Project Update

          It occurred to me that I have been posting on the fun and crazy daily events of life here in the Kingdom, but I have never really told you guys what I am up to. So here is a brief update. I figure you could use a nice short blog with lots of pictures. So, projects as of late include: making and putting library cards in all of the books in my "library" at school and organizing a color-coded book system (TIME CONSUMING), drawing up blue-prints for a pubic flush toilet we are going to build in my village (I drew them up using empty glass bottles to save us from having to buy bricks or windows and as a way to start cleaning up the village), organizing meetings with people in the village and setting up a series of lessons to teach basic food preservation and handicraft skills, and (now that Peace Corps has given me a large, black, rubber male genitalia) giving condom demonstrations all over town and talking with people about their sexual practices and how to make them safer. My most fun project lately (just a little one for myself) has been building an Adirondack chair with some neighbor kids. 

I would like to take this opportunity to give a shout-out to all of the wonderful people who have sent me books for the library (the first library... hopefully a MUCH bigger public one will be in the cards for us). Thank you SO much for your support! The kids LOVE them!!!

Nandipa is the biggest help in building this chair! She is SO interested in learning to build, and after working hard on tutoring her in math, I am finding that measuring, and counting (and now we are playing solitaire together to start recognizing counting both up and down and patterns) are ways to really get her excited about math! 

Andi brought over some snacks while he watched us build.
 (I was not privy to a taste, but to be honest, I was ok being left out of that one!)

Andi and Zwakele are absolutely the sweetest little boys!

And of course building with "Zodwa" (the name I have been given here) always turns into a photo fun-fest (which is why after over a week, my chair is still not finished).

The most horrible creature on Earth
My arch nemisis
The Rooster

Gogo's beautiful smile- posing in front of her house

Goofing around 

A group of girls who love to visit me at home and have me "shoot" them
(When people see a camera, they ask you to shoot them... that took a little bit for me to get used to!)

Sam and Melanie helping me glue library cards into books

THE Haircut!

Nandipa preparing her tools!

Finally, after two months of vacation, animal intrusions, workshops and the med hut school has started again! I was so excited to get back and see all of my teacher friends and student friends this week! I was in such a good mood, in fact, I decided to treat myself to a hair cut. My little sisi, Nandipa, had mentioned swimming in the pipe (there is a little pipe that comes out of the side of a hill that trickles water into a stream... stream is a generous term... into a muddy area through which water moves slowly... theoretically - anyway, that is where we get our water) earlier and I asked her if she wanted to go splash around. I asked if she ever took baths there and she said yes, so I asked her if she wanted to wash my hair at the pipe. She seemed pretty excited and the words, “Do you want to cut my hair?!” just jumped out of my mouth. She looked at me with a confused smile while her mom, Hlangiwe, explained what I meant. She was all in. 

We brought shampoo and a comb to the tiny pipe. You see, washing hair in a bucket is neither fun nor is it easy nor effective. I have learned to live with a perma-film in my hair as it is impossible (without using two days of water) to rinse the hair clean after shampooing. So the prospect of “running” water is quite exciting. Nandipa had a blast sudsing up my hair and combing it for ages in the stream. It was all I could do to convince her that cutting it would be even more fun. 

The girls at work

Londiwe cutting strands

After chasing Nandipa home with a lizard I’d caught (Swazis HATE lizards, snakes, and frogs), I grabbed my scissors and camera. I handed her the shears and her mother the camera. Londiwe, a high school student who came back to live on the homestead now that school is in session, came to see what was up, and I told her to grab a pair of scissors and jump in! I asked the girls not to cut more than about an inch or two [please note that A) They don’t use the ‘inch’ system here  B) My siSwati sucks and C) Nandipa speaks less English than I do siSwati, and Londiwe and I use mostly non-verbal communication]. I don’t know what the heck I was expecting, but after about ten minutes I got a sudden jolt of reality. I am the first white person these girls have ever know. Besides two hair combing sessions in the last few months, this is the first time they have ever touched “white-people-hair”. Everyone in this entire country has their head shaved (except sometimes women who have < 1 inch long hair with extensions weaved in). I think it was when, after a few minutes of conversation, Hlangiwe said in English, “No, that’s her natural hair,” and Londiwe stopped with a blank look that I finally realized what I was doing. The girls were pulling chunks of hair out to the sides and cutting hunk-by-hunk each taking a side of my head. I couldn’t help but envision my brother-in-law, Andrew, cutting his dogs hair with the exact same method. And while Jodo the terrier looks great with layered patches of hair (I don’t mean that in a bad way, she really does look cute when you cut her hair, Andrew), I didn’t think that would look particularly awesome on me. “Ok, that’s good! I think we are all done cutting now!” I blurted.  Londiwe must have seen the fear emerge on my face, as she dropped her scissors and took off. Nandipa wasn’t so quick and I had no idea what to say to make my message clear. Chunk - chunk - chunk hit the ground at my feet. I pulled my head away, “Alright no more cutting! Thank you!” I confiscated the scissors. For fifteen painful minutes, I sat while she combed and styled my hair, not knowing what I was going to look like walking into school the next day. When I finally got inside to see the mirror, I saw what Nandipa meant when she said, “No, it’s tall. It’s too tall,” when I ended the cutting session. I took a few un-calculated whacks to taper my mullet, and that night I knelt by my bed to say a prayer of thanks to God for blessing me with very curly, self-masking hair. 

