracks in the cave. Yes we got dirty and yes it was from bat droppings (YUM)! After about 1 hour of this fun we made it back (with a little help from the guide) to the opening of the cave. By this time it was about 7pm and dark. The hike back down was more exciting for the senses with the sounds of the creatures of the night. The headlamp lit our path back to the car and it was off to the Cuddle Puddle. The Cuddle Puddle is a natural hot spring that we stopped at before heading home. A great way to end a day of crawling around in bat crap is by sitting in a natural hot spring. The night was finished off nicely with some hot pizza and a cold beer!

The next day it was off to Mhkaya Game Reserve and to the nicest place we have ever stayed. We splurged for one night and stayed at the Stone Camp. The visit started with a game drive where we saw giraffes, wildebeest, zebra, impala, nyala, kudu, hippos, crocs, tons of birds not to mention coming face to face with both elephants and rhinos. During the first game drive, we were cruising along one dirt path when the guide asked if anyone saw the mother and baby rhino. No one had…and we were expecting the guide to put the car in reverse to see them. Instead, he put the car in park, turned the car off and said “let’s go.” So the eight of us in the group got out of the Land Rover and proceeded on foot to the two rhinos. The rhinos were standing under a tree in the shade from the African sun. We slowly walked up to 20 feet away from two wild rhinos…crazy I say! I guess they aren’t too active in the heat of the day and don’t mind people looking at them. Once safely back in the vehicle, we continue on and arrive upon a herd of elephants 30 feet away. After parking the car (we stayed in this time but the guide warned us if we ever felt uncomfortable to let him know because the elephants usually come REALLY CLOSE to the vehicle.) and waiting a few minutes, the elephants started to come closer and closer and closer until the were all around the car. I could have reached out and touched on if I wanted to start a fight with an elephant. It was pretty amazing to see them grazing…and so close! After our first game drive, it was off to lunch (awesome) and to see our rooms. We stayed in open sided hatched roof huts inside the game reserve. It was gorgeous. No electricity but running water…and the view from the toilet was like those in my dreams. After a short nap, it was our evening game drive with more great animal viewing and spotting a 3 week old and adorable baby rhino. The little guy was kind of shy and ran at first sight of the truck. Upon arriving back at camp at dusk, paraffin lanterns lit the way to dinner and our room. The morning consisted of a dawn game drive and a great sunrise!

The last exciting thing in Swaziland was the CRAZY white water rafting we did on the Utusu River. Grade III and IV rapids in a two-man inflatable boat was quite the rush. These rapids were huge and we viewed many of them in the water itself seeing as it was difficult to actually stay in the boat! It was a great time. Downside of the rafting is the injury Andrea sustained while trying to stay alive in the rapids. She banged her leg on a rock while being swept downstream. But don’t worry, she’ll live!

The last leg of the trip took us to Sabie, an outdoorsy city in Mpumalanga Province for the Longtom Marathon. 21.1 km race that we did to help raise money (if you haven’t gotten an email from either of us to donate money, ask us to resend it…but we really need help in raising some good money for this great charity! It’s not too late to donate!) I was able to run but due to the white water rafting injury Andrea had, she was limping (and cheering) on the side lines. After a week of traveling and not much sleep, I completed the 21.1 km race with a time of 1:43. Respectable, if I do say so myself. I was the third Peace Corps volunteer to finish! And I have been walking (hobbling is more like it) around for the last three days but it was good race with great scenery and great friends.

Now we are back home and just doing the village thing until school starts on Tuesday. Hope everyone has a Happy Easter and is doing well….and please donate to the charity.

Thabo