Hi from Gail, 27 DECEMBER 2010
Merry Christmas to all of you from beautiful, green, warm Swaziland !
We did have a blessed Christmas here, even though we certainly missed the traditions of home, and especially spending time with family and friends. One of the things I looked forward to as a Peace Corps Volunteer was the slower pace of life. Yes, the daily tasks are much more labor intensive here, but the rhythm of life beats at a different pace. We’d heard that everything pretty much “shuts down” for at least 2 to 3 weeks over the Christmas/New Years holiday. That’s true for most of Swaziland, but not here at the orphanage/farm. I’ll give you a recap of the highlights of the past 2 weeks & you can see for yourself.
A fellow volunteer in a nearby community had been approached to help start up a preschool, using an existing church building. She, of course, contacted me, since I’m actively teaching in an existing preschool. Once they found a local woman who was willing to train as a preschool teacher, and realized that their school should begin in January when the new school year begins, suddenly, I was preparing a preschool training curriculum! That is lightening speed for anything like this to get done, so I was a bit skeptical that it would come about, esp. since transport to our farm is not direct. To make a long story short, all the parties showed up and we had 3 days of preschool observation & training from Dec. 13 – 15. In the middle of that, we had an extensive meeting with our Peace Corps supervisor regarding our lives as volunteers, how we’ve integrated into our community, future projects, etc
.
Then, on Dec. 16, our childrens home was visited by a local group who wished to present a donation.. Of course, that required a frenzy of cleaning & preparing food for our visitors. A heavy downpour didn’t help our efforts, but it all went smoothly. That afternoon we all baked Christmas cookies together – the kind you cut out and ice. It was great fun, and very messy.
All during this time, we’d also had rehearsals for the annual Christmas play. Michelle adapted it from a Christmas story which was told through the eyes of the innkeeper who keeps getting woken up by all the visitors: Mary & Joseph; a bright star & angels; shepherds, three kings. We had our first performance on Sat. Dec. 18. However, during the day, we were cooking food for the next day’s church luncheon for the 75-100 church members. (The orphanage had received a donation to provide the meal, we just needed to provide the manpower). The kids helped with the cooking. The play was lots of fun & all the kids performed well, sang loud and remembered their lines, thanks to the capable direction/leadership of Michelle. Of course, we had treats/food afterwards.
Then, on Sunday, it was pack up the food and load everyone in the van for church. We had a shortened service (only 1 ½ hrs.) so that the kids could perform their play for the congregation & sing some songs. We haven’t heard any African Christmas songs, but sing all the traditional songs we sing: Away in a Manger, Silent Night, Joy to the World. Luckily, I haven’t heard Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, but do hear Jingle Bells, White Christmas, etc. that seem so out of place, but that’s the way it is. It is summer here, and the church likes to focus on the kids at Christmas, so they rented a giant inflatable water slide for them to enjoy while we heated up the food. You’ve never seen kids change clothes so fast and jump on. Since we had at least 50 kids – it became a human slide, with kids from top to bottom all sliding together, grinning from ear to ear and having a ball. Luckily we had an hour or so before the skies opened up with rain, thunder & lightening, so we had to shut it down a bit earlier than planned. Then we all enjoyed the feast – chicken stew, fried sausage, beef stew, rice, cornmeal porridge, cole slaw, beet salad, tossed salad, rolls, cake, pudding & fruit for dessert. What a day.
On Monday 20 Dec, another volunteer and I went into down to purchase food to put in gift buckets (much more practical here than baskets) for the staff, and for outreach to orphans and vulnerable children in the community, compliments of another generous donation. That was a bit frenzied, because everyone was doing their Christmas food shopping that day & the stores were packed. The heavy shopping generally happens in this last week before Christmas, because that’s when everyone receives their Christmas bonus. In general, there’s limited gift shopping, but lots of eating & drinking associated with Christmas and New Year’s. The next day we assembled 90 buckets, and Peter took some of the older kids to help distribute to the community.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Ambassador, his wife and the Swaziland Peace Corps Director came for a tour of the childrens home – hence, more cleaning of children & rooms. Then the 7 of us were treated to a lovely luncheon at a nearby hotel/casino. It was nice to sit and relax and enjoy adult conversation. When we returned to the orphanage that afernoon, Peter & Michelle then had the farm staff Christmas supper – complete with gift buckets, pay day, etc.
On Thursday, I braved the public transport to travel north to the main city of Manzini to finish shopping for the kids. I was looking for items to fill sewing baskets for the girls, which was the main gift from Peter and Michelle. In addition, I was looking for something small to give from Mike & me. Even in the main town, choices are limited, and in hindsight, it was a bit crazy to go there 2 days before Christmas, but we got it all done, and even made it to a craft center to shop for ourselves. Unfortunately, that delayed our departure a bit, and we got home a bit later than planned.
Christmas Eve was spent wrapping presents – just like at home, except it was sunny & hot. We only have 1 Christmas CD, so Johnny Mathis got played a lot that day. At noon, we were invited up to Peter & Michelle’s, along with all the kids, for a Christmas braii (barbecue). It felt like 4th of July – sitting in the bright sun & eating brats. The kids performed the play again for the visiting family members, and opened some of their gifts.
Churches don’t have services on Christmas Eve, but rather on Christmas morning. So – we met the kids early (8 am) for more gift opening, Christmas Day, and then went to church. After church was over, we thanked the pastor for the water slide fun the previous week & he had not returned it, since the rental company was closed for the holidays! Then he asked if we could take it back to the orphanage to use for a few days. Of course we said yes, and crammed it into an already packed full van, and had great fun Christmas afternoon with the kids, and all the family visiting, slipping & sliding down the water slide. The day ended with the volunteers getting together for appetizers and a fun game of hearts.
