tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35336249010040555612024-03-13T14:00:59.941-04:00Emma's Adventures in SwazilandIn another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was going to get out again. The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down a very deep well.
--Alice in WonderlandEmma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533624901004055561.post-35001807408383991672012-12-04T06:33:00.000-05:002012-12-04T06:33:00.591-05:00Inspiring Words of Wisdom:<!--StartFragment-->
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This has helped me deal with the stress of making the third year decision. I hope that it can help some of you make the next big decision in your life. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times-Bold;"><b>Oh, the
Places You'll Go!<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times-Bold;"><b>by Dr. Seuss<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Congratulations!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Today is your day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">You're off to Great
Places!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">You're off and away!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">You have brains in
your head.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">You have feet in
your shoes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">You can steer
yourself<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">any direction you
choose.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">You're on your
own. And you know what you know.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">And YOU are the guy
who'll decide where to go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">You'll look up and
down streets. Look 'em over with care.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">About some you will
say, "I don't choose to go there."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">With your head full
of brains and your shoes full of feet,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">you're too smart to
go down any not-so-good street.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">And you may not find
any<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">you'll want to go
down.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">In that case, of
course,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">you'll head straight
out of town.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">It's opener there<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">in the wide open
air.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Out there things can
happen<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">and frequently do<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">to people as brainy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">and footsy as you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">And when things
start to happen,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">don't worry.
Don't stew.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Just go right along.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">You'll start
happening too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">OH!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">THE PLACES YOU'LL
GO!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">You'll be on your
way up!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">You'll be seeing
great sights!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">You'll join the high
fliers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">who soar to high
heights.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">You won't lag
behind, because you'll have the speed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">You'll pass the
whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Wherever you fly,
you'll be the best of the best.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Wherever you go, you
will top all the rest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Except when you
don't<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Because, sometimes,
you won't.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">I'm sorry to say so<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">but, sadly, it's
true<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">and Hang-ups<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">can happen to you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">You can get all hung
up<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">in a prickle-ly
perch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">And your gang will
fly on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">You'll be left in a
Lurch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">You'll come down
from the Lurch<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">with an unpleasant
bump.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">And the chances are,
then,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">that you'll be in a
Slump.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">And when you're in a
Slump,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">you're not in for
much fun.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Un-slumping yourself<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">is not easily done.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">You will come to a
place where the streets are not marked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Some windows are
lighted. But mostly they're darked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">A place you could
sprain both your elbow and chin!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Do you dare to stay
out? Do you dare to go in?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">How much can you
lose? How much can you win?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">And IF you go in,
should you turn left or right...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">or
right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Or go around back
and sneak in from behind?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Simple it's not, I'm
afraid you will find,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">for a
mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">You can get so
confused<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">that you'll start in
to race<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">down long wiggled
roads at a break-necking pace<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">and grind on for
miles across weirdish wild space,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">headed, I fear,
toward a most useless place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">The Waiting Place...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">...for people just
waiting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Waiting for a train
to go<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">or a bus to come, or
a plane to go<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">or the mail to come,
or the rain to go<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">or the phone to
ring, or the snow to snow<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">or waiting around
for a Yes or a No<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">or waiting for their
hair to grow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Everyone is just
waiting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Waiting for the fish
to bite<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">or waiting for wind
to fly a kite<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">or waiting around
for Friday night<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">or waiting, perhaps,
for their Uncle Jake<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">or a pot to boil, or
a Better Break<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">or a string of
pearls, or a pair of pants<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">or a wig with curls,
or Another Chance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Everyone is just
waiting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">NO!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">That's not for you!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Somehow you'll
escape<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">all that waiting and
staying.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">You'll find the
bright places<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">where Boom Bands are
playing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">With banner
flip-flapping,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">once more you'll
ride high!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Ready for anything
under the sky.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Ready because you're
that kind of a guy!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Oh, the places
you'll go! There is fun to be done!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">There are points to
be scored. There are games to be won.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">And the magical
things you can do with that ball<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">will make you the
winning-est winner of all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Fame! You'll
be famous as famous can be,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">with the whole wide
world watching you win on TV.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Except when they
don't.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Because, sometimes,
they won't.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">I'm afraid that some
times<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">you'll play lonely
games too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Games you can't win<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">'cause you'll play
against you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">All Alone!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Whether you like it
or not,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Alone will be
something<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">you'll be quite a
lot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">And when you're
alone, there's a very good chance<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">you'll meet things
that scare you right out of your pants.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">There are some, down
the road between hither and yon,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">that can scare you
so much you won't want to go on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">But on you will go<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">though the weather
be foul<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">On you will go<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">though your enemies
prowl<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">On you will go<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">though the
Hakken-Kraks howl<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Onward up many<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">a frightening creek,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">though your arms may
get sore<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">and your sneakers
may leak.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">On and on you will
hike<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">and I know you'll
hike far<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">and face up to your
problems<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">whatever they are.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">You'll get mixed up,
of course,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">as you already know.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">You'll get mixed up<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">with many strange
birds as you go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">So be sure when you
step.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Step with care and
great tact<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">and remember that
Life's<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">a Great Balancing
Act.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Just never forget to
be dexterous and deft.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">And never mix up
your right foot with your left.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">And will you
succeed?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Yes! You will,
indeed!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">(98 and 3/4 percent
guaranteed.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">KID, YOU'LL MOVE
MOUNTAINS!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">So...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">be your name Buxbaum
or Bixby or Bray<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">or Mordecai Ali Van
Allen O'Shea,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">you're off to Great
Places!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Today is your day!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">Your mountain is
waiting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;">So...get on your
way!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->
Emma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533624901004055561.post-32411485276643546052012-12-04T06:29:00.000-05:002012-12-04T06:29:02.140-05:00What's next?<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have been, for many months now, considering the
possibility of a third year of volunteering in Swaziland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To help clarify where I am now in my
service, and understand my goals for my time in Swaziland, I have decided to try to
quantify everything that I have been doing here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Noticing that it has been, oh forever since my last blog
post, I have decided to illuminate what I have been doing for you all, as well
as for myself.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While I’m here, I can’t imagine leaving. The question is the
balance between my own progress in this life versus the progress I can inspire
in this country and it’s people.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here are a few things that will help you to follow the detailed
outline I have created of my service in Swaziland so far:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mia is the Community Health Volunteer in Emkhuzweni.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She and I have struck a balance with
our work in Emkhuzweni.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are
several projects in which we have found it advantageous, as volunteers and to
the project, to work together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One school term is approximately 13 to 15 weeks.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><u>Co-ed
Soccer Club<o:p></o:p></u></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
I.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>Soccer Club is held every Sunday while school is in session.
Beginning in October of Term 2 in 2011. Practice is held at the Emkhuzweni
Primary School Soccer Pitch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
members and attendance of soccer clubs varies each school term, but ranges from
10 to 20 members each week.<u><o:p></o:p></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
i.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>Mia and I have started a coed soccer practice open to any and
all kids in the Emkhuzweni area, though most advertisement of this soccer club
has been at Emkhizweni Primary School.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Previously, it was a commonly held idea that only boys could play
soccer, within the school and in the community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Initially
we began this club for girls only, but it didn’t take long to find that we
couldn’t keep the boys away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, having practices as co-ed, instead of only having girls play,
the boys were being asked to work with the girls in the club as equals and
learning that girls can be just as good as boys at soccer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the practices girls and boys learn
to work together, learn from each other and teach each other, and are
encouraged to view each other as equals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We have seen a number of girls really assert themselves, when in other
circumstances they have been more shy and reserved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have also seen significant behavior change in a number of
our male club members towards the female members.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Another
aspect in which this club has affected children in the Emkhuzweni area, is
working together among age groups. The older children have better English
skills and frequently help the younger kids understand the activities at
practice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The older club members
are regularly asked to think about their actions as a role model to the younger
members. We have appointed both a boy and girl peer leader for the soccer
club.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our weekly soccer club is
also a safe out of school social activity, instead of drugs, sex, and
alcohol.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We
start each practice with running to warm up, stretching, drills, concluded with
a scrimmage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each week we work
with the kids to help them understand that exercise is important to a healthy
lifestyle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end of practice
each week we select one club member who has shown exemplary behavior as Player
of the Week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end of the
school term we have a party where we give awards to members/players who have
earned recognition in our weekly meetings/practices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We
hope that this practice will grow and encourage boys and girls to work together
in every aspect of their lives. This has also been a great opportunity for Mia
and me to get to know the kids at Emkhuzweni Primary School to develop the
relationships needed to start a GLOW group, Study, Life Skills, and English
Clubs.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in;">
<br /></div>
<ol start="2" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><u>Teaching
Swim Lessons<o:p></o:p></u></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
I.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>Each week during school terms 1 and 3 Mia and I have been
teaching swimming at the Pigg’s Peak Club (previously held at the Pigg’s Peak
Hotel) to the students of Hlanganani Primary School.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>English is the only language used to teach, offering good
practice for the students English skills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Lessons are coed, and we work to encourage gender equality among the
students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Children are encouraged
to make their own decisions, and taught pool safety.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lack of knowledge of water safety in greater Swaziland
can be a very serious issue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Children and adults alike are often required to go to a near by lake or
river to do regular household chores and frequently risk drowning due to the
lack of water safety skills and knowledge.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<ol start="3" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><u>English
Club at the Primary School level</u></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
I.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>Emkhuzweni Primary School English Club meets each Monday that
school is in session and focuses on developing English and Life Skills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The club ranges from 7 to 15
members.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This club was developed
after a school wide vote for after school clubs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus far we have completed activities about creative
writing, improving reading skills, expressing your beliefs and opinions,
reading comprehension, writing complete summaries to prove comprehension (which
is the method the school uses to test comprehension), communication and problem
solving skills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After our school
library is set up we have plans to concentrate on reading skills, of which the
students have expressed the most interest in getting help. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
i.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>Term 1 2012 was an assessment of English skills and a dialogue
with students about what they want to get out of their English Club. Activities
included: help with school debates, creative writing exercises, reading
comprehension, discussions about respect, vocabulary, communication exercises,
and problem solving skills.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
ii.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>Term 2 2012 we focused on parts of speech and conducting
interviews to share the culture, traditions and daily lives of Swazis with
Americans. Throughout the interview process we discussed representing yourself
and your country.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
iii.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>Term 3 2012 the English Club completed Fairy Tale curriculum
that I developed specifically for the English Club. This curriculum includes
reading, reading comprehension, vocabulary, listening comprehension, and
concluding with writing our own fairy tales.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This term included a special assignment to specifically
address the International Day of the Girl Child, which was very well received
by all members of the English Club and spread the knowledge and appreciation
through out Emkhuzweni Primary School.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<br /></div>
<ol start="4" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><u>English
Club at the High School level<o:p></o:p></u></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
I.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>English Club at Gija High School started in term 3 of
2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The club includes 15
members.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We worked through the
first part of a ‘This I Believe’ curriculum that I developed for the Gija High
School English club.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
curriculum was designed to address all aspects of English learning as well as
instigating discussion about many pertinent Life Skills issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The aspects of English focused on
during each class include reading, reading aloud, reading comprehension, active
listening, vocabulary, and speaking in public.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end of the curriculum, which we will reach in term 1
of 2013, the students will write their own ‘This I Believe’ essays, to work on
writing skills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Life Skills
issues addressed include, identifying your own beliefs, equality of all humans,
specifically across race and gender lines, decision making, and setting
attainable goals. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
club will resume next school year, in January of 2013.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The majority of club members are in
Form 2 or below, which means that they will continue with English Club next
year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gija High School is a newer
school that currently only goes through Form 3. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<br /></div>
<ol start="5" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><u>Computer
Club at the primary school level<o:p></o:p></u></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
I.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>Computer club was started at the beginning of term 1 in
2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We met each week on
Wednesdays through terms 1 and 2 of 2012. After term 2 of 2012 the Computer
Teacher was dismissed and Computer Club was postponed until a new computer
teacher has been appointed. This club was developed the same way as the English
Club, after weeks of promoting and discussing after school clubs followed by a
vote of which clubs the learners at Emkhuzweni Primary school want available to
them after school.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
II.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>I worked with Mrs. Sibeni, the computer teacher, to hold and
run the club. We focused on typing skills, decision-making skills, problem
solving on the computers, and improving English skills. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<ol start="6" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><u>Assisting
Computer Teacher<o:p></o:p></u></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
I.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>I worked with Mrs. Sibeni each week usually on Wednesdays, her
classroom-planning day. We would discuss the progress of her classes, different
teaching and discipline techniques, and ways to reach different students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We made behavior charts for the younger
grades. Mrs. Sibeni and I started a journal to write lesson plans before
classes and then reflect on the successes or improvements to be made to each
lesson based on how the lessons were received by the students.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
II.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>M. Sibeni was dismissed from Emkhuzweni Primary School after
Term 2 of 2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite the fact
that she is no longer employed at Emkhuzweni Primary, I have hopes that she
will used the skills she developed as we worked together in any future teaching
endeavors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leading by example for
teachers in other schools.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<ol start="7" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><u>Primary
School Library<o:p></o:p></u></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
I.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>We received 1,000 books from Books For Africa thanks to the
donations from many of you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To
qualify to receive these books we had to complete an application, which
included a library development plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Since receiving these books we have also received a second shipment of
books from Fundza for our library. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
