Monday, October 1, 2012
First, let me start out by saying that I have saved this blog entry three different ways, so hopefully there will be no problems this time.
The soundtrack playing in my head these last few days has begun with Passion Pit’s “Moth’s Wings.” Followed by songs performed in Glee. I wish I could remember more, that would have been something really cool to write about..I’ll keep you posted on the soundtrack…Actually, instead, I will just randomly place soundtrack songs into my blog and at the end of the two years we will see how the soundtrack is! I guess officially so far the soundtrack goes like this:
1. Sawubona (a Swazi song)
2. Rent’s “Out Tonight”
3. Passion Pit’s Moth’s Wings
So, news. I have been at site for one whole month. Exciting! And people are actually getting to know me, and not just as ‘the white girl.’ But, I am being seen and having conversations with people, and it is good. The first few weeks I really was a hut-body. I don’t think this got posted because of the mess-ups the last times, but I asked my audience to remember this saying about things in a third world country, “What takes a day will take a week, what takes a week will take a month, and what takes a month will take a year.” Things move slow, and take time. The first three months of this experience is intended for strictly integration, watching how things go, and relationship building. Please remember this about my service! Yet, even though the things I do may seem small (I wont be saving the world) [Side note: I apologize greatly if some of this is repeat, I wrote the last blog twice and it got deleted both times, and some things I really wanted out there, so if it is the second time seeing it, just ignore it. If not, great!], I could inspire a girl to go out for a job when she gets older, and have a man get tested and therefore help him and save some of his future partners. Small things will make a difference J
Transportation time! I think all my complaining about transport here got deleted. Let me recap: Everything is a bit scary and unreliable. Busses break down. Kumbies break down (kumbie, similar to a camp van, hence the song last time). And if there isn’t anything else you can always catch a lift, basically hitchhiking. Transport gets VERY over packed. On busses people stand butt to butt facing windows, with 6 kids to a seat. If you have a child, no matter what age you can bet they are sitting on your lap. Transport comes only a few times a day, hence the packing.
I have two touching transport stories. One day my handigas ran out. My mukhulu’s brother had to go get fertilizer for his garden, and so I was lucky enough (truly lucky) to take the ride and go with him to fill my tank. On the way we dropped off one person at the clinic past the valley (both sides of my town have a valley). There a woman flagged us down to see if we could give her and an older man a ride. Catching a lift seems a bit scary to me, but it really is the way people get around here. Shamus said yes, and the woman called over to the man. The man than hobbled over with his cane, barely able to walk. Who knows how long he would have had to keep standing there in hopes of a different mean of transport, one he probably would have had to of stood on. Swazis care so much about each other, always offering you a cup of tea when you enter their house. If they are cooking they offer you food, even though they have little, they are generous. This mentality must go into the driving too, just help each other out.
My second transport story is this. On Saturday I went into town to do some shopping. I was getting nervous as I waited for an hour and a half for, hopefully, a kumbie. I was nervous because I did not know if anyone around me was waiting for the same town, no one had said my name and said hello (an often occurrence). After this time had passed, I finally turned to someone next to me and asked where they were going. “kmfkmsf” Oh good, same town as me. One woman had nicely from a distance asked me how I was, so I had hoped she knew me. I think I was right. Anyway, the kumbie drove up and we all swarmed to. Quickly! It quickly filled up, and a girl inside with two kids took hold of my bags and told me to climb in. Two men, one old and one middle aged, had let me step in front of them to get into the kumbie before the girl grabbed my things. Than, bam, I had the last seat. I felt awful! The old man was standing outside. I turned to the girl and told her how I felt bad because that man gave up his seat for me. She said no he didn’t, that was my sister’s seat (a girl about 6), we gave you the seat. Her sister and son were now sitting on her lap. I still felt bad. Than the kumbie driver came back and the two men explained how they did not have seats, or so I thought. The backseat had four people in it, the middle two with three people, and my row with three people (plus the two kids). The man in the front seat had a huge box on his lap blocking his view of the street. The kumbie was filled, or so I thought. We would not leave anyone behind! (Here I would like to say that when I was climbing in I offered to squeeze myself as a fourth in the third row, I could see I could fit and that way the old man could have had a seat.) The old man climbed into the third row. At first than another woman climbed in and sat on his lap! That didn’t fit. The other man who let me pass climbed in and stood/hovered/crouched over the old man. Than the second row seat was put down and the woman sat as a fourth. We all fit! I was happy to be in the front with only all of my things piled on top of me. Halfway through the trip, a baby from the back started crying. All I could think was, “There’s a baby back there? Who knew!” In what was a 15 passenger van, we fit 20 adults and 3 children. Unsafe, yes, but I was happy we all had a way home.
The ride got better. When we left we noticed our window was gone, there was tape instead. Driving along the tape got annoying, so the woman sitting next to me ripped it off. Lucky she did! We were almost home and the girl starts speaking to the driver, he says no. That’s when the woman held her son by the hips, pulled down his pants, and the 1 ½ year old just peed right out the (lack of) window! Quite the adventure.
School has begun, now that the teacher strikes and exams are over. I am excited because for “International Day of the Girl Child” we are putting on a talent show. I am hoping girls will sign up.
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