Mozambique Photos

I tried to post these the other day, but the internet wasn't working. But I got stuck in Mbabane, so I have another shot at the internet now! So here you go - photos of my AWESOME trip to Inhaka Island!

When we ordered coffee at the only open restaurant on the island, this is what we got...

This is what I picked our for dinner on our second night there. So tasty all grilled up! We ate family-style with a ton of the local people at the place we stayed!

Drinking the water out of a coconut FRESH off the tree!

Too much fun!
Harry was a spear fisher. He could hold his breath up to 4 minutes and dive 17 meters! 

Melanie, Kim, and I enjoying every second of vacation!

Making dinner with Jeffrey

Girls being girls
Melanie and I (and Kim in the shadows)

Low Tide

A little place I like to call Paradise!

Holy MOZes!

        I took my first African vacation a couple weeks ago with my volunteer buddies, Melanie and Kim. We went to a small island in Mozambique called Inhaka. Oh. My. Gosh. It was... amazing. We spent one night in Maputo (sorry, Dad, I know Maputo was the only place in the entire Subsaharan I wasn’t supposed to go... but it was only one night! And the whole city was really dirty and smelly, so I have no desire to go back... if that makes you feel any better) before we caught a ferry over to the island. We stayed at this really neat little back-packers called Cool Runnings. The whole thing was outdoors except the beds - very neat. We became great friends with the people running the place, and this good-lookin’ fella’, Jeffrey, ended up cooking us dinner every night - whatever catch-of-the-day we picked out (for free - they literally fed us for free the entire week - wouldn’t take money for it... they lost a LOT of money on us I am afraid). I had a great chat with this guy, Rob, on the ferry to the island, and he and his son, Natalio, wound up staying at Cool Runnings with our gang instead of the only actual resort on the island where they’d had reservations. We all had too much fun. WAY too much. During the days we all relaxed on the white beaches, hiked around the island, snorkeled, swam in the Indian Ocean, hiked up to this really cool light house, hung out with local kids, and just relaxed. It. Was. Fantastic. At nights we got wild and went down to the beach to star gaze and to the pier to watch the fish swarming around in the street lights on the dock. The Cool Runnings gang brought Melanie, Kim, and me to the pier the morning we left. Lots of hugs and long good-byes. It is CRAZY how fast you can grow so close to people! To say it was hard to leave Inhaka with its fresh coconuts strait off the tree, mangos, monkey-fruit, fresh fish, the water, sand, and ocean breeze would be a vast understatement. The ferry wasn’t running the day we left, so we had to hitch a ride on a small cargo sailboat. It was pretty awesome. The whole hull was full of fish, and 20 people crammed onto the deck, all huddled together, sitting in the sun under a sail of odd scraps of fabric stitched together hung on a tree-trunk-mast (literally the mast was the trunk of a gum tree with the branches cut off). It was a pretty sweet experience.
         Now it’s back to the grind-stone. Melanie came for a couple days to help me make library cards for all of the books in the school library - what a help that was! School starts on the 22nd, and I am in no way ready. But I wouldn’t trade that vacation for all the preparation in the world!
        Thanks for keeping up with me!!

House Guests

         I have been pretty lucky with uninvited guests so far in my first six months here in Swaziland. At my first homestead during training, I had an extremely tall termite mound between my pillow and the wall; that was pretty gross. And my second day at my permanent homestead here I had that horrible ant infestation. Other than that I’ve been quite pleased that I’ve only had a few small bugs, spiders and lizards here and there. But the winds are changing, apparently. I was opening my door the other night to bring Gogo some tea, and a snake slithered right into my hut! It was solid black and shiny. An incredible amount of screaming ensued (much to my surprise - I am not much of a screamer. In fairness, I only screamed when I was whapping and throwing things at it and it would come toward me instead of the door). It of course went strait to the storage corner of my hut where I could not see where it was hiding, making my task 100x’s more scary and potentially dangerous. But I finally got it out, and was able to breathe again. Then, not 18 hours later, I walked into my hut from a brief latrine visit and was dive-bombed by a bat! This guy wasn’t just hanging around or flapping for fun, he legitimately took two big dives at me! I thought bats were nocturnal- it was 12:30 in the afternoon when this guy came at me! He then flew strait for the door, but fell victim to the screen door I made of old mosquito netting. I went to open it to shoo him out, but saw I had already latched it with a pad lock. I moved frantically to the bed to grab my keys, unsure of how I would navigate my way to the lock with a (what I assumed to be rabid since it was out in the daytime) slightly dazed bat between the lock and I. Thankfully, as I turned around, it flopped/crawled its way through the small gap between the door and the floor. Phew!