II.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>There are two rooms that are currently the school office. The
library will have a bigger room (reception area currently) for study tables and
leisure reading after school, with a smaller room at the interior (currently
the office), which will house the books. A new office is under construction and
the library will take the place of the old office area, which is located within
a classroom block.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are now
waiting for the furniture to arrive for the new office space as well as shelves
to be completed for the library.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We have a librarian set up and trained for when the library opens.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
III.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>Hosting a library at Emkhuzweni Primary School will encourage
the students to read and improve their reading, writing and English skills
through exposure. Once the Emkhuzweni Primary School Library has been
established we will ask each teacher to take 15-30 minutes of the English
period each week to take their class to the library to learn how to use the
resources available and to check out books. If students show interest we are
interested in starting an after school reading club, with the possibility of
opening the library for restricted hours on the weekends.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
IV.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>As soon as the library is functional<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will post another update as to how well the plans are
working and being followed through.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<ol start="8" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><u>Volunteer
Data Entry<o:p></o:p></u></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
I.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>I have been working with my host brother to over see and teach
him data entry and other computer skills that he has volunteered to put to use
for Kathy Gau at Vusumnotfo, a local community based NGO.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Data is entered into Excel, and
recently we have opened up learning to the entire Microsoft Suite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is learning the skills mentioned
above as well as data collection and data analysis skills as a part of grant
writing and fundraising, which makes him more eligible for a number of jobs
while also building his resume.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
II.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>He has recently also taken on the transcription and
translating of most significant change stories for grant reporting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As well as going out into the field
with Babe Tsabedze to collect garden data that he will enter into the Excel
database with which he has been working.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Kathy has also asked Derrick to sign a one-year contract working with
Vusumnotfo as a volunteer/intern.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<ol start="9" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><u>Healthy
Eating Lessons<o:p></o:p></u></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
I.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>My host Make has a hard time remembering to eat, and then when
she does eat, eating well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, on
a regular basis we have discussions about what she is eating and what food
groups perform which functions for her body; what is healthy for her to eat and
what is junk food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To help monitor
these things and to get a more tangible, comprehensive look at what she is
eating, we set up an eating chart where she writes what she eats for 3 meals a
day and 2 snacks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end of
each day we go over what she has eaten that day, which food groups are lacking
and what her goals should be for the next day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This practice has progressed from the food chart to a
conversation at the end of each day about what she has eaten and what she needs
to work on for the next day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
also regularly shares the lessons learned through our conversations with her
friends and other women in her prayer groups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These discussions and the coming realization that she can
take care of herself, for herself has done a lot to empower her and build her
confidence in herself.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<ol start="10" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><u>GLOW:
Girls Leading Our World</u><o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
I.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>I am on the organizing committee for Project/Camp GLOW in
Swaziland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So far I have made
fundraising efforts, planned a lesson on exercise, nutrition, and decision
making for our camps, which include the Training of Trainers, which will be for
the GLOW club counselors, and the more extensive camp GLOW, which will be a
chance for Swazi counselors to teach and work with girls from all of the GLOW
clubs nationwide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
II.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>I am working with a teacher at Emkhuzweni Primary School to
start our own GLOW club. Unfortunately with the end of the school year progress
on our local club will wait until the beginning of next term in late January. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<ol start="11" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><u>Decision
Making and Problem Solving <o:p></o:p></u></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
I.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>One day in the beginning of the 2012 school year I took some
of the student’s down time to teach grades 5 and 6 a game called Dots and
Boxes. This is an interactive game that requires the students to practice
decision-making and problem solving steps and encourages them to anticipate the
outcome of their choices before they are made, as well as to adapt to the
choices of others- to make their own decisions and to foresee
consequences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Games and skills
like these, for the most part, are not taught in Swaziland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is sometimes an overwhelming
feeling of ‘this happened to me’ as opposed to realizing that ‘ I made this
decision which can lead to this’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So, even though this was a fun, one time activity, teaching these kids
this game and pointing out the decision-making and problem solving steps that
are needed to succeed in this game really gives them decision-making skills and
an outlet to practice these skills with each other, in hopes that they will be
able to recognize and utilize these skills in harder, more important decisions
in their lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have also seen,
since teaching this game, the kids teaching other students and brothers and
sisters how to play, passing on these decision-making skills.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<ol start="12" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><u>Grade
5 English Lesson<o:p></o:p></u></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
I.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>Early on in the 2012 school year, while I was still trying to
get my bearings at the Primary school, I was asked to look in on the double
stream Grade 5 classrooms, whose teacher’s were out for the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As part of Pre-Service- Training we
were asked to develop, in pairs, an English lesson plan. While I was ‘keeping
an eye’ on these 2 classes of roughly 50 kids each I took some time to use the
lesson plan that we created in training.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The lesson helps the kids understand adjectives and how to use them when
describing themselves and each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then the kids practice by writing a few phrases about themselves and
then reading their phrases allowed to the classroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then the teacher collects the cards and reads them back to
the class randomly as the students guess one by one who the card describes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this lesson the students have a
chance to practice writing, speaking English in front of an audience of their
peers and getting to know their peers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This lesson was very well received, even though some of the kids chose
to write incorrect information about themselves, they used adjectives
correctly, and usually the other students were able to identify who would write
incorrect information about themselves based on their pre-existing knowledge
about each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a fun
learning activity.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<ol start="13" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><u>Tutoring<o:p></o:p></u></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
I.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>On a rainy day just before grade 5 students were going to
write their end of term tests four students came to me for help studying
Science and Math.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although I
helped the students in math and science we spoke only in English, also
improving their English skills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This was a one time activity. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
II.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>Celomusa Dlamini, a neighborhood Herefords High school student
came to on a few different occasions, asking me to help him with different
school subjects and activities in which he has an interest. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
i.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>First he approached me to help him with creative writing,
which then led to an informal discussion about gender roles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In an effort to help him with the
creative writing process we worked on how to outline a story, the flow of a
story line, and the importance of details and reading to continue to develop creative
writing skills.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
ii.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>Several weeks before practice exams, at the end of term 2 in
2012 Celomusa came to me to work on preparing for English, Economics, Biology,
and Social Studies exams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All
tutoring was done in English, furthering Celomusa’s practice in English.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also discussed the HIV/AIDS topics
introduced by the school curriculum in depth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, after term 2 Celomusa could not return to
school because of his family’s inability to pay school fees, and cover daily
transportation costs to and from the school.</div>
<ol start="14" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><u>Coming
soon:<o:p></o:p></u></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
I.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span><u>Community World Aids Day Event<o:p></o:p></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
i.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>Headed by Mia, I have been assisting in meetings with the
community inner council and will be in attendance at the event as well as
helping wherever assistance is needed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
ii.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>The event will have PSI led condom demonstrations, condom
distribution, skits and a booth by the Red Cross, all of the Emkhuzweni Inner
council will be in attendance with speeches and comments from various pastors
and health center leaders. There will be a community discussion </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-indent: -.25in;">
II.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span><u>Working with community members to painting local bus stops
with HIV/AIDS Prevention Slogans</u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, there it is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Whether this list seems long or short to you, it has been my life for
the past 16 months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are
still innumerable conversations and personal interactions that take place on a
regular basis here that hopefully effect, and encourage positive change in
Swazis, but also have extensively changed me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now to address the following questions: What adventures do
the next chapter in my life contain?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Is this chapter coming to an end?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What do I want the next chapter to contain?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Am I ready to move on to the next chapter, no matter what it
may contain?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->
Emma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533624901004055561.post-37654328543043612642012-09-18T10:36:00.001-04:002012-09-18T10:36:51.731-04:00First Post back<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
It's 3pm and all is still. The day has just begun to cool down and it feels like it’s just me in the world. A moment of peace with the yellow birds squawking in the peach tree, the chicks in the coop peeping to each other and their hen. The sky is clear and I can see homesteads on the hills in the distance. There is a warm, gentle breeze that reminds me of the beach, everything else seems to be resting; even the houses.<br />
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<br /></div>
</div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
Today was the official start of school. I was anxious to go back after being home (in America), and still feeling like I am getting used to being back. I tried to get to bed early last night, and as usually happens when I try to get enough sleep, I got hardly any. I spent the night reading, tossing and turning, hearing strange sounds outside, messaging good friends, anything but sleeping. Until 3:15am, when finally, sleep came. </div>
</div>
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This morning I was up late, waking to the sounds of Siboniso and Phinda fixing the fence around the garden. I had a pounding headache, probably from the small amount of sleep, and the chickens would not shut up. Ahhh, I’m home. Despite these things I kept myself calm while getting ready, moving slowly and deliberately, not letting myself feel the pressure of the first day back to school. I wanted to arrive at school around lunchtime; that way I would be able to visit with both the students and the teachers. At about half past ten I started making my way to school. I had my bag loaded with what I thought was my standard school stuff, my new dress on, and clean hair. </div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
When I arrived at school, it was as if nothing had changed. There were one or two kids that I am closer with who seemed especially excited to see me, but that was about it. The teachers were busy preparing themselves lunch and prepping for the national exams later in the term, most of the kids were just standing around eating their lunch as usual, the head teacher was still in his ‘old’ office (even thought he promised me before I left that the library, which is to be located in his ‘old’ office, would be running by the time I got back). As the bell rang and lunch was wrapping up, teachers and students alike started asking me how long I would be at school today and were there going to be any clubs today. I realized that I had been anxious for nothing. It’s a Tuesday, so I don’t have to worry about any clubs, English club is on Monday and Computer club will start on Wednesdays again as soon as we get a new instructor. It’s not as if I’m a new volunteer starting in the community. I have done this. I have made my place here. I am no longer the exciting new white person at my school. I am Busisiwe. This is the first time that I have seen this clearly where I am in my service here, and what I have done in this school and community. This life did not happen to me. I made it happen. I choose what I do. </div>
</div>
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On that note, now I realize how much work is before me. No one would say anything, except for maybe Derrick, my host brother, who likes to give me a hard time, if I chose to sit at home and do nothing each day. But I don’t choose that. I like English club, and swimming and computer club, and working to start an English and girls club at the high school; I want all of these projects to succeed.</div>
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Thank you for all of your support. It was wonderful to see as many people as I could at home, though I am thinking of many people that I did not get to see, and many that I did not get to spend as much time with as I would have liked. I appreciate everything that you all do to help keep me going here. I did not realize how much we have done. </div>
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Emma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533624901004055561.post-24090590357155955452012-06-28T06:54:00.001-04:002012-06-28T06:54:33.394-04:00A Visit Home. Please read to the end to see how you can help!It's been a LOOOONNNGGG time since I have written and I apologize. Time has been a very fickle thing lately. <br />
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April to May: Mom, Hannah and Bobbo came to visit. Then, just as I was re-acclimating to being at site, at the end of May, Mia’s family came for a visit and I got to spend some time with them. Both visits were so much fun, but it was a lot of anticipation and then it felt like it was over so quickly. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shortly after Mia’s family headed out of Swaziland it was my birthday. Not something I am great at celebrating, but we did it anyway. We went to Ngwempisi Gorge (the same place that we went for Christmas last year). It was a great time. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We ate good food, drank good drinks, and hiked and adventured a lot. We even slept under the stars for a few hours one night, despite the chilly breeze that we got being on top of our rock house. The next weekend we celebrated Christmas in June, because most volunteers like to travel during actual Christmas, so we celebrate together in June. This celebration was another fantastic time with most people getting dressed up, eating a ton, swing dancing, and head stand competitions. Today, I am at the office while Make’s cats are at the vet getting fixed. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next week is the 4<sup>th</sup> of July, and I am coming into town a day early to help prepare. Wow, talk about staying busy, and all of that is just the weekend volunteer fun stuff, I am still working at both the Primary and High School in my community during the week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, after the fourth there isn’t really anything going on to mark the passage of time. I am sure that as soon as August rolls around I will have no idea what happened to the time. For now though, time seems to be stalling. <br />
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At site everything is going well. The cats are all going to be taken care of, happy and healthy soon enough. Make is doing great and really exploring with her cooking and baking. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am so proud of her. We went from I can’t do it, you do it; to me coming home and asking Make if I smelled muffins, and her telling me that she tried something new with lemons today. Derek aka Mfanafuti, my youngest host brother is home from University for the summer. He is thinking about staying home, continuing with school part time, and just commuting. He is really an incredible guy. He collects all of the school aged kids in the neighborhood around 3:30pm every weekday to tutor them and help with any homework they might have. He does this all on his own, no one asked him to, he just likes to work with kids and to stay busy.<br />
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As far as work and school goes, well, that’s where things are beginning to be a bummer. There have been some struggles between the government and the teacher’s union. There have been strikes going on all over the country for two weeks now, and this week protests have started breaking out at schools around the country. If schools are still operating the protests are usually held at those schools to disrupt learning. On Monday during my English club there was a protest at my school. I had stopped by in the morning just to feel out what was going on with my teachers. They said that they were not teaching. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were doing the sit-in version of the strike where they come to school and sometimes sit in their classrooms but don’t teach. Anyway they said that it should be no problem for me to come for English club that afternoon because it would be after school and the students would be staying all day anyway. So I went home and came back for the club. We were going to review what we had done last week, parts of speech, then try to identify as many parts of speech that we could in the book <u>Corduroy </u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I think that is what it is called), and who ever could identify the most would get a pencil as a prize. Well, we had just finished the review and the preliminary reading of the story when I had let the kids look at the book together to identify the words. I stepped outside to get a broom and there was a huge group of people gathered at the gates to the school. They were carrying little trees and chanting, and some were running all through the school checking in classrooms. So, I went back to the classroom and we all scurried out the back way toward home. It was a little scary and as a matter of safety I haven’t been to school since; which is a bummer because that is where the majority of my work takes place. I even began to work with the high school Literature teacher, Mrs. Nkambule, and Mrs. Mabuza to start an English club, but we haven’t got anything off the ground. Basically because there hasn’t been school for a little more than two weeks, at least not consistently. These teachers are great. It is so nice to see teachers who care about the student’s learning, and when I sit in on Mrs. Nkambule’s Lit classes it is inspiring to see her students so engaged and interested in what she and their peers have to say. <br />
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So, now you can see how time seems to have stopped or at least slowed down significantly. There are no big volunteer events coming up between the 4th and the end of August and my work at site is up and down at best.<br />
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Anyhow, I am really looking forward to my visit home. Here is the tentative itinerary:<br />
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I will get into Cincinnati August 23<sup>rd</sup>. I plan to spend a couple of nights in Oxford and then head to Columbus. After about 4 nights in Columbus I will be going to Cleveland. On Sunday, September 2<sup>nd</sup> I will head back to Oxford for that whole week. I fly back to Johannesburg on Saturday, September 8<sup>th</sup>. <br />
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<u>Now, here is where some of you can help me out. Peace Corps has 3 main goals: </u><br />
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I can earn up to 3 vacation days back if I give some presentations directed toward goal number 3. I am supposed to ‘educate Americans about the people and culture of Swaziland’. This can be in a classroom setting, a youth group, a community meeting, or really any group of people that I can talk to about, answer questions about, or show pictures of Swaziland. To get my days I have to have some sort of official documentation saying that I did this, either a letter inviting me to speak or a thank you letter for speaking. Are any of you interested in having me come educate you or a group you are involved with about Swaziland? Do you know anyone who might be interested in hearing about another country and culture? Please feel free to email me, facebook message me, leave me a message on the blog, or call me.<br />
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<br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Thank you all so much for your continued support.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That really means a lot to me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">I love you, miss you, and will see you soon!!</span></div>Emma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533624901004055561.post-26985688799720273132012-05-13T12:58:00.000-04:002012-05-14T02:36:22.914-04:00Vacaaaaayyyyytion!!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;">Look for a post in the next couple of weeks from my Mom!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;">The past 2 weeks have been incredible. Mom and Bobbo and Hannah (for the first week) came to visit. Here is a quick recap of the whole vacation:</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdyfY83py2qVR0mxfyHn0umG5Sw-Rjmtbn768IcyJEYhL1BW2k8xEir7GXusnCTRL4YpTR2ntDXdCyXO10maXbzy3vVc-p4CShf_bYWmDmRkb0MmUrh-XxH5ybG6xgMlOGS09_P9nZILR/s1600/4+Making+Mom's+welcome+sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdyfY83py2qVR0mxfyHn0umG5Sw-Rjmtbn768IcyJEYhL1BW2k8xEir7GXusnCTRL4YpTR2ntDXdCyXO10maXbzy3vVc-p4CShf_bYWmDmRkb0MmUrh-XxH5ybG6xgMlOGS09_P9nZILR/s320/4+Making+Mom's+welcome+sign.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Preparing for Mom, Bobbo, and Hannah to arrive. Mia and I (and Gaston, the cat) made a large Queen of Spades to welcome Mom at the airport.<br />
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<u><b>April 27 (F)</b></u> Mom, Bobbo, and Hannah leave for Johannesburg!!!! I am staying at Bombaso's to catch an early morning bus to Jo'burg to meet them. </div>
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<b><u>April 28 (S)</u></b> All of us arrive in Jo’burg and stay at the Protea Hotel OR Tambo Airport Hotel.</div>
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<b><u>April 29 (Su) </u></b> Travel
to Swaziland; Drive North around Swaziland to enter through the Northern most boarder crossing, Jeppes Reef/Matsamo. Visit Emma’s homestead and family. Make is cooking a huge feast. Sitambo (samp and beans), Inkhukhu ekhaya (home chicken stew), and Lipalishi (porridge). Say hello to Gogo Matsebula laKunene and a few other surrounding homesteads. Derek/Mfanafuthi is home to eat with us and Babe pulls in just a few minutes before we were getting ready to head out. Drive
to Big Bend, Swaziland and stay the the Lebombo
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<b><u><i>April 30-May 4 </i></u></b><i> Kwa Zulu Natal, St. Lucia, South Africa Stay at the Serene
