Thursday, October 11.
International Day of the Girl Child
My first event! It was a success. The girls had a blast. I learned a lot and it was quite the experience.
The girls participated in current dances, traditional dances, sang songs, and some even composed their own! We had girls “Parade,” which meant modeling. I was pretty shocked and didn’t expect it when they came out in their outfits. But hey, they sure were proud of being a girl!
Rehearsals this week went well, although tough because of the language barrier. The teachers helped out though. We had two young girls MC the show, and they did a great job. After lunch break we all began getting ready. The teachers, well they were MIA. At first the boys did not want to help, jealous of the girls getting their own day. But after a minute of dislike, they soon were drawing on the chalkboards in support of the girls. All of the students helped set up the school hall, which usually holds Grade 7. The kids and I moved out the desks and they swept. Than the grade 7 boys helped set up the chairs, a very chaotic scene. Here, for assembly, every student carries in their chair. Although hectic, we tried to keep things calm and the boys were a great help as the girls were getting ready. They tried to control the flow of chairs into the hall from the 100+ kids trying to jam them in.
The girls were getting ready and I was helping set up the room. I turned, and, not expecting it, saw all the 7th grade performers standing there, topless. And than there were boobs. I should have expected it. These girls were doing the traditional Reed Dance, and so of course were dressed traditionally, meaning no tops. But hey, they wanted to rock it, so rock it! And the judges voted them second place! Just after the sixth graders who also did the Reed Dance.
It is cool how boobs (should say breast, I know, but ‘boobs’ seems like a good word) are so accepted here. What is not as acceptable are thighs, so bye bye shorts and my great looking legs. Skirts aren’t always that bad, but are more restricting! I see breasts all the time, on kumbies with babies getting milked, at school with babies getting milked, out in the day when a woman’s shirt isn’t on correctly and she just doesn’t care. And, in the talent show, of course.
On a different note I have started making my garden.
Friday, October 19, 2012
No Man Left Behind!
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.
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.
Friday, September 21, 2012
First Few Weeks on the Job
This is the second time this blog has been deleted.. This post wasn't meant to be. Another post another time. Sorry everyone!
Things have started getting going here. I am very frustrated this post got deleted twice.
My favorite part was this song: "Oh you can't get to heaven! oh you can't get to heaven, On an African Kumbie! on an African kumbie, Cuz an African Kumbie! Is sure to DOOMBIE! Is sure to Doom-bie. I ain't gunna grieve, my lord no more!"
Next time I will re-write, for a third time, what things have been like here. I apologize again.
FOR THE CRAPPINESS OF MY BLOG THIS TIME: SOME PHOTOS!
Babe making me my basket!
Banana trees at my old homestead! (Sorry Jeff, you got some serious competition!)
Things have started getting going here. I am very frustrated this post got deleted twice.
My favorite part was this song: "Oh you can't get to heaven! oh you can't get to heaven, On an African Kumbie! on an African kumbie, Cuz an African Kumbie! Is sure to DOOMBIE! Is sure to Doom-bie. I ain't gunna grieve, my lord no more!"
Next time I will re-write, for a third time, what things have been like here. I apologize again.
FOR THE CRAPPINESS OF MY BLOG THIS TIME: SOME PHOTOS!
Babe making me my basket!
Banana trees at my old homestead! (Sorry Jeff, you got some serious competition!)Thursday, August 23, 2012
OFFICIAL Peace Corps Volunteer
August 23, 2012
Today has been the proudest moment of my life. I officially became a Peace Corps Volunteer. Training has been long, and I am happy it is over. But wow, I have been working for this for a long time and it is nice to finally begin my service. Swaziland, G10: Where NO ONE has ET'd from our group yet. Let me explain
Out of 41 volunteers who came into country in our group, 41 swore in. We are the largest group to swear in here. Also, Swaziland has the highest ET (early termination) rate. If we all stay the whole year the country director will give us a party. Anyway, it is EXTREMELY impressive that no one left during training, this notion has been expressed numerous times, by all the officials of Peace Corps staff around us. Either we are the first group in a while that has no ETs during training in Swaziland, or the first group ever, anyway, it is very impressive.
I am happy and proud of my whole group.
But, tomorrow after this extremely happy day, I am told that tomorrow will be one of the hardest as we stand watching the dust settle as we are left standing alone at our huts as the Peace Corps Van pulls away.
