Grocery Store Nightmare

the grocery stores here are simple for me. i always get the same items from the same 6 stores scattered through my 3 shopping places. there are 3 chains i frequent and know which items i can get at which stores and i know the location of each item. pick and pay has the best choice of fresh fruits and vegetables, fat free powdered milk, and the cheapest 2 liters of diet soda. it is in either shopping town. Shoprite is the only chain that carries fuel for my stove, has the best choice of powder sauce mix, best chocolate and chips variety, has the cheapest non-macaroni style pasta, and is also in either town. And spar is the closest and cheapest to get to, but is in a village not town and therefore not always stocked and when it is, i can only get the basics and no -white person- food. the spar that is in the bigger of the 2 shopping towns is the only place i can get laughing cow cheese and it has the cheapest pasta, but only their macaroni noodles. all in all, i get the same items because they are what i know i can eat and prepare and i cannot get perishable items because they wont last long enough to even make it home on a 2 hour taxi ride. so...its pretty straight forward. well i just woke up from a horible dream. i guess i am thinking about returning to the states too much. i was back in wisconsin in a grocery store. i was trying to get what items i thought i should get and would eat. it was my first time shopping and i was missing sa food and craving american items i hadnt had in 2 years. in the store, there were way too many options and i couldnt find anything i was looking for. i was looking for fruit but all i could find was fruit that i eat around here from the mountain or fruit stands never from a store like the prickly pear cactus fruit, and each fruit was 6 dollars. there were no mangos or lichis and the pineapple was 30 dollars and it was only the tops, there was no actual fruit there. every fruit bin i checked had ginger root in it not the labled fruit. i tried to find a bag of apples or oranges or something but failed then i couldnt find any frozen chicken or pizzas. the granola bars were a whole isle by themselves. there were rows and rows of yogurt and i couldnt decide which would be best so i passed but then there was no milk or cookie dough. i found a melon and was so excited, i put it in my cart but had no clue what kind it was or how i would prepare it. i couldnt find the cereal and lucky charms was all i could think about. there was a water tank, but no bottles to fill and i could find no other beverages like juice or soda. i tried to find oatmeal but all i could find was instant flavored stuff. the bread was in rows and rows and i could not find a loaf of simple wheat. when i went to check out, i had no money to pay for it. somehow i managed to get all my purchases in the car and was trying to drive off, but had forgotten how to drive. i woke up completely upset and craving food. this was like a cross between the worst of both my worlds: the lack of stock here and the too many options there. remind me not to go to woodmans for my first grocery trip when i get home.

School Assembly

every morning at the primary school, the learners line up in rows: grade r -kindergarten- girls in front, then grade r -kindergarten- boys, grade 1 girls, grade 1 boys, all the way to grade 7 boys. the educators stand in front on the porch of the foundation phase classroom block facing the learners. a learner starts a song, usually 1 of 3 that are sung often and the rest of the learners join in. then a second song starts the same way. with no music or even a starting pitch, im amazed at how well they do most of the time and how well they can stick together with no one conducting. then the educator in charge of that week will say something, read from the bible, or just move on. the learners say a prayer then greet the educators who greet back. if any educator has an announcement, they can step forward and say their bit. then the learners are excused and file to class to start their day. now in theory, i think this is a good idea. in practice, it is one of my most dreaded 5-10 minutes of the day. there are many reasons for that. i very rarely know what is being said and i am often pressured to take a turn and lead this. another thing that drives me nuts is the educator in charge expects the learners to know what to do, but rarely gives guidance on it just dishes out punishment. the principal usually stands out in front giving a threatening looks sometimes with a stick in hand as a threat of corporal punishment, which is still all too frequently practiced in the rural areas. peace corps trained us on the topic when we arrived in country. we were exposed early and warned we would be dealing with it, but that does not make it any easier. the teachers also act as if they dont want to be there which makes it all the more unpleasant. when the learners do the call and response greeting, all the teachers are to respond, but i can tell you that more than half the time, none of the male teachers participate and most of the time maybe 3 of the 9 teachers respond and that response is mumbled. it just makes me wonder why they do the assembly every morning and if they are going to do it why not do it well? or at least only do the parts the educators are willing to do. it just makes me so sad. but some things here, big and small, i have just accepted that i will never understand.