Estate Guesthouse in St. Lucia, on the edge of the iSimangaliso
Wetland Park, Tembe Elephant Park</i></div>
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<b><u>April 30 (M)</u></b> Drive to St Lucia. Walk to the beach (we saw monkeys and hippos!), eat some lunch at the St. Lucia Ski and Boat Club then get a feel for the town.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vervet Monkeys on our way home from the beach in St. Lucia.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hippos on our first day at St. Lucia. Look at the babies.</td></tr>
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<b><u>May 1 (Tu)</u></b> After our phenomenal breakfast with the guesthouse we went to town to do some shopping and I got my hairs cut! Then we went on a horseback game ride! We saw herds of zebras, and since we were on horseback the zebras weren't even afraid of us, impala, wildebeest, water buffalo ( I think), and warthogs. Once we had all cleaned up from the ride we headed out to a fantastic dinner and hippo/crocodile hunt. Hippos are said to come up out of the estuary and into town at night to eat whatever grass they can find. We found two hippos and a small crocodile. One hippo was just standing in someone's yard, munching away at their yard! The other one was just on the side of the road, we saw it on the way to the jetty to look for the crocs. This hippo was HUGE!!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Turn off the surrounding lights to see this one better. He was practically in the road.<br />
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<b><u>May 2 (W)</u></b> We did a morning boat cruise through the estuary. We saw crocodiles, hippos, including baby hippos which are only 80 lbs when they are born, and tons of cool birds. Then I got my hairs cut and we went to the beach. The beach was awesome and huge. We had to walk for about 20 minutes through sand before we were anywhere near the water. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was one of the many crocs we saw on the estuary boat cruise.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nyala or Kudu, I'm still unclear of the difference and Mom's tour book only had a picture of one. Either way he was big and his horns were even bigger.</td></tr>
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<b><u>May 3 (Th) </u></b> The big snorkeling day at Cape Vidal. Dunes and fish like I have never seen them, incredible. Then we drove through the Isimalango Wetland park. We saw a few animals, but mostly it was the views that were taking our breath away at this point. I won't even post any pictures, because you just have to go see it for yourself... Awe Some.</div>
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<u><b>May 4 (F)</b></u> Have our last Serene Estate breakfast and head for Jo'burg to drop Hannah off :( Mom, Bobbo and I stay at the Protea OR Tambo again. I wish I had more pictures with Hannah.</div>
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<b><u>May 5 (S)</u></b> Drive to Mbabane, Swaziland, this time we drive through the bigger and more commonly used Oshoek/ Ngwenya Boarder Post. We drive straight to Pick N Pay to pick up groceries for the Bombasso’s Volunteer Chili Fiesta for Cinco de Mayo and for all of the volunteers that could make it to share a little bit of home with Mom's home made chili. She made regular chili with a skyline twist and white chili with chicken. Yum! Bobbo grilled veggies and Mia was in charge of whipping up the 2 cakes we had for desert, angel food and chocolate.</div>
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<b><u>May 6 (Su) </u></b> We (Mom, Bobbo, Eric, Matt, Mia, and Myself) pile into the Sportah-ge to drive to the homestead in Emkhuzweni. Mom cooks an amazing dinner again, this time for Make and Babe and which ever brothers are home. We/She made meatloaf with roasted carrots, mashed potatoes, and an avocado salad. Just before the meatloaf was ready Babe got home and had brought emahiya for Mom and Bobbo. Mia stayed for dinner, we dropped Eric and Matt off in Buhleni. Then we drove Mia home so that Mom and Bobbo could meet Gogo Kumedze and Make came with us to say hello. This night we all stayed in my hut. Mom and Bobbo got the bed and I was on the floor. It wasn't bad at all. Actually, even though Mom had given me previous warning that she might need to spend the second night in a hotel she decided that the homestead was fine. Mom and Bobbo even took bucket baths! We were in bed by 8pm though.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eventually we got it all figured out. Everyone was so happy that night. What a great place. What great people.</td></tr>
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<b><u>May 7 (M) </u></b> We took Lihle to the Vet in Mbabane to get fixed (YAY!) and then, with a drugged up cat in the back seat we stopped by the Peace Corps Office and picked up Mia and the went to meet our friend Faith in Manzini. We had lunch at the mall and then drove back to the homestead. Even though we were stuffed after lunch we ate Make's always delicious beef stew.</div>
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<b><u>May 8 (Tu) </u></b> First day of school after the break between terms. Mom and I walk to school while Bobbo picks up Mia to meet us there after a very emotional goodbye between Mom and Make. We are there for a quick assembly and to pop into most classrooms to say hello. After our quick Hello Goodbyes we drove to Buhleni to pick up a few things for our picnic and hike in Bulembu, including Eric and Matt. It is such a beautiful place, definitely worth the drive which is about an hour struggling up an old mining road. After our hike in Bulembu Mom, Bobbo, and I drive to the Ezulwini Valley for our first night at Malendela's.</div>
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Bulembu, an old asbestos mining town. It took us an hour to drive there (the 19k) because of the condition of the road- about 19 kilometers from Pigg's Peak.</div>
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Mia and Eric. We went hiking in Bulembu about a week before the fam arrived. It was so beautiful I decided that we would have to find a way to fit a hike in with Mom and Bobbo. </div>
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Here is the view from Kenny Powers Peak (dubbed by Eric and Myself). This is where we took Mom and Bobbo (plus Matt, Mia and Eric) to have a little picnic. It feels like you are on top of the world.</div>
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<b><u>May 9 (W)</u></b> After another delicious B&B breakfast, this one at Malendela's, we find the Swazi candle factory, Gone Rural, and a few other shops to do some shopping. Then we head towards Manzini to do a few more errands, including pick up some steaks and veggies to grill a the Hlane Wildlife Reserve that night. We also collect two stragglers, Eric and Mia, who both join us at the game park. Then pick up Kyra on our way to Hlane. By the time we get there we find out that the evening game drive that we were planning on going on leaves in 20 minutes. Just in time. Kayla and one of her friends from home join us for the game drive and dinner also. The game drive was pretty cool, two and a half hours and an African sunset. We saw a mom and baby rhino taking a mud bath, a giraffe at the water hole, a herd of elephants, babies and mommas, nyala, kudu, impala, and a lion that was totally stuffed after a huge dinner. The lion didn't even move when our driver growled at him. Then we got back to our cottage (definitely worth it!), the fire was already going, and started prepping everything to grill. We finally played some hearts after dinner, with the Kunkel. Hearts is the origin of Mom's welcome Queen of Spades. We even got some euchre in too. A very fun day and night. I might even say epic.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lion after a beeg dinner.</td></tr>
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<b><u>May 10 (Th)</u></b> Say goodbye to the elephants, giraffes, hippos, and impala getting their morning drink at the water hole. Head back to Mbabane to have lunch with the Swaziland PC Country Director. He recommends Ngwenya Glass Factory to satisfy our afternoon shopping fix. It was a cool place, a lot of the surrounding shops had crafts that were made in Swaziland, most of which are crafted by boMake, teaching them a skill, and providing a fair and sustainable income. Then we return to Malandela’s B&B for Mom and Bobbo's last night in Swaziland :(</div>
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<b><u>May 11 (F) </u></b> After breakfast we have just a bit of time for a little more shopping. We check out the Gone Rural shop near Malandela's again and stop by the Ezulwini Valley Craft Center. Then I am dropped off at the PC Office and we say some more teary goodbyes. Mom and Bobbo drive to Jo’burg airport to catch their flight home. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'll miss you! Happy Mother's Day!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset from the Homestead. See you next time.</td></tr>
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</div>Emma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533624901004055561.post-69008360105967169332012-04-04T09:24:00.003-04:002012-04-04T09:32:20.653-04:00Perspective<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">What a funny thing perspective is, it is all that matters and doesn't matter at all at the same time. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The past 3 weeks have been intense, crazy, up and down, and full of changing perspectives that don't matter at all. Here is post to catch you up on most of that.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Let me take a moment here to issue a warning about this post before you get too invested: It is a hodge podge. It doesn’t make much coherent sense. I NEED A VACATION! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 26.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 26.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="color: #a3611b;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">For all of you incoming volunteers, don't wait 11 months to take your first out of country vacation. Just don't. Those little trips within the country don't count for long. You really need to get away to keep your cool. My friend Megan says it very well: </span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #a3611b;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There’s an idea that you’re not a good volunteer unless you’re miserable (because you feel like you have to stay at your site to be a good volunteer). Having been there a few times I can tell you, you are a horrible volunteer if you don’t want to be there. Do your community a favor, get out if you need to. ...You’ll come back to site a better volunteer. Trust me.)</span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">March 19th we started our Mid-service conference with a Counterpart workshop. This went so well and my counterpart was/is awesome, great, enthusiastic, motivated, and creative. I can't quite express how happy we both were at the end of the workshop, our Literacy plan for Emkhuzweni Primary School in hand. We both learned a lot and she got a view from the source of what exactly I am doing at the school. Wow, it was great. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Then the PC dropped the Youth Development schematic on us.... Splat. Our counterparts hadn't even left yet (though they had stepped out of the room). They made it very clear that this isn't really changing much, and it should fit in nicely with most of what we are already doing, open up some new opportunities for us and get the new group off on a good foot. But I'll tell you what.... It sure didn't feel that way. I felt like my world had been turned upside down and all the work I had been putting in to my school was falling out of my pockets like change in a turned out pocket, including the successful counterpart workshop. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">What would happen now? What does this mean for my work at EPS? How do I balance what I have already started, what I still wanted to do, and all of the new opportunities that I wanted to pursue and were now open to me with the YD schematic? And all of that while remembering to see my PCV friends, avoid losing my mind by taking vacations, and go to the darn physical therapy that my ankle would require (a week at least).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Grief and Loss... This was really helpful for our group. I feel like I personally got something out of it and I love how close our group feels now. It was a great opportunity for all of us to get to know each other much better. It solidified our Group 9 family like we hadn't been before. We talked about our personal losses, the losses most Swazi's suffer, the losses we suffer here in Swaziland, and forgiveness. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Unfortunately during this part of our MSC I got a call from my Make letting me know that one of Lihle's kittens had been killed.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You remember them? Four of them: Chip, Gaston, Lumiere, and Belle. They had all been staying with me in my hut and in preparation for the conference I tied a sheet around my burglar bars on my window so that they could climb it to get in and out. Well, near this window I keep my ironing board. I imagine little, sweet Chip tried to climb the ironing board and it fell on her. She was crushed. What a traumatic thing, and there is more that makes it all a bit worse, but it’s not worth telling (too sad and stressful). Just know that it was incredibly sad and really exacerbated the whole situation and the way I had been feeling since the end of the CP workshop. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This is where perspective becomes a funny thing. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> A Few days after I returned to site, a homestead right next to mine had a fire. Three buildings burned down. Everything in them was gone; a kitchen, a sitting room, and one other hut. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> A cat died. --- In the big scheme of things, and especially in Swaziland this is small potatoes. But Make and I were and are very upset and grieving, and trying not to blame ourselves, it felt like a big thing. So, with perspective, especially after grief and loss and the fire it would seem that this is not such a big event- but no matter how we looked at it, it didn't make us miss Chip less, or feel less sad about her untimely death. And I don't mean to play down the fire. That is a huge thing. Everything you own takes forever to be able to buy when you are living on about $3 a day. We are trying to help them however we can, it's hard to know what to do, but keep the family in our thoughts and prayers.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">On a happier note: All of the remaining kittens have designated and good homes. Unfortunately, our friend Faith will not be getting a kitten. (I still haven't told him because it is too sad and I haven't seen him or talked to him since it happened. So, Faith, if you are reading this, I apologize for not telling you earlier. But if you want we can look for another kitten for you. Maybe at the Swaziland Animal Welfare Society http://www.swaziplace.com/saws/.) Also, while I was gone Make fed the kittens cinnamon rolls.... What a hoot!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">After 5 days (Sun-Thurs) back at site figuring out how to deal with EVERYTHING that was going on, and also at school trying to maintain the work that I had already started (the English club and computer club, which were both exceptional during this week and definitely helped), I felt much happier to be home and could look forward to all of my opportunities in the community and my upcoming vacations. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Then it was time to leave again. I had to start physical therapy for my ankle that Friday. We had initially guessed that I would be there Fri - Sat and then would go straight to Lidwala's (a backpackers in the Ezulwini valley) for my planned staycation with Mia. Instead, I ended up traveling 2 hours for 1 hour of PT and then had to turn around to spend another 2 hours on transport to go back home. We would start my PT the following Monday. So, Saturday was a relaxing day at the pool with some mental recovery time, then off to Lidwala's. Which did exactly what I needed it to do. It felt like a vacation. On Monday I headed to the med hut for 4 days of PT. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And here we are....<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I would be heading straight from the Med Hut to Pretoria, but I forgot to pack my passport (palm to forehead). So, I will be headed home tomorrow afternoon to retrieve my passport and re-pack into a smaller bag. I must say that I am very happy to see Make and the kittens before I go. I am really feeling close to all of them at this point. So, as much as it is a bummer to have to pay for transport back and be on the road by 430am Friday morning to leave in time to catch transport, I am happy that I will be going home. Not to mention that I will be able to unload the 2 AWESOME packages that I have received since arriving at the med hut. Thank you TINA (roomies forever!!) and Mom.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I love you all and miss you. I appreciate your support and these past few weeks (months?) it has really helped me get by and remember to try to be my best self, even though I am exhausted. Thank you! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The next post should be something fun and exciting with 2 out of country vacations right around the corner. Maybe I will even be able to get Mom or Bobbo or Hannah or all 3 to guest post.</span></div>Emma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533624901004055561.post-5029298349136430372012-03-03T14:27:00.000-05:002012-03-03T14:27:57.895-05:00Oh the things you can learn in a Saturday...<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><!--StartFragment--> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Not that I don’t love teaching swimming lessons, but lessons nearly every Saturday, combined with standard social activities with other volunteers mean spending very few Saturdays at home, in my village. Today, I didn’t teach swimming lessons and it is amazing how fulfilled I feel as a volunteer. If going to school during the week is American coffee, Saturdays like today, on the homestead are like Italian double espresso.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u>Let’s look at my current school project: After School Clubs- <o:p></o:p></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Yesterday the learners voted on which clubs they want to have offered after school. The voting was awesome, a ton of kids wanted to vote and they loved that I drew smiley faces on their hands after they voted so that I could make sure everyone only voted once.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, getting to the point where we could even organize a vote for clubs took some time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My first step was to put up posters, explaining what clubs are, why someone might like to join one, how to start a club, examples of clubs, etc. adding a new poster every other day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To make sure the information was making its way to the target audience (i.e. were the kids reading the posters?) I talked to classes, and informally interviewed individual students and teachers (because they’re overall support and understanding are crucial to the continued success of clubs). Unfortunately, I managed to slow down the process even more by stepping in a hole and rolling my ankle, which resulted in a sprain bad enough to merit a few days off of school. After the tennis ball sized swelling started to go down and the pretty purple and blue bruise started to set in, I made my way back to school just in time for the promised voting day.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Anyhow, I put up my first poster 3 weeks ago and we just voted this past week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t get me wrong it was planned this way, and I am thrilled that everything went well. Both the kids and teachers are excited about starting clubs, but that took quite a bit of time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were small victories along the way, but even now we have yet to have our first club meeting, where as today, in itself, held a number of concentrated positive volunteer moments.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u>Here’s how today, Saturday, got started as such a satisfying day:<o:p></o:p></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Last night while I was doing dishes, preparing myself for the potential disaster of counting over 100 votes in a room that was so hot turning the fan off was not an option; I had a knock at my door. I have had a few visits from the neighborhood kids around this time of day, so I had a pretty good feeling that I knew who was on the veranda (Phinda, Hlelan, Fakazi, and Lindo- all boys between 12-15 years old).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was correct in my guess and even more excited to see them when they told me they wanted to teach me to make guava jelly tomorrow (today)! This is something that I have been asking any kids in the neighborhood to teach me since I saw grades 6 and 7 at school learning how to do it in their Home Economics class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First of all, who doesn’t want to try guava jelly? Secondly, what is one of the best ways to reinforce a lesson you have just learned? (To teach it.) So, we made a date to start making the jelly in the morning, around 10. They would bring the guavas and I would provide everything else required to make the jelly (we did review the process and ingredients, I thought) including the pancakes to eat with the jelly, after we were done.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This morning I got out of bed a little before 8 and started to figure out what I needed to do before the boys arrived with the guavas. At 8:15 there was another knock at my door… Fakazi with the guavas. I had to tell him that I wasn’t ready yet and could he come back in a few hours. No problem, he was just dropping the guavas off right now anyway, he would come back. I ate some breakfast, whipped up some pancakes, did the dishes, and was ready to make the jelly. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u>Here is the recipe with some commentary and suggestions from what we learned this morning:</u></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> (read completely before trying to make the jelly. This is some of the best advice from my Dad. Growing up my sister and I would call him at work, with a bowl full of half completed chocolate chip cookie dough, when we realized we didn’t have enough eggs. Love you, Dad!)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Start with a backpack full of guavas. Ok, well half full.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Peel most of the green and yellow off the guavas, until there is a slight pink under the light color of the rind. Peel away from your body and go slowly. The goal is to peel the guavas without any bloodshed.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Oh, wait. Did everyone wash their hands? Lindo? (Expect water that may, now, be more mud than water.)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Cut the peeled guavas in half.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">You know you have enough guavas when the pot is about ¾ full. Add a few inches of water to the pan so the guavas don’t burn. We tried it without water first, believe me add water…unless you like crispy black flakes in your jelly. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Cover the pot and let simmer on med low until you can mash guavas into a semi pulp. We tried a number of tools for the mashing. A firm handled spoon worked best for me, but the boys insisted that we use the porridge stick (a long wooden handle with 2 dowel rods crossing through one end with about an inch and a half of dowel making an X at the business end of the utensil). </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Ok, now mash the guavas to near mush. We only mashed the guavas partially to mush, and we had a lot of leftover guava stuff. I think that if we had cooked it longer and mashed longer we would have had more jelly and less leftover guava parts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just do your best and learn for next time. It should be a little soupy too. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When you are satisfied with the mashy-ness of your cooked guavas then you can take them off the heat and sift, and by sift I mean mash the guava stuff through a strainer into a fresh bowl. What ends up in the bowl, from here on referred to as pulp, should be pretty runny, and the leftovers should be pretty solid and ‘dry’, or a dry as stewed guava leftovers can be. Again, just do your best. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Then juice a little bit of a lemon. Oh, you don’t have a lemon? No problem, Gogo has a lemon tree over there, be right back. OK, you have a lemon now? Should you juice the whole lemon? Yes. No wait, that’s half a lemon, then that’s enough… Just eye it and try it. That’s all I can tell you. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Ok, the lemon juice should be in your jelly jar, add to it the guava pulp and an equal amount of sugar (equal to the whole contents of the jelly jar thus far). </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Stir it all around; give it a shake (with the lid on, of course). Check to be sure the sugar is dissolved. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Are you sure we don’t need to cook it again? Yeah, it’s done. It’s kind of runny, you’re sure? Yeah, it’s done. OK then, let’s clean up and eat. Whew! </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Cooking with 12-13 yr old boys. I have later heard that you can cook the jelly again to make it like the thicker stuff that we are used to at home, but that is all I can tell you about that. I have a jar full of sugar and guava pulp in my (make’s) fridge, and it does me just fine, though next time I probably will try to do the second cooking thing.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After the guava jelly and pancake feast I did a little bit of extra cleaning up, since we ended up using Make’s kitchen. This included some laundry, shem. By the time I was done with laundry and a peanut butter and guava paste sandwich it was time to tutor Celomusa (an older, high school, guy that had previously asked me to help him with creative writing). This was an awesome experience. I haven’t had much opportunity to help any kids study or to tutor them since there aren’t any on my homestead, and the kids at my school are still kind of intimidated by me. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Celomusa and I talked about the information you need to make a good story, the outline method of writing a story once you have the idea, and what to look for when reading to help you write. We also talked about religion, marriage practices, why people in America and Europe are different from people in Africa, both mentally and physically, and what else he can do to get to go to University.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was so fulfilling and now, I think I may have a regular study buddy!! YAY!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope he feels free to bring his friends or at least encourage them to come by if they need any help with school stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe I will be able to ask him to type (he also mentioned needing practice typing) one of his stories as a guest blogger in the future!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Do you see what I mean about school being like standard American coffee and this Saturday being like an Italian double espresso?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both are great, and have a place in my life, but to think that I miss my weekend espresso when I leave for a Saturday is… well, I guess it’s hard to know how to fit everything in your schedule, no matter where you live, but there is definitely something to be said for Saturdays on the homestead. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Cheers my friends, and here is to productive and fulfilling Saturdays.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I miss you all a ton! And just a quick shout out to my friends and family who have sent packages- you all really saved me (and my natural instinct to hoard food, thanks Mom). This past month we got paid about a week and a half later than we usually get paid, and let’s just say that I had budgeted down to 5 rand. The food and snacks you all sent honestly kept me eating that last week and a half.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank you SO much! I know that I am not always good about getting a timely thanks to you all, but please know that your packages really do make a difference in my eating habits and morale in general. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Have a great week!</div><!--EndFragment--> <br />
