"Are you fine?"

Sometimes when a South African will ask how you're doing, they will ask, "Are you fine?" I have always thought this was funny, mostly because of the connotations of 'fine' that I am used to in American English. Fine can be used as a retort, "FINE!" Or to describe someone, "He's a fine looking man." So I would laugh a little to myself and then reply that I was doing okay.

And that's about where I'm at right now. I'm doing okay. It's amazing how quickly I'm reacclimating to America. I suppose that makes sense because my last three weeks in South Africa were spent in Cape Town and Pretoria. In my guesthouse by the Peace Corps Office, I got pretty far away from what it was like to take bucket baths and fumble for the candles when the electricity went out.

I find myself translating what things cost in dollars into Rand. Sometimes it's pretty pathetic. I don't know why I do it. Habit, maybe. I did really like paying with a different currency. But, for example, a nice "cheap" out-to-dinner meal with a friend in America might cost what, $15 with tip, right? Well, that's 120 Rand. That could pay for two nice meals in Pretoria! Or a week's worth of groceries and toiletries!

When my plane was first landing in D.C., I was so amazed at how lush everything was. The bright green color of the grass and trees was a nice welcome home after living the closest to a desert that I've ever lived in my life! But when we "de-planed" (I love that term : ) the muggy August air wrapped tightly around me. It didn't help that my luggage was so full that I had to wear a t-shirt, sweater, hoodie and my South African winter coat through my 30-hour excursion back home. (And 30 hours not showering plus four layers of clothes in August, eish!, it was something!)

I took my 'welcome home tour' and visited friends in Boston, Ann Arbor, Detroit and Cincinnati. It was nice to see everyone who had been so supportive of me - and to pass out souvenirs! Since I had expected to be in South Africa longer, I spent my last week going between completing my medical paperwork and furiously buying gifts! Of course, I ran out of money. And then I found out that Peace Corps pro-rates your monthly stipend and takes money back from you for the month you leave. Wow. It's not like we made that much anyway. Oh well. I got some nice gifts for most of my friends and family.

I'm moving along with trying to work with D.C. on a policy for survivors of sexual assault and rape - along with other physical crimes. I started a companion blog (since I'm not tech-savvy enough to create a website) for this effort at: http://firstresponseaction.blogspot.com/. You can also email me at firstresponseaction@gmail.com. The Peace Corps staff person I'm supposed to start this conversation with was on vacation until this past Tuesday. He'd been gone for two weeks, so I gave him this week to catch up on emails. I'll start again next week. I want him to be happy when we talk : ) I'll keep you posted.

In love and laughter,

Casey

Sala Sentle South Africa, Hello Again America

My time as a Peace Corps Volunter is about to end.

I am medically separating from Peace Corps South Africa. In about five hours from now, I will be on a plane bound for the US.

I didn't say it before, but I've thought a lot about it these last several weeks, and I feel it's more productive (than not) to share what happened that caused me to move from Mafikeng.

More than a month ago, I was sexually assaulted at my site. Peace Corps pulled me out in fear for my safety, but it's been all downhill from there. The assault has had cultural ramifications for me and I don't feel safe when I'm not around Americans I know will protect me.

I'll definitely be sharing more in the future regarding this issue because I found out through this process that Peace Corps has NO global policy on sexual assault or rape. For an organization that operates worldwide and in some pretty unstable countries, I think this is appalling. I am planning to devote time when I return to working with Peace Corps, PCVs, RPCVs, etc. on this.

But, for the very short term, I'm just focusing on going home.

Visions of hot showers, unlimited Internet and indoor flush toilets flash through my mind. People ask me what I want to do when I get home. All I can think of is just hugging my parents. A lot. And seeing my family and friends who have been so steady for me through this ordeal. I don't care which food I eat first, now I just want to see my family. (And if we share that quality time over Donatos pizza or Skyline Chili, that's even better : )

Looking ahead, it seems like I have a lot to catch up with at home. My NY Times e-mail updates have been talking a lot about this new healthcare reform process and Sotomayor, so I'll have to get up-to-date with my current events.

