Runny Tummy

the good and bad of runny tummy in SA:
1.there is no pepto bismal, so when you run out you must request a care package
2.you get a care package that contains goodies along with pepto
3.it is a constant battle to stay hydrated as water must first be
hauled, then boiled and filtered
4.you perfect the art of lighting a stove without getting burned
5.you cannot use the pee bucket at night
6.you do not have to empty and clean the pee bucket in the morning
7.the toilet paper runs out more quickly
8.you have an excuse to go into town, you need tp
9.you are constantly running out to the pit
10.you get fit with all the trips back and forth
11.you have something to talk about when you see other pcvs
12.it gets you out of bed in the morning
13.you have a reason to stay at home
14.the flies...
15.your host family starts to tally your toilet usage
16.you get to submit stool samples to the pcmo
17.the hypocondriac thoughts of possible causes
18.no wasted water with excess toilet flushes
19.it makes you appreciate the healthy days
20.it gives you memories to last a lifetime

Motorcycle Amazement

as i was walking to the secondary school today, i heard a rumbling
noise. it was too early for the bus, so i walked slowly waiting to
discover the origin as it grew louder. all of a sudden a motorcycle
whipped around the corner, followed by another. all the kids at the
primary school where i was walking past were going crazy with
excitement as i'm sure no motorcycle has been here before. they all
came running and screaming at the fence. then, another cycle came
around. this man had his visor up, so i could tell he was white. white
people dont just stummble into villages like this so i found myself
with a dropped jaw starring as well. he almost wiped out as he starred
back at me. then 2 more came. they gathered at the motor gate and left
as quickly as they arrived leaving a wake of excitement behind. i
wonder who they were, where they were coming from, where they were
going, and why. i guess i will add that to my list of africa
mysteries.

the 'i'm bored' walk

school got out early today. a teacher from another village passed
away, so all the teachers went to the funeral. that means that 1130,
all the kids went home. around 130, i'm sitting in my room reading a
book and i hear a knock on my door. i go out to find about 20 kids on
my porch. i greeted them and asked what i can do for them. 3 of them
were girls from mare girls club last year. they informed me they were
bored. i asked if they wanted to go for a walk with me and they did.
so we headed out, the 3 girls, 2 other younger girls, and me. we
walked all over and they showed me where they live. only one girl
would talk, the rest would only whisper a message to be translated. it
was a bit awkward. about a half hour in, the girls finally opened up
and were their silly little girl selves. it was really neat to see. it
doesnt happen too often, even at girls club meetings. we stopped at
the shop for some sweets. they had a piggy back race down the next
street. then one of the girls found a wire loop on the ground and we
had a hoola hoop contest. finally we wound our way back to my house
just before a big thunderstorm hit. i really enjoyed our walk.

Happy Birthday To Me

Today, I'm celebrating on my front porch with a big juicy mango and coke from a glass bottle. I'll definitely remember this one.:)

Beauty All Around

i went for my first walk of the new year around my village. i always forget what an amazing place this is. never in my life have i been in such a place. everything is so beautiful, so peaceful, so unique. as i look out, the views are breathtaking. the sky a sparkling gem of the richest blue. in one direction, the land is flat and open. there is a patch of green trees in the near distance and then fields to the horizon that look like patchwork. the windy dirt paths cut throug adding character. nearby, the field of armpit high grasses spreads to the rolling hills and the next village which is divided by aloe plants. in the foreground a slanted pasture is littered with cattle grazing as they return from the tree shaded river. looking the other way, magnificient mountains rise in the distance in an unbelievable view too often covered by dust. looking back, the village is on the hillside with its rocky paths, stray animals, thick shade trees, and basic houses. the fresh breeze cools the air as the sun shines down in all its brightness and intensity. the air smells spicy and of fresh field. the melodic sound of cowbells in the distance rings through the air. i never want this moment to end. i am so lucky to have experienced this.

mystery solved

that mystery fruit tree in my yard from which i love the fruit so
much, i finally figured out what the fruit is. it's fig!

the odd wake up call

this morning i was woken up at 5 by the usual sound of birds running around on my roof. ok, this morning, they sounded a little off, so i woke myself all the way up. i look around and realize there must be a bird in my room, not on the roof. wait, that's not a bird, it's a bat! the flapping of its wings was unmistakable. it swooped back and forth, back and forth between my windnw and door. a silence freaks me out so i shine my flashlight over to investigate. it does not like that. it keeps swooping around and then lands on my mosquito net. i panic for just a minute as i realize it has to get out through the locked door. i watched it for a bit as i formulated a plan. it is too active for me to just go open the door. it would suck to get rabies. i finally throw my heavy winter blanket on my head and crouch low as i hobble to the door. the bat swoops at me but i pull the door open and bolt back to bed. it flew around for a few more minutes before going out the door. what a wake up call on my first day back from vaca! hello south africa.