<!--EndFragment-->Emma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533624901004055561.post-31392587483484396082012-01-29T03:18:00.000-05:002012-01-29T03:18:55.082-05:00This<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">I don’t know exactly what it is about the past few days, but I am loving this place. It really feels like home; maybe its school starting, maybe its cooking and baking with Make and Mia, maybe its working so hard during the day that I can’t keep my eyes open at night, maybe its a combination of all of these things. Whatever it is I am definitely in the right place doing the right thing.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I went to the office on Monday and was welcomed by a number of WONDERFUL packages. Thank you!! I also made some solid decisions for my sanity at school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This term/year I am focusing on the kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last term was a little different because our title and job description was still ambiguous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We now have changed from Non-Formal Education Volunteers to Youth Development Volunteers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This change releases us from the necessity to be at school all the time, and to find stuff to do as it comes to us there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This arrangement made it really hard not to feel used, and kept a distance with the kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have decided that I will arrive at school around Lunch break, 11:00am, to hang out with the kids while they have their short 30-45min break during the day, and then I will stick around for the last hour and a half of school, reading, setting up the library, preparing for after school clubs. After school I have let a number of the kids know that I am available to help them with any homework or studying they need to do, whether it is in groups or individually. Hopefully this will be the basis for some really great relationships with a few kids to help start more exciting after school clubs such as Library/reading club, English Club, Life Skills Club, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also plan to reach out to the younger kids by having an after school story time, just like Hannah and I went to at our local library on Sundays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whatever happens, I am loving having/getting more time to spend with the kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are so full of life and energy and really interested in learning. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">School started on Tuesday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was a little depressing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had assembly and then it was all around pandemonium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I took my leave and went to town to pick up a few groceries</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The next day, Wednesday, started at 5:30am. Make, Siboniso (the boy who takes care of the cows on my homestead), and I started weeding the field behind my house. I started out pulling the weeds by hand, but the ground was so dry that I wasn’t getting a lot of root. So, for the first time I used a hoe. I don’t think that I did too badly. I only accidentally got one stalk of maize. However, I did notice Siboniso stealthily following behind me smoothing out the ground and getting the smaller weeds that I missed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Holy cow did my arms start to hurt!! After about an hour and a half with the hoe I went back to pulling weeds by hand around the pumpkins that grow amongst the maize. It is harder to hoe around there and the broad pumpkin leaves kept the ground a little more moist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then at 8:30am I left Make and Siboniso in the field to get ready for school. Make wanted me to rest, but at that point it would have been counter productive. So, I had breakfast, bathed, and then did some of the laundry that I was piling up to do after school. At 10:15 I left for school, arriving around 11:00. I said ‘hello’ to all of the teachers that weren’t teaching at that moment and sat myself down with <u>The Catcher in the Rye</u>, which I have not yet read. All of the teachers that passed asked questions like: “What are you doing?”, “Why are you late?”, “Where have you been?”, “Why weren’t you here?”, “Why did you leave early yesterday?”. Deep Breath. “I am not a teacher, and I don’t have to be here any specific time.” Their responses amounted to, “Wow. You must be happy.” It feels like a shame. I would love to be busy with the kids all day, but there is just little use to me being there while the kids are all in class. Finally, the younger kids were finishing up their lunches, they are released about 15-20min before the older kids. Then they all gathered around to say ‘Good Morning’ and see what I was up to. The little ones are still getting used to me. Sometimes they run up and touch me, wait to see what I do, giggle, then run away. The more outgoing kids will come up and say ‘Bye Bye’, I’ll respond with ‘Hello’ and then they run away giggling. When the older kids get done with lunch they come over just to sit next to me, sometimes to talk if they have anything they want to ask, or I ask how they like their new classes, etc. This is all the slow process of getting to know the students and earning their trust and respect. I love it!! After lunch break I spent some time organizing how we are going to get our library stuff together. I taught the two Grade 5 classes dots and boxes. They loved it, and I showed them how to imagine the outcome of drawing their line before actually drawing it. For example: if I put my line here it will leave 2 boxes open for the next player to claim, but if I put my line here they won’t get any boxes. Problem solving skills anyone?! At about 2pm I headed home to do the rest of my laundry. Two hours later, about 5pm, I started making this amazing lentil salad that Mia got me hooked on. It has lentils, pasta, green pepper, tomatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, feta, balsamic, and olive oil. YUM! Everything is fresh and you just add as much as you like of each ingredient.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A couple bowls of that and I was ready for bed.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The next day started a little later and this time it was just Make and me in the field at 6am. We finished weeding the field we had started the day before at about 8:30am. I used a hoe the whole two and a half hours! Again, I bathed and ate breakfast then headed to school early, at the request of the head teacher. He said that I must be at school before 10am to get the library stuff sorted out. I got there at about 10:15am. Turns out it was no matter that I was late because the head teacher wasn’t even coming in to school at all that day. …So, I found my same seat and started reading again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was pretty much the same as the previous day, except this time I taught Grade 6 dots and boxes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, they loved it. (And I love those kids!!!) I headed to town around 1:30pm where I splurged and talked to a very talented local woodworker to make a bench and a washstand for my hut. I am SO excited for these 2 items. You all know how important hand washing is to me, and now I won’t have to bend all the way over to get soap and put my hands into the basin, not to mention the exciting prospect of storage shelves to get some of my toiletries off the floor!! I’m sure the kitchen/bath will fee like a new room. The bench will be under my front window, hiding my shoes and easily transportable for sitting on the veranda. YAY! </div><div class="MsoNormal">On my way home from town a couple of boys who live at the homestead next to me asked if I would come teach them the game that I taught grade 6 today. How exciting!!! So, after I dropped my stuff off at home I went back and played dots and boxes and hangman with them for an hour or so. At 4:30pm I left them to keep playing together and ate a bowl of that amazing lentil salad, and went straight to bed. Yep, that’s right. I was asleep by 6:30pm.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Friday morning I got to skip the field work because I wanted to get to school for the assembly. Shem. That’s all I have to say. Mia joined me at the assembly and then we went around to classrooms making announcements about soccer for today. I then had a frustrating conversation about my new title, that the PC had not told the schools or Head Teachers about, and my plan of action. Oh, man. I was so riled up. Mia and I then left for home where we had some awesome baking time with Make and made stellar Banana muffins, rested with True Blood and were Make’s dish fairies. It turned out to be a great day! </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Saturday was a day full of cooking (and doing my PC Volunteer Report Form), butternut squash soup, homemade applesauce, and helping Make with her first time baking chicken. It all turned out very well!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got to eat with Make and another Make from the Emphakatsi. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I realized that I really like how productive I am after a good workout in the morning. So, that’s how today started, with some pilates and a good 40 minute walk to get bread for breakfast. And look at that, 3 hours after I wake up Blog post done.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I miss you all so much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though Emkhuzweni is starting to feel more and more like home it is still missing all of my friends and family from home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a way the more I feel at home the more I notice that you all are not here. I hope that if any of you have any interest in visiting that you can make it happen. Anyone is welcome anytime.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Love you!!! Stay well and take care of each other.<o:p></o:p></div><!--EndFragment-->Emma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533624901004055561.post-50912837364193552282012-01-11T02:32:00.002-05:002012-01-11T02:40:35.564-05:00Settling in…againIt really rained last night for the first time since Christmas. Finally. We have been desperate for rain. Our maize is still small and our tomatoes in the garden are nearly as hard as rocks, ripe.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">For some reason the rain makes it feel a little easier to settle back into things at home after traveling around for the holiday season. It is like everything was holding it’s breath for the rain, and now that we’ve had some, breathing is back to normal.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The holidays included spending some great time with other PCVs and my host family, though I am sure that next year I will spend much more of the holiday season with my family. I did some awesome hiking with a group of PCVs at the coolest tree/rock house ever. We spent Christmas day cooking a HUGE feast at a backpackers. I got to spend some quality time with Make wami and bobhuti, usually cooking. Since school has been out for the holiday season we have eaten some amazing things: Pizza numerous times, including one time that I may have had the best pizza outside of Italy, Make made the crust and we didn’t even have any cheese, Cinnamon rolls a few times, a few different kinds of banana muffins, baked chicken, sautéed cabbage with carrot and onion, spinach with peanuts (one of my favorite swazi dishes), fried zucchini, onion rings, and fried green tomatoes. I ‘m sure that I am forgetting something but this is what I can remember for now. We also got a chance to watch some Planet Earth together which was quite a hit. After Christmas Make and I did some solid gardening together, mostly weeding. The New Year was also celebrated in good company, with other PCVs.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Since I arrived home after the New Year there has been a definite period of readjustment to a number of things at home, including a rural community where everyone expects you to stop and say ‘Hello’ to them, getting back into the SiSwati, and the fact that school is out until Jan 24<sup>th</sup> and technically I’m not even sure what I am doing when school does start again, so not exactly having anything to do back at home. Hopefully, now that it has rained, I will be able to help out in the fields a bit. However, Make is, rightfully, pretty concerned about me using most gardening tools with any sort of a point or edge.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Since being home I have read a couple of books, watched a few tv series and movies that I have on my computer, and cooked. Below I will put a list of the books that I’ve read, tv series and movies, and I will give you my recipes that have all been tested a few times.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u>Books</u></b>:</div><div class="MsoNormal">I started reading a series about Mary Russell, but had to quit in the middle because I loaned out my kindle, but I look forward to picking that back up.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I’ve been listening to Harry Potter on ‘tape’</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The Year of The Flood, Margaret Atwood</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Both of these books were interesting and kept my attention. The Year of The Flood was a little sci fi for me, especially with an ending that lacks conclusion. I also was more than halfway through the book and felt like I still didn’t understand what it was about, and what exactly I was reading. Which is a huge reason why I stuck with it to the end. When I got to the end I finally felt some connection to the characters, and then was left with no conclusion for any of them. The Bean Trees was more my speed. It took some time to get into, but once I did I really liked the characters and the story.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u>TV and Movies:</u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><u>Season 1 of The Wire </u></div><div class="MsoNormal">Very good. I had to watch the first episode a coupe of times. I have a problem with series. I cannot stop myself from watching episodes one after another. I will try to take a break before I start season 2. Season 1 took about 2 days. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><u>Season 1 Suits</u></div><div class="MsoNormal">Also very good. This is a newer USA series and I highly recommend it.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><u>Psych</u></div><div class="MsoNormal">Classic fun, just watching what I have until I can get some more episodes.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><u>French Kiss</u></div><div class="MsoNormal">It had been a long time since I have seen this one, and I have a really hard time with Kevin Kline in his role as a Frenchman. I still watched it 2 times</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><u>Sideways</u></div><div class="MsoNormal">Surprisingly good. I hadn’t seen this one before.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><u>The Invention of Lying</u></div><div class="MsoNormal">Eh.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><u>The Last King of Scotland</u></div><div class="MsoNormal">I was hesitant to watch this one because I was a little tired, I want’ sure what it was about and if it would keep my attention. It did, and I am very happy to have </div><div class="MsoNormal">finally see it. I will watch it again when I can.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><u>Love in the Time of Cholera</u></div><div class="MsoNormal">Good, but slightly slow and frustrating. Good music.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><u>Planet Earth</u></div><div class="MsoNormal">With the Fam. They loved it. Make actually had some of the ladies in the neighborhood over and they all watched it together. :D</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><u>True Blood</u></div><div class="MsoNormal">I have seen all of these episodes but continue to watch them over and over again. I am learning to skip the parts I don’t like as much (maenad anyone? Ugh.).</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><u>The Tudors</u></div><div class="MsoNormal">I’m new to this series but to be honest the incredible gender inequality, surrounding the King especially, is really hard to watch here. I think that I get enough of that in everyday life. Generally I find myself watching and asking ‘Why do I care?’.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u>Recipes</u></b>: (to come later. I’ve written them and rewritten them a bunch of times for the family and friends lately. I will type them up soon, maybe later today.)<br />
<br />
I miss you all so much!!! Please come visit :)<br />
<br />
Love you! I hope that you had a great holiday season and that the New Year brings happiness.</div>Emma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533624901004055561.post-70368145546136322342011-12-21T03:40:00.002-05:002011-12-21T03:54:48.764-05:00More pictures - mostly from Lobola (the price a man has to pay for a bride, in cows)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrJTwltSmzlYXm2WVldqsyf8V89W-rYz6qNW8ldabNHP_wh-HKuGojI9zZMyxXIz86z_j1STHn3PCajkTfcYsTVWcpchzyVQNWeLHUOsBcNyGRNMZ7WuIbAlunY2ZERNlmkKd2H6rsMJlU/s1600/Frog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrJTwltSmzlYXm2WVldqsyf8V89W-rYz6qNW8ldabNHP_wh-HKuGojI9zZMyxXIz86z_j1STHn3PCajkTfcYsTVWcpchzyVQNWeLHUOsBcNyGRNMZ7WuIbAlunY2ZERNlmkKd2H6rsMJlU/s320/Frog.jpg" width="240px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frog from Crocodile hunting, yeah it was just sitting on that leaf when we spotted it.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoRqguozuHsfUmgoOf-DkHDDxn1K1Rw6_Q7U-EufReUMhg9GrXo-GrwyGKIXwaFKmH9wlnlMDI29uhEh4YGlAcJI1n5dhOVQ_ecedvIP1AtD9ljCQkgfwiD6If7Tai8XxUL3r_7Mb6DXN5/s1600/Cool+Bomake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoRqguozuHsfUmgoOf-DkHDDxn1K1Rw6_Q7U-EufReUMhg9GrXo-GrwyGKIXwaFKmH9wlnlMDI29uhEh4YGlAcJI1n5dhOVQ_ecedvIP1AtD9ljCQkgfwiD6If7Tai8XxUL3r_7Mb6DXN5/s320/Cool+Bomake.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Very fun Bomake at the Lobola.</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivyOGzNK43cccAuSxsJnDtxfbMc9Fy5ybA0J662zN5-L2s9FvsOpkqX6F1hzWByyjeR7SvMSrtGRzNlyUlcClG3WAyqK13fMZU2yS1V9PY2QvyJL6eCQVc78i7GKT-6KvIpKycx2ZDc8Wo/s1600/soul+see+er.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivyOGzNK43cccAuSxsJnDtxfbMc9Fy5ybA0J662zN5-L2s9FvsOpkqX6F1hzWByyjeR7SvMSrtGRzNlyUlcClG3WAyqK13fMZU2yS1V9PY2QvyJL6eCQVc78i7GKT-6KvIpKycx2ZDc8Wo/s320/soul+see+er.jpg" style="cursor: move;" unselectable="on" width="320px" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This girl was very photogenic. We couldn't resist</div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZhRipolfHFRuYf3bBu4a7vY-3aNnNYgfzjZDBpuUJ55XbgfICr0FOkx5bkLa7pk-GCgT_HIheGgD9bH1eyxQCcMKt3BzAY1NnTyHaQ9Xm49nX7jh4vrVvpqfCAkEBss0lZpkQOu5-2Axb/s1600/Swazi+Home+cooking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZhRipolfHFRuYf3bBu4a7vY-3aNnNYgfzjZDBpuUJ55XbgfICr0FOkx5bkLa7pk-GCgT_HIheGgD9bH1eyxQCcMKt3BzAY1NnTyHaQ9Xm49nX7jh4vrVvpqfCAkEBss0lZpkQOu5-2Axb/s320/Swazi+Home+cooking.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swazi Home cooking.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZEwnNiBPcYxdnCWA7OXWYTuUKe4Jorb_41LCwgjv0RI0iVynk2TQvvuqvn6tkfGsKM3MSuXq_Dq64nmN70nTSYtQC5LZdEt7fHXK-BbBc_Z2j53BRncbeamb8cLMefjkT9Ybp8acqEiiL/s1600/The+kids.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZEwnNiBPcYxdnCWA7OXWYTuUKe4Jorb_41LCwgjv0RI0iVynk2TQvvuqvn6tkfGsKM3MSuXq_Dq64nmN70nTSYtQC5LZdEt7fHXK-BbBc_Z2j53BRncbeamb8cLMefjkT9Ybp8acqEiiL/s320/The+kids.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hey kids, sit on that Hilux bumper and smile. Always cute photos of kids.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisFWxmfs5C1IMWhmlc4gJbl0Gs3rK5s2DWYT1xSq7gaafCBtCtzt-F8micvkM-GKxdnEnnWTjgvUN2jMZHbKV_OY0ZQW9GIGHMnzMl7Zxpd3yPMP4vky4eiOYcPyaXXFNQHBU9rN73lumv/s1600/He+can+have+30+cows+ready+by+tomorrow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisFWxmfs5C1IMWhmlc4gJbl0Gs3rK5s2DWYT1xSq7gaafCBtCtzt-F8micvkM-GKxdnEnnWTjgvUN2jMZHbKV_OY0ZQW9GIGHMnzMl7Zxpd3yPMP4vky4eiOYcPyaXXFNQHBU9rN73lumv/s320/He+can+have+30+cows+ready+by+tomorrow.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These two are brothers. The guy in the blue was telling me that his brother, in the black, could have 30 cows ready for my lobola by the next day. And we figure out that it costs about 8 cows to fly round trip to the US. That's my new skirt and scarf! I love them and can't wait to have another one made :)</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivBC3AKitUGnmHFYKoeRQZYgXC1MQ_nCRCdIUZ6OJEPsfkf_K3gAYDgt9t8-8QiZiUzDe-d1BhcFtOw7SSdmZFuBnqp0A8Ip8NvScfZeceaXVyxNDT6sIwjWHjzYMAY5UtdfC9fozun737/s1600/Kyra%252C+Gugu%252C+and+me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivBC3AKitUGnmHFYKoeRQZYgXC1MQ_nCRCdIUZ6OJEPsfkf_K3gAYDgt9t8-8QiZiUzDe-d1BhcFtOw7SSdmZFuBnqp0A8Ip8NvScfZeceaXVyxNDT6sIwjWHjzYMAY5UtdfC9fozun737/s320/Kyra%252C+Gugu%252C+and+me.jpg" style="cursor: move;" unselectable="on" width="240px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kyra is taking the picture, on the right. Gugu is in the middle. It was her lobola (15 ->17 cows, 2 were pregnant and what to do with them had to be negotiated). </td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi9mL0_haXnWVfs47n1bZNHKqI-qmQssJDqgWWSkHAxMOAWqzX3ze_1EIvOEEBs4IqNo_kGsCABUG7ZOnoVU0vA9fTuehOoDgU-d6F0EKfxFjM60XSJ3tlSiYgT07i2RTFaUpyNC2y3_iP/s1600/me+grinding+peanuts%252C+I+didn%2527t+quite+get+the+hang+of+it.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi9mL0_haXnWVfs47n1bZNHKqI-qmQssJDqgWWSkHAxMOAWqzX3ze_1EIvOEEBs4IqNo_kGsCABUG7ZOnoVU0vA9fTuehOoDgU-d6F0EKfxFjM60XSJ3tlSiYgT07i2RTFaUpyNC2y3_iP/s320/me+grinding+peanuts%252C+I+didn%2527t+quite+get+the+hang+of+it.jpg" style="cursor: move;" unselectable="on" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We were pounding peanuts to add to the samp. Samp is chunky corn kernals and beans boiled together and then add raw peanuts ground into a powder.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCP59EMQoFgDS3Fisz98A2Fy67D1ruL56nUP2bncpuNPuPFoJ6-2qG9bLyaOXTdG0D3OGaBDuLVnX0oiyNOgvkbqzmpEly0NM5MhdC_XzDEmywD-drC62rOVFZRmOjIO8iA090VCR7KxCs/s1600/Kyra+grinding+peanuts+with+the+coolest+sisi+ever.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCP59EMQoFgDS3Fisz98A2Fy67D1ruL56nUP2bncpuNPuPFoJ6-2qG9bLyaOXTdG0D3OGaBDuLVnX0oiyNOgvkbqzmpEly0NM5MhdC_XzDEmywD-drC62rOVFZRmOjIO8iA090VCR7KxCs/s320/Kyra+grinding+peanuts+with+the+coolest+sisi+ever.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was rteally hard work and the sisi in this picture helped us. She was an awesome lady!! Kyra did most of the grinding then I did the sifting. Kyra then proceeded to arm wrestle several teenage girls. At least she beat 2 of them (an tied the other one ;) It was a very fun time!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrZXwrWA9zdb3XB1PakccdXEkObe9JDQ4vJY780JodpROArdtBflo5xCFVYqcibtNaZpbphUlE5C9OmQl6HCRFgwoqsubJt4hBNcQZ_-M571TshPpBXbNSoIoeg_qOqwDGdRuB66nlaARq/s1600/How+many+cows%25EF%2580%25A5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrZXwrWA9zdb3XB1PakccdXEkObe9JDQ4vJY780JodpROArdtBflo5xCFVYqcibtNaZpbphUlE5C9OmQl6HCRFgwoqsubJt4hBNcQZ_-M571TshPpBXbNSoIoeg_qOqwDGdRuB66nlaARq/s320/How+many+cows%25EF%2580%25A5.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These are the cattle in the krawl. Bobabe are deciding what to do about the 2 pregnant cows. They end up just giving Gugu 17 cows, but it is possible that they could have asked her to give the 2 baby cows back after they were born.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyYepQ30mGRJT6YqPP9WjKpXyxTMI0J55yGzsN1lwsGjJXhvjVmKomuL2yNx4mZPi6j4s20e3aXeOzv0akxBI5hn-Og9z2RBZddK7MJsxGPkAP1FqztLFXzvl9sgoszWsicG4k5Gx2mE_H/s1600/scorpion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyYepQ30mGRJT6YqPP9WjKpXyxTMI0J55yGzsN1lwsGjJXhvjVmKomuL2yNx4mZPi6j4s20e3aXeOzv0akxBI5hn-Og9z2RBZddK7MJsxGPkAP1FqztLFXzvl9sgoszWsicG4k5Gx2mE_H/s320/scorpion.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the scorpion that was in my hut. It is on the curtain and that netting is the head of my bed. EEK!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Emma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533624901004055561.post-17383687015422302642011-12-14T02:46:00.000-05:002011-12-14T02:46:27.550-05:00More pictures!!! <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZOK9T9Kau8dYblofInznmxm1bjJkcIKGhMvO4u5nYO3sYIv3jDCQUmPmTCpKw-QCjKK3W1ZztSqftfylr39_9JuujuuKwB81kOj85oD2wPxi-YlyQwRb507BWtaLTpBhR7nqN4-RiAkoN/s1600/Capacity+Building.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZOK9T9Kau8dYblofInznmxm1bjJkcIKGhMvO4u5nYO3sYIv3jDCQUmPmTCpKw-QCjKK3W1ZztSqftfylr39_9JuujuuKwB81kOj85oD2wPxi-YlyQwRb507BWtaLTpBhR7nqN4-RiAkoN/s320/Capacity+Building.jpg" width="240px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Capacity Building at Portugalia's</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGomF7Wmlp53qJLYI_GOQoRxmvMWCUWXUhy_pjr0JrWx6D1HNwsTxnXx3uuwsuuNgK9OjB4XLtzR03s4H6IZbPeHgLOROdHLcUX20Dkot2rntd1E2zIo6GhUkAZEtMUQ-Fbt5miNO1_PAl/s1600/This+is+when+we+found+out+some+capacity+building+was+necessary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGomF7Wmlp53qJLYI_GOQoRxmvMWCUWXUhy_pjr0JrWx6D1HNwsTxnXx3uuwsuuNgK9OjB4XLtzR03s4H6IZbPeHgLOROdHLcUX20Dkot2rntd1E2zIo6GhUkAZEtMUQ-Fbt5miNO1_PAl/s320/This+is+when+we+found+out+some+capacity+building+was+necessary.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Identifying an opportunity for capacity building</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCEAMDy2VXCs7FvDnNYEwQedFWEyQSskkVvSsQnYkQZqnnMKWw1BsGw9H_GaA0cyqLG6NA8_Eky-48OB3KAhvXatJHa7iyQmngghPhOhr8BPC76NzySPyCwU1jaCTToupW4Yb9uXQbvrVb/s1600/Capacity+Building+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCEAMDy2VXCs7FvDnNYEwQedFWEyQSskkVvSsQnYkQZqnnMKWw1BsGw9H_GaA0cyqLG6NA8_Eky-48OB3KAhvXatJHa7iyQmngghPhOhr8BPC76NzySPyCwU1jaCTToupW4Yb9uXQbvrVb/s320/Capacity+Building+2.jpg" width="240px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">Agreeing on the specials for PCVs, which ended up making the bar E.50 more per drink sold. </td></tr>