I'm also excited to hear really silly news again on a daily basis. Like I saw the other day on Yahoo that Paula Abdul is quitting American Idol. I'm so used to hearing about workers striking, more HIV, more raping, young boys dying from botched circumcisions and the like that I'm not sure I'll know what to do with fluffy news again.

I'm nervous about the American economy since I thought when I'd be back in spring 2011, the economy would be in a different place. But, my Peace Corps experience turned out to be very different than I'd hoped and it's not safe or healthy for me to be here anymore. I will have to play the hand I've been dealt.

I suppose, in general, that this blog as my Peace Corps experience is finished. But I hope to keep this as my life experiences blog, which will include working with PC in DC on a global sexual assault and rape policy. If you are interested in helping or if you're an RPCV or current PCV and would like to help this cause, please comment or email me at caseyfrazee@gmail.com. I've never done anything like this before, but I can only imagine that with the US government, it may take awhile and may be complicated beyond my wildest dreams. But if I can prevent what happened to me from happening to anyone else, that is what I will do. If Obama wants to double Peace Corps, we have to get some basics in place first.

Thanks to everyone who has followed my experiences thus far. Even though my Peace Corps chapter is finishing, there's still much more to come : )

And thank you to my Peace Corps friends. I will miss you all incredibly, but am so excited to hear upates about the work you are doing!

Stay well,

Casey

For Lisa

Meercats!

Lions and Cheetahs and Giraffes, Oh My!

I was lucky enough to be able to visit a game reserve here in South Africa, not too far away from Pretoria. I’ve heard that South Africa is one of the best places to go for game reserves because there are so many wild animals who habitate here (can I conjugate that like that?).

The pictures mostly speak for themselves, so there’s not much more I have to add to this one. I went with other Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs), some of whom are in Pretoria because they’ve been med-evac’d from their countries. Only three of us in the group photo are actually PCVs in South Africa. The others are scattered in various African countries north of us and the person in the Panama Jack hat is the visiting medical officer from Paraguay.

The group of volunteers and med-evacs playing with the baby lion

(as you can see, the green scarf has made it into another photo : )

The baby lion got freaked out and started walking across people's laps

Baby lion and me

Rarrrrrr!

(look how small his teeth are!)



I love that this baby giraffe has a cloak and a little log cabin.
What an eccentric giraffe to be wearing a cloak! Next comes black nail polish.




Cheetah through the fence - they are so beautiful!

Video with a lioness walking towards us (we think she's pregnant).
Sorry it's a bit Blair Witch with the camera movement, they backed up the car while I was shooting this. Oh - and the background is sort of silly. Enjoy!

As for me...more later. Still homeless. Still trying to figure it all out.

Sala sentle,

Casey

Chocolate Chai Latte Exists!

Last week was one of the more fabulous weeks I've had, in terms of picturesque landscape. I have been planning a trip to Cape Town for the International AIDS Society Conference since last fall when I knew I'd be in Africa.

I volunteered for the conference for each of the four days. It was faciniating to hear the findings of the leading scientists in the field of HIV/AIDS research. Having been on the ground, so-to-speak, for the last six months in the country with the highest HIV incidences in the world, there were some glaring gaps in what the West is doing and then how that's going to work in the rest of the world. All of the session's PowerPoints are online as well as the overview Rapporteur reports. It was a very interesting experience and I'm so glad I got to be part of it while I am in South Africa.