Another Scary Taxi Ride

so i am traveling back to the village today. the first taxi took me right to my connecting taxi today for a nice change. however, he took me to a different taxi place. i was a bit nervous, but i decided what the heck. if they say it goes all the way to vleeschboom, then maybe it does. ok. so i wait about 1.5 hours till it's full. then we take off. i am sitting in the front seat which i hate but is more spacious and breezy so its ok. i'm off in my own world daydreaming. all of a sudden there is a funny noise and the lady next to me shoots out her hand in the classic mom save kid move and starts screaming. we pull off the road as the taxi fills with smoke. we pile out. i was pretty sure we ran over a kid or something. the driver walks back up the road and picks up the pieces that were no longer part of the undercariage. so i realized since everyone calmed down that we must have just lost the transmission or something, not ran over a kid thank goodness. it was a bit scary though. we sat on the side of the road waiting for a while. then an empty taxi came to rescue us. it turned out the new taxi and driver didnt want to take me all the way, so i ended up switching to yet another taxi. before the rest of my trip. so to recap: 15 min walk with a months worth of luggage and 2 weeks of groceries, flag down a taxi, ride to the taxi rank, wait 1.5 hours, ride 2.5 hours, taxi looses parts and dies on the side of the road, sit on side of the road, another taxi picks us up, the driver decides he doesnt want to take me all the way to the taxi rank so pulls over and flags another taxi down for me, switch taxis, ride to the taxi rank, get onto another taxi that drives on the washed out dirt roads, arrive at the edge of my village, and finally walk 2 blocks uphill to my room. boy am i glad to be back!

Stupid Technology

Let me just express my utter frustration for technology here. We have a love/hate relationship. Although I am in a rural village and there is no electricity, I have managed to capture all my work on the computer. This country has CRAZY discrepancies. I have created visuals, teaching aids, booklets, projects, even several different courses and curriculum on the computer. Just before Christmas, my flash drive holding all my data decided to stop working. I was quite upset and asked some tech guru volunteers to help me recover my data. My backup files were somehow erased from the school's computer, which I find somewhat entertaining since no one knew they were there and probably deleted them accidentally without realizing what they were doing. Jeff, my computer hero, was able to save most of my files and transfer them onto a new flash drive for me. YAY FOR JEFF!!! Job #1 at school for me on January 25: back up the files on the school's computer again.

Since I had a few days between my vacation and Steve's project, I took my flash drive into the Peace Corps office to work on my grant final report and submit the paperwork so I do not have to mail it. I finished the paperwork and edited some old things, making them like new. I wanted to step away and come back to revise and check for any mistakes before submitting anything. I took my flash drive out and when I came back was ready to edit. Unfortunately, when I plugged in my flash drive, it no longer works. It has died and I have lost all my files. They cannot be recovered. I'm so frustrated and upset. I'm hoping Jeff, my computer hero, still has some of my files on his computer from when he transferred them the first time. I'm not looking forward to starting over from scratch!

Steve's New Library

I spent the past week at Steve's site. He's another Peace Corps volunteer who came at the same time I did and asked for help with his project. I cannot even describe the task at hand and do it justice, but I'm going to say a bit about it. He had 3000 books donated to his school by an air filtration company in South Africa. There were about 20 volunteers from the company that came to help for 2 days. We set aside 1/3 of the books to send to a different community. Then we sorted the rest of the books into a high school library using the Dewey Decimal System, a primary school library, and an intermediate library. For every book, we stamped it with the school's stamp, put a check-out pocket in the back, labeled the spine for cataloging, numbered the book for a master database, entered it into an electronic data base, and put it in the done pile. Holy cow was it a lot of work. We didn't finish. It's a HUGE task. We were at 2800 entered into the computer by the time I left today. (I guess their 3000 books wasn't so accurate of a guess.) WOW!!! Makes one really appreciate the US libraries and librarians! I think I do not really want to start such an extensive library here. Cheers to Steve and all his hard work!