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</div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbmc91rLd_HRvJ4rH4n49qCKGWGJJlVw5KWP8L0tau255riAetrGI-mmw1OT_lN-N4nPIAuYUUKZrBef751JyttIVprOkjiHRl8cyL3MR2Mr-vx_cMcKYSizv0GfVlIV8Kc5b9DD4oDQml/s1600/Emma+and+mia+and+Cow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbmc91rLd_HRvJ4rH4n49qCKGWGJJlVw5KWP8L0tau255riAetrGI-mmw1OT_lN-N4nPIAuYUUKZrBef751JyttIVprOkjiHRl8cyL3MR2Mr-vx_cMcKYSizv0GfVlIV8Kc5b9DD4oDQml/s320/Emma+and+mia+and+Cow.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">Crocodile hunting and Cow petting expedition</td></tr>
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</div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcj8SdAxJsPd2a0LuOrTWl2hjQ01dl-_vhunwRXzQA0dVI9yBx00PigbEEwPiMnkjd8P1F4o5GxnFMfW5NA89ea9MiTHXFoSIhP-Svy3muIkJchoPlrMAEAsOFABBjt_zjUykR37w9QnUN/s1600/How+many+people+can+we+fit+into+a+khumbi%25EF%2580%25A5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcj8SdAxJsPd2a0LuOrTWl2hjQ01dl-_vhunwRXzQA0dVI9yBx00PigbEEwPiMnkjd8P1F4o5GxnFMfW5NA89ea9MiTHXFoSIhP-Svy3muIkJchoPlrMAEAsOFABBjt_zjUykR37w9QnUN/s320/How+many+people+can+we+fit+into+a+khumbi%25EF%2580%25A5.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">How many G9s can we fit into a Khumbi?</td></tr>
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</div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnkQNgBbqZFgIcKZqJEgXZeNDWT6hnnCFPveslG4G1J7jiWBqgYWVVkZZSABB6nDG5M38wLeIOdqwZCa8ZMu6mhvX8WB02UPZ-0sI7FEK75yiq3206lxW4Wq539Mre6FTSc5AuaU-FTVEO/s1600/How+Many%25EF%2580%25A5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnkQNgBbqZFgIcKZqJEgXZeNDWT6hnnCFPveslG4G1J7jiWBqgYWVVkZZSABB6nDG5M38wLeIOdqwZCa8ZMu6mhvX8WB02UPZ-0sI7FEK75yiq3206lxW4Wq539Mre6FTSc5AuaU-FTVEO/s320/How+Many%25EF%2580%25A5.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">More still...</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR7lLgX-WUnRC7egblpwi0-Xxsb0jZIvv6wrzZac6Ys89N4YHc5tczVC46VKF6M8s4JPY25_xPYuyg3dw7FXwYmhjzNFHDyQUDKthQm49yTct9r-hxJlc0lShPfRs6PIB-_pdt2HAogcvV/s1600/JUMP%2521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR7lLgX-WUnRC7egblpwi0-Xxsb0jZIvv6wrzZac6Ys89N4YHc5tczVC46VKF6M8s4JPY25_xPYuyg3dw7FXwYmhjzNFHDyQUDKthQm49yTct9r-hxJlc0lShPfRs6PIB-_pdt2HAogcvV/s320/JUMP%2521.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">Hhohho Shenanigans, everyone included.</td></tr>
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</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRVo7Q2GE0f9P4qMvZps33SCJWQ815aFrtfniRJiD1VMe8Rk3HTBWsaY6yC5Z2kuMGZf-VvmRuERxcgloShCf6TPt4BbTdZPTKc0_dtvBbsV-ZubeJUeQFNvy6UYCN0lICo1syjQCp3pdQ/s1600/Mia+laughing+at+cow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRVo7Q2GE0f9P4qMvZps33SCJWQ815aFrtfniRJiD1VMe8Rk3HTBWsaY6yC5Z2kuMGZf-VvmRuERxcgloShCf6TPt4BbTdZPTKc0_dtvBbsV-ZubeJUeQFNvy6UYCN0lICo1syjQCp3pdQ/s320/Mia+laughing+at+cow.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"> unsuccessful Cow petting</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZLFYlvtPCoNQ45vVnpIii7Ux9FxigQRENIbwHsGmpXr9rFSPbQHmkOrSl23pYRgTh_C5WLeVQ_nTIHGbGOpofwfqEbaBT1AdgTw2n3vhyphenhyphen4ZUtO0T5HtUz6xU-SOe8T2PHe8Wb1m3zs2da/s1600/Sammich+at+the+pool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZLFYlvtPCoNQ45vVnpIii7Ux9FxigQRENIbwHsGmpXr9rFSPbQHmkOrSl23pYRgTh_C5WLeVQ_nTIHGbGOpofwfqEbaBT1AdgTw2n3vhyphenhyphen4ZUtO0T5HtUz6xU-SOe8T2PHe8Wb1m3zs2da/s320/Sammich+at+the+pool.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">Sammich. Holly this is in memory of our diving days.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzi0TnqV0DZtAPenhEVFqf8ov-BP1sVDzBmcIfiX3rHIsp36oeNp45fwrHl8F6-C43eoev2PGzLXbnD9vTVoWqRPOzGa20rrQ9Xs4FPZqvB40EcF2dVzOa7IYARXTGzqwWgTZjp4QNaRT9/s1600/Shauna%252C+Mia%252C+Emma%252C+Cows.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzi0TnqV0DZtAPenhEVFqf8ov-BP1sVDzBmcIfiX3rHIsp36oeNp45fwrHl8F6-C43eoev2PGzLXbnD9vTVoWqRPOzGa20rrQ9Xs4FPZqvB40EcF2dVzOa7IYARXTGzqwWgTZjp4QNaRT9/s320/Shauna%252C+Mia%252C+Emma%252C+Cows.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">We had to bring our multi purpose tools. Just in case we had to gouge out any crocodile eyeballs.</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Emma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533624901004055561.post-82858610091896283572011-12-12T14:04:00.001-05:002011-12-14T03:10:32.471-05:00Long Lost Post, kind of<div class="MsoNormal">Ok, so I know that there is a lot to catch up on, but if I think of all of that then I will never write this blog. So, here’s what happened today. </div><div class="MsoNormal">I forgot to take my water bottle to the pool, and just found out that my Make thinks some neighborhood kids swiped it off of the veranda <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">L</span></span> We got to stop by Vusumnontfo, which was nice. We had a mini conflict with a khumbi driver. This was a major first. Usually you always want to be on the good side with the drivers, but this one wanted us to pay way too much for our ride. We got on the khumbi at Pigg’s Peak and told the ticket writer that we needed to go to Mkhuzweni, totally forgetting that we needed to get off of the khumbi early at Ngonini. Total, for Mia and I both, it would cost 44 Emalengeni to get from Pigg’s Peak to Mkhuzweni. Ngonini is about half way, about 11.80 Emalengeni. When we called ‘stesh’ to get off the khumbi Mia asked the driver how much it was and handed him 30E to cover both of us. He asked if we got a ticket and said that was how much we had to pay, and that we were 14E short and owed it to him. He was there arguing, we were trying to get change. Eventually we just left him with 6E extra and walked away (after he asked for our bags!!!). We were so mad and kind of confused. There is no way he would have ever asked a swazi to do that, or at least sat there and argued with them. But, we talked to a couple of people who have more experience with transport here, including a few Swazis, and found out that this in not standard and that we did the right thing and probably should have gotten change anyway.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This minor bit of drama followed quite a fun day at the pool. I had a delicious chicken salad and a chocolate milkshake. We swam and sat in the sun all day. I tried to write this huge rewind blog (not so successful). After we left the pool we went to Pigg’s Peak where we sat down and had a cold Coke, 3 Emafethi, and the best Swazi Chow Mein EVER!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a big deal. There is minimal Chinese available in Swaziland and when you get it you take a risk of it making you a bit sick. But this was great! I sat down at the table and felt like I was at a hole in the wall in the states.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I walked out I walked back into Africa.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Here is a list of the things that you missed and I promise to catch you up on eventually, slowly, but eventually. I promise.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In Service Training</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Stolen electronics</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Typhoid Fever (maybe) (not me)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Rambla’s fancy cocktail restaurant (we drank cheap drinks anyway)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>My Library Application got approved</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Please donate to our Library!!! (link coming soon)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Dancing at Portugalia’s</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Capacity Building bartenders at Portugalia’s and dancing round 2</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Mia’s Surprise Birthday Party</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Pizza</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Brownies</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Cupcakes</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Cake</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Make dancing</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Dancing in the rain</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>What’s yours like?</div><div class="MsoNormal">Hhohho Shenanigans</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Swimming (sort of) at Orion</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Ridiculous transport</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Windshield sunglasses, lost to the cause</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Grocery shopping in Pigg’s Peak</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Fruity khumbi rides (we were so squished fruit ended up poking people in various <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>places)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>More crazy transport to Shauna’s homestead</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Penis pasta from Italy</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Crocodile hunting (attempted)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Delicious food for the rest of the stay with Shauna and relaxing watching True <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Blood and Swamp People!!!</div><div class="MsoNormal">Simunye Country Club</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Swimming and trampoline</div><div class="MsoNormal">Visit with Kyra</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Saw an elephant on the khumbi ride from Simunye to her homestead</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Again watched movies and enjoyed a couple of cool days in the Low Veld</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Just as I am finishing up this email Make came and knocked on my door. When I told her that I was typing a blog to you all, she told me to tell you all, ‘Hello’. I said how about ‘Sawubona’, hello in siSwati. She said, no Busisiwe. They don’t know Sawubona. But Hello and Sawubona any way <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span> She also said to tell you all that she is happy to have me here with her, and Babe is happy too, and boBhuti, and Lihle! Make is SO cute.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I love you all and think of you everyday. I miss you all So much. Thank you so much for the packages and mail. They really make my week everytime something arrives.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Happy Holidays! Eat some extra deliciousness for me. YUM! </div>Emma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533624901004055561.post-55358694581272676222011-11-09T06:12:00.000-05:002011-11-09T06:12:23.274-05:00Photos<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The group of volunteers headed to Umhlanga</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">Umhlanga Dancers</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5-oQmy1biFNQIc1-GbHULI-MX5qF8OXlyidMwPmvOpwnEywi6RsLaPjIQnCcHkBpiKqjznMgqRr4ryPFbP63rW2iIGk-gh6XDdG_KgWYuOOpKnXBltYSR4asaSRrh1JPVK0y7SmR8Yf7C/s1600/Lihle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5-oQmy1biFNQIc1-GbHULI-MX5qF8OXlyidMwPmvOpwnEywi6RsLaPjIQnCcHkBpiKqjznMgqRr4ryPFbP63rW2iIGk-gh6XDdG_KgWYuOOpKnXBltYSR4asaSRrh1JPVK0y7SmR8Yf7C/s320/Lihle.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Make's cat, Lihle, who for some reason frequently has her tongue sticking out.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maize field, clothes line, chicken coop, garden (to the right with all the trees), and latrine (to the left).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH3vK7wIbjUDL0YG5ULs_OIcfXYofsv8b3okfEa9frNkh3JU1rH_7sMCPRvpwFhrYZ52sCAFgf_dkkt4aZpsdBRVdoKz9ea39v2pZEGmjWXm3qOZ_91XVv05Z6aUFjNeoSyqJycdQCteDI/s1600/The+Homestead%252C+the+main+house+faceing+us+and+my+house+with+the+clothesline+at+the+back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH3vK7wIbjUDL0YG5ULs_OIcfXYofsv8b3okfEa9frNkh3JU1rH_7sMCPRvpwFhrYZ52sCAFgf_dkkt4aZpsdBRVdoKz9ea39v2pZEGmjWXm3qOZ_91XVv05Z6aUFjNeoSyqJycdQCteDI/s320/The+Homestead%252C+the+main+house+faceing+us+and+my+house+with+the+clothesline+at+the+back.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the homestead</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4E8nMwRujZyCu0-LLaDu3KsC3-4uKNG_r75_jAJXw7yV2c6PtAjqGIIDwTYaqDo56D862_SlKi7L3sZJypH2JNBqh9pvDDRt0LNKtkYba7_TW0an8Wrk_pddQ6bZvXq4DKHqvwLWMfqJI/s1600/Outside+of+my+hut.+I+only+live+in+the+right+part+of+the+hut%252C+a+brother+lives+in+the+other+side+when+he+comes+home.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4E8nMwRujZyCu0-LLaDu3KsC3-4uKNG_r75_jAJXw7yV2c6PtAjqGIIDwTYaqDo56D862_SlKi7L3sZJypH2JNBqh9pvDDRt0LNKtkYba7_TW0an8Wrk_pddQ6bZvXq4DKHqvwLWMfqJI/s320/Outside+of+my+hut.+I+only+live+in+the+right+part+of+the+hut%252C+a+brother+lives+in+the+other+side+when+he+comes+home.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My hut. I stay on the right side only. A brother stays on the left side when he comes home.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the front door. The main living space.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO1ecotvrkH3ktTq3PRQihODeRNu-7M-Du7kepewEDIIV6v7mu4Tw4mtuo1o86g2NiFRc2TMgPt3MyWF-cr5yTbkwCTJJPt52v4V2rbDzaeSCLE7VZGH7b5yOSf00tcbbhDSEeIzgvcGqN/s1600/mini+hall+to+right+of+main+space.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO1ecotvrkH3ktTq3PRQihODeRNu-7M-Du7kepewEDIIV6v7mu4Tw4mtuo1o86g2NiFRc2TMgPt3MyWF-cr5yTbkwCTJJPt52v4V2rbDzaeSCLE7VZGH7b5yOSf00tcbbhDSEeIzgvcGqN/s320/mini+hall+to+right+of+main+space.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mini hallway/water closet, from the main space. Kitchen to the left.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRkX-KWNMapfgaqdHPgJGr-OZOrT1BPGMlU3cEEWGWVAzm5ljiGAVuvRQAP8qORLK7llZQ0et1tbviL_NZ8VphhuNqsLVh-G4XCf5pzZ2LRqp-vuVNPSeqNwyT1p8CocdtCW-Ivu8NJfzp/s1600/Kitchen+and+Bathoom%252C+off+of+the+mini+hall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRkX-KWNMapfgaqdHPgJGr-OZOrT1BPGMlU3cEEWGWVAzm5ljiGAVuvRQAP8qORLK7llZQ0et1tbviL_NZ8VphhuNqsLVh-G4XCf5pzZ2LRqp-vuVNPSeqNwyT1p8CocdtCW-Ivu8NJfzp/s320/Kitchen+and+Bathoom%252C+off+of+the+mini+hall.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kitchen to the right, bathroom to the left.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE-ny_ZYFjcWw8ePlU5hdBdnl30TCyi1uSMdUg4-gyV89WdvxbFh5IIrWb7pdK3Aeamok-D-Jje4lhonSa1TEZ84jNw1m5qpA_prLBYE1IUyP0TD64l6eVgTLKLmp1SldoOmI-IIxU8djK/s1600/Who+says+dessert+has+to+come+after+dinner%25EF%2580%25A5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE-ny_ZYFjcWw8ePlU5hdBdnl30TCyi1uSMdUg4-gyV89WdvxbFh5IIrWb7pdK3Aeamok-D-Jje4lhonSa1TEZ84jNw1m5qpA_prLBYE1IUyP0TD64l6eVgTLKLmp1SldoOmI-IIxU8djK/s320/Who+says+dessert+has+to+come+after+dinner%25EF%2580%25A5.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">5L of Neopolitan Ice Cream, because that's what we can get. It was really hot that day. We had arrived at my hut about 30 min earlier and have eaten about 2.5 liters already! :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMjKwbLp3En5Plr38RFeguvS1qMJOORedbR6iTCwrRkw77yo3TY5yISNQWgICIREul3Q-KBtyEdkX_Z_RuXjkJhMKzYIoik6rqNwmKIEXnAZPXjclfTMj2ibyz-s-iVoxSpyzpDTm6HNqc/s1600/TAco+dinner+on+the+veranda.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMjKwbLp3En5Plr38RFeguvS1qMJOORedbR6iTCwrRkw77yo3TY5yISNQWgICIREul3Q-KBtyEdkX_Z_RuXjkJhMKzYIoik6rqNwmKIEXnAZPXjclfTMj2ibyz-s-iVoxSpyzpDTm6HNqc/s320/TAco+dinner+on+the+veranda.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">Enjoying Taco salad on the veranda. This was a serious treat!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7O-vo-Xrg2fdUqby_tOvGYsCJmrk30vebwJvWl5-XOg4rb1JS34ZeCMMAio3xo9B-kAYFisSWNvynQE5Kk46lLBPq1bnyCOF_YcPztp6oJxyWCrwzzmYEwNltNjTLXPherTY5q547prBz/s1600/Male+dancers+at+Umtsimba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7O-vo-Xrg2fdUqby_tOvGYsCJmrk30vebwJvWl5-XOg4rb1JS34ZeCMMAio3xo9B-kAYFisSWNvynQE5Kk46lLBPq1bnyCOF_YcPztp6oJxyWCrwzzmYEwNltNjTLXPherTY5q547prBz/s320/Male+dancers+at+Umtsimba.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">Male dancers at Umtsimba (traditional wedding)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdiL2SgeWZNBQFEkQbGeGesAJgyWjn0zWgjwGI9mFWYrV4M-4TP_K6qIj9XreEaHIbX6bxNozxDfqMMcdZpWC8UJ-TwY1KGPVZ2foNIM_qZISrBnQ7kPVHT04G9q1UbVb80Xs8SwsltXjS/s1600/Me+and+the+kids+at+Umtsimba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdiL2SgeWZNBQFEkQbGeGesAJgyWjn0zWgjwGI9mFWYrV4M-4TP_K6qIj9XreEaHIbX6bxNozxDfqMMcdZpWC8UJ-TwY1KGPVZ2foNIM_qZISrBnQ7kPVHT04G9q1UbVb80Xs8SwsltXjS/s320/Me+and+the+kids+at+Umtsimba.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> a bunch of neighborhood kids at Umtsimba</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6QNNNJO58Zo8mMpBsdtDtpOIj_2DFyvP3GQAvL42pNb21GgYg-I_7gSwLyxiLkQ5TpxDR_1bqfx0gWFNUIOJUX3o0SLjDBzZLBdZ-vbWjCP6JX6M66oJsKNlnaJUyJhH4oN2YhoSzCSQQ/s1600/Wider+shot+male+dancers+at+Umtsimba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6QNNNJO58Zo8mMpBsdtDtpOIj_2DFyvP3GQAvL42pNb21GgYg-I_7gSwLyxiLkQ5TpxDR_1bqfx0gWFNUIOJUX3o0SLjDBzZLBdZ-vbWjCP6JX6M66oJsKNlnaJUyJhH4oN2YhoSzCSQQ/s320/Wider+shot+male+dancers+at+Umtsimba.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Getting ready to start dancing</div></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpfw_zOnu3-dXGcodvkPldF9baGzeH9bPsZ26LK8NtBYX9LLCcmsBvE0liJHgj-G9R64eqPFBZ2G53nzFsn4yofg9WBGo1gheqgLsrgLqpvLnfC8UigwTSTxV-vcigzKhYKnVQ-UiTgB9l/s1600/Mia%252C+Nelsi%252C+and+me+at+Umtsimba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpfw_zOnu3-dXGcodvkPldF9baGzeH9bPsZ26LK8NtBYX9LLCcmsBvE0liJHgj-G9R64eqPFBZ2G53nzFsn4yofg9WBGo1gheqgLsrgLqpvLnfC8UigwTSTxV-vcigzKhYKnVQ-UiTgB9l/s320/Mia%252C+Nelsi%252C+and+me+at+Umtsimba.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">Mia and her counterpart (Nelsiwe) pose with me for the first picture of the night at Umtsimba.</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> <div style="text-align: left;"></div> <div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Emma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533624901004055561.post-27423078238664579232011-11-06T08:01:00.000-05:002011-11-06T08:01:39.162-05:00Future spells FunI don't have a whole lot to post today mostly because I am too excited about these next few weeks. First of all, I do actually do work. However, the students will all be busy taking exams next week thru the end of term. There is then a month break in Dec. School will start again in Jan.<br />
<br />
<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Here is a brief glimpse of the next few weeks:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Sunday, 11/6/11: Soccer practice</div><div class="MsoNormal">Monday, 11/7/11: Dark and stormy picnic in the woods</div><div class="MsoNormal">Wednesday, 11/9/11: Got to Mbabane to visit PC office- research Tofo, load pics on blog, and get packages!!!!</div><div class="MsoNormal">Friday, 11/11/11: GLOW mtg in Manzini</div><div class="MsoNormal">Saturday, 11/12/11: Swimming lessons</div><div class="MsoNormal">Sunday, 11/13/11: Soccer practice</div><div class="MsoNormal">Saturday, 11/19/11: IST begins (I have to have our Library App completed and my <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>community assessment report).</div><div class="MsoNormal">Wednesday, 11/23/11: IST ends, All Vol begins</div><div class="MsoNormal">Thursday, 11/24/11: Thanksgiving with the Ambassador</div><div class="MsoNormal">Friday, 11/25/11: All Vol ends, day in Mbabane *shopping*, freedom party at Kathy’s</div><div class="MsoNormal">Saturday, 11/26/11: Swimming, head home</div><div class="MsoNormal">1<sup>st</sup> Weekend in Dec (dates TBD): Hhohho Shenanigans</div><div class="MsoNormal">2<sup>nd</sup> Weekend in Dec (dates TBD): Visit to Kyra</div><div class="MsoNormal">Dec 23<sup>rd</sup> Heading to Moz for Holiday!!!! Beach, Sun, Surf </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Miss you all!!! Love you. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Can't wait to hear from you!</div><!--EndFragment-->Emma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533624901004055561.post-59993936359536768092011-10-27T13:16:00.000-04:002011-10-27T13:16:09.743-04:00Catch Up<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Glorious just barely begins to describe the macaroni and cheese that I am enjoying right now.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Here is a quick catch up:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">On October 12<sup>th</sup> I taught grade 5 English all day. They were in the middle of learning about television so we did a group exercise where they worked together to write an episode of whatever show they like, or they could make up a show. We did this after reviewing genres of shows, and the idea of characters, settings, plot, and resolution. After doing this through both A and B classes I asked them what they wanted to do next… they all voted for a 20 word spelling test!! </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">On October 13<sup>th</sup> I gave my first Student Survey to grade 4. It went wonderfully and I have since also given the survey to grades 5 and 6. Now I am inundated with over 100 surveys that are waiting to be entered into excel in order to write this report for PC by Nov. 19<sup>th</sup>.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">On October 14<sup>th</sup> I taught Grade 3 with Mia, who was visiting the school for what turned out to be an epic assembly. At one point Mia turned to me and said, “This looks like it could be a concert for a boy band.”! That was slightly painful. With the language barrier we had some behavioral issues. I tried to remedy this by handing out cards to each child, asking them to write their names on it. Then we made up some classroom rules. Then if a kid broke any one of the rules, then they got a mark on their paper and would not get a candy the next day. For the most part this actually worked. Then for practical arts we were learning about stop lights, the colors, what they mean and the words. Then we went outside and played red light green light. A very nice end to a trying Friday.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We have been continuing our soccer every week, and it has been going great! A lot of boys still show up but they are learning to play with the girls. Especially when Mia and I play with them. We have also learned that the key to successful soccer practices is to wear the kids out before we let them play a practice game. So we have started doing a full workout session before actually starting practice. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">That Monday, the 17<sup>th</sup>, I decided to try to go to the office even though we had heard rumors of a transportation strike. Well I went, and as soon as I arrive in Manzini (the route to the office is Manzini to Mbabane then a khumbi to the office) MV our Security Officer for PC sent a message saying that there are planned strikes and that we should avoid Mbabane and Manzini, if you are already on route call me ASAP. So I called him and he told me to get to the office immediately and not to spend anytime in the cities. So I did, and then was trapped in the office all day with no food. Then a small group of us got stuck in the city and had a free night at a backpackers called Bombaso’s. That was a nice break, even though I had a sinus infection and had nothing to clean myself, sleep in and no toothbrush.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then on Tuesday we waited around to make sure that nothing was going to happen. Then we walked to the office to double check that nothing was going to happen while we were on route. I got on the khumbi to Manzini and got another call from MV, asking if I could get off before reaching the city because a girl who arrived in Manzini ahead of me was ordered off of the bus due to a transport strike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t get off of my bus and when I arrived in the city left the bus rank immediately and waited for MV to get there. When he arrived an hour later, nothing was going on and he just walked us to our khumbis to get home. I got home at 3pm on Tuesday. Talk about worn out!!!</div><div class="MsoNormal">The next day was grade 5 surveys. Then on Thursday there was a Goat Commercialization ceremony at a village near ours where our (Emkhuzweni Primary School) Drum Majorettes were asked to perform because the Queen Mother would be present. On Friday- grade 6 survey.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We have had our second swimming lesson day this past Saturday! Very fun, perfect weather. Except the sun was a little extreme. We got a ride from the hotel –Orion, look it up- to Piggs Peak because it is easier to catch one home from the city, rather than try to catch a one from the hotel. The person who picked (4 of) us up is a head teacher at a near by school, the brother in law of one of my teachers a EPS, and had a connection with a previous PC volunteer who happened to be from Kent State! His name is Dennis Desantis, Musa Shiba has lost contact with him and if you know Dennis please have him contact me. What a small small world :D<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we had some glorious KFC in Piggs Peak waiting for the lady whose school we run the swimming lessons. Then we got to talking, and incorrectly assumed that she would give us a ride home. No such luck. By the time we got to the bus rank the last khumbi heading to Buhleni had already left. So we had to take a khumbi headed to Matsamo, the South Africa border post and get off at a T junction where to get to Buhleni we would turn right. We had quite a task even spotting the junction stop in the dark. Luckily we moved to the front of the khumbi at the right time and asked the driver to let us know when we got to our stop, which was right then. We also asked him if he thought we could catch a khumbi to Buhleni from there. He said he thought so. And it turns out with good reason- he had called the last khumbi going to Buhleni and asked him to wait for us. What a nice guy. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Then early on Sunday we left to go to Manzini where a bunch of volunteers (both group 9 and group 8) were getting together at a….wait for it… PUB! to watch the Rugby world cup. Turns out I really like Rugby. It was such a great time and I got to meet some of the group 8 volunteers that I hadn’t met before.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Recently this week I had a talk with the thishela mkhulu (head teacher) about no longer being available to sub, after another day this week with grade 5 without a lesson plan, blowing in the wind, it was not good for me or the students. Especially, if after we start the new school year in January I want to teach any of my own –planned- classes. Then we talked about what I was thinking about for next year: a life skills lesson 1 day a week for grades 4, 5, 6, and 7; and I said that I could teach 1 English lesson a week for any grades or classes that wanted experience with a native English speaker, and my lesson would in no way be connected to the teacher’s regular curriculum; I also offered to run an alternative disciplinary option for teachers, a detention where students could be sent out of the classroom, or ordered to attend detention during break or after school with me where we would work quietly together.