(annotation from Mike on 28 Dec)
Finally, on Mon Dec 27 we traveled back up to north of Piggs Peak to visit with the family that hosted us June 28 to Aug 26. You might remember that we are working in SW Swaziland, and our training/host family is in NW Swaziland, about 100 miles away. The journey went like this….left our house at 5AM and walked 45 minutes to town to the “bus rank”—bus station. Thankfully it was dry, overcast, and a nice pleasant early morning walk. We caught the first bus North, thought it might leave as early as 6:00Am, but it left at 6:25AM. About 20 miles North the road was washed out and we were detoured—not bad, took an extra 20=30 minutes. Gail said it had been washed out last Thursday when she went shopping …this means the MAIN north –south highway in the country has been washed out for a least a few days….by 7:50AM we had arrived at “the T junction”……..just a crossroads where we left the bus, and got on a small mini-bus for the 40 minute ride into capital city of Mbabane. Arrived at Mbabane bus rank at 8:30AM after traveling a total of about 60 miles in 3 and half hours…….caught another mini-bus North to Piggs Peak, arriving Piggs at 9:30AM. Then hopped on more mini—bus for the last 10-12 miles north of Piggs Peak to our homestead…….this was on mainly dirt road, and due to recent weather, rains, lots of stops, etc…took about 90 minutes…arriving about 11AM. So simple as that we traveled about 100 miles in 6 hours !! And on five different modes of transport, including feet ! And of course carrying lots of stuff as gifts. We stayed only until 2PM, as we needed to get back to the Childrens Home by 7PM—dark—and were fortunate to catch an express bus from Mbabane south, and so it “only” took us four and half hours to get home. A long day, but a good day. This is just a taste of what our travel will be, back to the USA in a couple weeks……we are looking forward to the journey, but after yesterday we do need to “rest up”.…
Just a “typical” few days for us, but definitely not the typical Peace Corps experience. Hope you all had a peaceful and meaningful Christmas. We can not wait to see the grandkids ( and many of the rest of you too !!) in less than three weeks !!
Love, Gail & Mike
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
"Its the Holiday Season...At least It Is By the Calendar"
Greetings again to all……….I write this on 15 December, well into the the twelve days of Christmas, and also what must certainly be the heart of the Christmas holiday season. At least it is as I glance at the calendar. And here too we have the steady stream of Christmas carols on the radio, and being sung in practiced Christmas plays, and by children, parents, and families. And there are some traditional Christmas foods like cakes, and sweets—and we are told that milk sales will be down as people buy more soft drinks, and alcohol…and there are plenty of Christmas decorations up in the local retailers---Christmas trees, trimmed, and garlands, and “Merry Christmas” signs—still “Merry Christmas” here…….and lots of holiday promotions. We even sent out Christmas cards, to the USA to friends/ family. And children do look forward to receiving gifts, and adults look forward to seeing loved ones, and spending time together. So I guess it really is the Christmas season……just is hard for Gail and I to wrap our head into it, as we are starting into African summer, the sun is up at 4:30AM, and our days are either hot/ sunny, or a little wet, misty, cooler…….and people are definitely doing lots of outdoors stuff instead of dealing with snow, weather, car troubles, etc. Perhaps this will finally give us a chance to really experience the meaning of Christmas, since the seasonal clime and happenings are gonna be upside down, from our usual expectations. And yes it is incredibly busy time here at the childrens home.
The last day of school was Friday December 3. This is a bit of a misnomer, as we are starting to learn about the public school academic calendars here. Officially last day was to be Friday Dec 10………then about November 15 there was a notice in the newspaper, that the date had been changed to Dec 3…..no explanation, and from all my sources this is quite normal…….an entire week had been knocked off the calendar, at the last minute. For all the schools across the country. But wait, theres more. Friday Dec 3 was the day the children went to collect report cards for the third term. They had NO SCHOOL that week. Also for the two weeks prior, they were writing exams, so there was no teaching being done…….so truly last day of school was Friday Nov 12……even though announced public academic term was to end Dec 10. Interesting to me how we so quickly chopped a MONTH off the academic term. And the next term in January is announced officially to start 18 January—but everyone says that will get pushed back at least a week, to say 25 January…so all of a sudden we have school break from about 12 November to 25 January…..and remember we have three academic terms in a calendar year so we have three school breaks. I am told this is the longest break of the year, but seems to me the kids here spend a lot less time in school learning than in USA, and a lot less than publicly announced.
So I went with the 14 children on Dec 3 to get the school reports. A nice walk to school early in the am…then a morning assembly outdoor at the school, led by the head teacher, with songs, prayers, and announcements. Then all the children from the school were dismissed to individual classrooms. We stood on line outside the class rooms, and waited for our one-on –one conference with each teacher. The teacher sat at a desk just inside the classroom door……and when our turn we met with teacher, got the report card, had a few words, and moved on. In addition to getting A’s, B’s, C’s etc in each subject, each is ranked where they place in their classroom…..for example if Mike is in a second grade classroom, with 45 children, at the bottom of the report card it is stated “Mike has placed in position 7 out of 45 children “……..this position is pretty important, and all kids know how they stand, and how the other kids are positioned. Seemed to me pretty interesting that from Grade One, this ranking takes place, every term, every grade. The children from our site did very well for third term, all except one being promoted to next grade, and all except two passing for the third term. We walked home.
