So I now have access to my email whenever I may want it via my pretty blinged-out cellphone, but anything beyond that is sort of a pain. Hopefully I’ll have more substantial internet at least once a week, and on of my schools is (in theory, maybe, next year) getting internet. So, here’s hoping. But like I said, I do at least have access to my email whenever I want it, so feel free to email me!
As of September 21st I am officially a real-live Peace Corps Volunteer. We had a very nice swearing-in ceremony, and one of the other volunteers gave an absolutely amazing speech in isiZulu. Really, I’ve kicked around the idea of being a speech writer from time to time, but Jeff put anything I could ever write to shame. I’ll have to see if anybody wrote it down and post it.
So now I have moved into my new village with my new host family. I am living with a younger couple (mid/late 30s), and 6(!) children, ranging from 18 months to about 16 years. I’m staying in a room just next to the house, which took a little bit of negotiation, but I think it was worth it. Except now I have to kill my own cockroaches. And spiders. And rats. Guess I’ll just have to get tough. The cockroaches are seriously the size of my hand though. After having to listen to one run around my room for the better part of a night, though, I declared a fatwa on all organisms with more than 3 legs and went a little crazy with the “DyRoach.” I used an entire can in under 20 minutes. Sure I felt a tad dizzy that night, but the next morning I found my new friend upside down and immobile under my bed. So I’m willing to consider that a victory. I comfort myself with the fact that had I done PC Madagascar, the cockroaches would have had the words “giant” and “hissing” as a pre-fix. So maybe this isn’t so bad.
I do have electricity, which is awesome, but no running water. Which is slightly unawesome. I wouldn’t mind so much – you actually get used to the pit toilets pretty fast – but I really miss showers. My hair really misses showers. But actually, with a little ingenuity and a little (okay, a lot) of spare time, even that probably won’t be so bad. I was using just a bucket, a water kettle, and a washcloth, and that worked all right, but recently I have upgraded: I bought a small pitcher and a watering can. The watering can simulates showers surprisingly well, and I’m already planning an elaborate rig involving some rope, wire, and a bigger basin (to minimize the splash-zone). Hot showers are just a matter of time. You’ll see. I’ll post photos.
I spent the last week at my key school, just observing and getting to know my teachers. I’m not entirely certain what my job is going to be yet, but I have some good leads. I did a small, short workshop with my teachers just to get an idea of what they want. So far my list includes computer lessons, discipline and classroom management (this one was heavily emphasized. I think that I may actually be at one of the very few rural schools that honestly doesn’t hit its learners. At least, I didn’t see any last week. But the teachers don’t know what else to do), lesson planning and the new national curriculum, different teaching methods, involving learners, and team building. Personally, I also want to work on critical thinking, and do a few fairly scientific, fact based presentations on HIV/AIDS. Awareness of the disease is not the problem. South Africa has one of the highest rates of HIV in the world. It may be as high as 1 in 3 people. It is thoroughly worked into the curriculum, you see ribbons, slogans, and signs everywhere. But that doesn’t mean that people necessarily understand the concept of a virus, of blood and fluid-borne diseases, of what exactly is happening to a person. What the hell, it can’t hurt, right?
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