         Now comes your part. I need advice. After the snake incident, I was coming up with plans for how to close the 1-inch gap between the screen door and floor to keep snakes and creatures from coming IN, but now I am thinking, perhaps it is a necessary gap to let OUT the creatures that find their way in... I do have a wooden door with only a 1/4inch gap that is closed at night and when I am away, so there is not always a big gap there. Oh my gosh. If both of these animals have come in while I am here... how many snakes and bats and... scorpions have come in while I'm away... and are already hiding under my wardrobe?! AHH!

         Update: The bat let his friends, family, and his in-laws know that I let him fly around and leave unharmed. He brought the whole gang over for a party last night (Dec 29th) within 30 seconds of me turning off my lights and music. I took a deep breath and reminded myself that they do not want to have any confrontation with me any more than I do them... despite the fact that they appeared to be dive-bombing me. So, I closed my eyes and told myself that they would stop flying around and probably leave soon.Then one literally slapped me in the face with its wing. This is where Katie snapped. “Are you kidding me you little...” much yelling proceeded and I hurriedly cranked my music and ran for the light. A tiny tornado of hairy wings quickly dispersed to the darker corners of the ceiling. I jumped to the box under my bed and extracted the mosquito net I had deemed claustrophobic when the Peace Corps gave it to me and got strait to work with string and knives to hang it from the wooden beams over my bed. After tucking the edges of the net tightly under my mattress (sealing myself in) I turned off the music (the light would stay on all night), and was promptly greeted by two bats swooping and smashing repeatedly into my net. One, tired of the struggle, stopped, clinging to the net just above my head. I flicked him into the wall. This morning when I woke, a dead bat was laying outside just by my doorstep, already being devoured by ants. I hoped he had time to warn his comrades that my hut was a dangerous place before he met his mysterious end. Then later on I saw his little friend was still hanging out on the wall by the rafters. I went to the firewood pile and selected a long, strong piece of Jacaranda. When I came inside, I looked at this furry little beast and contemplated for some time his demise. He was actually very cute and peaceful sleeping up there. Could we coexist? I mean, the bat has every right to be here as I do... but then, I am the one letting his family stay rent free in my walls, and he is the one throwing parties above my bed and slapping me in the face and screaming in my walls at all hours and pooping in my... WHACK.

I did put both bats in the bushes across the homestead together. I figured that was at least fair. Please pray that the snake does not do the same thing. I will not fare quite as well with a snake house-party.

Since Last We Chatted...

      Hello again. I am writing to you all now from our In Service Training at the IDM facility in Matsapha where we had our original training. Our group of volunteers (now down to 40 as we lost one girl to medical separation) are all here for the week learning about more resources and NGO’s and opportunities to facilitate change in our communities.  It is SO great to be with everyone again and have a week of hot showers, catered meals, and generally 1st world life. 

     Let's see, since last I posted, we had an AWESOME Thanksgiving dinner at the US Ambassador's house, 

Then Melanie and I took the weekend to hike, and RELAX!!!

My primary school had preschool graduation (the only graduations they celebrate in Swaziland)

And I've been helping my buddies wrangle up cattle.

All in all, I've been pretty busy.

In regards to the "Roosters are Cocks" blog. First, my main reason for hating roosters is their incessant crowing habits. Despite my ear plugs, they still manage to band together and wake me up every night at 10, 12, 2, 4 and still they are sure to get me out of bed before 6. Also, it has come to my attention that the rooster blog may have been offensive to some readers. I apologize for that. You see, after living this life for over five months, these things are no longer or surprising or offensive to me any more. They have just become silly (albeit annoying) parts of my every day life. I suppose perhaps the shock of reading these things for some of you was sort of like the first time experiencing these things was for me. So, while I apologize if my language made you uneasy, I do want you all to understand that these are all just a part of regular life for me.  I’ll try to be more PC  from now on, (PC meaning Politically Correct... not Peace Corps), but I can’t promise anything! TIA (This Is Africa)!!