Dec 4. Saurday. Warm, clear, sunny. We went SWIMMING ! In a pool ! This was a spur of the moment decision, and as we had been granted access to a private pool, at a private home……and the weather was good……about 2PM we dropped everything, grabbed the 23 kids, and off we went for a couple hours. A great time was had by all, but only 3-4 of the children able to swim, so we spent much of the time teaching some swimming, and simply having fun in the cool clean water. Kids are kids are kids when it comes to swimming on a warm day !
Monday 6 Dec—Georges 50th Birthday !!—Happy Birthday George, I actually have bought you a gift I will bring to Columbus in Jan. I traveled to Manzini for an organizational meeting for Junior Achievement. This seems like a good time to comment on police roadblocks. In the first 30 kilometers we traveled, we were stopped FOUR times by police roadblocks, and TWICE at speed traps. Seems the Royal Swazi Police have quotas to meet, just like the highway patrol in the USA. And end of the year fast approaching. But the police roadblocks are actually a GOOD idea, although not one every 5 miles !!! What happens is that the police do set up a road block, and you are required to pull over. The police check the papers—auto registration, driver license. Then they check that the vehicle is working properly….lights, horn, directional signals, emergency brake, etc. Then they count passengers to make sure the vehicle is not over loaded…..if any of the above is bad, you are issued a citation, with a fine. Actually seems to me like this would not be a terrible idea in the USA. Random roadblocks, infrequently, to try to keep “unroadworthy vehicles” off the road. The whole process only took 5 minutes, albeit a little irritating with four stops in 18 miles.
Finally, I conclude today with the story of the cat that ate the canary. As we are on a farm there are plenty of “farm cats” hanging about…doing the cat thing of drinking saucers of milk, mousing, and generally being cats…..a couple days ago in the afternoon I was walking back from the childrens home, and was arriving at our house –which we have affectionally come to call the “Green Cottage”….just as I arrived I noticed a very small, very oddly colored—brown on the bottom half, and bright, bright pumpkin orange on the top half—bird hopping/ flittering about in front of the house. This is all quite normal as we are in Africa, and we see plenty of wild and crazy flora, fauna daily. Anyhow, I paused a moment to admire the pretty little bird in the “Cleveland Browns “ uniform, when out of the corner of my eye comes a cat, and just like that, half the bird had disappeared into the cat mouth, and the other half was wriggling around outside. In another couple seconds the bird was gone. I had no time to lament the passing of this pretty little bird, that I wished was still alive….because I quickly realized that we are now living in a much more blended environment—nature, animals, plants—than we had ever before. Sure we have all seen cats eating birds—in cartoons—and we know intellectually that it has to happen. And I suppose had I grown up on a farm in the USA, I would have seen, felt this natural blending…..but now, on a farm in Africa we see lots of stuff daily, like the cat eating the canary..and cows giving birth to calves, etc.….and while sometimes what we see, experience is a little disconcerting, and makes us a little sad……most of it is just life.
I suppose we will get to this blog a least once before Christmas, but Seasons Greetings, Happy Holidays, and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all. It goes without saying that the hardest part –really only the hard part—of being here is being away from our families, and friends, and we do miss everyone, and think about YOU ALL, every day. And as we bear down on Christmas Day in Africa…it is getting a little harder. Take care.
Oh and yes---Troy thanks for the call the other nite. GREAT to hear you, and talk with you. !!
Sala Gahle ! ( Stay Well !)
The last day of school was Friday December 3. This is a bit of a misnomer, as we are starting to learn about the public school academic calendars here. Officially last day was to be Friday Dec 10………then about November 15 there was a notice in the newspaper, that the date had been changed to Dec 3…..no explanation, and from all my sources this is quite normal…….an entire week had been knocked off the calendar, at the last minute. For all the schools across the country. But wait, theres more. Friday Dec 3 was the day the children went to collect report cards for the third term. They had NO SCHOOL that week. Also for the two weeks prior, they were writing exams, so there was no teaching being done…….so truly last day of school was Friday Nov 12……even though announced public academic term was to end Dec 10. Interesting to me how we so quickly chopped a MONTH off the academic term. And the next term in January is announced officially to start 18 January—but everyone says that will get pushed back at least a week, to say 25 January…so all of a sudden we have school break from about 12 November to 25 January…..and remember we have three academic terms in a calendar year so we have three school breaks. I am told this is the longest break of the year, but seems to me the kids here spend a lot less time in school learning than in USA, and a lot less than publicly announced.
So I went with the 14 children on Dec 3 to get the school reports. A nice walk to school early in the am…then a morning assembly outdoor at the school, led by the head teacher, with songs, prayers, and announcements. Then all the children from the school were dismissed to individual classrooms. We stood on line outside the class rooms, and waited for our one-on –one conference with each teacher. The teacher sat at a desk just inside the classroom door……and when our turn we met with teacher, got the report card, had a few words, and moved on. In addition to getting A’s, B’s, C’s etc in each subject, each is ranked where they place in their classroom…..for example if Mike is in a second grade classroom, with 45 children, at the bottom of the report card it is stated “Mike has placed in position 7 out of 45 children “……..this position is pretty important, and all kids know how they stand, and how the other kids are positioned. Seemed to me pretty interesting that from Grade One, this ranking takes place, every term, every grade. The children from our site did very well for third term, all except one being promoted to next grade, and all except two passing for the third term. We walked home.
Dec 4. Saurday. Warm, clear, sunny. We went SWIMMING ! In a pool ! This was a spur of the moment decision, and as we had been granted access to a private pool, at a private home……and the weather was good……about 2PM we dropped everything, grabbed the 23 kids, and off we went for a couple hours. A great time was had by all, but only 3-4 of the children able to swim, so we spent much of the time teaching some swimming, and simply having fun in the cool clean water. Kids are kids are kids when it comes to swimming on a warm day !
