Description of SwaziMTN "Data Bundles" and a table showing how much money can be saved if you use them.
Tag: Peace Corps
I have been watching entirely too much TV, and I’ve been loving it
In all reality most people know me as someone who can’t stand watching TV. I haven’t owned a TV for almost a decade and I have to admit I feel a sense of pride knowing soon I can say “more than a decade.”
Now my TV loving I think feel is only temporary, as I’ve been able to peel myself away at least a few times a week (and once for an amazing two-day hike!). You see; even without electricity, I am somehow managing to watch at least two or three movies a week. And at the end of the day I 
can’t quite ignore the chorus of relief chanting inside my head “OH! Let’s watch a movie!” I blame this entirely on having an interesting life. More specifically on having such an interesting life that I come home at the end of the day utterly exhausted. It doesn’t matter if I spend my day in a workshop intently listening to every syllable of siSwati being spoken, or spend my day talking about computers and reading Dilbert. Lately these mornings I am blown away by how quickly I fell asleep the night before. I put my head under the blanket and pull it up by my teeth (Swazi phrase), and *BAM!* it’s time to make the emafethis. (hint pronounced ema-.fatties)
Don’t know the emafethi’s yet? Delicious fried dough, incredibly scandalous. And our family has brought me a few plates for breakfast in the last two weeks, and my saturated-goodness index pegs out for a few days afterward. Just when I think the day can’t get any better, I step out of the hut and the radiant African sun winks a sm
all hello over the horizon of Mozambique. I put out my solar lights, and come back into sip my coffee and read some more Dilbert. Occasionally I look up and remember that I’m incredibly lucky to be experiencing everything around me.
After my coffee I lock the door, and the rest of the day couldn’t play itself any better. Sometimes it rains on my painstakingly washed by hand, and line drying clothes. I just laugh and take comfort in having at least two pairs of pants. (You win again Nature!) I shake off the laughter and hear the sound of water dumping from our rain gutters into our water tank. “Water in the tank is like money in the bank!” It’s kinda a theme song for Krista and I. There is something beautiful and relieving to know that whatever else happens, you know you’re going to be able to drink water for the next several months. And with rainy season coming, whenever I think about the water level a content smile can be felt on my face. Oh water… how I love you. It’s the simple things in life right?
I continually recognize how fortunate I am, and how life is less stressful here. There’s stress but it doesn’t have the same bitter taste in the mouth, it’s more of a sensed urgency than stress really. Maybe something like biting into your first piece of really tart lemon meringue pie. You know the pie has a reputation for jabbing your taste buds on the initial encounter, but you unhesitatingly accept the fate of sharpness. It’s like that kind of stress. I had an email conversation with Ryan recently. I say conversation meaning that more than 3 emails were exchanged in less than 48 hours. I think that is my new Peace Corps record.
Anyway the conversation has been an attempt to reconcile the two worlds that I have come to know. As per our usual maturity, at least one of the emails had a serious note to it. I simply can’t understand the world I came from anymore, in the same way that I did before I left. As Americans we have life so incredibly good, and if you were to conduct a poll, most Americans would probably say yes. But I want to know how many Americans actually know first-hand how good we have it. The old phrase you can’t see the keyboard for the keys (I mean trees…) feels like it applies. When I’m calm (and before the movie starts) I think about America and what I loved, what I wanted to change, what the BBC says about it everyday, and what I view it as now. And all I can think of is the mindless hours we spend in front of the television. I think it’s obvious:
We as Americans are exhausted.
We need more vacations.
A satisfying deep breath
I just finished watching an old TED, about The Oil Endgame (2003). Before that I was enthralled with a movie. City of Ember is a really interesting science-fiction about humanity escaping underground for 200 years after an unidentified calamity. Before the movie I had engaged in a very long day of productive behavior.