Roosters are Cocks

Things I like better than roosters:

1. Pooping in a STINKY pit latrine
2. Bathing in a bowl the size of Mom’s Sunday night supper salads
3. Hauling water from a creek for EVERYTHING
4. Boiling, filtering, and bleaching water before drinking a glass
5. Spending most of my Sunday in a stream washing my clothes on a rock
6. No air-conditioning to escape to in the African heat
7. Peeing in a bucket inside of my house after the sun sets
8. The smell of my hut in the morning after my pee has been sitting in a bucket since after sun set
9. Storms blowing my corrugated iron roof eschew so the rain can fall freely inside my hut
10. Men proposing marriage/sex to me on an hourly basis
11. Glen Campbell. Wait, no, I actually do really like Glen Campbell.
12. Corn meal and beans for lunch... every single day
13. Riding on a 13 passenger khumbi with 22 people and all of their shit and having the khumbi conductor use my lap as his business station
14. Men pinching my belly and telling me I am getting very fat (I’ve lost ten pounds since arriving here, by the way)
15. Men whipping it out and peeing while we’re in the middle of a conversation
16. People demanding I give them my clothing, jewelry, etc
17. Laying in a puddle of sweat in my underwear on my concrete floor, trying to soak up anything but the African heat



Evan very accurately demonstrating how to take a bucket bath!
(Picture stolen from, my sister, Jenny's facebook)



Yeah. Life is Basically Awesome.

My goodness! Will the excitement ever stop?! This past week flew by with HIV classes and library check-outs. On Friday we had a huge Peace Corps Halloween party in Mbabane at a 3rd year’s apartment (if you extend your Peace Corps service for a third year, you get to live in a regular apartment in the city and volunteer at an NGO). It was wild to say the least! You get 40+ Americans in their 20’s who have been cooped up in solitary cement huts for a month and things get crazy when they get together around running water! Also on Friday I went to Manzini and met up with the guy who was so kindly holding on to the iPhone Lizzie (my sister) gave me to use here. After finding it, he was nice enough to answer once and ask for 150E in exchange for it and then never answer again. It took me a couple weeks and lots of help from my community to track him down, but we did it (EVERYONE in Swaziland knows everyone. It’s like living in Boone with thatched roofs)!!  So I went to Manzini and got my phone back, ran some errands, and had lunch with Melanie.

Then Saturday! Whoa. I know I said I went on a cool private safari before, but that last one was nothing compared to Saturday! Ted is basically the coolest person on Earth, and is apparently getting a kick out of my excitement when he shows me incredible animals (I thank my Mom for that appreciation of nature - And I would like to take this time to reminisce with her and my family members over trips through Nebraska when the Sandhill Cranes were migrating through. Mom was CRAZY about them and insisted always that she, not Dad, got to drive through Nebraska. While Dad’s face turned blue and knuckles white from his grip on the ‘oh-shit bar’, the rest of us got whip-lash from constant trips past the shoulder of the road and back at 80 mph. Good times. Really taught me the true beauty of nature... You know... the cranes and all). So anyway, this time Ted took me to Mkaya in the bush veld. We saw giraffes, black rhino, African buffalo, I carried tortoises out to a pond, we got out twice to take pictures with white rhino (don’t worry, Ted and the ranger both picked up sticks. Everyone knows you can stop a charging rhino by throwing a stick ... I was ready to poop my pants). We saw BEAUTIFUL birds (Mom, I WISH you would come out here in the summer -December- the birds are breath-taking when they are in full mating plumage), zebra fighting, baby rhino feeding, hippos, fish eagles, it was too much! I am living in an absolute dream! 

And now for some completely inconsequential side stories that you are more than welcomed to skip over.

In Shape

So, I ran out of propane last week. I have the average sized propane tank that most grills in America use (Peace Corps gave everyone a propane cook stove, so I use the gas for boiling my water, cooking, etc). I got a khumbi back to my village after going to town to get it filled, but still had a bit over a mile to where I live. I thought about waiting until a car came by to hitch a ride with it, but being as it was Sunday, the likelihood of transport was slim to none. So I picked it up, and started marching. I was quite surprised at how much easier it was to carry that full tank over a mile home than it was to carry an empty tank 3/4 of a mile two months ago when I ran out of gas during training! I guess all of this walking and hauling water and hard labor is really starting to pay off in terms of getting in shape!

Magic Kettle?