Monday 6 Dec—Georges 50th Birthday !!—Happy Birthday George, I actually have bought you a gift I will bring to Columbus in Jan. I traveled to Manzini for an organizational meeting for Junior Achievement. This seems like a good time to comment on police roadblocks. In the first 30 kilometers we traveled, we were stopped FOUR times by police roadblocks, and TWICE at speed traps. Seems the Royal Swazi Police have quotas to meet, just like the highway patrol in the USA. And end of the year fast approaching. But the police roadblocks are actually a GOOD idea, although not one every 5 miles !!! What happens is that the police do set up a road block, and you are required to pull over. The police check the papers—auto registration, driver license. Then they check that the vehicle is working properly….lights, horn, directional signals, emergency brake, etc. Then they count passengers to make sure the vehicle is not over loaded…..if any of the above is bad, you are issued a citation, with a fine. Actually seems to me like this would not be a terrible idea in the USA. Random roadblocks, infrequently, to try to keep “unroadworthy vehicles” off the road. The whole process only took 5 minutes, albeit a little irritating with four stops in 18 miles.
Finally, I conclude today with the story of the cat that ate the canary. As we are on a farm there are plenty of “farm cats” hanging about…doing the cat thing of drinking saucers of milk, mousing, and generally being cats…..a couple days ago in the afternoon I was walking back from the childrens home, and was arriving at our house –which we have affectionally come to call the “Green Cottage”….just as I arrived I noticed a very small, very oddly colored—brown on the bottom half, and bright, bright pumpkin orange on the top half—bird hopping/ flittering about in front of the house. This is all quite normal as we are in Africa, and we see plenty of wild and crazy flora, fauna daily. Anyhow, I paused a moment to admire the pretty little bird in the “Cleveland Browns “ uniform, when out of the corner of my eye comes a cat, and just like that, half the bird had disappeared into the cat mouth, and the other half was wriggling around outside. In another couple seconds the bird was gone. I had no time to lament the passing of this pretty little bird, that I wished was still alive….because I quickly realized that we are now living in a much more blended environment—nature, animals, plants—than we had ever before. Sure we have all seen cats eating birds—in cartoons—and we know intellectually that it has to happen. And I suppose had I grown up on a farm in the USA, I would have seen, felt this natural blending…..but now, on a farm in Africa we see lots of stuff daily, like the cat eating the canary..and cows giving birth to calves, etc.….and while sometimes what we see, experience is a little disconcerting, and makes us a little sad……most of it is just life.
I suppose we will get to this blog a least once before Christmas, but Seasons Greetings, Happy Holidays, and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all. It goes without saying that the hardest part –really only the hard part—of being here is being away from our families, and friends, and we do miss everyone, and think about YOU ALL, every day. And as we bear down on Christmas Day in Africa…it is getting a little harder. Take care.
Oh and yes---Troy thanks for the call the other nite. GREAT to hear you, and talk with you. !!
Sala Gahle ! ( Stay Well !)
Sunday, December 5, 2010
OF THANKSGIVING, OHIO STATE-MICHIGAN, ADVENT SUNDAY, CUTTING GRASS...AND A LEOPARD ON THE LOOSE !!
Of Thanksgiving, Ohio State—Michigan, Advent Sunday, Cutting Grass…And a Leopard on the Loose !
Hi Again from Swaziland, it’s Mike. I write this 5:30AM on 5 December, and must apologize for being a little tardy……..but we have been busy the last couple weeks as you will soon learn.
Thursday 18 November we traveled to Mbabane for our Peace Corps “In Service Training Conference” with the 33 other Volunteers that came to Swaziland with us in June. It was good to see everyone again after being “on-site” for three months, and good to see the training/ Peace Corps staff, and also good to get to the capital city of Mbabane, and see the “bright lights”. The purpose of this training conference was a time for a little reflection, resource sharing, and officially give us some more tools for our tool kit, and to mark the end of our integration into Swaziland life. It was a week of meetings, and all in all good, though after a couple days Gail and I would have been happy to return to our site.
The “big event” of the week was Thanksgiving at the residence of the United States ambassador to Swaziland on Thursday 25 November. We all had great expectations, and these were met, no exceeded !! All Peace Corps Volunteers were invited, as well as embassy staff, so it was a big party. Food preparation was done weeks in advance by staff, volunteers, and hired Swazis. At 1PM we left our conference hotel in a tour bus, just like any old group of tourists…………for the 15 minute drive to the residence. The event was typical “good ole American” Thanksgiving with turkey ( 9 turkeys !), stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pies, etc etc. I think you get the picture. There is a swimming pool at the residence, so many of the Volunteers took the opportunity to swim, relax as the weather was sunny and warm. The event was truly a nice way to spend Thanksgiving, away from family and friends, and ended all too soon at 4PM, probably to keep the PCV’s from getting too comfortable with the party ! Thank you much Ambassador Irving !
Saturday November 27 was the Ohio State-Michigan football game, and while all Buckeye fans ( I guess fans of the team up north also) know this rivalry has become a bit one sided in recent years, we looked forward to THE GAME. I have had an ongoing wager for the last 25 years, every year with a couple fans. We always talk the week of the game, and perhaps I should say “trash-talk” a little bit….then exchange a $ 5 bill, based on the results. Believe it or not, on Monday 22 November at 8PM Swazi time(1PM EST) we held our annual trash talk conference call. Thanks for participating Jeff Gibbs, and Andy Lietz ! It was great to hear your voices !, And Andy thanks for the check—posted to me on 18 November, 10 days BEFORE the game I might add. I actually got up about midnite on the 27th just to check the world wide web to see the game score. In case you have hot heard—HAH !—Ohio State won 37-7. GO BUCKS !