Mare's 2 Faced Road

i went for a walk today. i needed to get moving and decided to walk out on the road that leads out of the village. i got up to the motorgate and had to pause for a second. along both sides, pink in white flowers as tall as me lined the road. it was so beautiful! as i walked down the road, i could hear the bees buzzing through the flowers, but they didnt bother me as they stayed hidden. it has been quite rainy, so i was also watchful of my step. the road has become a muddy mess. deep ruts filled with water stood in my path. much of the road has also washed away. only the brave souls will attempt to drive it now and some spots are even detoured through the fields. i cant wait till i dont have to deal with that anymore! but until then, i hope the flowers continue to add a little joy to the road.

Spectacular Weekend

this weekend was a 3 day weekend. there was a holiday on sunday, so monday is a public holiday, to celebrate. well, with 3 days off, there was no way i was going to sit in my room alone. i decided to get out. i went to visit my closest volunteer after school on friday. we caught up with each other and he let me use his bathtub, kitchen, spare bed, and stay the night. yay for running water and refrigeration and multiple burner stoves. our activities consisted of watcing basketball on espn. not my first choice, but better than being alone in the village. in the morning i was sicker than a dog, so i found a ride home with a friend. i packed up and headed out and began feeling a bit better. she invited me for dinner and a movie before returning me home. i slept 14 hours. that must be a record or something. i spent sunday and monday morning chilling in the village. then i headed back over to my friends house again for movies and chocolate chip muffins. we spent the afternoon eating popcorn in front of the laptop then had muffins for dessert. it was wonderful!

Water, water, save the water!

the village's water pump has not been replaced yet. this is so frustrating! as my means of survival, i have been relying on the rain and hauling my water home from school. i hate to haul water. it's heavy. so my solution is to take a 2 liter bottle and my 1 liter nalgene to do it 3 liters at a time. i usually get about 6 liters every school day to put in my bucket. on week days, i tend to use an average of 4 liters for the entire day. that includes cooking, washing dishes, drinking, and bathing. on weekends, i do use more to wash dishes including the pots and pans from all week, clothes, and my hair. it is amazing how little water i can survive on here. think about how much water you use in a day. living here has opened my eyes to water conservation. i have learned to be creative with my usage, not only for water, but so many other things like clothing and cloth, candles and wax, food containers-boxes and bottles, and a 1 burner karosene stove too. i am using things i would have never thought twice about throwing away before. i imagine i will not continue with my 4 liters of water a day when i go back to the states, but i do hope to keep some of my water saving strategies and creative usage for everyday items and tasks in the future.

The Doorknob

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2010/03/peace-corps.html i found this article and though it was interesting, so i thought i'd share. i do not know the word for doorknob in sepedi, but now i might just be curious enough to ask. although, the doorknobs here are handles, not knobs and i would never claim to be an expert if i do in fact learn the word.

Wonderful Rainy Season, It's Almost Over

here i lay in bed, listening to the rhythmic patter of rain on my roof. it's so nice and relaxing and the gentle rumble of thunder adds to the relaxing drum. the cool air that comes along with the rain makes it perfect sleeping weather, too. what a wonderful way to fall asleep. :)

Some Photos

Things I've Seen This Week...

~a kid using the lid from a floor polish tin as a plate at lunch
~a math teacher smiling a huge smile when i showed how to find 4 times
the sqare root of 3 on the calculator and then on paper
~a lizard tail dangling from my door frame with no lizard attached
~a woman carrying a tree trunk and branches on her head
~a group of girls jumping rope in their back yard
~a huge moth comitting suicide by flying into my candle flame-boy my
room is dark at night!
~my water bucket filling with rain water
~2 villagers sitting at the school sorting through the boxes of mail
from the last year, looking for theirs amongst the entire village
collection of mail- there is 1 post box for the whole village, in the
name of the primary school
~a boy taking cover from a rain storm on a rock under a tree
~a million stars in the sky
~a truck waiting for the cows to cross the road
~a group of women carrying basins of laundry on their heads as they
walked to the river to do laundry
~3 girls dancing in the street as they take a break from hauling water
home from the river
~steam rising off the river at dusk as the sky became etched in pink
and then darkened
~a group of boys running up the hill that always winds me to just walk
up slowly-i think it was the soccer team
~a young boy trying to cut the lawn with a machette
~the movie i love you man-with a hcn friend on a laptop in the next
village over, the village with electricity
~the flood lights at night from the new mine in the mountains visible
behind the village
~7 gorgeous sunsets, each extremely unique
~a taxi driver unsuccessfully trying to fix his taxi so it will start
to take people into town

