Live, from under the mosquito net

*This post brought to you my amazing friend, Sarah.  Without her, I would still be pushing "refresh" angrily, eyes glazing over in agony as the message "connection unavailable" messed with my level of patience. All I can say is, thank... Siyabonga kakhulu!!!* 

Anybody still out there?

It's kind of unfathomable that it's already September. PST was a complete whirlwind. While the days felt sometimes unendless (waking up between 5:30/6am---before the sun, I might add), and returning to our host families sometimes as late as 5:30pm (oh the mad scramble to get water, and cook before the sunset... 30 minutes... ready, set... GO!). This was also lengthened by the probability of having to wait for the bus for 1-2 hours.  The bus was a good "get your feet wet" moment for transportation in general... as you often things leave when they leave... whether or not you're on the bus... but the rides were amusing, filled with house music, and encoures of Celine Dion (My fellow G11s... you're the strength when I was weak... the words when I can't speak...) Weeks were over before I even realized it was no longer Monday.

By the last two weeks, I was both extremely excited, and sad to be leaving for my permanent site.  Excited because I had a really incredible visit over On the Job Training or OJT for all you acronym fanatics.  Peace Corps even arranged for me and Megan to have additional sign-language lessons (for the folks at home, I am going to be working with deaf youth--and that's all the details I'll disclose, because you can't be officially badass if everyone in the world knows your exact location). 

I was really stressed about our final LPI (Language Proficiency Interview)--we had to get at least intermediate low to pass--, and then learning sign on top of it... my bucupo (brain) was on the verge of exploding.  But here we are.  All 33 of us had an awesome time at Swearing In.  there were speeches from the American Ambassador, and two regional administrators, as well as the acting Prime Minister.  And hey, my face even made it into the paper.  We all joked though, that we obviously hadn't learned that much in training because none of us brought tupperware with us to bring back some of the delicious food we, perhaps a little overzealously, scarfed down as if we hadn't eaten in weeks (embarrassingly SO not true).  A few volunteers got crafty with water bottle and quickly turned those into to-go containers... eish... I have so much left to learn. 

The last weekend with my host family was amazing.  The kids wanted to make videos, my bhuti (brother) is hilarious... and then the group of them wanted to greet my mom, so they made two videos, one in English and one in Siswati.  it was super cute (I'll get it to you sometime between now and 2015, mom!) Then another family member decided he wanted his picture taken too... so he goes into gogo's house, and carries out a 20 foot ladder... and then rests it up against a papaya tree... him and my bhuti climb up, and pose. (I've included some pictures... hehe) This was definitely one of my favorite afternoons since I've been here.  

I really liked living in the "training village". On Sundays I had a lot of fun going for walks or attending community meetings at the Umphakatsi.  It was also fun to walk to the store and chat with the people hanging out there... and of course treat myself to some niknaks. 

Now I'm living on a school compound, which is really nice--My house is a teacher's apartment--but I no longer have a host family* My Make (mother) was excited, because that meant I get to keep the Swazi name she gave me--which I've also grown quite attached to... Bongiwe-- roughly meaning "praise".  It was strange leaving right when I felt like I was settling in. I"m really going to miss my host family, and I can't wait to visit them in a few months. My Make was so good to me, always checking in, and always ready to laugh if I got a little too serious. She joked that my hut will be mine, and that I can just move my family from the states here, and build more rooms on it... (what do you think, fam?)

*Although I am not living with a family... the other teachers have been so welcoming, and I feel as though I might actually 20ish families, which is nice, I really don't feel isolated. 

Here, because phone calls are so expensive, people buzz each other (let the phone ring once or twice, and then hang up), just to let you know they are thinking of you. I promised Make I wouldn't be lazy and I would buzz her often. As a going away present I gave her a handmade market basket--and I was so excited that she really loved it--her reaction was priceless. She is really good at making emafehti and buns, so it's the perfect thing to carry them around in. In return she gave me a beautiful wooden bowl. It is currently housing bobanane and oranges.

I really like the town that I live near. It's neat to only be a few minutes walk from the bus rank, and there's a really big Bomake market right next to it... so yay fresh produce!  In town, there's pretty much everything I need. It always cracks me up when I speak Siswati, because the reactions people give are also worth the effort, it's funny how surprised they are that I can speak even just a few words. 

The best way to sum up my feelings right now is to say that the past few days have been days where two years feels too short, and I think that's a good thing.  I've moved past the initial anxieties of being surrounded by so much difference and now I know better how to communicate and even joke, as I navigate through what previously might have been frustrating moments.  I'm really looking forward to the next few months of Integration, and the next two years of service. 

Here's to being an official Peace Corps Volunteer!