Sunday 28 November. Gail and I looked forward to this day, as our Peace Corps host family, counterparts were to take us to church in South Africa, and an afternoon concert of the Drakensberg Boys Choir. We left about 8AM for the trip into South Africa, crossing the border, and arriving at church in time for the service. The church/ grounds were beautiful, the service very nice—and in English too. We realized at the beginning of the service it was the first service of the Advent and in fact, an advent wreath, candle was lit—just like at home. Truly felt quite nice to be in an English speaking church, with the start of advent, although glancing out at the warm African sun, in late November was a little odd. Anyhow, Advent Sunday, in South Africa, in church. Seems pretty normal to us now.
The choral concert was wonderful, well attended by hundreds, in a very nice assembly hall. We did not realize until we arrived—that is was their annual CHRISTMAS CONCERT. Just does not seem like the season to Gail, and I as African summer is coming along. Anyhow, the boys—sixty strong—gave a very good performance with holiday tunes from South Africa, all of Africa, and even many Gail and I knew. The last song was “Silent Night”, with the audience joining in, and with the boys all lighting, holding lit candles—just like at Bethel Presbyterian Church in Columbus, Ohio on Christmas eve. Even though it was 4PM in the afternoon, in Africa, and hot, it felt a little bit like home.
Returning home from the concert we did something a little wild, and crazy for our life in Africa…we cut the grass !! Just like at home. We do have some grass around our house, and as summer comes along it is getting higher, higher…just like April in Columbus. Finally the children on the farm asked if we needed to cut our grass, and I said yes…and the next thing I know….they show up with an electric lawn mower. It worked perfect, and only took about 30 minutes, and definitely needed to be cut, and looks great. Funny thing, in Columbus the LAST DAY I would cut grass was traditionally the day of the OSU-Michigan football game. Here –in Africa—this is the FIRST DAY to cut. I wonder if my last cutting will be in April………
The last day of school for the primary school kids was Friday 26 November….and they do not go back until 18 January……so we call this time the “Holiday Period” and prepare activities for every morning, afternoon to keep the children busy, occupied, productive, and growing. Sometimes we do crafts, recreation, study, reading, community activities, etc. I think you get the drift. Gail runs the pre-school on a lightened program, from 9AM to 10:30AM, but the other 18 kids need stuff to do ! Anyhow, Tue-Thurs a.m. 30 Nov to 2 Dec…I walked in to the Primary School with the six oldest children to clean/ paint school rooms. We got 8 classrooms done in three days –working mornings—and were pretty tired/ proud/ happy with our efforts, accomplishments. The walk is about 45 minutes one way, and thankfully we stored the supplies at the school so did not need to carry. The big surprise however was that on Tuesday morning, while painting about 11AM, I got a call from the Peace Corps Security officer….seems there is a WILD LEOPARD on the loose, and while it had been sited about 14 miles from our site, he wanted to make sure we were warned to be on the alert…..and here we are walking back/forth to the school daily ! This is not an animal escaped from some zoo, but actually a wild animal. Everyone here is pretty secure because we know leopards hang out in trees, from where they pounce….and we live in mainly pastures, savannahs, and grasslands…so we feel safe. Needless to say a little disconcerting. I guess it would be like in the USA getting a notice about a wild grizzily bear. Not sure what we will do if we stumble upon the leopard, or it finds us….but at least now we know about it ….
This entry has been far too long, and I am sure too boring to all, so I will sign off. Mary and Ellen—thanks for calling last evening you sounded great to our ears….and our best, and love to all in the USA…..and Grandad take care of yourself, we will see you in January.
Sala Gahle ! ( Stay Well !)
Gail and Mike
Hi Again from Swaziland, it’s Mike. I write this 5:30AM on 5 December, and must apologize for being a little tardy……..but we have been busy the last couple weeks as you will soon learn.
Thursday 18 November we traveled to Mbabane for our Peace Corps “In Service Training Conference” with the 33 other Volunteers that came to Swaziland with us in June. It was good to see everyone again after being “on-site” for three months, and good to see the training/ Peace Corps staff, and also good to get to the capital city of Mbabane, and see the “bright lights”. The purpose of this training conference was a time for a little reflection, resource sharing, and officially give us some more tools for our tool kit, and to mark the end of our integration into Swaziland life. It was a week of meetings, and all in all good, though after a couple days Gail and I would have been happy to return to our site.
The “big event” of the week was Thanksgiving at the residence of the United States ambassador to Swaziland on Thursday 25 November. We all had great expectations, and these were met, no exceeded !! All Peace Corps Volunteers were invited, as well as embassy staff, so it was a big party. Food preparation was done weeks in advance by staff, volunteers, and hired Swazis. At 1PM we left our conference hotel in a tour bus, just like any old group of tourists…………for the 15 minute drive to the residence. The event was typical “good ole American” Thanksgiving with turkey ( 9 turkeys !), stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pies, etc etc. I think you get the picture. There is a swimming pool at the residence, so many of the Volunteers took the opportunity to swim, relax as the weather was sunny and warm. The event was truly a nice way to spend Thanksgiving, away from family and friends, and ended all too soon at 4PM, probably to keep the PCV’s from getting too comfortable with the party ! Thank you much Ambassador Irving !