I talk a lot about the cultural side of Peace Corps. How we sing with our family, play with kids, and try to speak SiSwati. What I don’t really talk or write about is the incredible opportunity for personal growth that Peace Corps has given me. When I wake up in the morning, I have stopped believing I know what any single day will hold. I can of course have lose plans, and I still enjoy my morning routine (thanks for all the coffee Ryan, Karen, and Pop!) There is no plan, no schedule, and nothing for certain once I get outside of the hut.
One thing I have often said to my dad on the phone is “day’s are long, weeks are short.” It is incredibly difficult to convey even in words how true that is.I do not work 9 to 5, I work sunup to sundown. Today’s early morning started relatively normal. The only routine I have really is in the early morning. My first chore is to take down the solar lights and put them out to charge. The second task is to make coffee. After a bit of time, usually 8 or 9 am I usually make my way to either the KaGogo center, or to the primary school.
Although this sounds like it could be routine, it really isn’t. The locations are the same, but sometimes the teachers will be there, sometimes they won’t. Sometimes they will all be in a room together buying Tupperware or planning a cooking party. Sometimes the Gogo Center Manager is there, sometimes he is already at a meeting. Sometimes I see the goats sleeping by his door and I know I could just turn around and go home.
Today was Sunday and therefore it was a little bit different. Occasionally I will go to church, but I usually find my interest more in tune with personal development. A few weeks ago I told myself that Sunday would be my “reading, writing, and reflection” day. It would be reserved for me to correspond with friends and family, and catch up on reading. Reorganize also sounded good, so I lumped it in for good measure. To my surprise I have actually been able to do these things on Sundays now. It is a quiet day where I can reorganize my head.
The Peace Corps experience starts with travel to a remote country, but that is only the beginning. I laughed at a phrase from a PCV friend the other day. Reid said “Now we are going to explore space; now close your eyes.” Regardless of the original context of the phrase, it strikes me as relevant to the exploring of my interests and passions. I am finding more and more that my lofty ideas of what the world were are being honed into a sense of purpose. It isn’t good enough for me anymore to expect someone else to change with world. I have been watching as many episodes of TED as I possible. I am continually renewed that I am not alone when I feel that the world can be a better place. I am reminded that it is up to me to make a difference, and I can’t wait for government, businesses, or other people to do make a difference for me.
I feel positive right now and stronger in my convictions that joining Peace Corps was the right thing to do. I have seen first a completely different way of life than I was raised with. I have experienced a culture that is incredibly unique. I am living with people that do not say ‘hello’ when passing you, they say "I am seeing you.” The intimacy of the greeting, and good nature of my company speak to me of a better place for humanity. In our digital and fast-paced age something as simple as real human contact has been overlooked. It’s not that you can talk to a person through an infinite number of methods, it is what you actually say to that person that has meaning and substance.
Substance is a trait that I find lacking when I look back at many of the relationships I had at home. Most people I know are mysteries to me. I may know them from a single context, at a club or from my childhood. But what substance do I have with these people? What am I contributing to their lives by being their friend on Facebook? What value am I contributing to people that don’t read what I write, and what value can I bring to someone that is shut-off from conscious and rational thought.
Peace Corps is a growing experience. I am growing further apart from people that I was never close with in the first place. My substance with my greatest friends and family is what is most dear to me. I can’t reply to every email Ryan writes me, but I read and reread them. I can’t explain to my dad how much his phone calls mean, but I will continue to try. I appreciate Karen tagging me in photos on Facebook, at the end of the month I have something else to look forward to.
We are coming upon the one year mark of being away. Just two weeks to go before our first Peace Corps anniversary. I have learned so much about myself, humanity, and the world that I understand my inner substance will never be the same again. If you are reading this I hope maybe you will set aside some time for yourself. Maybe you can use Sundays as you reorganization day. There are some many phrases in Americana that tell us what to do.
Stop and smell the roses.
You only live once.
Tomorrow may never come.
It is important to remember that while passengers on spaceship earth, hurtling through the cosmos of our lives, we are truly the masters and commanders of our destiny.
“What happens in a meadow at dusk?” : Everything.