Today has been the proudest moment of my life. I officially became a Peace Corps Volunteer. Training has been long, and I am happy it is over. But wow, I have been working for this for a long time and it is nice to finally begin my service. Swaziland, G10: Where NO ONE has ET'd from our group yet. Let me explain
Out of 41 volunteers who came into country in our group, 41 swore in. We are the largest group to swear in here. Also, Swaziland has the highest ET (early termination) rate. If we all stay the whole year the country director will give us a party. Anyway, it is EXTREMELY impressive that no one left during training, this notion has been expressed numerous times, by all the officials of Peace Corps staff around us. Either we are the first group in a while that has no ETs during training in Swaziland, or the first group ever, anyway, it is very impressive.
I am happy and proud of my whole group.
But, tomorrow after this extremely happy day, I am told that tomorrow will be one of the hardest as we stand watching the dust settle as we are left standing alone at our huts as the Peace Corps Van pulls away.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
So you wanna Send Me a Package, Eh?
Wed, Aug 8th, 2012
Hello world!
I figured I would offer some suggestions for in case you want to send me a package. (On a side note, I am currently awaiting a package from my Lovely cousin Sarah and have no idea what will be in it, and am EXTREMELY PUMPED. I am easily satisfied with things. And if a package is too much, I love mail in general and so letters are greatly appreciated :) Here is my address, if you need it:
Jessica Randall
C/O Peace Corps
PO Box 2797
Mbabane, H100
Swaziland,
AFRICA.
Emphasize Africa. Also, if you send me a package, declare on it cheap things, all adding up to less than a 50 dollars, so people are less likely to open it :) White lying in this case is totes acceptable :) (Sorry Tina Fay, people DO still say totes)
Here are some ideas that will probably suit me my entire stay in Africa, and of course feel free to elaborate with your own awesome ideas!
-Powdered Gatorade
-Granola Bars
-Face lotion w/ Spf
-Face lotion w/o SpF (for night time)
-multivitamins
-Protein/Luna Bars
-incense
-STICKERS!
-hand sanitizer
-deodorant (fiji-old spice)
-Trail mix: nuts, ones that don't add sugar, etc)-I don't like Raisins :)
-Shick Intuition Razors (for sensitive skin :) )
-"Always" clean wipes
-A World Map
-*Things to make my hut feel homey*
-Pictures of us! Or of you and those I love!
-yummy nips :) (ie:baileys,etc)
-String to make friendship bracelets.
-White Chocolate!
-Other types of Chocolate
-Soap (all natural) from my friend Heather's awesome shop in Rockport, Kala Roopa
-Face wash
-Exfoliant
-Mac and Cheese
-Mix CDs
-Art supplies
-Garlic Salt, or others of those spices you can get for a dollar at Market Basket because all spices are pretty expensive here.
-Random yummy snacks that wont expire in 3 weeks of mail (ie:Oreos)
-toothbrushes
-all natural toothpaste (hehe)
I'm sure more things will come to mind along the way, but for a general idea those are some quality things! A general list that will be good the whole time I'm in Africa.
Send one,Send all,
Send none,Send Small.
Send Letters,and LOVE
I just love Mail, when push comes to shove!
Thurs August 16th.
I received two packages yesterday!Both containing socks (always greatly appreciated if you know me with my past and laundry).
But I received one GIANT LOVE FILLED Packages from Camp! (the one from Sarah I was waiting upon, Thank you Sarah for taking the initiative to put that together!). Thank you Sarah and Miranda for your kind words and thoughtfulness (no worries about the evil look, I did notice, btw ;) The box was filled with hair accessories, puzzles, balls, notebooks, coloring items, Dinosaurs (which will nicely decorate my hut), camp awards, great postcards, and love notes! Such a great freakin box! Really though, it is a box that will fill many kids with joy. The crayons and colored pencils will add to so many art projects the youth around me will now have the ability to participate in. And the toys will be loved and cherished. A previous awesome package I received had such cute t-shirts and little (British) toy cars in it that my host family now will have such a blast in. Really, truly, amazing things to send! Thank you!
I declared a few weeks ago that I would not be using Facebook. Then, upon receiving cell phones, I was on facebook quite a bit. But really, it stinks to use on my phone. Typing is awful and many notifications and whatnots are missed. Emailing to get in touch with me is best, and snail mail is most fun. But the Internet on my little candy bar phone is pretty unreliable, so I just wanted to share that with everyone. I am living in Africa here, what can you expect :)
I have to add that swearing in is in a week. So, on the 23rd (C-Mc's Bday!) I will become an official Peace Corps Volunteer (as long as I pass all the tests I should be studying for right now tomorrow, but I think I will be ok). Training has been long, but necessary. I have learned a lot and got a lot of great resources, but am really happy to go begin my term of service. I can't wait to begin making my hut my home, and feel settled. Oh man will I miss my family here, including all the great vegetation growing around! But I will come back and visit them, seeing that Swaziland is incredibly small and therefor travelling is doable, although the scariest part of my stay yet. Wish me luck on my tests, and hope to post more after sometime after swearing in!