SURPRISE!

I asked Steve to bake me a birthday cake while I'm at his site helping with his library. He's a fantastic cook and loves doing it. He agreed and even asked me what kind of cake I wanted. We spent a long third day sorting books and when we returned home at the end of the day, I had a surprise waiting for me. Haley, Jo, and Dave were there with balloons and a party. It was such a fantastic surprise. We got to hang out all evening then have some double layer chocolate cake and a sleepover. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday celebration; simple, short, sweet, with the company a few people I enjoy being around.

Summer Travels

Wow! What an amazing month!!! I left my village in mid December. I spent Christmas in Pretoria with a bunch of other volunteers. It was fantastic. We stayed at a hostel we all frequent and had a taco dinner, white elephant gift exchange, and just spent time catching up. We also went to see Invictus, which was amazing to see and have more of a South African perspective watching it.

My dad and Alicia arrived on December 26 and met me in Pretoria. We dove right in to our trip by heading over to White River to see the sights. On the way we stumbled upon an amazing Buddhist temple for a quick stop and leg stretch, then continued on our way. We got to see the Blyde River Canyon, which is #3 biggest behind the Fish Creek Canyon in Namibia and the Grand Canyon in the US. It is a spectacular green canyon with lots of gorgeous views. There's a bunch of scenic spots along the route including Pilgrim's Rest, Bourke's Luck Potholes, The Three Roundavals, God's Window, The Pinnacle, and so many just beautiful overlooks. We also went to an elephant sanctuary and learned all about the elephants and went for an elephant ride. I was surprised by how smooth the ride was and how much it's rough hair hurt my legs rubbing against it. We fed the elephants pellets at the end as a thanks for being friendly with us. Such big animals, I would not want one upset with me. ;-)

Next we moved on to the Kruger National Park Area. We stayed at a luxury tent bush camp in the Timbivati Private Game Reserve. I have never seen such fancy tents. They were nicer than almost any hotel I've ever stayed in. We were escorted to our tents and had scheduled pickups by armed guards to prevent animal attacks. We stayed for 3 nights. Our days consisted of Wake-up call at 5am from a man with a tea tray. Then a game drive at 5:30. Breakfast was in the riverbed around 9. Then back to camp for a day of lounging, swimming, lunch, and just relaxing. We did another game drive at 4, stopping for a drink and sunset as the day ended. Then driving around little more in the dark and then back to the camp for dinner and bed. We saw tons of impala, which are in the antelope family. We also saw lions every day including some lionesses with 2 regular cubs and 2 white cubs and several male lions. We also saw the rest of the big 5 (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, cape buffalo). It was the first time I had seen a leopard which was so neat to see. It had made a kill earlier and we watched it as it ate some of it's feast. We missed seeing the wild dogs and heyenas that we were searching for as well as the worthogs, but we saw tons of other animals that made up for it. They were some amazing game drives, the best I've been on so far and the animals seemed to be out and about much more than I was expecting. We rode in a open safari truck with a tracker sitting up front in front of the truck on a little seat over the front bumper. They let me ride up front for a little ride and it was an awesome view. I felt like I was flying. We also met some really interesting people staying there as well. There was a family from France on their anual vacation, a couple of Brazilians who are living in Angola, an American living in England, and some Americans (one of who is considering Peace Corps). It is always so interesting meeting people here who are traveling. The crowd seems to be so diverse and some of the stories are fascinating. As for New Year's Eve we had a later dinner and the natives did some dancing for us. We stayed up till midnight with a glass of champain and then quickly returned to the tent to crash. I must say it was one of my more interesting New Year's Eves.

Next we stopped off in my village for a very short look at my room and walk around to see some of it. The weather was a bit iffy and we wanted to get where we were going before dark, so the stop was a little shorter than planned. The road has still not been fixed. I wonder when they will fix it. Someone has made a path around the washed out area through a field, but that will not be passable much longer either. When we got back to the main road, we saw some amazing views that I never knew existed driving south from my village. We stopped in Dullstroom that night at a cute little hotel that was only cute on the outside. That was probably the worst night we had on our whole trip, but it wasn't all that bad. They had a restaurant attached that had a rustic atmosphere and fantastic food.