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Ok- that about sums everything up. Sorry if it was kind of boring. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I miss you all so much and think often about seeing you again, even though I still have about 21 months. Speaking of which, anyone is welcome to visit anytime!!!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!!! OCTOBER 19<sup>TH</sup><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span> I LOVE YOU!!!</div><!--EndFragment-->Emma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533624901004055561.post-58570927816820300992011-10-17T06:26:00.000-04:002011-10-17T06:26:20.051-04:00New post coming soon!!This post will soon be replaced by a new post. I have a few things to update, and depending on when I get home tonight, or tomorrow I will tell you all about it. For now I am stuck in the PC office waiting for my head to clear up (allergies) and the transport strikes to be over.Emma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533624901004055561.post-5797288514246421452011-10-03T14:00:00.001-04:002011-10-03T14:02:44.669-04:00Crossing streams with Make<div class="MsoNormal"> I apologize that I did not keep my weekly promise/ritual of updating my blog yesterday. It has been a crazy few days.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Let me start from right now and work backwards, like that backwards episode of Seinfeld- the wedding in India. Okay, maybe it’s been a while since I’ve seen that episode or any Seinfeld for that matter, but just go with it, ok?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It is raining buckets, literally, and has been since about 2:30pm this afternoon (it is now 7:00pm) with the addition of some hail every here and there. Make and I just started ‘harvesting’ the rain water about half an hour ago (except for the really big barrel Make has, that’s been out the whole time, under the one dripping gutter) and we have already filled 13 buckets, the smallest one is 25 liters, and we have filled her 125L (This is a guess, it is for sure bigger than my 100L barrel but I don’t know how much, and believe it or not I am erring on the small side) barrel two times now! We fill our buckets with big openings and then use them to fill barrels kept inside and the ~25L jugs with smaller openings, then fill the first round of buckets again. Every single bucket possible is filled with rainwater.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When I got caught in the storm as it started this afternoon, the roads were already turning into colliding rivers. And remember that there is only one paved road here, so they are nasty mucky rivers. Even more nasty since I passed a Gogo this morning, on the way to school, with the back of her skirt hitched up around her waist just slightly hunched over a bit of grass on the edge of the road. This is not a normal occurrence, as far as I know, but hey, emergencies happen. And now whatever it was that has graced the road since our last rain is floating around in the rivers we are forced to walk through to get anywhere. I can’t even imagine driving, or at least driving and getting very far. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We saw the storm approaching as we (2 teachers and I) were walking from the prayer service all of the teachers attended at the families homestead to mourn the death of a student’s mother, who was also a nurse at our clinic, in the bus accident last week. We were going to deliver scones to the Gogo of the sons whose bus crashed, killing the mother, and several others, we had just been praying for. The sons brought Gogo to their home to receive visitors offering their sympathy for the devastation of owning a bus that has killed people. The bus was actually sitting in the side yard with a tarp over it. It seems funny, coming from a culture where we always look for someone to blame, to think that people are sympathizing with the bus service/owners for bearing part of the responsibility of that tragedy (the bus operator was also killed in the accident). The Elders of the woman’s family, she was also a Dlamini (like me, so technically, but not really, we were related on some level), were the ones at the homestead sitting in an empty house, with the exception of mats for visitors to sit on, receiving anyone who might stop by offering to mourn with the family. This is viewed as their job and they never leave, even to cook and feed themselves. So they rely on other members of the family to feed them. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We left school at around 1pm and went to pray. We sang a few songs and our school’s pastor (not exclusively) led some prayers in SiSiwati. Even though I could understand so little of it, it was incredibly moving. It made me think of a part in ‘The Poisonwood Bible’, that I am reading right now (huge spoiler alert!!! And for any one who hasn’t read it, go do it now! Really now, run.). It is when Ruth May has just died and Orleanna, the mother, puts her body out on the table under a traditional alter and all of the other mothers in the village, many of whom have also just lost children under different circumstances, come crawling on their knees to help Orleanna mourn her lost child. And whoever is the narrator at that time realizes that this is the same pain that these other families have been feeling this whole time; that they are not exempt from the pain and possibility of losing a sister/daughter in Kilanga. I think that I did a terrible job explaining that, but hopefully if, or once you have read the book, you will understand the comparison and realize, if you haven’t already, how anyone who has lost can help mourn and feel the heavy fog of sadness. Even when helping to mourn someone that you have never met, and never will. Just knowing that they were someone’s mother, daughter, sister, someone is enough. Then on top of that feeling, realizing that this is something that, as a part of their culture, Swazi’s have seemed to understand and accept more than I could ever imagine without coming here and seeing it for myself.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">That pretty much covers today. For now I will skip the weekend and continue with the heartbreak and tragedies of last week. This bus accident happened last Thursday evening. A tire blew on a bus that travels from Manzini to Matsamo border post, SA. The accident was in Dvokolwako, which is about 30 min south of Mkhuzweni, and Mkhuzweni is the next to last village before Matsamo. So this hit our community hard. The news of this accident arrived on the same day that a boy in Grade 1, about 7, was deserted by his mother for eating his little brother’s fat cake. He showed up to school with his eyes welled up to brim with tears and a grocery bag not near that full of dirty clothes. We are still trying to figure out what to do. Last Friday also happened to be the day that we received an official SMS (text message) from our CD about 2 more volunteers leaving the program. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Talk about a bummer.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Luckily, Mia and I had already planned (thanks to Shauna who is the current Volunteer Swimming instructor) a pretty fun weekend of swimming lesson introductions, and an over night with some awesome people and awesome food. I actually got in the water and swam with the kids some, even though it was freezing. My own swimming instructors would never believe it, since one of the most prominent things I remember about swimming lessons was complaining as much as possible before I actually got in the water. So, now I will be teaching swimming lessons every, or every other weekend!! After integration we are also allowed to overnight any time we need a get away. Unfortunately, being so emotionally exhausted after the previous week and then physically exhausted after swimming lessons I was plum wore out on Sunday.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">However, now I have rearranged my schedule to accommodate everything and myself. It looks like this: School Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday; Girls soccer after school on Friday; Swimming lessons on Saturday, and Sunday to Monday are free for whatever, maybe more community work, but I’m not sure if I have that kind of energy. Re-reading this I know that it doesn’t sound like a lot for how exhausted I have been, but think about doing everything you do in a day with people all around you speaking a different language, all of the surroundings different and walking at least 30min to get anywhere, including to catch a khumbi these days, in scorching sun or pouring down rain. </div><div class="MsoNormal">The way my schedule at school is going it looks like I will be sitting in on classes for this week, and attending a few meetings, then organizing on Friday. Hopefully, the following week I will be able to start surveys with the teachers and the students. I am actually supposed to type the teacher survey tonight, but I am just too tired and now with a roaring headache. The rain has stopped and my head has filled in the now missing constant pounding of rain, with just pounding.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Alright, next week I will post again either Monday or Sunday with happier stories.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Love you all and Miss you!! Please take care of yourselves and remember that everyone is someone’s someone.</div>Emma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533624901004055561.post-54648176563880564162011-09-25T07:00:00.000-04:002011-09-25T07:00:19.372-04:00Survival of the Fittest, Natural Selection. By the way, Chickens make terrible mothers.<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">A Hen on my homestead hatched 11 eggs/chicks last Sunday evening. Today, one week later there are only 6 left. Everyday I check on the chicks, and sometimes in the evening when they can’t figure out how to get into the chicken coop I help them in. Still, there are only 6 left after a week. I guess that may be why the have so many chicks to start with. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I also started school this week! Finally. There is lots of fun stuff going on and I have lots of new teacher friends, who are really all SO nice! I feel very lucky. They already want to plan a one night trip to Krueger. Hopefully PC will let me go, even though it will most likely<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>be during integration when we are only allowed one night a month away from our villages. This month I already have too many things to do: I would like to go to the Orion hotel to get a tutorial about teaching swimming lessons, this will be with Kathy from the Perma-culture workshop that we did during training and will be an overnight thing, and obviously there will be a Halloween gathering at the end of this month. Eish.. what do I do?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Anyhow back to school- I love it, but it is incredibly tiring. I’ve asked the principal for one day off a week, to process, while I am still in integration. He said that would be fine and selected Thursdays for me. So, I have spoken to a possible SiSwati tutor about tutoring on Thursdays. Tomorrow I will be working with Miss Qwabe on our School Library application. Everyone is so excited about this opportunity! I will let you know more about it as we progress with our application. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Miss Qwabe is the school’s guidance teacher, and my main resource at this point for working in the school. This last week I shadowed Miss Q for 2 days and then shadowed the computer teacher. The other days were spent sitting in on meetings with the Principal and getting to know the school. So far I have drawn a map of the school and done a Key Informant Interview with Miss Q. I wake up every morning, hopefully before 6am, and head to school at 7am so that with the half hour walk I can get there before the 7:30am bell. Even though the bell seems to be more of a suggestion than an indication that school should start. Every morning the kids clean the school grounds, so if classes start by 8am we are on track for the day. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">These next few weeks I will sit in on whatever classes are on my schedule for that day, I am taking 1 day to observe each grade. (Grades 1-8 are Primary school and then beyond that, high school is referred to in Forms, eg. Form 1, Form 2, etc.) Then break when the teachers have a break or when the kids have lunch 11:00am-11:30am, this is a whole other experience that I will talk about later. Then it’s back to classes until school is out. For grades 1-3 that is 1pm, for 3-5 that’s 1:30pm, for 6-7 that is somewhere between 2-2:30pm. Then I head home to tackle whatever home chores are waiting for me after rushing out in the morning, usually sweeping, mopping if it has rained, and cooking something, because by the time school gets out it’s a chore in itself to decide whether I am more tired or hungry. I usually bring a small lunch with me and eat breakfast at home, but everyone shares here, and I don’t mind it at all, but I am very hungry by the time school gets out and I get home. After all of this I usually rest for a couple of hours and then tackle an evening of bathing, cooking dinner (sometimes, if I don’t gorge myself too much after I get home from school), and getting ready for school the next day.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Now, school lunches-</div><div class="MsoNormal">There is a bell at 10:30am which signals the monitors from each class/grade to go to the kitchen to go get the bowls for lunch. Each child has a number at the school and all of their books and their lunch bowl correspond to this number. Then the monitors hand out the bowls to each student, and they ‘line up’ at 4 buckets of soapy water to ‘wash’ their bowls before getting in ‘line’ to be served their lunch. They ‘line up’ by grade, the youngest ones going first. As for what the lunch usually consists of, this week there was no lunch served on Monday or Tuesday because of technical issues, then on Wednesday it was indegane, thin porridge, basically, runny grits, on Thursday they had beans, which I’ve heard is sometimes served with rice. Friday I was in a meeting during lunch so I didn’t see what they had, but considering how many children were loitering outside of the meeting hall I’m guessing it was indegane again, because most of them don’t like it enough to eat it and they just run around with their empty bowls for ‘half an hour’. Everyone eats with his or her hands, almost always. The adults usually make an exception when eating with me because I can’t do it, eat with my hands that is, not just because of the whole dirty hand germ thing, but also because it takes a different kind of coordination. I end up with food all over the table and myself. Then at 11:30am another bell rings and the children rush to clean their dishes in the same buckets and give them to the monitor. It has been a very interesting week, and a very fulfilling one, even though I am still exhausted. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Mia and I played soccer yesterday; really we just kicked the ball between the two of us. This was the inspiration and beginning of an idea to start girls soccer teams with the schools in our area. For whatever reason, girls never play soccer here. They play other sports, like netball and volleyball, but Mia and I are determined to equal out the opportunities. The boys do get pretty rough sometimes, which is why Mia and I started out playing on our own, instead of with a boys team. The boys are also VERY good and VERY competitive. As we were leaving the pitch a group of girls came running to us and said, ‘Please let me have your ball.’ It may seem like a strange question, but this is always how it is- I like that, give it to me. So, we said no, but that they should all come out next Saturday to play with us. They looked at us kind of funny, and then we asked if they knew how, if they could play, then they got excited and said Yes, of course. So, we’ll see what happens this Saturday (if Mia and I are around, this weekend is the weekend we are supposed to go for the Swim lesson introductions). Mia and I both played soccer and swam/dove respectively. Quite a coincidence, though Mia played soccer a lot longer than I did. Also, as we were finishing up playing around we saw a gigantic Millipede/Centipede, which ever ones are the big, gross, fat ones!!!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I finished reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho this week, I found a few passages that I feel are very apropos to my current PC life. I will leave you with those this week. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I love and miss you all. Thank you all so much for all of your unending support.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">‘… people need not fear the unknown if they are capable of achieving what they need and want…’</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">‘Because people become fascinated with pictures and words, and wind up forgetting the Language of the World.’</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">‘… so that everyone will search for his treasure, find it, and then want to be better than he was in his former life… when we strive to become better than we are, everything else around us becomes better, too.’</div><!--EndFragment-->Emma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533624901004055561.post-70431410702055665142011-09-19T01:53:00.000-04:002011-09-19T01:53:57.906-04:00Still No School<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">No school this (past) week. Hopefully I’ll get some good news tomorrow and things can get moving. Though, I am SO tired today. It is hard to imagine having the energy for school tomorrow. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This weekend a bunch of volunteers got together for a September birthday extravaganza. We went to Manzini for coffee and donuts, (yes, that’s right real donuts), then to the office to pick up packages (AWESOME packages again!! Thank you!), then off to Mbabane to get a delicious sandwich (Chicken salad, lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese, and bacon all on a toasted baguette) and party supplies . Sandwiches are a pretty big deal when you can find them here, for whatever reason it is rare to find a delicious sandwich. Then we headed to Sondzela’s, which is a backpackers on the Milwane nature reserve. We got there just in time for a dip in the pool (!) and to set up the tent. Then we got all showered and dressed up (which is a big deal here, I mean a shower?..amazing) and went to House on Fire, which is one of few dance clubs in Swaziland, and also attracts the many expats in the country. It was so fun, and nice to be with people that I don’t feel like I always have to try and be ‘on’ around. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Something else that I have been meaning to tell everyone who is even the tiniest bit inclined to visit: The flight is the most expensive part of the trip. The currency here (Emalengeni=Rand) is 7E to one dollar!!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Cold water highly is under-rated, cold anything else also under-rated, but maybe a little less so.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">More updates tomorrow, even though it sounds like there will still be no school. Mia and I will be visiting Zama (Matt) in his village of Bulandzeni tomorrow!! Yay!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">No School today <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">L</span></span> I cannot get in contact with my head teacher (Principal) either, which is slightly disconcerting. This means that today I am going to finish up Blade Runner ( I started it yesterday for the first time ever), eat breakfast, do some laundry, make my chick pea salad with tomatos, onions, oregano, and olive oil. Then Mia will come over to say ‘hello’ to my mother and we will head off to Matt’s where I think we will be making chicken soup.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Also, anyone who would like pictures: send me a letter with a memory card of sorts. This way I can send a full memory card back to you in a return letter.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This update feels so short compared to my usual novels. Enjoy.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><!--EndFragment-->Emma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533624901004055561.post-71927558069943252372011-09-11T06:21:00.000-04:002011-09-11T06:21:49.158-04:00Sundays in Swaziland<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">OK. So, Make has been to church 3 days in a row now, they are doing some sort of marathon thing, and I am feeling like a total bum. Since it's Sunday and at my homestead everyone is allowed to worship as they like (and they all do, a lot) I have decided that to make myself feel better, both productive and thankful, that I will designate some time each Sunday while Make is at church to write a blog entry. It's hard not going to a Swazi church because one of the first questions people ask you when they meet you is, ‘Are you a Christian, where do you go to church?’. While I would qualify myself as a spiritual, and maybe a religious person, I am pretty uncomfortable with organized religion and even more so in this country. Now, in designating this time on each Sunday I can feel like I am having my own connection, and less guilty about telling people that I don’t go to church here.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Anyhow, I forgot to mention something in my last blog post, about our latrine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I saw one of the mice/rats that lives in there before I scare it out every time I have to go out there (usually it flees before I even open the door). It has a very cute face, but still gives me the shivers. I also have named one of the many lizards that is in there practically every time, even after my efforts to scare everything out before I even open the door. It fits quite nicely between 2 cinder blocks. I decided that his name is Earl because the way he looks at me reminds me of the song by the Dixie Chicks – Goodbye Earl. Not that I would ever try to poison him with Black eyed peas. Do lizards even eat legumes? I found his brother’s tail in my kitchen this morning. That was disturbing especially since I think that something has to be threatening it when it loses its tail. Which means that something bigger and scarier than a lizard was in my hut last night. It’s possible that this thing was Lihle, the kitten that my Make got. For some reason she left Lihle outside last night and the little stinker managed to climb in through my window. I think that I put her out (she has fleas and she really needs to be Make’s cat) pretty soon after she got in though, not to mention the fact that she is way more interested in human attention than catching any lizards.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Yesterday evening we got to go to one of my neighbor’s (Matsebula) Umtsimba (traditional wedding). It was so fun!! We got there in our traditional wear (emahiya) and greeted a TON of people who were just so excited to see us. We met a lot of really nice, friendly people who are so supportive and happy that we are even trying to ‘be Swazi’ (integrate). However, one thing that comes with traditional weddings is alcohol and in this culture a bunch of drunk men and boys can be very intimidating and sometimes scary. Luckily Nelsi, Mia’s counterpart came with us to help us diffuse some of the situations. For example, a married man refusing to stop talking to Mia and I while we were trying to watch the awesome dancing and singing (I have pics and videos that I will post when I get a chance to go to an internet café). By talking I mean repeatedly asking us why we won’t date/marry/go with him, all while being (very) in our personal space. We did answer his questions at first, you know the standard where are you from, what are you doing here, etc. but as drunk people anywhere will do, he forgot the answers and would just go through the cycle again. Oh well, it all turned out alright and I suppose things like this can really happen anywhere.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Another little, but thing that I loved, was all of the kids! One little girl and her brother(?) came and sat by me as we were waiting for the wedding to start. They both hung out with us all night. Near the middle of the wedding I picked the little boy up so that he could see and he fell asleep on my hip. They reminded me so much of all of my cousins (kids) and Layla and Angie’s kids and Greyson and Shelby. I miss you guys!!!! It was a nice reminder of what really matters here though. I think keeping that in mind will be easier for me once school starts. The kids here are all so great, amazingly well behaved, and love any kind of attention. Heart melting stuff, really.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Speaking of school- I am not sure when that is going to start. There has been some issues with everything that needs to happen between the schools and govt before schools can start. I hope that they start soon. I am realizing that I really am waiting to get started on a lot there. I have tried to do some things in the community, but it is SO big and I don’t want to start something that I won’t be able to finish once school starts. I’m not even sure that I could draw a map of Mkhuzweni before I would get too busy with school, it’s that big (roughly 600 homesteads). I have however discovered one really awesome project for me to pursue, something that is community wide- A community English club!! It will be open to anyone in the community who is interested in practicing or improving their English. The idea was brought to me by a Rural Health Motivator (RHM) that I met while hanging out with Mia and her counterpart, while they were doing productive things. She came to me and said that she wanted me to teach her English. It is also a great opportunity for young mothers, who maybe didn’t get to finish school. So, I am going to start with it being targeted at those groups. I will go with Mia and Nelsi to the RHM meetings and rural baby weighings and set up a schedule with those who are interested. I am SO excited!!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Next weekend we are taking a mini vacation. It will be a celebration of all of the PCVs with September birthdays. I am going to take off school (if it has started) on Friday and leave early in the morning so that I have time to stop by the PC office to pick up some mail and packages (and maybe shower). Then we are all going to Sondzela’s backpackers, which is near the Milwane Nature reserve (we had a trip here during training) and DJ Cleo will be at House on Fire that night!! Yay.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">OK, Happy Sunday everyone. I miss you all and can’t wait to hear from/see you.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Love-Emma</div><!--EndFragment-->Emma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533624901004055561.post-43580255316649738242011-09-08T13:34:00.000-04:002011-09-08T13:34:48.919-04:00A Bit Scattered...<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">OMG! There is so much to say!