8/22/12
PASSES! Tomorrow is the day!!
Killed a Chicken Today...
Sunday, July 9th.
...Ok, truth be told, I did not kill the chicken. I, in fact, was too chicken to even hold the chicken, and so just watched (and took a few snap shots). It was a pretty gruesome thing, but not really at the same time. It was really quick and didn't run around like a turkey. My Make just chopped its head off. We boiled water and poured it over the chicken and the feathers came off easily. All I thought about the whole time was "Man, we really skip this whole process in America...I wonder what they really DO in those chicken factories.." and "Holy Sh*t, I'm going to need a glass of wine to be able to eat this thing tonight."
All parts of that chicken were eaten, except the gizzards. But my Make chopped the whole thing up and i put it in a pot and boiled it, my Make making sure to tell me not to put garlic in it this time (spaghetti incident, but also who knows how an anti-garlic Make and I get along?!?!). I snuck in some rosemary though, didn't tell anyone but everyone approved.
On a side note, I did go sneak a glass of wine. Drinking in Swaziland is VERY STRONGLY looked down upon. Anyone who drinks is an alcoholic. So although this is my first bottle of wine I have boughten yet, I choose to keep it to myself for the time being (not very discreet, putting it on the internet and all,but ahwell). When I move to my permanant site I will see what the sitch is or explain how one can drink a glass of wine and not be completely intoxicated, but we'll see. For now, it is mine and the internet's little secret.
Anyway, after cooking the chicken, something AWESOME happened. Who knows if it was my complete and under boredom from only studying (for an hour...) all day, or the glass of wine, but it was pretty sweet. Well, let me start from the beginning. Today, I chose to just stay at my homestead all day. A good choice, but also hard to slow down and just hang to with really not much to do all day. In the morning my highlight was driving a wire-made car around my yard. I was really surprised at how fun it was. And seeing the cars these kids made really showed ingenuity. Then, one of my happiest moments yet happened. I made some lilayrisi and emabontisi (rice and beans) and sat on my step to eat it. My Make had just finished making lunch for my fam and my youngest bhuti came to sit with me while we ate. He was also eating Lilayrisi and was pumped that we were eating the same thing! (If you're wondering, I could see it in his eyes) We sat on that stoop happy as larks, and it just made me really happy because it was so cute. Just by accident we both were in the same sitting position eating the same thing, looking lovingly at each other doing it. Soo adorable! As you can see, the small things are already becoming the biggest.
Back to after the glass of wine. I was hanging out and a little girl had a tambourine type thing. After dancing around with it (I guess it really was the boredom, not the wine) for a bit, I couldn't help myself but see a bucket upside down. I got two sticks and started drumming on that bucket. Than my 12 year old bhuti showed me up and really started making some beats, but its all good and it was awesome. My Make, Bandele, and I all just danced around and had a blast. It was cool that we all got into it so easily, because drumming and dancing is awesome, and lets be serious, I am in Africa here. It was really cute seeing my Make dance and let loose, and my Babe watched and I'm sure loved it.
I love it here, but am excited to move to my permanent site just so I can feel settled in. We went to a perma-culture training this week, to get us amped-up for gardening. It worked, btw. They taught us a lot about composting and watering tips and just some pretty awesome things, but now I'm ready to start working on them. But, alas, I will not start composting now or stockpiling my rubbish because I just might (and will) find a use for it-tin cans, for example, to start seedlings, or making wallets out of Milk cartons?!?!- but know it will be better to hold off for a few more weeks so that I don't have to lug all my trash when I move. I am excited to move, but do love this family a lot. I like it so much when I see my Babe looking at his kids, or Bandelele looking at any of his siblings and family members, and just see love shining through their eyes. I am happy it wont be too tough to come back and visit here either.