Thabang, Help Me!

at school today, one of the school board members came up to me and demanded help with research. i was quite confused at what she was talking about, so she said she'd come to my house and show me after school. when school let out, she showed up at my door. in hand, she had her 9th grade son's homework. it was an article in english and had 10 questions at the end, 4 of which were to do research with a partner. she wanted me to do the assignment for her. i tried my best to explain i would not do it for her, but i would help her son so he could do it. where is he? at home, of course. she still wanted me to write the answers for him. no! so i read the passage and the questions. then i talked to her and discovered the main problem: she didnt understand the questions that were in english. still refusing to answer the questions, i began to explain what the questions were asking and how her son could find the answers. then i went through the article with her explaining what it was talking about and defining key words in each paragraph. i would have rather explained it to her son, but for some reason that wasnt going to happen. so i figured at least i can explain it to her and her english and knowlege of the subject will improve and maybe by some luck she will explain it to her son instead of doing the assignment for him. that has to be so frustrating for the kid to not know how to do an assignment and then not being able to get help. the teachers are not around to help and the parents that are literate, do not always know english which most assignments are in. and it must be frustrating for a parent to not be able to help the kid with homework. i tried to do a tutoring thing with the high school kids in the evening, but no one ever showed up, so i stopped going as it was a waste of my time. i see it is still needed and wish i could find a way to make it work. but seeing todays situation, the kid wouldnt even get help from me when i was willing and able to help, by either the kid or the parents choice im not sure which. im at a loss.

Walking in the Rain

i went for a walk today. i've decided i need to step it up a bit, so i walked half way to the next village. it was cloudy, so i stayed cool and enjoyed power walking much more than normal. well, the thunder started rumbling in the distance, so i figured i should hurry home so i retreated toward home. well, i was walking up the back hill when it started to sprinkle. that lead to a downpour. i found my ability to see enhanced when i removed my glasses, so i took them off to finish my walk. by the time i got to my road, i was already drenched. i figured, why not finish the walk. i wound my way through the village. i enjoyed walking in the rain because it kept me cool and it also let me just walk. no one asked where i was going. no kids sat and screamed my name as i passed their yard - from the time i come into sight till i leave sight. no one telling me not to walk around. no one calling me fat - it is intended as a compliment, but my american mind still doesnt like it. i rather enjoyed my walk. i would gladly do it again. although, i did get rather cold upon my return. i was wet, my clothes dripping, my hair a wild dripping mess. i dried off and put on pants and a sweatshirt. i made some hot chocolate and got out my winter blanket. i snuggled up with my mug and a good book in bed to get warm. i havent done this in months!

Locked Out

i get so frustrated at the schools' gate policies. there are people at the gate of the primary school daily waiting to get in: kids, parents, teachers, me. it is so frustrating not being able to go in and out whenever necessary. and it makes me so angry when a kid is locked out in the morning and their 'punishment' for being late is having to wait outside the gate. missing instruction, to me, does not seem to match the offence. i understand the need for an attendance policy and its enforcement with consequences. it just does not seem to balance the way it is. it is, however, a battle i fear i will not win. but on the bright side, just as i have given up hope, something happened early last week. a truck from build it dropped off building supplies. curious, i inquired about the project. it was for a new building. the tiny, not-even-big-enough-for-a-table-and-chairs building was built just inside the front gate last week. it is for gate control: a person to guard the gate. i am curious to see what changes this brings, and am hoping i will no longer be locked in or out at the primary school.