I extended a couple more days to do some sightseeing (pictures below). Since I'm a fan of lists, here are some highlights of my trip to Cape Town, South Africa:

• Saw those African penguins! They're actually called Jackass Penguins for the donkey noise they make when mating. Hmm.
• Got sprayed with lots of frigid Atlantic waters when I did a tour around Cape Point. It's the height of winter here, but luckily the temperature was in the low 20s C, which is around 70F, so not too bad for winter. My friends in Michigan would laugh that this is what people in Cape Town call winter!
• Discovered chocolate chai latte! Who knew that existed?! I had it every morning I was in Cape Town except for one. The guy at the shoppe probably thought I was crazy. I tried to do a silly "hello again" in a funny voice with a little courtsey to be sort of funny that I was coming back again for the tasty chocolate chai, but he didn't really find it funny, so I didn't do it again.
• Met lots of fasinating volunteers at the conference representing the diverse history of South Africa. It was nice to have a week break from people yelling "lekgoa!" at me b/c of my white skin. There's only so much racism one can tolerate.
• Got to walk around at night! Seriously, we (PC volunteers) can't do that in most of South Africa due to safety, so this was a treat not to have to disappear w/ the sunset.
• Climbed the mountain at the Cape of Good Hope! My calves were screaming at me for a couple of days about that. For awhile, it's almost a straight incline, so it's a killer for the calves.
• Walked all around Table Mountain. It's so funny to think you can just walk all around on the top of a mountain. There are all these stone paths marked out too, very cool.
• Ate sushi! My long lost love! I found a place that had half off rolls! Super-great prawn and calamari sushi for half price, who can beat that?!

Me and a girl from Bombay, India (who goes to Harvard, hense the hoodie) and a girl from London who is backpacking her way around the world. These are the girls I climbed around the Cape of Good Hope with and now have the picture to commemorate how ridiculous our hair looked after the screaming winds and Atlantic spray gave us a blow-out.

Me and Obama at an overlook on Table Mountain with the city of Cape Town in the background.

Proud to be an American : )

The welcome sign at the International AIDS Society Conference in Cape Town. I volunteered for all four days of the conference - it was fabulous!

Clouds sitting in one of the crevases of Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa. I think it's so cool how the clouds just sit there. I also walked right to the edge of that cliff on the right.

A gorgeous rainbow over one of the seal islands around Cape Point, South Africa

'Jackass' Penguins around Cape Point, South Africa.

They're super tiny. I just watched Zoolander on a bus trip, so the small penguins remind me of "what is this, a school for ants?!"

As for me, well, I continue to be homeless in South Africa. But this week I've met with Peace Corps and I think we're moving in a direction. We'll see, I'm taking it one day at a time. I was able to eat some more sushi last night, so I'm feeling pretty happy.

Sala Sentle,

Casey

What is AIDS Like in South Africa?

I've been thinking a lot lately about the differences and similarities about AIDS in South Africa versus America. The program I'm in through Peace Corps is CHOP (Community HIV/AIDS Outreach Project). Most of my group is based at Home-Based Care (HBC) organizations. In rural South Africa, AIDS touches a lot of people and there are OI (Opportunistic Infections), including TB, that people with HIV/AIDS get more easily because of their depressed immune systems. The HBCs work with those types of folks to get them proper medication and assess other needs.

I should put the disclaimer that all of the information I'm about to write about is from personal experience, reading books about HIV/AIDS in South Africa, talking with South Africans and Peace Corps sources. There are certainly people who know more about all of this than me. I just think it's interesting to take a look at some factors as to why South Africa has the highest incidence rates of HIV than any other country worldwide and how it differs from AIDS in the U.S.

Learners, youth and everyone hear a lot more about AIDS than in the U.S. It's everywhere. AIDS messaging is on the radio, TV, on posters in community buildings, in churches, etc. I've spoken with some South Africans who say that the constant messaging is fatiguing and that people tune out the messages about safe sex. It becomes background noise at a point. I read a story about a young girl who was diagnosed at 19 and she said she learned about HIV in school but thought it would never happen to her, that she tuned out the information because it was like, yah, yah, heard that before.

Multiple partners are really common and some have dubbed this concurrent partnering the HIV Superhighway. And, along with this comes cheating too. My friend said she read in a South African magazine that only 6% of relationships in South Africa are faithful. Six percet! Now I don't know who they polled, but wow! That's just crazy. And lots of this cheating is unprotected sex where the cheating partner goes back to the original relationship and then they have unprotected sex, thus continuing the superhighway.

