My entry from 2/20

I have been in S. Africa for not even one month and it feels like forever. It’s exhausting being here, taking it all in. So many aspects of my life have changed. It’s easy to take it all in, see where I am and feel peaceful. But as I sit under the Milky Way, I can only reflect on my life.

S. Africa is special. I now know how to greet someone in 6 languages. I can sing the SA National anthem and have learned some African songs. I can play with kids and speak a little of their language. And I’m slowly making friends with the millions of spiders. (Not the mosquitoes! They all should DIE!)

I came home from school today hot and exhausted. I greeted a dozen children in my 7 minute walk and had to stop before crossing the road so the local cows could be moved home. Chickens dodge my steps, as I dodge the locust! Sweaty and over stimulated, I enter my home to my Gogo (grandmother) washing dishes fetching water from across the way and preparing a meal for me and her grandchildren. Somehow I no longer feel tired. Tonight I learned how to make more dishes for one meal than I know total in my cooking knowledge. In many ways, my life here is healthier than back home. I purify my water, cook all my meals, walk everywhere, brush my teeth all the time and wash my hands, floss more than you’d care to know (mangos are a disaster to eat without faucets!)

Everyday I wake up to chickens making more noise than I knew possible and fall asleep to crickets chirping away. The sky is so blue and the clouds seem painted in. There are fewer trees so the grasslands sprawl. The mountains encircle my village and each day we all pray for rain. It never happens.

I can’t forget why I came here. It’s in your face daily. In class, we are all learning just how difficult our work will be. But as I’m introduced to the municipality, other local Peace Corps volunteers and community members, the passion to be here fills my heart. Everyday I am pointed out by my race and am expected to partake in specific roles based on gender. I laugh a lot at my millions of mistakes and frustrations that come about.

Despite the change I am making in my life and the obvious (and not so obvious) difficulty that presents, I close my eyes content each night. I embrace my family and new friends and think about what it means to be American. I’m here studying culture, and yet find I struggle to define my own. How do I explain my name means nothing? Or that I never lived with my grandparents. That I don’t want to be married now! So, as my evening comes to a close I can smile at all I’m taking in. This place has so much to offer and I can walk into the challenge comfortably. I see a sense of pride and honor here that I hope I carry with me. So, I wave goodnight to the kids, watch the sunset and feel honored that I am here. I realize that it’s not as much me teaching South Africans, but rather South Africans teaching me. Shalang habutsi, hambani Kakhle.
Love,
Rebecca