Apparently getting placed in Swaziland is basically 'the shit' too. This is because here there are grocery stores, electricity, and well, just some development. I know my service will be touching, and being in Africa am happy to have these amenities, but also do think it is interesting to think about how in other countries on this continent whole towns do not have electricity, verses here some houses do and some do not. It is just good thing to think about. My service will be very different than people who really live out in the middle of who knows where (even though trying to find anyplace on a Swazi map is 'who knows where' do to the sloppy geography of most maps made in Swaziland) but I know it will also be interesting and good.
I'm Gaining Weight in Africa?!?!
July 23, 2012
I know, the name of this blog is mind boggeling, and a lot of you wonder, HOW CAN IT BE? Well, I don't know if it is really true, but I'm sure it could be.
Let me explain why. Training. Although very important, most of what we do is sitting in a room for about 8 hours watching powerpoints and discussing. And let me tell you a bit about Swazi life.
You wake up in the morning. Or, I should say, you wake up in the middle of the night. At least 3 times (I think the best I've got so far is only waking up twice, woot woot). You wake up so many times because the roosters start crowing at 2:48 am. Ok times have varied since then, but I do know that was what time I first looked at the clock that first night at my homestead, about 3 weeks ago. At first I believed the rooster was relatively timely, but after a few days I realized these roosters are whack.
The roosters are crowing all morning, and day. And then, not only that, but really I am living in what seems to a be a giant farm. Seriously. Cows walk around randomly all the time, grazing anywhere they want. Its a miracle people know whose cow is whose! But, they do seem to keep track somehow. On every homestead chickens cluck about, chicks, teen-babies, chickens, we got all ages folks! On all homesteads! Goats walk around too, and just the other day I saw some RATHER LARGE (read: Cow Size) pigs doing the unmentionable. See, large farm.
Anyway, you wake up early in the morning due to the roosters. This factor is fine, seeing as I've gone to be by 8:30 almost every night. So back to the weight gain. I sit in school all day, from 8ish to 4ish. Then I come home. Another KEY aspect of Swazi Life is not going out at dark. Therefore, from getting home from training, I have maybe 2 hours of daylight before eating dinner and going to my hut. WHERE IS THE EXERCISE PEOPLE?
Also, in my no-exercise defense, I blame this also partially to not having electricity. Because, if you would like to know the truth, my reason for turning on my laptop tonight was not to type this blog (Gasp!) but in fact to make sure my copy of Ab Ripper X worked. It does! (Don't forget about that 6 pack I mentioned before leaving the states people!) I do have goals of exercising, and if I do not have electricity at my permanent site I will definitely "work something out", but for now, due to time constraints, exercising is tough. Anyway, due to the no electricity and no going out after dark, I just haven't got it down yet. But I will, and things will change at my permanent site (not having to sit in a classroom for the whole duration of sunlight, per say).
ps. the no-going-out-at-night thing is because it is dangerous. No one does it, Swazis or course included. People don't even walk to the pit latrine at night
Another huge portion of how gaining weight in Africa is possible is because for the first 2 weeks I ate with my host family. Ok, in truth this was awesome, because it was nice having someone cook for me every night. But, it is also awesome cooking for myself now, because I can make healthier eating choices. For example, I will never again have a meal which only includes lipalishi and beans. What is lipalishi you ask? Corn. Corn that looks like mashed potatoes because it has been dried, ground, and then boiled. Pop is pretty good, but just not with only beans. I had other variations of pop with meals, they weren't all just with beans, just lipalishi and beans was my least fave. On a happier note, I have discovered a new love! Rice and beans! Who knew it was so good? (I know, a lot of people, including Rob and someone else from SU..maybe it was Stephanie). I do really enjoy rice and beans, and am happy to have found it.
Anyway, eating corn all the time was heavy on my belly. Another thing, avocados. Ok, it is AWESOME (even though he doesn't see it this way) that my Babe has SOOOO much stuff growing at our homestead. He grew the corn they will eat all year, and he grows most the other things the family eats too. There are banana trees, avocado trees, papaya trees, there will be mangoes in season, there is an orange tree, and I just discovered a lemon tree. It freakin rocks! But this also meant that for the first few weeks of not being able to go buy our own food I ate a lot of Pop, avocados, and peanut butter. Not the healthiest. (Also, probably not the healthiest that I seem to enjoy a nice PB&A sandwich (pb and avocado), but things got desperate after the first 2 weeks of just pb!)
That is how I am gaining weight in Africa. I know I will be walking more when I get to my permanent site in a month. Also, who knows if I will be lucky enough to have such a fruitful homestead once I move. I just got to enjoy the avocados (and moan about how there are no tortilla chips in the Swaz) while I can! (while they are freeeeeee) :)
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