The end of August

Site Announcements!!  After 6 long weeks of intensive training and language lessons, we finally found out where we're going to spend the next 2 years.  Imagine the anxiety of waiting to hear about your village, your host family, you accommodations, your school assignments, everything.  Tensions were high the day of site announcements.

I'll be staying in a village near(ish) Vryburg and working with the local primary and middle school.  I was warned that my housing recently changed and the family was still fixing up my room for me.  I met the two schools' principals at a workshop on Tuesday,  I try not to use any names that could pinpoint people or locations on my blog for security sake, but I'll call them David and Grace.  We had a 2 day work shop at a Safari Reserve Lodge and then headed out to my village - which I'll call Pan. 

On the way to Pan, my principals tell me “Gina, we may have a problem.”  The local Rural Development Committee (RDC) was protesting.  It seems Pan doesn't have a tarred (paved) road and the RDC wanted to get the attention of the municipality.  They ran the learners (students) out of the schools and blocked the roads around the village with burning tires and throngs of people.  We drove by the edge of the village Thursday and saw lots of people and hooligans out by the road.  This kind of thing is called a toytoy, and apparently the first step that every village must take in their endeavor to get a tarred road built.  We passed on. 

So I spent the weekend at a neighboring village with Mpho and the volunteer that he's replacing, here called Kay.  We saw his village schools, met the educators, saw the clinic and police station.  A few kids came by to visit and fell in love with Mpho, it was cute.  On Friday the RDC decided they hadn't gotten enough people's attention and so they were expanding to block the roads in neighboring villages.  The schools let out at 10am and teachers caught an early bus home.  We were strongly encouraged not to leave the village.  Instead we made spaghetti and meatballs and shared stories. 

Saturday was a funeral in the village of Pan.  Because the deceased was a member of the RDC they didn't block the roads and we could enter.  Funerals in South Africa are such a different experience than in the states.  Always held on Saturdays, they start by 7am, and include lots of speeches, singing and dancing.  This was a particularly huge funeral.  As white people, Mpho, Kay and I were honored guests and given chairs near the front.  Lots of singing and dancing.  We walked behind the pall bearers to the graveyard.  Men go to one side of the grave and women to the other.  More singing and prayers.  The family was devastated and weeping.  Some school children here almost inconsolable in the back.  I watched one poor woman pass out and fall back into a barbed wire fence.  These things are intense. 

Typically, the men would take turns burring the coffin.  Since this guy was an RDC member they took care of everything, then sang some more.  The songs turned into political slogans.  They were singing political slogans over this fresh grave.  Back to the house for a little more talking, the men heard from the Chief, who pleaded for the RDC to allow the children back in school on Monday.  Finally, everyone could eat.  The food here is great, and as the honored guests we got special plates from the kitchen instead of the buffet line. 

So about 2pm we left the funeral.  By now we had groupies.  The 3 Americans, 3 Principals, 3 members of the school governing board and a couple of kids all went to my host family in Pan.  I finally met the people I'd be spending the next 2 years with.  The mom and dad seem quite but very nice, and their 9-year-old grandson is shy.  My room is out back, with a fresh coat of paint and one electrical plug.  I'll walk out back about 15 yards to the pit latrine (outhouse) and take a wheelbarrow and big buckets about 50 yards to a community tap to collect water.  Back in the house we said our goodbyes.  The visit lasted all of 30 minutes. 

Off to see the schools I'll be working with.  The middle school was locked up but we went in to see the primary school.  It's been recently painted and has an irrigation system to water the grass.  The principals office is nice and big and they have great enthusiasm for the school.  Both my schools are excited to have my help and to teach me too.  I'm ready to get started!

Back to Mpho's village for the evening, by now it's about 4pm.  Kay saw some of her students driving a donkey cart with barrels of water back to their homes.  She made them give her a turn at the reigns - and drove the donkeys straight into the bush.  But she can cross it off her Bucket List. 

Sunday Kay showed us how to get to the nearest town and the malls there.  We ate sushi for lunch.  Where else can you go from the poor villages with little food or resources to a city an hour away and eat good sushi?  Peace Corps South Africa.  We also saw huge Fruit & Veg store that sells cheetah ribs that Mpho says he'll make one day.  I invited myself over to try them.  A combi (taxi) back to the village and we were worn out for the night. 

Monday we were surprised by the school district with a “necessary” trip to their office, then quickly to Vryburg to catch the bus back to training.  It was great to meet another current volunteer and hear all the other trainees stories of their sites.  The bus was late (of course, this is Africa) and I nearly forgot my wallet in the restaurant.  Lucky for me my PC adopted dad Tshiamo was there look after me. 

On the bus I made friends with a  woman who lives in the Northern Cape, and pushed the conversation a little until she invited me to come visit her sometime.  I love making new friends.  22 Peace Corps Trainees spent the night at a backpackers (hostel) in Pretoria where we got very little sleep.  Off to training the next morning.  That day was long and I was too tired and grumpy to pay much attention. But I do remember we got another lecture about some trainees aren't taking regular bucket baths and smell bad.  It's definitely not me, don't worry. 

My story was not the MOST exciting of the weekend, but it was up there near the top.  I'm glad I got to see the neighboring village and get close to all the principals, but I still have to look forward to those awkward conversations with my host family about where I dump dirty bath water and can I wear shorts and tank tops in the house.  It's just a little over a week away now and I can't wait to get started.