I’ve come to terms with it…I’m losing my ability to speak English. If my spelling wasn’t impeccable before, it’s gone to hell in a hand basket now. I find myself speaking Swinglish. Even my dreams have a SiSwati word thrown in here or there. When I go home I know am I still going to catch myself responding to people with ‘yebo.’ Also “she fell pregnant” “da thing” “this child” “that girl” “as for me” “that side” and “shame” have all entered my vocabulary. Not to mention a series of sounds “How!” (surprise) “iiiish” (wow or too bad) plus a plethora of mmmhmms, yeahs, clicks, and grunts, which all serve to emphasize.
I’m so ready for IST. I still love my community and my family but good lord I need some time with a hot shower and Americans. Also I keep repeating the four movies I have, time to trade with some people. Okay here are some quotes:
“Here, do you want this?” (girl younger than me, offering to give me her baby)
“Hola, bobaby” (a pick up line, using three languages, nice)
“DuDu is not my wife, she’s my chick” (the chief’s nephew, while lighting a cigarette)
“The grandgogo says you are so beautiful” (my friend Erik’s make)
“You are a living giant!” (the kids at the youth meeting)
“You are not exercising, you are just walking” (Make, walking home, after I ran 2 miles)
“You are going to fail your SiSwati test” Make
“Your husband will pay us twelve cows” Make
“What does poo mean Dudu?” Babe “It means poop.” Me .“poop?” “you know…poop, caca, shit.” “shit?” “yes shit, feces” “Oh! Feces, you mean simba.” “I thought Simba was a lion.” “Simba means feces.” “So does Dudu.”

It’s getting warmer. The rainy season is just ending and summer’s about to begin. Everyone has planted their crops and begun the hard process of weeding. It’s beautiful and green out, like spring time. I’m wearing tank tops and enjoying the weather. I also saw my first big hairy spider. It was digging a tunnel in the road. My bhuti told me he’s never found one inside, which is the only reason I’m still here. =)

I keep having these recurring dreams in which I go back home and do things like spend time with my family and go out to the club with friends, before panicking because I forgot to tell the Peace Corps office that I went home for a vacation. I quickly have to explain to everybody that I need to catch a flight home to Swaziland before the office finds out I’m gone. Then I wake up, all shocked that I’m still in my hut...then relieved I go back to sleep.

daily life

It’s now the rainy season and I love it. The weather is cool and cloudy, a lot like autumn back home minus the leaves. Everyone else doesn’t seem to care for it and a few people have started saying “it is your weather, DuDu.” I love the sound of rain on my tin roof, which usually makes it sound like there’s a hurricane going on, even if it’s just an average rainfall. The thunder and lightening here is also something else. Lightening striking in the far off hills is really beautiful. So here’s a typical day for me:

6:00-8:00 make the bed, sweep the floor (there’s always dust), fetch water, wash a few clothes or bucket bathe, wash dishes, boil water, make tea and breakfast
8:00-1:00 Go to the clinic OR go to the high school OR go to the preschool OR go to town. If it’s Saturday then I go to a community meeting. If it’s Sunday, church.
1:00-2:00 Go home and make lunch
2:00-3:00 Chat with somebody (usually Mumcy at the kagogo center)
3:00-6:00 Read (a lot), tidy my house, write, listen to music, play solitaire, think about life (a lot), take clothes off the line, chase the kids/chickens/dogs around the yard, make dinner
6:00-9:00 Hang out in the main house with the family, listen to the radio, talk with make, study SiSwati, play with the kids, and maybe watch a movie on the laptop with my brothers
9:00-10:00 light the candles, wash face, brush teeth, read a little more, hit the hay

And so goes a day in the exciting life of a Peace Corps Volunteer…

anniversary party

Okay so last Saturday I was a bridesmaid in the renewal of my Babe na Make’s wedding vows. They’ve been together thirty one years, have ten children (counting me), and nine grandchildren. I am so happy I was placed with this family. They’re hard working, God fearing type people, if you know what I mean. Especially Make. I’m learning so much from them and I feel really safe and welcome in their home. Over four hundred people attended the event, including five of my friends. As we walked down the aisle we did a grand march which is sort of like a dance, not sure how to explain it. I can’t even imagine how much my family spent to feed everybody. The next day we ate the head of the cow which is kind of a ceremonial thing. Normally certain parts of the cow are restricted to men such as the tongue and most of the head. I think because I am an ‘auntie’ (an adult unmarried/childless woman) on the homestead, I was entitled to eat with my bobhuti (brothers.) We cooked and ate in the roundavall which is a round hut with a thatch roof. The women sit on one side and the men on the other, but once again since I am an auntie, I sat with my bobhuti. I ate cow lung, tongue, nose, and God knows what else.
I’m beginning to get a groove going here. Pretty soon I’ll have a weekly schedule going. I taught my first high school class today and it went awesome. I asked them all to write down questions on pieces of paper and then I collected them. Some of them were easy to answer. Do you have children? Where are you from? How much does it cost to fly to America? Some were harder. Why doesn’t America have AIDS? Is there a cure for AIDS that Magic Johnson used? Why does Swaziland have so much AIDS? What happens if a girl has sex while menstruating? How does AIDS kill? When are you ready to have a child?