I snuck into the internet cafe today. It's slower than ever. Every page takes forever to load. It makes loading pictures impossible, sorry. I’m really beginning to work at adjusting to the culture here. The other volunteers are a big help. When we're spending time together I completely forget I'm even in Africa. I have electricity in my room now. My Babe (dad) and bobhuti (brothers) hooked it up and they were using knives to cut wires and stuff. At one point they kept trying to reach over a beam to connect a wire and they just couldn’t reach so I just took the wire from my bhuti and did it. My babe thought that was hilarious. Babe has two wives and two homes in different parts of the country and most of the family is traveling from one homestead to the other regularly. Night time is kindof lonely around here especially since I have electricity now so I can actually stay up later than before. Also I don't really have any time to really sit and think because I get up at 6, do chores and then walk to school at 7:30 and I don't get home till 4:30 or later. I try to talk and bond with my family, cook and clean, then I feel obligated to study my SiSwati before bed. Lately after "school" the other volunteers and I have been walking down to the river. It's so secluded and beautiful down there, we just lay around on these huge smooth white rocks in the middle of the river. That's as close to downtime as it gets. If I don't go to the river, I jog with Maggie also known as Figile, a volunteer that lives nearby. Anyway, send me some news, I feel so secluded from the rest of the world in my village. The newspapers are so funny though. It’s a great contrast from American news because headlines are like “four legged baby born” and other tabloid type stuff. This country amazes me everyday. People don’t have any idea how big America is. They think it’s the size of New Jersey. They also think there are no poor people in America. They didn’t know that July 4th was Independence Day and they didn’t even know that America had ever been a British colony. There are all types of myths here, especially surrounding HIV/AIDS. There are traditionals healers here called sangomas that practice muti (magic) and even human sacrifice is know to happen here, especially around election time. The other thing I’m beginning to learn is just how deep the collectivist mentality runs here in Swaziland. Young people here sometimes intentionally spread HIV so they don’t die alone. Most people whom I’ve had the opportunity to chat with about AIDS think that everybody will eventually just die from AIDS. Again, the image of a frog in boiling water comes to mind. However the way these people are so family oriented is beautiful. I better get goin!! I’m doing just fine. Send news from home!

All My Love,
XOXO
Colleen