Behold The Magical Beauty

Not one is ever the same. You cannot capture the moment in anything
other than a memory. Each mystifies me although it happens pretty much
daily, at a consistent enough time. As the seasons change from winter
to summer, it gradually moves from one edge of the horizon to the
middle, minutes later each time. When clouds appear, they only magnify
the beauty. Almost every single night as the sun sinks low, the pink,
red, orange, and purple erupt splashing the horizon with beautiful
splotches and streaks. I love the sunsets in this country!

Week 11:Personal Hygiene and Bath Salts

this week was our club meeting was short and sweet. we discussed hygiene and made scented bath salts in either blue or red. i'm not sure anyone understood the bath salts, including my counterparts. i tried to explain they go in your bath water to help you relax and smell nice, but are not soap. i wonder how many will actually use it. and yet again we were locked in the school grounds and had to call the security guard to let us out. i really wish i had a key!

Lebola

this weekend, there were several celebrations in the village. this
usually means no sleep for me, which rang true again this time.
celebrations here are huge. they celebrate weddings which actually
consists of 3 different parties (engagement, paying for the bride
'paying lebola,' and the western white wedding), graduation from
initiation school, passing the high school final exam, funerals, and
tomb stone unveilings. for each celebration, an animal is slaughtered
(usually a cow but sometimes a goat or chicken if it's a small
celebration). the day and night before the party, women will gather
and cook the huge feast. a tent is usually set up for shade and
speakers are brought in. they play their music so loud all night long,
i don't know how any of them have any hearing left. this weekend i
attended only 1 celebration, a lebola party. the man or his family
pays the woman's family for her to be his wife. after this, they are
considered married and can live together although i don't believe the
law recognizes this as married.
i spent most of the afternoon at the party trying to stay out of the
hot sun. at this celebration, the children danced. i took some video
that i hope i can post sometime when i go to town. then every body
ate, men were served from 1 table, women from another. so much food
-meat, rice, pap, potatoe salad, beet root, cabbage, pumpkin,
biscuits, soda, jello, custard. then more dancing. i finally left with
a pounding headache from the noise. overall, an enjoyable way to spend
a saturday.

Wrap A Scarf Around This Dilemma

i have found 1 truth very frustrating with this girls club. the girls
do not understand it is optional. i know they enjoy coming, but they
don't realize it's a privilege and totally optional. they seem to
think it's mandatory and no matter what we are doing they must do it.
although i want them to participate, i don't want them to be forced
like they seem to be now. crocheting a scarf is one craft that has
brought this to my attention. while i want them to have a chance to
finish, it's getting to a point of ridiculous. when i say i'll be
there after school so they can work on their scarf if they want to (i
don't take attendance and they don't need their membership cards-it is
a very informal gathering), every single girl shows up. there as 3
girls who will just sit trying to look like they are working if you
look in their direction, but they don't get it. there are a few who
try to secretly do homework but insist they are working on the scarf
if i try to address the situation. several girls should have been
done, but they all of a sudden only have about 3 rows completed. and
for the rest, they are either working slowly, distracting others
instead of working, or trying to have others 'help' them and pass it
off for their own work. it is frustrating me to no end. i am not sure
what to do now. i do not want to scrap the whole thing since i know
some girls really want to finish, but i also do not want to spend much
more time on it and having the girls who do not get it or who do not
want to finish become negative or resentful about their incorrect
belief that they have to do it. there has to be a solution and i am in
persuit of it.

Week 10:Physical Fitness and Games

i guess last week went well in my absence. the record sheets were
lacking, but the ladies said everything was fine and they enjoyed it.
this week i didn't make it back to mare till tuesday night, so i had
no time to check in or plan for this week. cainah was sick as well, so
we decided to move fitness up on the list. it wasn't difficult to plan
and was quick to prepare. the lesson was short and sweet. then we
played some games to get the girls moving. they played spud and steal
the bacon then did a wheelbarrow race and crab walk relay. everyone
seemed to enjoy and i hope this got the point across that exercise
doesn't have to be awful or boring and that sports/active games are
not just for boys. i also realized one point that will need to be
added next time...good sportsmanship. i guess i take it for granted
that i learned this in gym class and extracurricular teams all
throughout my youth but these girls don't. it was fun to watch them
play and they caught onto most of the rules pretty quick. maybe
they'll even teach others these new games for fun.

A Travel Day In The Life Of A PCV

5:00 wake up (darn internal clock, you stayed up late and should not have woken me up yet!)6:00 a nice hot shower to start the long day (and although it'll be a nice memory, it'll have to last till who knows when
) 7:15 breakfast of toast and tea at the backpacker and packing
10:00 check out, hand in key, say goodbye to fellow PCVs, begin walking all alone to the street my taxi runs on (be vigilant and alert and always watch your back, not that i could do anything with the heavy bags weighting me down anyway)
10:30 stop a moving taxi and jump in with all the bags
10:45 arrive at taxi rank and unload all the heavy bags, walk to the correct taxi, avoid the'bag' people and the ones who say "here, let me help you with your bag" for they either want to take your bag or make money
11:00 make it to the taxi and climb in, making every possible effort to avoid the front and way back seats and to sit by a window
12:15 ward of the drunk guy who insists he loves me and wants my phone number, finish the lifesize game of tetris trying to fit everyone and all their bags, children, and parcels into the taxi
12:30 pull away from the rank only to have to stop at the petrol station before actually leaving, the stereo cranked to an ear deafening volume
1:45 a stop at a shop for a few minutes to get food and use the toilet
3:00 try to get the drivers attention so he will stop and let me off on the side of the road where i need to catch another taxi, playing another game trying to get out with all my bags and cross the road hoping to not be hit. here ends the tar roads. i climb into the next taxi that is not road worthy and i am not sure how it even moves. there are no good seats here. 4 adults to a seat that is super tight with only 3. another game of tetris to fit parcels and children.
4:00 it is finally full, someone on the outside assists in closing the door with much force and someone inside latches a latch that has been welded on. the rank master and several taxi drivers will push the taxi to get it moving while the driver tries to kick it in gear and start the engine. we bump down the road noisily.
4:45 get ou of the taxi and carry my heavy bags up hill on the rocky road to my house, greating everyone within sight as they are glad i returned and curious where i was. finally, back to my room after a long day.

Week 8: HIV/AIDS In South Africa and Beaded Pins

back to school this week. the mare girls club tackled a huge,
important, undereducated topic that affects everyone in this village
and everyone in this country. hiv is a scary virus that is not openly
talked about here or taken seriously but needs to be. we talked about
transmission, myths, symptoms, statistics, and prevention. then each
girl needed to choose one of the abc methods (abstain, be faithful,
condomize) and write a short essay about how she will protect herself
against contracting hiv. our lesson was longer than usual, but it was
important information that shouldn't be rushed. we moved on to the
craft, knowing we would only start and have to finish on thursday. we
were making beaded pins, a red aids ribbon on a white background.
beading was pretty much a disaster. the girls didn't understand how to
do the stitch and the ones who got it couldn't follow the pattern.
after 4 hours of work time, only 1 girl had a finished product and it
was her own makeshift design. about half the girls did not get past
the first row of 12 beads. the few who did get it kept getting their
strings knotted or broken or repeatedly undid their progress because
they could not follow the pattern. i guess my hopes are too high
sometimes when it comes to the girls and crafts. next week, i will be
at a peace corps training so cainah and elizabeth will be on their
own. i hope all goes well. it will be a true test on if they can do it
without me. they will be teaching about respect and making an origami
box.