It’s now been two months since I arrived in Philadelphia to commence a new stage in my life as a Peace Corps Trainee (PCT), but I thought I’d start with a flashback to those first few days since leaving the comfort of Durham, North Carolina.
After nearly losing my cell phone in the airport shuttle van, sitting through several ice-breakers and information sessions, getting my second yellow fever vaccination in less than a year, and spending an evening of dinner and conversation with my fellow trainees (and my old college roommate, Chris), I boarded a charter bus with my new colleagues on the morning of February 3rd bound for snowy JFK. Twenty-five eventful, sleepless (at least for me) hours later, we landed safely at Oliver Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg to surprisingly cool weather and cloudy skies.
Staff from Peace Corps South Africa graciously welcomed us just outside customs, whereupon we loaded our many bags into a long trailer and piled into a couple brand new official Peace Corps khumbies (mini-bus/van taxis). Nearly three hours later, we arrived at our training site in northwestern Mpumulanga province (see map from November 22 post) to a spread of pap (mashed-potatoesque corn-meal porridge), fried chicken, beetroot, cabbage, and, of course, singing and dancing.
O tla di bona
Di shebane ka
Matlhong ga di
Lwana di poo, di poo.
Dialla di poo…
The song is a Setswana song about bulls staring each another in the eyes when they fight, and the dance involves bending at the waist and staring another person in the eyes as you gyrate your hips and lock ‘horns’ (i.e. your arms, bent like a pair of parentheses in front of you). Even two months in, ‘Di Poo’ remains my favorite traditional South African song and dance of all those I’ve heard since my arrival.
After an incredible dinner and a round of introductions to local Peace Corps staff, we prepared to move our luggage into the dorms in which we’d be staying for a few nights. Heavy rains during the preceding week, however, had flooded the area in front of the dorms. To earn our credentials as Peace Corps Volunteers-to-be, we rolled up our dress slacks and braved the mud to pass our damp luggage from the trailer to the dorms. As further introduction to Peace Corps Training logistics, we then had to stand in deeper mud and push the truck out of the quagmire. Needless to say, I was incredibly grateful for the Gore-Tex boots given to me as a Christmas present days before my departure (thanks, Kristin!).
I was asleep before my head even hit the pillow.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Hello from Mpumalanga, en route to Limpopo
Hello all! I know it's been a long time since my last post (nearly four months, actually), but I should now be able to post more regularly as training is nearly over.
For the last five and a half weeks, I've been living in a large village of about 17,000 people in the northwestern corner of Mpumalanga Province, South Africa (see map from last post). Tomorrow, I'll be heading to Rustenburg in the Northwest Province to a workshop where I'll be meeting the person who will be my 'counterpart' here in South Africa for the next two years. As I learned Friday afternoon, I will soon be moving from my training village here in Mpumalanga to Ga-Mathabatha in Limpopo Province, the northernmost province of South Africa. Limpopo is home to most of the country's Sepedi-speaking (also known as 'Nothern Sotho') population. I've spent much of the last five weeks learning and practicing Sepedi despite living in a predominantly Setswana-speaking area, but the languages are so closely related that I have been able to practice speaking Sepedi with my Setswana-speaking host family (of which I'll write more later).
My next two weeks are likely to be quite busy. After a two-day training workshop in Rustenburg, I'll be traveling with my counterpart for a four-day site visit to Ga-Mathabatha, where I'll get to meet the people that will be my coworkers for the next two years. I'll be in a fairly unique circumstance of working in a fairly large organization that is already hosting a Peace Corps Volunteer, who arrived nearly a year-and-a-half ago and will be departing back to the States in July. Following in the footsteps of another volunteer should prove to have a number of benefits as well as challenges. I'm also hoping for a chance to visit a few of the local schools, the local chief, and other key figures and institutions in my village.
After my four days in Ga-Mathabatha, I'll be returning to my training site for nearly a week, where I'll be concentrating on refining my language skills ahead of my Language Proficiency Interview, which is the test that will ascribe a label to my ability to speak Sepedi and determine whether I'll need to hire a language tutor in Ga-Mathabatha and retest in three months. Following the test, on April 2nd, will be our swearing-in ceremony, where my training group will officially become Peace Corps Volunteers (as opposed to the current appellation - Peace Corps Trainee).
Well, I have to get to training, but please feel free to post comments about things you'd like me to write about in future posts.
For the last five and a half weeks, I've been living in a large village of about 17,000 people in the northwestern corner of Mpumalanga Province, South Africa (see map from last post). Tomorrow, I'll be heading to Rustenburg in the Northwest Province to a workshop where I'll be meeting the person who will be my 'counterpart' here in South Africa for the next two years. As I learned Friday afternoon, I will soon be moving from my training village here in Mpumalanga to Ga-Mathabatha in Limpopo Province, the northernmost province of South Africa. Limpopo is home to most of the country's Sepedi-speaking (also known as 'Nothern Sotho') population. I've spent much of the last five weeks learning and practicing Sepedi despite living in a predominantly Setswana-speaking area, but the languages are so closely related that I have been able to practice speaking Sepedi with my Setswana-speaking host family (of which I'll write more later).
My next two weeks are likely to be quite busy. After a two-day training workshop in Rustenburg, I'll be traveling with my counterpart for a four-day site visit to Ga-Mathabatha, where I'll get to meet the people that will be my coworkers for the next two years. I'll be in a fairly unique circumstance of working in a fairly large organization that is already hosting a Peace Corps Volunteer, who arrived nearly a year-and-a-half ago and will be departing back to the States in July. Following in the footsteps of another volunteer should prove to have a number of benefits as well as challenges. I'm also hoping for a chance to visit a few of the local schools, the local chief, and other key figures and institutions in my village.
After my four days in Ga-Mathabatha, I'll be returning to my training site for nearly a week, where I'll be concentrating on refining my language skills ahead of my Language Proficiency Interview, which is the test that will ascribe a label to my ability to speak Sepedi and determine whether I'll need to hire a language tutor in Ga-Mathabatha and retest in three months. Following the test, on April 2nd, will be our swearing-in ceremony, where my training group will officially become Peace Corps Volunteers (as opposed to the current appellation - Peace Corps Trainee).
Well, I have to get to training, but please feel free to post comments about things you'd like me to write about in future posts.
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