Saturday November 27 was the Ohio State-Michigan football game, and while all Buckeye fans ( I guess fans of the team up north also) know this rivalry has become a bit one sided in recent years, we looked forward to THE GAME. I have had an ongoing wager for the last 25 years, every year with a couple fans. We always talk the week of the game, and perhaps I should say “trash-talk” a little bit….then exchange a $ 5 bill, based on the results. Believe it or not, on Monday 22 November at 8PM Swazi time(1PM EST) we held our annual trash talk conference call. Thanks for participating Jeff Gibbs, and Andy Lietz ! It was great to hear your voices !, And Andy thanks for the check—posted to me on 18 November, 10 days BEFORE the game I might add. I actually got up about midnite on the 27th just to check the world wide web to see the game score. In case you have hot heard—HAH !—Ohio State won 37-7. GO BUCKS !
Sunday 28 November. Gail and I looked forward to this day, as our Peace Corps host family, counterparts were to take us to church in South Africa, and an afternoon concert of the Drakensberg Boys Choir. We left about 8AM for the trip into South Africa, crossing the border, and arriving at church in time for the service. The church/ grounds were beautiful, the service very nice—and in English too. We realized at the beginning of the service it was the first service of the Advent and in fact, an advent wreath, candle was lit—just like at home. Truly felt quite nice to be in an English speaking church, with the start of advent, although glancing out at the warm African sun, in late November was a little odd. Anyhow, Advent Sunday, in South Africa, in church. Seems pretty normal to us now.
The choral concert was wonderful, well attended by hundreds, in a very nice assembly hall. We did not realize until we arrived—that is was their annual CHRISTMAS CONCERT. Just does not seem like the season to Gail, and I as African summer is coming along. Anyhow, the boys—sixty strong—gave a very good performance with holiday tunes from South Africa, all of Africa, and even many Gail and I knew. The last song was “Silent Night”, with the audience joining in, and with the boys all lighting, holding lit candles—just like at Bethel Presbyterian Church in Columbus, Ohio on Christmas eve. Even though it was 4PM in the afternoon, in Africa, and hot, it felt a little bit like home.
Returning home from the concert we did something a little wild, and crazy for our life in Africa…we cut the grass !! Just like at home. We do have some grass around our house, and as summer comes along it is getting higher, higher…just like April in Columbus. Finally the children on the farm asked if we needed to cut our grass, and I said yes…and the next thing I know….they show up with an electric lawn mower. It worked perfect, and only took about 30 minutes, and definitely needed to be cut, and looks great. Funny thing, in Columbus the LAST DAY I would cut grass was traditionally the day of the OSU-Michigan football game. Here –in Africa—this is the FIRST DAY to cut. I wonder if my last cutting will be in April………
The last day of school for the primary school kids was Friday 26 November….and they do not go back until 18 January……so we call this time the “Holiday Period” and prepare activities for every morning, afternoon to keep the children busy, occupied, productive, and growing. Sometimes we do crafts, recreation, study, reading, community activities, etc. I think you get the drift. Gail runs the pre-school on a lightened program, from 9AM to 10:30AM, but the other 18 kids need stuff to do ! Anyhow, Tue-Thurs a.m. 30 Nov to 2 Dec…I walked in to the Primary School with the six oldest children to clean/ paint school rooms. We got 8 classrooms done in three days –working mornings—and were pretty tired/ proud/ happy with our efforts, accomplishments. The walk is about 45 minutes one way, and thankfully we stored the supplies at the school so did not need to carry. The big surprise however was that on Tuesday morning, while painting about 11AM, I got a call from the Peace Corps Security officer….seems there is a WILD LEOPARD on the loose, and while it had been sited about 14 miles from our site, he wanted to make sure we were warned to be on the alert…..and here we are walking back/forth to the school daily ! This is not an animal escaped from some zoo, but actually a wild animal. Everyone here is pretty secure because we know leopards hang out in trees, from where they pounce….and we live in mainly pastures, savannahs, and grasslands…so we feel safe. Needless to say a little disconcerting. I guess it would be like in the USA getting a notice about a wild grizzily bear. Not sure what we will do if we stumble upon the leopard, or it finds us….but at least now we know about it ….
This entry has been far too long, and I am sure too boring to all, so I will sign off. Mary and Ellen—thanks for calling last evening you sounded great to our ears….and our best, and love to all in the USA…..and Grandad take care of yourself, we will see you in January.
Sala Gahle ! ( Stay Well !)
Gail and Mike
OF THANKSGIVING, OHIO STATE-MICHIGAN, ADVENT SUNDAY, CUTTING GRASS...AND A LEOPARD ON THE LOOSE !!
Of Thanksgiving, Ohio State—Michigan, Advent Sunday, Cutting Grass…And a Leopard on the Loose !
Hi Again from Swaziland, it’s Mike. I write this 5:30AM on 5 December, and must apologize for being a little tardy……..but we have been busy the last couple weeks as you will soon learn.
Thursday 18 November we traveled to Mbabane for our Peace Corps “In Service Training Conference” with the 33 other Volunteers that came to Swaziland with us in June. It was good to see everyone again after being “on-site” for three months, and good to see the training/ Peace Corps staff, and also good to get to the capital city of Mbabane, and see the “bright lights”. The purpose of this training conference was a time for a little reflection, resource sharing, and officially give us some more tools for our tool kit, and to mark the end of our integration into Swaziland life. It was a week of meetings, and all in all good, though after a couple days Gail and I would have been happy to return to our site.