Either I have a magical tea pot, or I have truly become a Peace Corps volunteer. So I ran out of propane the other morning for my gas stove which meant I could not boil water for my tea or to wash my dishes. I knew I wouldn’t have a chance to go to the city for a few days to refill my handigas, so when I came home from school and saw smoke coming from Gogo’s chimney, I figured I’d see if I could put my tea kettle on her stove to boil. Not wanting to be a nuisance, I only boiled one pot as I lamented over the fact that I would have to go another couple days without washing my hair (that is a total lie - I was thrilled for the excuse). When I got back to my hut, I prepared my bath and set out a mug with a tea bag. After my bath (Note: I do mix cold water with the hot while  bathing - I’m a double dipper), I lit a candle and put it under the kettle in attempt to warm the water a bit more (feeble), then poured myself a big almost-steamy tea and sat down to read for a bit. After a while I decided to see how the candle was holding up in the water-warming game (poorly) and poured myself a second mug of tea. After finishing that one I looked at my pile of dishes that had been piling since breakfast (two meals and a snack pretty much takes up all my dishes), and I wished I hadn’t had that second tea so that I’d have enough for dishes. I picked up the pot and decided heck, may as well go for it. Get as many dishes clean as possible. I don’t want another ant episode! I did all of my dishes (NOT double dipping. No water but the water from the pot), and thought, huh, this pot still feels pretty heavy. Maybe I’ll have enough water left to put through my filter and fill my water bottle for tomorrow. I looked. There was still over a third of a kettle left in there! Whoa. A bath, two mugs of tea, and 2.5 meals worth of dishes, and I only used just over half a tea pot of hot water?! Ridiculous! This isn’t some gallon-sized tea kettle or anything either! It is very average sized! So either I am an absolute champion at using little-no water for my daily needs (aka I am disgusting and dirty and a true PCV) or my kettle has magical water generating powers.

Thanks so much for keeping up with me and! And don’t forget, you are MORE than welcome to send me letters at:

Katie Walters PCV

P.O.Box 2797

Mbabane H100

Swaziland

AFRICA

I tried to pose as though I was helping the tortoise.
In actuality, I am fairly certain I terrorized the poor thing.

Beautiful Giraffe! I didn't get a very good shot of her baby though.
Sorry I couldn't share that.

Caption: Just take the d*** picture Ted! There is a horn pointed RIGHT at my stomach
and there is nothing stopping it from going STRAIGHT through me!!!!

Me with my buddies Nandipa and Andile!!

SO MUCH SO FAST!

Get ready. This is going to be a big one! I think I will do this chronologically for simplicity sake. SO MANY big things to tell you! If you feel overwhelmed, take it in segments, one a day if you like. Or just pick and choose. I have labeled them for easy navigating. But this stuff ... you really will probably be blown away by every segment!

International Day of the Girl Child 

We’ll start on Thursday October 11th. Peace Corps asked everyone to do something special for this new holiday, the International Day of the Girl Child, so I asked the school if I could have a few hours sometime that day to present something to the school. Clueless as to what that would be, I had all of the girls gather and discuss what they would like to do. We settled on writing and reciting a poem and doing some traditional dancing. Then the Peace Corps mentioned that the new American Ambassador to Swaziland might like to visit a site on that day. So I worked some magic, had the girls write a nice invitation, and do a little art work, and had it delivered to the ambassador who was all but beside herself to come and visit. When I told the school she would be coming, school was canceled for two days in preparation. The whole place was washed down top to bottom, inside and out. More poems were written, choral groups were assembled, dance groups, everyone rehearsed for two FULL days while the boys cleaned the school and yard. The head teacher (principal) went to the city and got all sorts of food for the event! Chips, peanuts, polony (a much more questionable form of bologna) and processed cheese on white buns, apples, bananas, and even KFC!!! I have NO idea where the money came from for all of that nice food, but it fed the whole school board, the school staff and the Peace Corps staff that came, and there was plenty left over! The program was incredible! The girls did SO well The visitors were blow away! The ambassador gave a WONDERFUL speech too (by the way, the ambassador is a black woman from Queens - how perfect is that for empowering the girls at my school?!) and presented some girls with some very nice books. It was the most perfect day! The school is STILL humming with excitement and energy. I was SO SO SO pleased.

My First Lobola Ceremony

Ok, the next big event was on Saturday and Sunday October 13-14. Mr Shongwe from my school has a daughter who was getting married, and this weekend was her Lobola ceremony. A Lobola ceremony is when the family of the groom presents the family of the bride with a payment in exchange for the girl. The payment of which is in the form of cattle. The whole thing is SO interesting! So on Saturday, the families gather in a small room, everyone (the elders, the parents, the couple, and about 20 other family members) all sit on the floor and discuss an appropriate price for the girl. It is a law that all first born daughters receive at least 15 cattle. Price is negotiated based on number of premarital children, skills, family (your surname determines a good deal of your life here), and your birth order, among other things. The price agreed upon was 19 cattle. The family had brought 11 with them, so they will owe the Shongwe family the other 8. But they can be paid over many many years, the payments being wonderful times to bring the families together and celebrate. So, after the price is decided, then each family conferences and selects the largest cattle. Then the bride’s family gives one cow to the groom’s family, and the groom’s family gives one cow to the brides family, and both are to be used for the celebration. After the cows are gifted, they must be slaughtered. All of the cows are put into a small kraal (maybe 20‘x20’) and a man enters armed with a traditional spear. He weaves himself between the cattle and sneaks up on the cows one at a time. He has to stab them in the heart just at the right time when its leg in up, so the spear will go directly into the heart and not be blocked by any bones. Then, when he pulls out the spear, he must lie on the ground (yes, on the ground in the kraal with a dozen cows all freaking out that their friend has just been stabbed in the heart and is now stumbling around, clinging onto life). He has to lie down because it wills the stabbed cow to lie down too. So this happens to both gifted cows and then the skin is removed and the cows are slaughtered in the kraal (the other cows are released for the slaughtering). This must be done inside the kraal because it is believed that the ancestors are in the kraal (Swazi traditional beliefs are based not on any god, but on one’s ancestors - hence the importance of surnames). Then the meat is carried inside of the skin to one of the houses. But on the way, they play a traditional game where they fight over one of the cows. They play tug-of-war almost with one of the corpses. It is just SO interesting! During all of this, everyone is drinking a Swazi traditional brew - fermented sorghum made in 20liter plastic drums at the bride’s home. People might sit around a plastic drum passing a tin cup, or have pitchers, or just pass big plastic buckets out of which they drink. Boy what a show!