On to Pretoria for a few nights. We took a trip in to Jo'Burg to do a tour of Soweto, which is one of the townships. It was totally not what I was expecting at all. There was the stereotypical tin shack area, but there were also very affluent areas as well with fabulous houses. The houses are so crammed in together, it makes me appreciate our big yard at home when I was growing up. We saw Desmond Tutu's house and Winnie Mandela's house. We also stopped at the memorial for the Soweto Student Uprising. We topped off the day with a visit to the Apartheid Museum. Such a horrific time and it was in my lifetime! This country has been through so much and it is going through so many changes that I get to be a part of. It surprises me when I stop and think about how much change has happened and how quickly the changes are moving along. Our adventure continued with a lazy day on my part. I lounged around at the hotel and by the pool while Alicia and my dad went to a monument in the area. It was so nice to just sit and relax for a while. The next day we spent in Hartbeesport Dam. It was a crazy big dam and cute touristy town. They had a huge craft market where we found some good finds. Then we stopped at a cultural village where we saw some of the traditional housing and dress for 5 native tribes. Then some of the traditional dancing and dinner was traditional food with some awesome strange meats. That is one thing I really love about it here is they eat crazy meat. We also spent a day searching for the Tswaing Crater. We finally found it after driving around lost for a while and then deciding we wouldn't find it, but we did. When we got there, the mosquitos were SO bad we couldn't really enjoy it or hike down into it. It was a quick run out, take a picture, rush back trip. Kind of a big let down. It is one of the newest and best preserved meteorite craters in the world and I wish we could have hiked around a bit. I'm not so sure I'd recommend this trip to anyone.

Next up, we headed up to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. It was SPECTACULAR! The short flight up gave us the best airplane food I've ever had. Upon arrival, we had a shuttle to our resort and took off on a walk through the national park. Magnificent views of the falls. Where does all that water come from? The sun made a few appearances and beautiful rainbows blessed our views. It was a crazy sensation as it was sunny and raining at the same time. The rain was just the unbelievable mist coming off the falls. The walk was through a tropical foresty area and unlike typical thinking the rain was worse under the trees than open sky. The next day, we went over to the gorge and I got a package deal to accompany my gorge swing experience. I started with a flying fox over the gorge. I took a running leap and soared belly down over the river for an amazing view. I then returned to jump off the cliff on a more-scary-than-bungy-jumping (for me anyway) swing over the gorge. I realized mid jump that it's a swing and although I knew I wouldn't, feared swinging back into the rocks I just jumped off of. Just dangling from a rope in a sitting position harness waiting for them to get me was quite a rush. They towed me back up for my third and favorite activity, the zip line. The view on this one over the gorge was by far the best for me. It was a bit slower than the free-falling swing and I lingered a while longer. A guy came out on the zip line to tow me back and he just kept cracking jokes which made the trip up enjoyable. After my adrenalin rush, we headed past an amazingly huge baobab tree. Then I headed back to the pool and lounged for a bit while Alicia took a trip across the border to Zambia. We got up the next morning and went white water rafting on the Zambezi River. That was really fun. We hiked down into the gorge and went on a raft that our guide had oars and we just had to sit back and enjoy the ride. We got to swim through some of the rapids by choice and our guide was good to us and never flipped the raft or dunked the riders like all the other rafts ended up doing along the route. When we arrived at the end, we had to climb back up the gorge. Holy hot, hard, unexpected hike. We made it to the top for lunch and beer. Slightly burnt and water logged, we rested a bit before heading out on a sunset cruise on the river. The cruise was amazing with open bar, tons of hippos around in the water, a gray sky, lots of birds, a shy crock, and a mediocre sunset. I'd recommend it to anyone going that way. We packed our bags and in the morning headed off on a short and fantastic helicopter ride over the falls before heading to the airport for our trip home.

I sent Alicia and my dad off from the airport in Johannesburg where they continued on and I stopped off.  I headed back to Pretoria for a few days working on finishing my grant paperwork in the Peace Corps office. I can't believe my girls club and the grant are over. Plans are to keep it running, but we'll see what happens.

My next segment of my travels are to another volunteer's village right near Pretoria. He is starting a library in his village, so I agreed to stay and help him sort and label books. So for the next week, I'll be sitting cataloging books with him and a few others who also volunteered to help. It'll be interesting to see his site that is way different than mine and maybe document more concretely some of the work he's doing to start this library so I can report back to my schools some of the activities they would need to do if they got books. The library is not a concept many rural areas have any idea about.

So after a month of traveling around, my journey continues for a little bit longer. :)