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Umhlanga (Reed Dance) was so fun and beautiful. I even got to see some of the princesses and the king. Unfortunately, we had to leave pretty early since it started on Swazi time (which amazingly enough is pretty darn close to the Kunkel time that I have been adapting to my whole life :) and the Peace Corps has a one night away during the first 3 months of integration rule. Still, it was nice to spend some time figuring out how to move around this country, and tiring. We had to rush to make the last khumbi home and then do an in transit swap with a khumbi that was going to continue in our direction. I got back after dark, and it is scary walking here when you can’t see five feet in front of your face. Luckily I was able to ask the khumbi driver to let me off at the road to my house that is more populated and therefore a little wider, meaning that there is more space between the scary tall grass and me, that anything could pop out of. Also, all of the families that live along the bigger road know me. So if something were to happen I would ask them for help and they would not hesitate at all. This makes me realize the real importance of integration. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Then the next day back we went to meet the Inkhundla, which is a gathering (place) of bucopho (Headmen/chiefs) for the surrounding 5 chiefdoms including Mkhuzweni. It was very nice to meet all of them. They are seem very supportive of Mia and me, and are willing to work with us on anything. The Inkhundla is like the local court house, it is where any local issues are solved. Afterwards we went into town to see if my chair was ready and to get a few groceries. Chair was not ready….still chairless.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">However, I did get enough groceries to make dinner for/with Make and Bhuti (Derek/Mfanafuthi). It is actually a pretty exciting point that bhuti has been home for the past couple of weeks. He is awesome!! I am a little sad that he went back to the University of Swaziland today.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This dinner Make and I made was unreal- it was so good. We made a veggie stir fry with chicken and then combined it with fried rice. YUM! After this night Make got a cat (Lihle) from Mia’s counterpart. So, as a thank you for the cat I invited her to family dinner that Saturday night (which now we have decided to make an every week thing) along with Mia. We all cooked together and it was again, amazingly delicious! I have to give a shout out to the <i><b>Pilates Innovations</b></i> crew in Columbus for sending me 2 wonderful packages with the spices that made all of this great cooking possible- Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!! There is a letter in the mail to you all as soon as I get to town to mail it <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span> The second dinner was pasta with a homemade sausage gravy. We sautéed the sausage with onions, garlic, and green peppers then added a ton of fresh tomatoes and spices/herbs. We made garlic rolls to go with it all and finished the meal with freshly sliced pineapple and sweet bananas. Yum!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Ok, I must apologize. I have been writing this same blog post forever. Hopefully I can finish it up today. School starts (or is supposed to start**) next Tuesday so, I have been trying to make my way around this gigantic community while avoiding the heat of the day to draw a map for my community report due at the end of integration. Seriously, this community is huge. I don’t think that one could walk around the village if they walked all day. I am supposed to be walking now but my phone is charging and Make doesn’t really want me to walk alone, so the least that I can do is take a charged phone with me.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">** It turns out that school will not start on Tuesday.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">A few days ago I discovered this AWESOME spot. It is perfect for just sitting and thinking. It feels kind of wild because there are no houses near by, even though it’s got paths running through it, and it sits opposite another hill/mountain so the view is great. It turns out that after further investigation there is another area of Mkhuzweni (imagine that, this place is HUGE) on the opposite hill from my homestead that feels the same way.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I saw my first snake a few days ago. It was dead lucky for me, not so much for the snake. It was a light mocha brown. I think it had been trampled by cattle. Hopefully that takes care of my snake quota for Africa.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Sorry that this has been so scattered. I guess that creating a post over a few days is a bad idea for coherence.. next time I'll be sure that I have plenty of time to write a whole update in one sitting.</div><!--EndFragment-->Emma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533624901004055561.post-62411968661522836452011-08-26T15:20:00.000-04:002011-08-26T15:20:52.163-04:00I have contributed to the Swazi PCV Newsletter<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif;"> <!--StartFragment--> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><div class="MsoNormal">I have been asked to make a contribution to the Swaziland Peace Corps Volunteer Newsletter, the SoJo. And since I have actually put something together I figured that I could also put it up here, for you all. It does, however, contain the recipe for emafethi again. In case you haven't tried to make them yet, this recipe is a little more detailed with the experience that I have had making them since I last posted it.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Waiting for emafethi. The addiction continues.</span></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">For those of you in Group 9 who know me, you also know that I have an addiction to emafethi. Well, being at site has not caused my sweet craving to wane at all. This started back home when I was in charge of running a seminar series for a bunch of grad students. For those of you who have been students, you know that the best way to persuade them to attend anything is to have food. I chose to have doughnuts and coffee at my seminars. They were every week. Of course that meant that I had at least one donut a week, and sometimes I had to go into the store (they were delivered for the seminar) to work out logistics, or to get lunch or something. Anyhow, it had been about two weeks since I had last indulged in an emafethi and about four days that we had been at site. Needless to say, I thought I was dying. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Mia and I planned to go to Buhleni, our shopping town a few days after we had arrived at site to buy the standard household things, as I’m sure most of the other G9ers did. It was an incredibly hot day around 1pm and we had just sat through about three hours of our fist Umphakathzi meeting under the big fig tree. Standing by the side of the road Mia called her Sisi, who had previously mentioned that she would like to go with us to town, to let her know that we were ready to go and could meet her there. She told Mia that it was too hot and she would come ‘pick us’. So we waited, mostly thankful for the ride. We got in the car and found out that Sisi actually had other plans for the day, the first of which was to go home for lunch. This was fine, no big deal, lunch and then a ride to town. Another three hours later we asked Sisi if she was ready to go to the store yet. She was, so we all piled in the car. When I say all, I mean all, including Gogo and Sisi (another one) who we had to drop off at home really quick before going to town. Ok. In the car, hot, windows down, on a dirt road forever, seriously about an hour!! Finally we got to Mhlume, and my Dramamine kicked in. Great. Luckily it only took about 45 minutes to drop off Gogo and Sisi, then we were back on the road. Sisi said that we would stop at a store on the way back, after she showed us off to some more of her friends in Tshaneni. By the time we actually got to the store it only had a few more minutes of being open. Luckily they let us in and we got to do some shopping, even if we didn’t get to explore our shopping town with a local guide. On the way back we had a nice leisurely drive passing sugar cane fields, monkeys sitting next to the road eating the sugar cane watching cars drive by, and a gorgeous sunset. Quickly, I called my Make to let her know that I was with Buhle and her sister, I was ok and I was going to be home late, not to worry. This was quite an adventure in itself, and then the icing on the cake, or the dough in the oil. We did stop in Buhleni, at one store, for one thing, emafethi. It was heavenly, I mean really. Mine didn’t even make it to the car and I was debating if I had time to run in and get another before Sisi drove off without me.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">A few days later Mia and I decided to actually go to Buhleni to get a look around and pick up a few things. I had not had an emafethi since that day with Sisi. Little did Mia know that this adventure was going to turn into a hunt (or long wait) for the fat cakes. </div><div class="MsoNormal">The first place we went to in town was the emafethi place, it’s past the gas station, near the shebeen in Buhleni (stop by if you ever get a chance, note the timing). They said that the emafethi would be ready at about 1 pm (who makes emafethi in the afternoon anyway?!). It was about 9 am. Could Mia and I use up 4 hours in the small town of Buhleni? Two tables, a few brooms and mops, and groceries galore later Mia and I walked back in to the sitolo. Were the fat cakes, by any chance, ready early today?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About 11 am. No. So we decided that we couldn’t wait until 1 pm to eat and headed back out to He Provides Restaurant, previously Twinkle, for PCV famous fried chicken. It was delicious, but by the time we got done it was only 11:45 am. We were so hungry we both wolfed our food down. We went back to the sitolo, were they ready yet? No, one hour. Ok, so we went back to the woodcraftsman to figure out possible transport for the tables. 12:00. Not yet, but we didn’t have anything else to do. So, I asked Mia if she would mind waiting just 45 minutes sitting in the sitolo for the emafethi. She said no. That was her mistake, because the emafethi weren’t ready until around 2:30 pm. Every single person who walked in that sitolo sat down to talk to us about where we were from, how long had we been in Swaziland? what were we doing here? when were we leaving? could they come back with us? even if it was in a suitcase? where do you stay? no, really, where do you stay? what’s your real name? On and on. Then finally, after truly earning it, and making a few friends in the meantime, the emafethi were ready!! And oh were they amazing. I got 8, that’s right 8. I ate 2 on the way home, one when I got home, I gave 2 to Make (who also LOVES emafethi) and ate another one with her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rest just had to wait for tomorrow, because I was full. Oh, emafethi. Unfortunately, I have a recipe for them. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, as a reward for suffering through this story, below is my recipe for how to make emafethi. A little warning though, with this recipe they are quite a bit fluffier and more cake like. To make them more doughy and dense do not use self-rising flour and knead for longer. What’s next for the emafethi? Chocolate emafethi anyone?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Emafethi – using 2 cups of flour yields about 16, 1.5” (in diameter) emafethi.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">2 cups of self-rising flour.</div><div class="MsoNormal">2 tablespoons of oil.</div><div class="MsoNormal">½ (about) teaspoon of salt </div><div class="MsoNormal">½ (about) teaspoon of active yeast</div><div class="MsoNormal">4 heaping tablespoons of sugar</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">To make a bigger batch use 3 cups of flour 3 tablespoons of oil and 6 cups of sugar and increase the amount of salt and yeast only slightly, or follow ratios accordingly.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Mix all of the above ingredients together and stir thoroughly, until well integrated (haha, get it?). Then slowly add water to the mixture and keep stirring. I add water about a half cup at a time. You want the dough to be a little thinner that pizza dough, but not runny. Just so it sticks to itself rather than the sides of the bowl. Then I take the spoon out, put it in a cup of the remaining water, put a towel over the bowl to let the dough rise a bit. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">While the dough is rising pour about an inch and a half of oil in a pot. If you use a bigger pot it takes more oil, but is slower to over heat. Vice versa if you use a small pot, it takes less oil but the oil can become too hot quickly if you are doing a big batch. If I am using 2 cups of flour I use a small pot (about 3 rounds of frying), if I am making any more than that I use a big pot. Heat the oil. The oil is ready when you sprinkle water from your fingers in the pot and it sizzles as soon as it hits the oil, not when it hits the bottom of the pan. Then take your spoon out of the cup of water and one at a time, by the spoonful, drop your emafethi dough balls into the oil. If the dough starts sticking to the spoon dip it back in the cup of water. The emafethi may stick to the bottom of the pan, so be ready with a pancake turner if they do. The dough will need to be rolled at least once while in the oil, cooking to perfection. They are ready when they are just golden brown. If the emafethi start coming out raw in the middle and burnt on the outside, your oil is too hot. Take the poor dough balls out. Let your oil cool and try again.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Good Luck!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><!--EndFragment--> </span>Emma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533624901004055561.post-14183856874135955502011-08-24T03:13:00.000-04:002011-08-24T03:13:41.247-04:00Pictures! - They loaded backwards so start at the bottom and work your way up :)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicpcbVDwrcuT7DAhjSoGdmetk2PMB5lZeB_mB2YsZYoXtHPyyLkzj8a6bLHFLwZA_1pdOd94WlN4fUjOBLvxHwIInpltakidHTDJ5fRIcOSU_UODT0qtbaCwz7buDPoTfX_2rPWWPbsCZk/s1600/Men+Traditioal+dress-+swearing+in.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicpcbVDwrcuT7DAhjSoGdmetk2PMB5lZeB_mB2YsZYoXtHPyyLkzj8a6bLHFLwZA_1pdOd94WlN4fUjOBLvxHwIInpltakidHTDJ5fRIcOSU_UODT0qtbaCwz7buDPoTfX_2rPWWPbsCZk/s320/Men+Traditioal+dress-+swearing+in.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Men's traditional wear. Sorry the boys weren't looking at the camera, the photos with their faces were totally inappropriate. Silly Boys</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN9Bbydyb8tqoJPZwnL5SUGWIRWTwr49ilX8UI4NOVS8YqPIiMMU7_5b_z99u-IYCdHugt64u_nvN5hDYRvqNZMvxQcY8nKXVyYSZBysI2YqCO4mtOTuBo-46AXO3bi7Ep9HIT_aAB_5u3/s1600/Mia+and+Me+at+swearing+in.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN9Bbydyb8tqoJPZwnL5SUGWIRWTwr49ilX8UI4NOVS8YqPIiMMU7_5b_z99u-IYCdHugt64u_nvN5hDYRvqNZMvxQcY8nKXVyYSZBysI2YqCO4mtOTuBo-46AXO3bi7Ep9HIT_aAB_5u3/s320/Mia+and+Me+at+swearing+in.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mia (My Village-mate) and me at Swearing-in. Women's traditional wear.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMP4MYE9SJybQyePNdbQarJ0ai-EdTsDV-1znUsI2-gjADp6EYimKbvwpPaQYCu1nWSBTub0xKsu_EYKoOgjcWVeAU7T0KT7VxLVvoa-LgxyEUIMqgRGHH-ohPtIxSBN8yJz7jhmmip7po/s1600/The+girls+at+swearing+in.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMP4MYE9SJybQyePNdbQarJ0ai-EdTsDV-1znUsI2-gjADp6EYimKbvwpPaQYCu1nWSBTub0xKsu_EYKoOgjcWVeAU7T0KT7VxLVvoa-LgxyEUIMqgRGHH-ohPtIxSBN8yJz7jhmmip7po/s320/The+girls+at+swearing+in.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Ladies of Group 9, Swaziland.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4A5Lk2m60uNPWDymgDUNaAikRvMjDGSpIBUrTj7YU5BiSqeF88hj1nDk6CNKAk2IaBZ4z1iRXduiptz0Vyne-NN3tBpn-ggcuyVHgp0BcsxJRb5kP-F_dTu65cTMdLZKKdvle34ZdkUmP/s1600/Ryan%252C+from+my+language+class+with+kids+from+NCP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4A5Lk2m60uNPWDymgDUNaAikRvMjDGSpIBUrTj7YU5BiSqeF88hj1nDk6CNKAk2IaBZ4z1iRXduiptz0Vyne-NN3tBpn-ggcuyVHgp0BcsxJRb5kP-F_dTu65cTMdLZKKdvle34ZdkUmP/s320/Ryan%252C+from+my+language+class+with+kids+from+NCP.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ryan sitting with some OVCs in Makhonza during one of our applied language classes.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirkmXix6yMAqQyJ4c0Gqui_nN-i4w1dLynvghM7qxzvZQ1G7ndnK1UcGBTSFtiq5xv9wjzXgFFiu45RPjlYU345a2oiFRpRAeV5TLV_HJswE1p9OnzNdHHK_hvks68nc4gcDneEZkxrbqq/s1600/opposite+waterfall+cultural+village.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirkmXix6yMAqQyJ4c0Gqui_nN-i4w1dLynvghM7qxzvZQ1G7ndnK1UcGBTSFtiq5xv9wjzXgFFiu45RPjlYU345a2oiFRpRAeV5TLV_HJswE1p9OnzNdHHK_hvks68nc4gcDneEZkxrbqq/s320/opposite+waterfall+cultural+village.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View opposite the waterfall; at a cultural village we visited.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFxK9D_ifqd9EWZF98skFzY-8p7Y5_q-tRRlNdMlwB6lZbaaXWRT6zqw8zVrroYR1w9wBycYoR7G7VCeWGJTwNYxnm2oOg_hQ9mri7mavuwotGIdyt4t6NlSUD4y4EEX7R2ycXF3gJBsnk/s1600/smWaterfall+cultural+village.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFxK9D_ifqd9EWZF98skFzY-8p7Y5_q-tRRlNdMlwB6lZbaaXWRT6zqw8zVrroYR1w9wBycYoR7G7VCeWGJTwNYxnm2oOg_hQ9mri7mavuwotGIdyt4t6NlSUD4y4EEX7R2ycXF3gJBsnk/s320/smWaterfall+cultural+village.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Th waterfall at a cultural village we visited. It was a hike to get there, but it sure was gorgeous. Plus I was trying out some new settings on my camera. Notice how vivid the colors are?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6hTc-W1bJVBeedcnZnza0vmY_eWQaaBoq2mm063jKmsubIBinVUw-JXjxZPdhVuMYLRaRQiRsejzVA7OyKardNDmQY5ewMu9uKX1eMiQMulZUVie3Zvv_COKupr8_HEeuQocVMsJlz-R_/s1600/Sunset+from+the+training+homestead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6hTc-W1bJVBeedcnZnza0vmY_eWQaaBoq2mm063jKmsubIBinVUw-JXjxZPdhVuMYLRaRQiRsejzVA7OyKardNDmQY5ewMu9uKX1eMiQMulZUVie3Zvv_COKupr8_HEeuQocVMsJlz-R_/s320/Sunset+from+the+training+homestead.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset view from right outside my training village hut.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3tpWISOj1yBN6GbaE73-5vbSXqmJGgwgIXHWUSxJK1rabD480-f9yZI0mKFrLNdVJtqLN75wUlgpmwIzh2r_n04WSj7uHmNICnyzW2v40FT1DLqlQLHB92BYYKF5o1Av_yBHapP34dQlt/s1600/view+from+the+training+center.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3tpWISOj1yBN6GbaE73-5vbSXqmJGgwgIXHWUSxJK1rabD480-f9yZI0mKFrLNdVJtqLN75wUlgpmwIzh2r_n04WSj7uHmNICnyzW2v40FT1DLqlQLHB92BYYKF5o1Av_yBHapP34dQlt/s320/view+from+the+training+center.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the training center.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN5T0XrjQ05VTjqFmIsimJVTNEDoeUCxCX17HlMlI_FPRI0Gu9ojxUXVE4XTkmfa_laFUkqL5SZXaW0m-iwQH2Us4OD2EBjdYDj7MMZOYXy8Se0GR9YtQzSFcfNw0s7nvuNDDeTB0aDB1P/s1600/The+whole+language+group.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN5T0XrjQ05VTjqFmIsimJVTNEDoeUCxCX17HlMlI_FPRI0Gu9ojxUXVE4XTkmfa_laFUkqL5SZXaW0m-iwQH2Us4OD2EBjdYDj7MMZOYXy8Se0GR9YtQzSFcfNw0s7nvuNDDeTB0aDB1P/s320/The+whole+language+group.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My language group!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0rqq8ZRoF5ZZzUW4Jvx-4eNCHWCSHvY6vqsU4ApNQl2NGCk1X32_a6CspgSw79V0G8pXmhbrPivEVALJiDcPLjVRmonhawRddDQZGaDksiMSS36ywXPdjDs3xa3fQ07yepSzKtqBwi_ZM/s1600/My+language+teacher.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0rqq8ZRoF5ZZzUW4Jvx-4eNCHWCSHvY6vqsU4ApNQl2NGCk1X32_a6CspgSw79V0G8pXmhbrPivEVALJiDcPLjVRmonhawRddDQZGaDksiMSS36ywXPdjDs3xa3fQ07yepSzKtqBwi_ZM/s320/My+language+teacher.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and Calile, my AWESOME language teacher :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg24a-oqkvj2lRQIkJ9GohHml3wT4ziv-74plsOUvdgp36K77yDo-w3s2jX4ra0FAnuG0XjwIsUhCv3ECsOlzDDhg4cTm4DRU5JEJk8pVTFglU7BX5zf3QE17Uvd-FL7nMxua59D440SptE/s1600/Host+fam+appreciation+Bomake+na+phila.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg24a-oqkvj2lRQIkJ9GohHml3wT4ziv-74plsOUvdgp36K77yDo-w3s2jX4ra0FAnuG0XjwIsUhCv3ECsOlzDDhg4cTm4DRU5JEJk8pVTFglU7BX5zf3QE17Uvd-FL7nMxua59D440SptE/s320/Host+fam+appreciation+Bomake+na+phila.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Host Family appreciation, with Make Quality (Calile's host mother), Pila (my bhuti), and Make wami.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNdJGvtDQrDTW7CCxxRCxI5MTqkVjYQnWBSJt-p59sHwgT_9REr86gF7n3acC32ne6LNa8JKNB8gKrRp1imqDIrW4nZYVU-1Yp2Cup3mwexHoFz8a6jDLugTFeoT3I79DBadCxhnqZ0S0a/s1600/Phila%2527s+soccer+team.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNdJGvtDQrDTW7CCxxRCxI5MTqkVjYQnWBSJt-p59sHwgT_9REr86gF7n3acC32ne6LNa8JKNB8gKrRp1imqDIrW4nZYVU-1Yp2Cup3mwexHoFz8a6jDLugTFeoT3I79DBadCxhnqZ0S0a/s320/Phila%2527s+soccer+team.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pila's Soccer Team</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirdn2rW4VFacnhV0PuiyHq-WW1NB_lOmspg-PSN-ktwuOZq6WOsZcLWpP1tA7JdVjyTLdnVlgL36YHLJRt_etb_ky1WMsIM7oUeSTKpcU0SiS9NurF_UXT_e7vYbJ41qllaGUJ4ibkvUpS/s1600/cutest+goats+ever.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirdn2rW4VFacnhV0PuiyHq-WW1NB_lOmspg-PSN-ktwuOZq6WOsZcLWpP1tA7JdVjyTLdnVlgL36YHLJRt_etb_ky1WMsIM7oUeSTKpcU0SiS9NurF_UXT_e7vYbJ41qllaGUJ4ibkvUpS/s320/cutest+goats+ever.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cutest goats ever were born on my training home stead.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3VRXYk7kdX2S6VawFtjaQzQEdbMuCO2ilkESV-xMGhzjXLLSPVFok5LGeff5CXDvkiCEQW4h69EuekAr5pni0wZldEaWaoNrQYbyGEH5R6Wq3c4gpeqsQwSpi_RRQfgjuJu9XfV7m9_jt/s1600/The+training+fam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3VRXYk7kdX2S6VawFtjaQzQEdbMuCO2ilkESV-xMGhzjXLLSPVFok5LGeff5CXDvkiCEQW4h69EuekAr5pni0wZldEaWaoNrQYbyGEH5R6Wq3c4gpeqsQwSpi_RRQfgjuJu9XfV7m9_jt/s320/The+training+fam.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Host Family...well most of it. And Pila, eating the ceramic fish, I taught him to do silly things while people are taking pictures earlier. It seems I've created a monster :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1y-NHOTro_dcRDgw86c12OlnCUNIqYCg7Ae5CHuEeMkreHjopeBWEieiSfzPCWKnQt-yB4uDzmBi5uZlkqFhrpdSfHK-zJvkr-am5ytU0ExsPfIQ_s0ajcqefEyLdepaUP5XNRbz4Mxxh/s1600/home%252C+home+on+the+range.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1y-NHOTro_dcRDgw86c12OlnCUNIqYCg7Ae5CHuEeMkreHjopeBWEieiSfzPCWKnQt-yB4uDzmBi5uZlkqFhrpdSfHK-zJvkr-am5ytU0ExsPfIQ_s0ajcqefEyLdepaUP5XNRbz4Mxxh/s320/home%252C+home+on+the+range.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Home, home on the range. Yep Cattle graze 100% freely here.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-gozoAlQDiwJQowLkWczKn3cDYKwK8Hd12WN4YM5pgRJQcNJFq4tBgreJQU0Y3x52GAK_P_1nfnGlA_fmAb_P8kahtZcZqGjoVhA1O0KG1Dz7m37CCzS78MWNmI3qgt0CWIZiODfLJExE/s1600/more+traditional+huts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-gozoAlQDiwJQowLkWczKn3cDYKwK8Hd12WN4YM5pgRJQcNJFq4tBgreJQU0Y3x52GAK_P_1nfnGlA_fmAb_P8kahtZcZqGjoVhA1O0KG1Dz7m37CCzS78MWNmI3qgt0CWIZiODfLJExE/s320/more+traditional+huts.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More traditional homes near my training homestead.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilfVMF3CviFPgpf2qvYrufnJ4xMtbgG1fl0GCpggGTSimtNE8VO9lAAekFMg4kndg3S0hYeCcBq4l_-13_ytmu4JJBTyDfQ_pdaKOZ7o10xXetVwv5m7jPZ_1xEijrmVRijE4hvkeO9zlf/s1600/Deer+thingys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilfVMF3CviFPgpf2qvYrufnJ4xMtbgG1fl0GCpggGTSimtNE8VO9lAAekFMg4kndg3S0hYeCcBq4l_-13_ytmu4JJBTyDfQ_pdaKOZ7o10xXetVwv5m7jPZ_1xEijrmVRijE4hvkeO9zlf/s320/Deer+thingys.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Animals at the nature reserve. Can anyone identify these?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje9J3ueRHzNMB5BqjUqNT13anGkovNSYyYuzfcuE_3TTTHGbgBS2OUv23JvV4GGVeDQ6-5WzqayoTkeI4zoIYdD8cwUkH3xvDjA8Ih_QlhdmIe1UdGr21y7GyWxo49s2JO93hPbbxcS9wb/s1600/Monkey+at+the+cultural+village.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje9J3ueRHzNMB5BqjUqNT13anGkovNSYyYuzfcuE_3TTTHGbgBS2OUv23JvV4GGVeDQ6-5WzqayoTkeI4zoIYdD8cwUkH3xvDjA8Ih_QlhdmIe1UdGr21y7GyWxo49s2JO93hPbbxcS9wb/s320/Monkey+at+the+cultural+village.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Animals at the cultural village. Can anyone tell me what kind of monkey this is?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS6sm0iNdPQ5E_Tnnjr_GwzBZA5ymsrYsch08ExHQFsbGwGnXq7GXhKq9rc99N2RQLiG3LVqPgIAboCSHHgUtD-o-5MhsQivgPNJWjgaRkKAb5b_2Se67cLnrDGekX8V6lSlR2ZsMWcmWM/s1600/Zebra+from+the+reserve.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS6sm0iNdPQ5E_Tnnjr_GwzBZA5ymsrYsch08ExHQFsbGwGnXq7GXhKq9rc99N2RQLiG3LVqPgIAboCSHHgUtD-o-5MhsQivgPNJWjgaRkKAb5b_2Se67cLnrDGekX8V6lSlR2ZsMWcmWM/s320/Zebra+from+the+reserve.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's right. We saw a real live Zebra at the reserve!</td></tr>