That was the Saturday part. Now the Sunday part was REALLY interesting. When we arrived in the morning, people were already noshing on beef. Men standing around fires with sticks, pots, and metal grates all full of cow; plates, bowls, trays of beef all being shared by everyone. No one could shake my hand or take a picture because they all had either blood and flesh or (as was more often the case as the morning went on) cooked meat juice all over their hands. After a few hours of eating, another game was played. This one was a game of chase, using the bile of the cows. [The whole ceremony took place on the bride’s family’s homestead, but the groom’s family was given a house while they were there.] So the object of the game is to get the bile into the other family’s house. There are always 2 people running (one from each family) and the game is over when the person with the bile over takes the person who has just dropped the bile in their house, and deposits the bile in the other home before the person they’re overtaking gets there. After more eating and drinking was lots of traditional dancing. I  wore a lihiya (traditional skirt-type deal - and no, if you have been doing your Swazi research, I do not mean the mini beaded skirt girls wear for Umhlanga) and was coerced into getting up and dancing for every one - traditional Swazi style, which basically consists of stomping and rhythmically kicking one’s leg up as high as possible, aiming at getting it over the shoulder. Then came the wedding ceremony. Now, I must say that there are multiple different wedding ceremonies that take place (one for the engagement, one at the groom’s homestead, and one at the bride’s homestead). This is only one-third of it. So, if anyone ever tells you about a Swazi wedding and it sounds nothing like this, that is because this whole weekend was only a third of it. Ok, now, the wedding. So this is a VERY small audience (I was let in on the account that I am white and thus famous - an honor to have in attendance). A few people go into the small house where the bride price was negotiated and sit on the floor. Some prayers and some words are said, and then the man and woman become one. (After careful analysis, I realize the act is very similar to lighting the Unity Candle in the Christian religions, but you make your own decision.) So, the bride takes the intestines of one of the cows and opens one end and feeds the bile to the groom. She then wipes the bile on his forehead, shoulders, elbows, wrists, ankles, and knees. Then the man takes the intestines and feeds the woman bile and does the same to her. Then the intestine is taken and tucked into itself, making a small circle. This circle of day-old cow intestine is slid onto the bride’s wrist to be worn as a bracelet. This is the Swazi form of a wedding ring. The woman will wear it for about two months to show she is newly married. Now, I realize some of you are worried that this practice might seem a little unclean, that she might be wiping bile on everything she touches with that around her wrist, but I assure you, the bracelet is salted and wrapped in a cloth for the first 2-3 days until it is dry.

Ridiculous Week

So, the following week was all a little more than yours truly could take. All of this exciting cultural stuff had no time to sink in when things started getting crazy. Without going into detail, I will just say that over a five-day period I had to deal with a guy getting after me (I am TOTALLY fine, please don’t worry) to the extent that both the Peace Corps and I have gone to the local police about it, child brutality, statutory rape, child-child rape (10 year olds), my house flooding, and some guy making off with my iPhone. In my normal life, (the LBA as we have taken to calling it - Life Before Africa) a single one of these events would have really shaken me up and had me in a real stir for weeks. But there is simply no time and no energy for that here, and being hit with it all at once just had me beat. Thank goodness for my best buddy Melanie though. On Friday we met up in Matsapha and ate good food, drank good wine, and talked all day. There was a point in the afternoon when we were just chatting silly and I began to laugh. The feeling surprised me so much that I began to cry, not a bad cry, but an amazed cry. You see, after my week I believed I would never be truly happy again. I thought that after all I had witnessed that I would have to live with that inside of me for the rest of my life, but in that moment, that laughing... I became Katie again. And I knew everything was going to be ok. So thanks Melanie. 

That was some really huge stuff, and I totally skimmed over it here. I apologize if I seem insensitive, but after all is said and done, I just don’t feel the need to dwell on those things when there is so much good going on.