The “big event” of the week was Thanksgiving at the residence of the United States ambassador to Swaziland on Thursday 25 November. We all had great expectations, and these were met, no exceeded !! All Peace Corps Volunteers were invited, as well as embassy staff, so it was a big party. Food preparation was done weeks in advance by staff, volunteers, and hired Swazis. At 1PM we left our conference hotel in a tour bus, just like any old group of tourists…………for the 15 minute drive to the residence. The event was typical “good ole American” Thanksgiving with turkey ( 9 turkeys !), stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pies, etc etc. I think you get the picture. There is a swimming pool at the residence, so many of the Volunteers took the opportunity to swim, relax as the weather was sunny and warm. The event was truly a nice way to spend Thanksgiving, away from family and friends, and ended all too soon at 4PM, probably to keep the PCV’s from getting too comfortable with the party ! Thank you much Ambassador Irving !
Saturday November 27 was the Ohio State-Michigan football game, and while all Buckeye fans ( I guess fans of the team up north also) know this rivalry has become a bit one sided in recent years, we looked forward to THE GAME. I have had an ongoing wager for the last 25 years, every year with a couple fans. We always talk the week of the game, and perhaps I should say “trash-talk” a little bit….then exchange a $ 5 bill, based on the results. Believe it or not, on Monday 22 November at 8PM Swazi time(1PM EST) we held our annual trash talk conference call. Thanks for participating Jeff Gibbs, and Andy Lietz ! It was great to hear your voices !, And Andy thanks for the check—posted to me on 18 November, 10 days BEFORE the game I might add. I actually got up about midnite on the 27th just to check the world wide web to see the game score. In case you have hot heard—HAH !—Ohio State won 37-7. GO BUCKS !
Sunday 28 November. Gail and I looked forward to this day, as our Peace Corps host family, counterparts were to take us to church in South Africa, and an afternoon concert of the Drakensberg Boys Choir. We left about 8AM for the trip into South Africa, crossing the border, and arriving at church in time for the service. The church/ grounds were beautiful, the service very nice—and in English too. We realized at the beginning of the service it was the first service of the Advent and in fact, an advent wreath, candle was lit—just like at home. Truly felt quite nice to be in an English speaking church, with the start of advent, although glancing out at the warm African sun, in late November was a little odd. Anyhow, Advent Sunday, in South Africa, in church. Seems pretty normal to us now.
The choral concert was wonderful, well attended by hundreds, in a very nice assembly hall. We did not realize until we arrived—that is was their annual CHRISTMAS CONCERT. Just does not seem like the season to Gail, and I as African summer is coming along. Anyhow, the boys—sixty strong—gave a very good performance with holiday tunes from South Africa, all of Africa, and even many Gail and I knew. The last song was “Silent Night”, with the audience joining in, and with the boys all lighting, holding lit candles—just like at Bethel Presbyterian Church in Columbus, Ohio on Christmas eve. Even though it was 4PM in the afternoon, in Africa, and hot, it felt a little bit like home.
Returning home from the concert we did something a little wild, and crazy for our life in Africa…we cut the grass !! Just like at home. We do have some grass around our house, and as summer comes along it is getting higher, higher…just like April in Columbus. Finally the children on the farm asked if we needed to cut our grass, and I said yes…and the next thing I know….they show up with an electric lawn mower. It worked perfect, and only took about 30 minutes, and definitely needed to be cut, and looks great. Funny thing, in Columbus the LAST DAY I would cut grass was traditionally the day of the OSU-Michigan football game. Here –in Africa—this is the FIRST DAY to cut. I wonder if my last cutting will be in April………
The last day of school for the primary school kids was Friday 26 November….and they do not go back until 18 January……so we call this time the “Holiday Period” and prepare activities for every morning, afternoon to keep the children busy, occupied, productive, and growing. Sometimes we do crafts, recreation, study, reading, community activities, etc. I think you get the drift. Gail runs the pre-school on a lightened program, from 9AM to 10:30AM, but the other 18 kids need stuff to do ! Anyhow, Tue-Thurs a.m. 30 Nov to 2 Dec…I walked in to the Primary School with the six oldest children to clean/ paint school rooms. We got 8 classrooms done in three days –working mornings—and were pretty tired/ proud/ happy with our efforts, accomplishments. The walk is about 45 minutes one way, and thankfully we stored the supplies at the school so did not need to carry. The big surprise however was that on Tuesday morning, while painting about 11AM, I got a call from the Peace Corps Security officer….seems there is a WILD LEOPARD on the loose, and while it had been sited about 14 miles from our site, he wanted to make sure we were warned to be on the alert…..and here we are walking back/forth to the school daily ! This is not an animal escaped from some zoo, but actually a wild animal. Everyone here is pretty secure because we know leopards hang out in trees, from where they pounce….and we live in mainly pastures, savannahs, and grasslands…so we feel safe. Needless to say a little disconcerting. I guess it would be like in the USA getting a notice about a wild grizzily bear. Not sure what we will do if we stumble upon the leopard, or it finds us….but at least now we know about it ….
This entry has been far too long, and I am sure too boring to all, so I will sign off. Mary and Ellen—thanks for calling last evening you sounded great to our ears….and our best, and love to all in the USA…..and Grandad take care of yourself, we will see you in January.
Sala Gahle ! ( Stay Well !)
Gail and Mike
Hi Again from Swaziland, it’s Mike. I write this 5:30AM on 5 December, and must apologize for being a little tardy……..but we have been busy the last couple weeks as you will soon learn.
Thursday 18 November we traveled to Mbabane for our Peace Corps “In Service Training Conference” with the 33 other Volunteers that came to Swaziland with us in June. It was good to see everyone again after being “on-site” for three months, and good to see the training/ Peace Corps staff, and also good to get to the capital city of Mbabane, and see the “bright lights”. The purpose of this training conference was a time for a little reflection, resource sharing, and officially give us some more tools for our tool kit, and to mark the end of our integration into Swaziland life. It was a week of meetings, and all in all good, though after a couple days Gail and I would have been happy to return to our site.