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I love you all!! Take care. Emma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533624901004055561.post-58358528152449956592011-08-22T12:51:00.000-04:002011-08-22T12:51:00.748-04:00And Here We Are!!<br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13pt;">So, I know I have been promising updates left and right, but I ran out of airtime which means no internet (except for free facebook). I apologize that I have made you all wait this long for a post, and also that it is so long. I hope you enjoy. I waited to post until I could include pics </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 13pt;">J</span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13pt;">Let’s start with why I have no airtime and no money to buy more airtime. First of all, I tethered my computer to my phone’s internet. My phone is set up to run on certain settings to keep costs down, my computer is not. Then the money issue is because of a burglar door. I was doing really well with the money they give us, then I discovered furniture at the same time that my Babe decided that he wants me to be ‘too safe’ and we should have a burglar door put on an inside door that adjoins my house to another section that has no bars on the windows or outside door. Bye Bye money. Luckily, we get more at the end of the month and I should be peachy again. Also, as soon as my Babe gets paid we are going to split the cost of the door and PC is figuring out whether they have anything to contribute to the cause. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13pt;">Here is a little story about moving to my new and permanent (for 2 yrs) host family:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13pt;">Our moving day was a little bit of a disaster. There is another volunteer who is also staying in my village, Mia. Since she is a health volunteer and I am an education volunteer it should work nicely. Anyhow, the PC guy who came with us out to our site switched our assigned homesteads. So we got to the first one and he told Mia it was hers. Her Make was so happy and the home she got was beautiful, but it looked a lot like the picture I had from when we received our assignments. I said something to Babe, but he was pretty sure that he got it right. So, we unloaded all of Mia's stuff, told Make we would be back soon with a bed. Well, as we pulled up to the second homestead Mia and I were both pretty certain that our homesteads had been mixed up, because the house on this homestead looked a lot like the picture she had. Finally, he agreed to call Make, who actually scouted out the homesteads for each of us, and realized that they were opposite of what we were currently in the process of doing. So, we met Mia's 2nd Make of the day and went back to retrieve her stuff and drop mine off. My poor host mother!! Can you imagine expecting a foreign volunteer staying at your house, meeting them, and then everyone coming back and telling you that there was a mix up and the other volunteer is really yours. Oh man! She is a trooper. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13pt;">My new Swazi name is Busisiwe, it means blessing. My Make picked it because she has 3 boys and it is now a blessing that she should have a girl. She and Babe also said that I should feel like this is my first home and that America is my second home. They are both so sweet. Usually it is just me and Make, because Babe works in a different village and my brothers are older and are either at school or working.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13pt;">On the side yard of the homestead we have a papaya tree, peach trees, banana trees, and yes Mom, that’s right avocado trees (they are in season in June, I’m pretty sure)! I have a pretty big, nice house with 1.5 rooms. I say 1.5 because there is one big, mostly finished one and then a second, smaller room with unfinished (concrete) floors that I use as a kitchen/ bath. I also had enough room and money to buy a nice (you can't feel the springs) double bed and two beautiful handmade tables from a local craftsman who made them just for me (chairs to come). More good news for those of you who would like to have a quick visit to southern Africa, I don't have to take any time off for when people come to visit me!! I only have to take the time off when I leave my site. So welcome one and all!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13pt;">One big project that I am really excited about on the homestead is a garden. I asked Make about it and she is so excited! She actually started digging the garden the other day, which is kind of bad because we are no where near ready to plant so the soil will dry up pretty quickly which means that we had to cut grass for mulch to try to keep the moisture in the soil. I don’t know how many of you have tried to cut grass as tall as you are with a sickle, but let’s just say my Make and I quickly realized all of the possible injuries that could easily happen while doing it, so she let me give it a couple of tries and then held on firmly to that sickle while I transported grass to the garden. My big task is to get a compost pile going. We’ve got it started, now we just need to keep it going.</span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 13pt;">J</span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13pt;"> Planting should happen as soon as I have enough money to buy seeds. I did bring some seeds with me from training but they seem to have been misplaced during the move. They should pop up sometime though.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13pt;">The village is nice too. We are very close to a small town, which helps. I am meeting a ton of people. Mia and I have attended a community meeting (like a city council meeting) to meet all of the head people of Mkhuzweni. At that meeting they asked us to attend the community church service to be held the next Sunday, as it would be a good opportunity for us to be introduced to a large portion of the community (which is GIGANTIC!). We walked for four hours the other day and didn’t get through half of Mkhuzweni. The church service was very interesting, a lot of singing and praying in Siswati. It was a congregation of all of the churches represented in Mkhuzweni. The community church service is something that they do once or twice a year, usually everyone goes to their own respective church/service. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13pt;">I also got to spend a couple of days in my school before it closed for holiday and from what I’ve seen I really like it too. The first day I was introduced to the school board and teachers. The second day I was introduced to all of the students. Babe (Principal) did a wonderful job of introducing me and made very clear that I am their volunteer and it is everyone’s responsibility to help me out and look out for me, really very sweet. I cannot wait for school to start again, even though I know that it means a lot of work. It is really hard to have little direction in such a new place.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13pt;">Again, I apologize that this has taken so long. I am going to see if I can figure out how to email to update my blog and hopefully update more frequently.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13pt;">So, I just spent WAAAYYY Too long trying to figure out how to upload photos. I am going to get this post out and try to put more pictures soon. Love you all!!!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy6FbuElrxSvCfINYoTID9e49CHibEkG6fhfe4dmhD0ydty6LTcGyLsTlACd3__I4l4xa8bTsvA1n6UbulljLhizlqMFd1MQ5nTJhne8Ckt-1rVtdyWw_nzUPEiZdRywl319i1MAe8oEi4/s1600/IMG_0313.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy6FbuElrxSvCfINYoTID9e49CHibEkG6fhfe4dmhD0ydty6LTcGyLsTlACd3__I4l4xa8bTsvA1n6UbulljLhizlqMFd1MQ5nTJhne8Ckt-1rVtdyWw_nzUPEiZdRywl319i1MAe8oEi4/s320/IMG_0313.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13pt;">This is a picture at the Nature Reserve we visited during training. I will let the kids out there tell you what all of the animals pictured are. Please comment on the blog with their names :) </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13pt;"><span id="goog_2130721653"></span><span id="goog_2130721654"></span></span></div>Emma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533624901004055561.post-75846807880440336522011-07-12T11:01:00.001-04:002011-07-12T11:02:00.765-04:00Training days: life in rural Swaziland<div class="MsoNormal">Emma's words, posted by Emma's mom.................. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Ok, so I have copy and pasted a bunch of questions from everyone’s emails so that I can make sure I answer everything and that everyone gets all the info. So this is an incredibly long email. I will have time (motivation?) to write to each and every one of you individually when I get a phone (hopefully). I am trying to save up to get an Iphone, which is crazy because I would never have had one at home! Here it offers the best communication options.</div><div class="MsoNormal"> </div><div class="MsoNormal">Before I get to the questions, I will let you know what has been going on today. I just (that’s a swazi ‘just’; really it was like an hour ago) got back from town where I had to buy my first round of groceries. Those of you who have moved can attest to how crazy that trip can be for anyone, buying the staples, sugar, salt, etc. and real groceries to have food for the next 2-3 weeks all at once. Well if you can imagine it, it was even crazier here. I had to carry all of that stuff… of course I got a gigantic bomake (Bo- Ma-Gay) bag to carry everything all together, except for my purse and one reusable grocery bag that I always carry with me. Now, when I say this bomake bag is gigantic I am not exaggerating. It is about 10 inches deep 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide, it’s big. My bag was not totally full, but close. As we were walking to the bus rank (think dusty, with lots of old VW and Toyota vans, and a ton of people surrounded by market stands), my bomake bag broke. Yep, leave it to me. My bag was the only one to break. So then I was wrestling this gigantic bag all the way to the Khumbi (koombi, the buses they drive around here). It really wasn’t that bad, but it was a ‘yep, I’m still me in Africa’ moment. In the khumbi, though, I had to sit with my bomake bag on my lap. I don’t think that my bum has ever been that numb. It’s about a 30-45 minute ride and we had to sit at the rank for a while because 9-10 of us with overflowing grocery bags wasn’t a full enough khumbi for our driver. He wanted to meet full capacity with 15 people!!!!!!! These are the kind of buses that have fold up seats so that there ends up being no aisle, and everyone has to get out to let one person out… Yeah.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Anyway, here are some exciting things that I got at the stores in Nhlangano (n-a kind of hissing sound made in your cheeks-lawn-ga-no): bakery fresh bread that they put out on racks for the masses to swarm over while it is still warm, I may have over indulged with 2 loaves, and believe it or not wheat is cheaper than white at 5.50 emalengeni. I also got tomatoes, onions, olive oil (49 emalengeni, another splurge), flour and yeast to make emafethi (see my blog), potatos, carrots, apples, bananas, rice, lentils, beans, oats, and a few other things.</div><div class="MsoNormal">As we are supposed to begin to cook for ourselves this coming Sunday (check the date when I wrote this, Fri 6/24/11, as I don’t know when I will be able to post), we have to prove that we can cook. So, we are having a cooking competition tomorrow. We are grouped together in random groups, which is nice because I am with a bunch of people that I don’t get to see very often, including my good friend Ginger (she brought an ice cream maker, so obviously we are making ice cream!). All the groups have to make an appetizer, entrée, and dessert, one of those things needs to be a fresh fruit of veggie (we have to prove that we know how to safely wash those things here [15 minutes in 1 tbs bleach/1 gal water and then rinse with treated water]), and we have to cook at least one thing from the cook book they have provided us with. My group is making caramelized apples wrapped in bacon as an appetizer. It was going to be dates wrapped in bacon but we couldn’t find dates today. For the main course we are cooking grilled curry chicken and veggies (peppers, onions, pineapple, tomatos, pineapple?) and then all of that in a lettuce wrap with avocado. Yum, right? For dessert we are making ice cream with a fruit salad. If you can’t tell from that menu we have been eating a lot of carbs lately.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Now for your questions:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri Bold","serif";">Are you over the shock of this new country? </span></b>It’s hard to say really. I am pretty used to things like bucket bathing and no electricity (even though being used to it doesn’t make it suck less), water is a constant struggle which is a bummer, but just another thing that has to be done (luckily my host make [ma-gay, mom] will always help me out if I really need it). But then there are things like men being seen as the most important always, which is shocking every time I witness something little. For example, in the US you usually don’t realize that when you are walking on a crowded sidewalk, or a full aisle of a store, both parties (men and women) work to negotiate the space. Here, if the woman doesn’t move fast enough to get out a man’s way, he will physically push her out of the way. Now, part of this is that we were in a really big town where space was frequently an issue, and for the most part we (PC trainees) were wandering around a little lost looking the whole time. I can imagine it was a little frustrating on the part of the Swazi’s too. This is also a male dominated culture. So, if a bunch of ladies are walking with 1 man and another man approaches the group, he will speak only to the man. I guess the PC is right when they say the physical things are easier to get used to than some of the cultural differences. I am actually getting used to seeing bugs EVERYWHERE and not being too grossed out.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Do you have any regrets yet or is it just too new? </b>No regrets. It has been quite a whirlwind though. Everything is in a whole different perspective. Ridiculous things happen every day to all of us and we are all learning the best ways to deal with them. The PC has put a lot of emphasis on the fact that we are in training and now is our time to make mistakes. So, we need to allow ourselves to do that.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Have you seen any wild animals?</b> No wild animals yet. We are just entering week 3 of training, and during week 5 we will go to a wildlife reserve. And well… I guess I have seen a few things. I saw a real live chameleon in the ‘wild’ the other day. I put wild in quotes because it was on the fire wood we were using to cook dinner and it just made it out of the stove as we were putting the wood in. It was really cool. Independently moving eyes, changing colors and everything. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Are you welcomed by the folk of the town, village or community?</b> I am very welcomed by my family. My bobhuti (bo-booty, brothers) and I are getting really close. I help them with their homework almost every night, and they help me with mine. I have been cooking with my Make (mom) every night too, though that will soon have to change because we will be responsible to cook for ourselves as mandated by the PC. I really like cooking with her, I can help her with healthy habits (though really the diets here are pretty well balanced when they can be), and she teaches me so much. In terms of the village, it is hard to say. Since we are training in big groups we kind of take over the village. Also, it is really hard to define a village. There are little stores all over, people selling things out of their homes, and neighbors are all so far away from each other (think little home on the prairie). It will be a bigger deal to integrate in our individual villages where we will probably be the only white person in the village and will be actively trying to become involved in the village instead of meeting with each other and PC staff to train.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Do you have contact with other PC personnel daily? </b>At this time Yes, or almost. We have training on MTWRFS and we have Sundays off, but the trainees usually meet up in our villages for social time. The way it is set up now we are in 3 villages. All of the Edu Trainees (18) are in Makhonza (Ma-kone-za), and the health volunteers are spilt up between 2 villages, Khiza (kiza) and Mashekesheni (ma-sahy-guh-shenny). We all get to see each other on the days that we go to Ngwane College for our training, usually once or twice a week. On the other days we meet with our language groups, anywhere from 4-7 trainees and a Swazi thishela (tee-shay-luh, teacher). My group is the best and we have the best thishela; her name is Calile (click, uh-lee-lay), she is about my age and very modern/western and funny. And then we usually have one culture session a day where all the trainees and bothishela in each village will get together.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>You have to tell me more about your .food--unless it's too gross to talk about. I mean, don't tell me if you have to kill anything. Ugh! But you can tell me how you are at cooking.</b> The food is surprisingly not that different, except the fact that the 2 favorite ingredients in every dish are salt and Aromat (MSG and salt). You can buy chicken portions and beef portions frozen or refrigerated if you like, and have a fridge, or you can kill one of your own (most homesteads have a bajillion chickens). Cows are usually only killed on special occasions because they are the biggest, most expensive form of currency here. 1 cow = about 5,000 Rand. And you have to have enough cows saved up to buy your boys’ brides (seriously, everyone does it, EVERYONE [though not always with cows, sometimes you can just give cash. It depends on what the bride’s family wants and what you have]). I am still learning about this. It doesn’t even seem that strange to me anymore, and while this practice may seem really outdated to us it does not inherently indicate that kind of marriage. Most marriages these days are for love and the wife does play an equal part in the relationship (though mostly behind closed doors). Here is a common dinner: Lipalishi (lee-puh-lee-she) maize ground into meal with water, a lot like grits but it is not liquidy it is more like a cakey consistency, chicken boiled and broth, cooked pumpkin or butternut squash. These are the staples of each meal. It is amazing what you can do with maize meal. I already have 4 recipes for it, 3 breakfast and lipalishi. So you could exchange lipalishi with rice, chicken with beans (my fave) or beef, and squash with a fresh salad (which my make and I like best), or greens. This is every meal that I have had since I’ve been here. I haven’t had to kill anything yet, and I don’t think that I would have to if I don’t want to. Sometimes we have beets, sometimes coleslaw, sometimes toast, sometimes eggs. And the plates are always HUGE. A pile of lipalishi then topped with the rest of the stuff. I am excited to be able to cook for myself. I think that I will have oats and an egg for breakfast, leftovers for lunch and a lot of rice, pasta, veggies and beans/lentils, and Meat when I can, but without electricity or a fridge it is a bit of a gamble.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>How far away is the river and how much water can you get at one time? Do you walk there? Maybe you should just bathe in the river.</b> The river is not really a river. It is a hose that comes from a sistern that catches water that runs down a mountain (hill) that would usually go into a river. The river is dry. So, my homestead is at the top of the mountain, and the ‘river’ is pretty close to the bottom of the mountain. It is pretty short on the way down and incredibly long on the way back <span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span>, I’d estimate (which means I could be WAY off) about 2.5 football fields?. I cannot ever get water for myself because you have to suck on the hose to start the siphon. You fill a tiny bucket and dump it into your bigger bucket, then suck on the hose to start the siphon again. I refuse to suck on the hose, plus according to PC I shouldn’t, it’s high risk behavior. WE do walk to the ‘river’. My bhuti sometimes brings a wheel barrow. I can carry two full 2 gallon buckets, but it is not fun, especially while I am walking next to make who has 25 liters of water balanced on her head! Luckily though she and I usually go together and that means that I have 2 full buckets of water! I wish that I could just bathe or do laundry in the river but it is seriously discouraged because of all of the things that live in rivers (bacteria and such, even ones that get in through your skin) and what frequently happens up stream in the rivers. Another bummer.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Have you met Driehaus (Peace Corps Swaziland County Director--- went to Miami and is a former congressman from Cincinnati) yet?</b> I have not met Driehaus yet, but we will meet him for a fourth of July event on Sunday the 3<sup>rd</sup>. I’ll let you know hoe it goes. Everyone here already knows that I really excited to meet him. They make fun of me for it.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>And, let us know about a typical training day for you. </b>Typical training day for me…. I will describe a day in the village because days spent at the college are unpredictable. I wake up at 6am…it should be 5:30 and I don’t usually get out of bed until 6:15am. It is so hard when the nights are so cold and I don’t have any heat. Then I dump my bathing water from the night before, because you can’t dump once it gets dark (it is thought that at night the ancestors walk), I usually start some water heating to bathe in the morning, this is when I really bathe, at night I usually only wash my face, feet, and hands, and some water boiling to make into drinkable water. I can fully bathe with about 2.5 liters of water. While the water is heating I pick out clothes, Iron, and get everything ready for school. Then I bathe, get dressed and go to see what Make is up to for breakfast, which is usually something ridiculous made with so much care and love that I end up eating as much of it as I can; like an egg, a lettuce, RAMA (margarine brand) sliced like cheese and Aromat sandwich, oats or Incwacwa (sour maize meal porridge, that gets sour because it is left out in water over night), and then she has started pulling this trick where I am getting ready to leave and she throws an emafethi on my plate and says ‘What about this’ so that I have to sit down and eat it because she knows how much I LOVE emafethi. Oh, and tea. Always tea. This is something that has stuck from the British; we even break from school at 10:0am for tea break. Then I walk about 10 minutes downhill to my Thishela’s house where we will have language until after tea. Then we all walk back up the hill past my homestead to a meeting area (3 minutes past my homestead on top of the hill) for culture lessons. Then around 1pm we will all have lunch (whatever we’ve packed; my Make lately has been wanting me to come home for lunch since it is so close, but I like to eat with the other trainees) sitting around outside with a few random hungry dogs that always come around. Then we will go back to thishela’s to put our language and culture lessons together to form something resembling applicable. Then I get home about 4pm. Sometimes the trainees all get together and hang out before we go home. Yesterday some of us played hearts; it was very fun. Then when I get home I have about an hour of light to sweep my hut (which every good Swazi does at least once a day), and such (homework sometimes). Then it is time to start cooking dinner with Make. After dinner, which is usually around 7:30 or 8pm we pray and do homework (if it’s not done already). After all of that I go to my hut and start to heat water to bathe and set water to boil to drink. Sometimes when I might not actually <i>need </i>to boil water to drink, I do it anyway because it has been getting so cold, like tonight, and there is no heat. I usually get into bed about 9 or so. I try to stay up and read if I can. I just finished <u>Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand</u>, it was very good. I recommend it. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Which town/area of Swaziland are you in?</b> I am in the village Makhonza. The nearest town to reference is Nhlangano. To be honest, I am not even exactly sure where I am in Swaziland. Let me know when you find out. <span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Are you in the training camp right now or are you in the home where you will stay for the entire time? I thought there were several weeks of training before they sent you off to where you would be living. </b>I am in training right now. We only stayed at the college for a few days. In Swaziland they practice Community Based Training, where each volunteer stays with a volunteer host family and they meet daily in small groups, while occasionally all getting together for sessions at the college. There is one permanent placement that is near Nhlangano. We find those out on week 5, and are just starting week 3.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Should I avoid sending “convenience” foods that are overpackaged? Should I always send bigger quantities of things so that you can share? Still anxious to find out how long things take to arrive there. </b>Here are my current requests for packages: pens, individually wrapped candies, wipes, chohula, velveeta (any kind of cheese product), easy mac, nutella. It’s hard to say about the packaging, because trash is an issue here, but so is food storage. Selfishly I am going to say go with over packaged, but remember that I don’t have electricity. I have not received any packages yet… I don’t know why it is taking so long. I will let you know as soon as I get anything. I do know that some people have received packages already… I don’t know when those were sent. Also, please send any spices. They do have a lot here, but they are ridiculously expensive, 25 emalengeni for 1oz of Mexican spices!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Do you have a SiSwati name? </b>I do. Every trainee gets one when they move into their homestay. Mine is not uncommon- Bongiwa (Bohng-e-way), meaning to give thanks. There are 5 volunteers with this name. It’s weird having such a common name all of the sudden. Most volunteers get another one when they move into their permanent site.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Is there a main house on your family’s homestead? Who lives there? What are the ages and names of your brothers? Have you been able to talk to your Gogo very much? </b>My homestead is very unique. The homestead is in my Make’s name, which honestly NEVER happens because usually it has to be in a man’s name. My Make is actually pretty awesome. She stays in the main house by herself, she is unmarried and has none of her own children (this also never happens, there is some story behind it all but she hasn’t wanted to talk about it. An un-married, childless woman can easily become an outcast in this society) My Make’s main house is awesome. It is packed with nice furniture and is one of the nicest I have ever seen. However, we never spend anytime in there, except in the kitchen (which you walk into). I’m not sure why. On my homestead there is my hut, which I live in half of, the other half is storage, the main house, another 2 connected huts, and Gogo’s hut. Gogo’s hut is pretty nice, it has 3 rooms (main room, bedroom, closet) but is shabbier than Make’s. Most of my bobhuti stay in Gogo’s hut. In the main room there is a mattress that they pull down to sleep on. They are actually cousins, but Make takes care of them for her brothers and sisters, which seems weird to us but is very common here. I think that one or 2 bobhuti stay in one of the extra huts. The other extra hut Make rents out to anyone who needs a place to stay. My bobhuti are: Majahong (20), Sayatsheni (16), Phila (15), and Mvuselelo (9), then there is Sandile who is somewhere between Majahong and Saytsheni. I’m not sure about the spelling of any of these names. Majahong and Sandile are not always around. I’m not sure where they are when they are not here, but there are a ton of Semelane’s (Si-Milan) around and the kids all sort of float between homesteads. I talk with Phila and Sayatsheni a lot, I think that they are actually wishing right now that we were hanging out instead of me on the computer. I love Mvuselelo so much, but he doesn’t speak English all that well. He eats so much, always, even if he has just finished a HUGE plate, he can always eat more. He is sometimes in charge of gathering all of our cows (about 10?) by himself!!! What a 9 yr old! This brings me to talking to Gogo… My SiSwati is getting better, but it is still not great and the dialect here is different from what I am learning. In fact, we are so close to South Africa a lot of people here speak SiZulu, including my Make, which can make communication and learning a different language in school hard. I can almost never understand what Gogo is saying to me. From what I gather she recaps the last time she has seen me, says a prayer and then tells me how happy she is to see me. It is really very sweet, and she is truly incredible. I saw her across the hill the other day dragging a whole tree by herself! I was with a group of trainees when we spotted her, it was awesome. She can also recognize me as her granddaughter out of a group of white people.</div><div class="MsoNormal">I love you all!!!<br />
Emma</div>Emma Wallishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16728411746819577323noreply@blogger.com0