Camping and Dancing

Friday was only the beginning of the most perfect, most needed weekend of my life. On Saturday October 20, a whole bunch of Peace Corps Volunteers got together to go to a concert. One other girl and I went early to the camp grounds (9am) and after signing in, we settled down in this big reed shelter overlooking BEAUTIFUL rolling green mountains for a mid-morning Scotch (feel free to see it as tailgating for the Iowa game if that makes you feel better about the day-drinking). After a couple hours, more volunteers began to show and we moved to the pool (yes, a swimming pool! I think there are actually only like, 8 or 9 of them in the country... if I am not mistaken). Eating and drinking and hanging out in the pool all day was absolutely the most wonderful feeling imaginable. After such a relaxing day, we all went to this semi-outdoor venue called House On Fire where there was a dub-step (?- I had never heard of it either) concert. We danced the night away! It was great! We went back and I took a hot shower (I cannot express how good a shower feels after a month and a half with out one. It is euphoric), and crawled into my tent. It rained all night and the only drip in my tent was right above my face, but in all honesty, I didn’t mind. I was happy, and clean, and no amount of raindrops could take that away from me. 

Private Safari

Just when I thought I’d hit the pinnacle of good feelings and happiness, one of the ladies at the backpackers lodge came and told me I had a phone call. The previous week when I had stopped in to make my reservation, I ran into a fellow with whom I chatted for some time who had offered to drive me back to the main road (it’s about a mile hike in from the road to the back packers’). He was very kind and told me that when I come back, I must ask for him as he would love to show me the highlights of the park. On the phone was this guy, Ted, determined to keep his promise. In ten minutes he was there and we took off in his pick-up. As we drove into the mountains, I was surprised when our first stop was to change vehicles to a big, open safari Jeep. How had I not known that the backpackers where I stayed was in the Milwani Game Reserve?! From there we went to this magnificent restaurant up on a mountain surrounded in the most beautiful flora I have ever seen. We had a  delicious breakfast overlooking amazing Africa. Then we were off! We spent all day on safari, and boy, did Ted keep his promise! Zebras by the score, impala, wildebeests, incredible birds, spring buck, countless endangered species, crocodiles, you name it! But by far the most incredible part of the day was when we went hiking down into this ravine. Have you ever seen where Beecatchers live? A Beecatcher is a kind of bird that digs its home out of the side of a cliff. They live in colonies, and BOY is it spectacular! We stood for ages, just watching the birds fly in and out of hundreds of tiny caves - oh it was incredible. The more I talked to Ted, the more I realized, he is not just some nice guy who drives around game reserves all day. I should have picked up on it when the restaurant at breakfast was open only for us, or when we came out of breakfast and a man that would accompany us as a helper on the safari stood at attention (Ted said that he was standing at attention because he saw me coming ... and silly me believed it), or that at the drop of a hat Ted could get any vehicle he wanted manned by whomever he requested. But dummy me was just so infatuated by the animals and the nature around me that I didn’t pay any mind. So, as the day had begun getting late, (2:00 in the afternoon is about the bewitching hour around here if you have to get back to site) Ted offered to take me home since it was Sunday (sparse transport) and already past 1:30 (which allowed us to check out more crocodile!). On the drive home, Ted mentioned a conversation with the King... It turns out Ted started Milwane and three other national game reserves in Swaziland. He is the head of the department in Swaziland and works directly with King Mswati! I was blown away!! How I got lucky enough to meet Ted, I have no idea! But apparently he is very good friends with the king (making him quite a strong Royalist). l was baffled as to why such a preeminent person would take a whole day to show some dopey American volunteer around this enormous game park. He said only that my appreciation for nature was rare and that he found my love and enthusiasm for the things around me “reward enough” for the day off.

What a yoyo ride this past week was, but with so many wonderful things going on  already, I know it can only go up from here!

Thanks for keeping up with me, and sorry this was SO long! I hope you enjoyed it though, because I am sure enjoying things here!

And now for a smattering of pictures!!!

Choral group on International Day of the Girl Child

Traditional dancing on International Day of the Girl Child
(I tried to get one with the least "nudity" possible)

Tasting some traditional brew with a Makhulu at the Lobola Ceremony

The Mighty Warrior with traditional spear getting ready for the slaughter of the Lobola cows

Bogogo watching and singing as the cattle are stabbed with the (above) spear

A studly Swazi sorting the cow innards before the bodies are moved to different houses

Teacher friends!
Nomsa, Zwai, Miss Dube, Me, and Daisy

Gogo and I watching people dance!

The new bride with her intestine bracelet

These are some of the kids I live with! Gogo lets kids stay on the homestead who live too far from school.
This is (Top Left to right) Hitman, Wiseman, Londiwe
(Bottom) Boy, and me!

Safari!!
I can't remember what this guy was called... but isn't he cool!?