The “big event” of the week was Thanksgiving at the residence of the United States ambassador to Swaziland on Thursday 25 November. We all had great expectations, and these were met, no exceeded !! All Peace Corps Volunteers were invited, as well as embassy staff, so it was a big party. Food preparation was done weeks in advance by staff, volunteers, and hired Swazis. At 1PM we left our conference hotel in a tour bus, just like any old group of tourists…………for the 15 minute drive to the residence. The event was typical “good ole American” Thanksgiving with turkey ( 9 turkeys !), stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pies, etc etc. I think you get the picture. There is a swimming pool at the residence, so many of the Volunteers took the opportunity to swim, relax as the weather was sunny and warm. The event was truly a nice way to spend Thanksgiving, away from family and friends, and ended all too soon at 4PM, probably to keep the PCV’s from getting too comfortable with the party ! Thank you much Ambassador Irving !
Saturday November 27 was the Ohio State-Michigan football game, and while all Buckeye fans ( I guess fans of the team up north also) know this rivalry has become a bit one sided in recent years, we looked forward to THE GAME. I have had an ongoing wager for the last 25 years, every year with a couple fans. We always talk the week of the game, and perhaps I should say “trash-talk” a little bit….then exchange a $ 5 bill, based on the results. Believe it or not, on Monday 22 November at 8PM Swazi time(1PM EST) we held our annual trash talk conference call. Thanks for participating Jeff Gibbs, and Andy Lietz ! It was great to hear your voices !, And Andy thanks for the check—posted to me on 18 November, 10 days BEFORE the game I might add. I actually got up about midnite on the 27th just to check the world wide web to see the game score. In case you have hot heard—HAH !—Ohio State won 37-7. GO BUCKS !
Sunday 28 November. Gail and I looked forward to this day, as our Peace Corps host family, counterparts were to take us to church in South Africa, and an afternoon concert of the Drakensberg Boys Choir. We left about 8AM for the trip into South Africa, crossing the border, and arriving at church in time for the service. The church/ grounds were beautiful, the service very nice—and in English too. We realized at the beginning of the service it was the first service of the Advent and in fact, an advent wreath, candle was lit—just like at home. Truly felt quite nice to be in an English speaking church, with the start of advent, although glancing out at the warm African sun, in late November was a little odd. Anyhow, Advent Sunday, in South Africa, in church. Seems pretty normal to us now.
The choral concert was wonderful, well attended by hundreds, in a very nice assembly hall. We did not realize until we arrived—that is was their annual CHRISTMAS CONCERT. Just does not seem like the season to Gail, and I as African summer is coming along. Anyhow, the boys—sixty strong—gave a very good performance with holiday tunes from South Africa, all of Africa, and even many Gail and I knew. The last song was “Silent Night”, with the audience joining in, and with the boys all lighting, holding lit candles—just like at Bethel Presbyterian Church in Columbus, Ohio on Christmas eve. Even though it was 4PM in the afternoon, in Africa, and hot, it felt a little bit like home.
Returning home from the concert we did something a little wild, and crazy for our life in Africa…we cut the grass !! Just like at home. We do have some grass around our house, and as summer comes along it is getting higher, higher…just like April in Columbus. Finally the children on the farm asked if we needed to cut our grass, and I said yes…and the next thing I know….they show up with an electric lawn mower. It worked perfect, and only took about 30 minutes, and definitely needed to be cut, and looks great. Funny thing, in Columbus the LAST DAY I would cut grass was traditionally the day of the OSU-Michigan football game. Here –in Africa—this is the FIRST DAY to cut. I wonder if my last cutting will be in April………
The last day of school for the primary school kids was Friday 26 November….and they do not go back until 18 January……so we call this time the “Holiday Period” and prepare activities for every morning, afternoon to keep the children busy, occupied, productive, and growing. Sometimes we do crafts, recreation, study, reading, community activities, etc. I think you get the drift. Gail runs the pre-school on a lightened program, from 9AM to 10:30AM, but the other 18 kids need stuff to do ! Anyhow, Tue-Thurs a.m. 30 Nov to 2 Dec…I walked in to the Primary School with the six oldest children to clean/ paint school rooms. We got 8 classrooms done in three days –working mornings—and were pretty tired/ proud/ happy with our efforts, accomplishments. The walk is about 45 minutes one way, and thankfully we stored the supplies at the school so did not need to carry. The big surprise however was that on Tuesday morning, while painting about 11AM, I got a call from the Peace Corps Security officer….seems there is a WILD LEOPARD on the loose, and while it had been sited about 14 miles from our site, he wanted to make sure we were warned to be on the alert…..and here we are walking back/forth to the school daily ! This is not an animal escaped from some zoo, but actually a wild animal. Everyone here is pretty secure because we know leopards hang out in trees, from where they pounce….and we live in mainly pastures, savannahs, and grasslands…so we feel safe. Needless to say a little disconcerting. I guess it would be like in the USA getting a notice about a wild grizzily bear. Not sure what we will do if we stumble upon the leopard, or it finds us….but at least now we know about it ….
This entry has been far too long, and I am sure too boring to all, so I will sign off. Mary and Ellen—thanks for calling last evening you sounded great to our ears….and our best, and love to all in the USA…..and Grandad take care of yourself, we will see you in January.
Sala Gahle ! ( Stay Well !)
Gail and Mike
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