This is the cliff where the beecatchers live!!!
(I can't remember if that is what they are called, but just go with me on it) 

And BEAUTIFUL zebras!!!!

An Unforeseen Conversion

I hate doing laundry. You can ask my mom. Or my sister-in-law. Or any roommate I’ve ever had. I hate laundry. I wait until I run out of underwear completely (the only item of clothing on which I cannot compromise cleanliness), and I cram ALL of my clothes (this is usually a few weeks worth, mind you) in the washer at once to avoid having to do more than one load. Then, naturally, having felt accomplished, I leave the clothes in the washer for a few days (never mind the underwear situation, that part does not concern you) until someone else gets annoyed and moves them. Then the clothes stay in the dryer for a week as I visit every day to pull out a clean outfit and unders. Now, coming to Swaziland did not look to be promising at making me want to do laundry an more than before. And indeed hauling water 1/3 of a mile (2/3 round trip - just let me play my sad fiddle here) to wash my clothes with a bar of soap in a bucket too small to sit in has not been my idea of weekend fun. But a couple weeks ago some boys were walking by and called to me to come do laundry with them. Remembering the warning of schistomiosis I got from the Peace Corps, I politely declined. Strangely enough, a group of six teenage boys did not easily take ”no thank you” for an answer. I spoke with Gogo and she assured me that the water is perfectly safe in the river and I recalled conversations I’d had with currently serving volunteers who told us new comers, “If the water is moving, you are fine. There are no schistomes. It’s the ponds and lakes you really have to watch out for. We swim in rivers all the time.” I weighed my options and figured there was no way I was going to make it two years without touching the water in the stream (I have to cross it every day to go to school - no bridge, just jumping stone to stone), so I may as well jump in head first (not quite literally). Sitting on large flat rocks in the middle of a stream, chatting and laughing with the boys (ok, they were chatting and laughing, I was pretending to understand siSwati), the sound of the water rushing over the rocks, the sun, the spring trees budding their green leaves... I fell in love. I have done my laundry three times since. I hang my clothes on the barbed wire fence (yes, they do get little spiky marks all over them from the barbed wire, but I find I never see myself anymore, so I don’t really know what I look like. Thus, I don’t care) and sit the shade on the edge of the stream listening to the water and the birds, reading a book until they are dry. I just can’t get enough of it. I LOVE doing my laundry! It is the most peaceful, relaxing thing... I don’t have to haul water, my clothes get 5x’s cleaner (when you don’t have much water, you really can’t rinse well), and I just love sitting there! Who would have thought, to get me to do laundry all you have to do is take away the machine, the running water, and the laundry detergent!

 Here is what my mornings are like!

Dig This

So the other day, for less than $4.25 (US equivalency of Swazi currency) I got eight tomatoes, five apples, six lemons, five carrots, six eggs, and over a pound of margarine! And seven marriage proposals (those were complimentary). I feel like I am living in the 1940’s (sans the propositions).

And here's a little friend I had hanging out last week. i figured I had enough time to either take his picture or squish him... he ran away as soon as he saw my shoe.

Update



Melanie and I Birthday-ing



I LOVE SWAZILAND!!! So last week was the first week of school, and oh my gosh are the people there awesome! There are so many wonderful opportunities for growth, and the teachers are so eager to work with me! I LOVE IT! I have been doing a lot with English in grade 7. Comprehension is very low, so we are doing Little Gold Books and trying to get basic conversation skills in the form of simple debates. It is neat. Really neat. I have been organizing the books that the school has so I know where they all are and can get the book I want right away. I am reading to the different classes too. Kids LOVE that! I of course have a hard time just reading, so they are probably more amused by my voices and actions, but the more they get interested, the more they are likely to listen to the words and want to understand what I am actually saying! I’ve been taking lots of books home every afternoon too. Reading to the little neighbor kids, finding material that relates to things about which I’ve spoken with people around town and giving them books I think will help them. People get pumped about that kind of stuff!



Laundry Day at the River





Also my birthday a couple weeks ago was awesome! I went to Mbabane with Melanie (a Peace Corps pal). While I waited for her to come, I had a mocha at a cafe downtown (powdered hot chocolate with espresso - awesome) and took a hot SHOWER at the Peace Corps office (euphoria). We went out to a nice (I use “nice” loosely. Nicest thing I’ve seen since June 25) restaurant for lunch, and brought home frozen pizzas (did not expect to see those in the grocery store - those were impulse) and made a chocolate cake in Gogo’s wood burning oven! It was so perfect! ... Well, not the cake. The cake was charred on the side where the fire was and raw on the other side... but it was a good learning experience, and we ate every crumb of it anyway.



With Gogo and Melanie



So yeah, life basically is awesome right now! I love my family, my work, my community... Swaziland is pretty cool. Anyone wanna visit?!