Stigma. While stigma tends to be huge in any area, in rural villages of South Africa where everyone knows everyone's name and surname and where they live, etc., there's little confidentiality. Someone could get tested at the local clinic, but (and it's sometimes a big but) how far is the clinic? 5K, 10K, another village even? There's no quick, easy or reliable transport to get there. Sure, these big taxis called kumbis exist, but they cost money.

The person working at the clinic likely knows that person coming to get tested too. The registers where patients sign-in for testing is in plain sight to be viewed by anyone. In communities this small, it's difficult for anyone to keep anything a secret. Now, of course, not every village pushes out their HIV+ community members, some will even protect those among them who are 'different' from the rest. I've even heard of a village where there was a young biological boy living as a girl and the community protected her. I think that's pretty powerful for small community culture.

ARVs (or Anti-Retrovirals) are supposed to be provided at no cost to the public to people who are HIV+. However, the ARVs that are used here are ones that the U.S. hasn't used for years. The most recent development for an ARV used in South Africa is 1994, I believe. Med-adherence is also a big factor. Those HBCs I mentioned earlier have care workers who are supposed to go visit their clients and make sure they are taking their meds. There are lots of potential issues with HBCs, including no funding, fatigued staff, lack of transport to remote areas as well as many others. But I have a feeling I shouldn't discuss those on this blog since I'm working under Peace Corps. Let's just say there's theory ... and there's practice.

"We don't need to worry about HIV anymore, right? There's a pill." Not even kidding, this is what my former host mother said to me. I was aghast. Coming in as an outsider, looking at how South Africa's HIV rates are raging but people in the country seem to be immune to the panic that people outside South Africa are feeling. I'm not sure how frequently these words are uttered by other South Africans, but it scares me.

Before moving to South Africa, I worked for Caracole, an HIV+ transitional living community in Cincinnati (check them out, maybe even make a donation!) so I could get more experience with HIV/AIDS. I learned a lot about the HIV med system (those ARVs I mentioned earlier). Because HIV is such a clever virus, it's constantly mutating and if a person just took one pill, HIV would find a way around it and become stronger. That's why when a person goes on ARVs, they take a therapy of three pills so it's more difficult for HIV to mutate.

Poverty. Living in and visiting impoverished communities has given me a whole new perspective on poverty, but this post isn't about that. It's about lack of access to necessary resources. Most villages in South Africa seem to have electricity (so people can heat meat and kill viruses) and some source of water (which people can boil to kill parasites and use to clean themselves) but often times, access to nutritional food is lacking. Mealies or mealie pap which is basically corn, cornmeal or something similar is very common. People eat pap up to three times a day. You can tell which meal it is by the way it's cooked (thinner for breakfast, like porridge, or thicker for dinner).

When people have HIV/AIDS, nutrition is vital. People in rural areas have a limited diet of pap, maybe some meat and maybe some veggies. Oh, and also, all the mini-shoppes in the villages have chips and lots of soda. I would love to see a study done on how much soda is consumed here. It's crazy. Which brings me to sugar. Thanks to English influence, most people observe tea time. To make the tea taste good (b/c flavored tea is fancy and hard to come by) people will seriously sugar-up their tea. Like 4-6 heaping teaspoons. And for dinner? Rather than spices for flavor, a lot of families use salt. Eish, so much salt! I dare to even put a measurement on how much. My training village host mother made me eggs once and seriously all I could taste was the salt! So, beyond HIV/AIDS, illnesses like diabetes and hypertension are becoming increasingly common.

Those are some of the big factors. There are others like men just not wanting to wear condoms and women not being empowered enough to negotiate safe sex. And re-infection, where two HIV+ partners have sex and think it doesn't matter because they're both +. But it does matter, but they can re-infect each other with different strains. I suppose in some kind of a closing, the HIV/AIDS scene in South Africa is very complicated with many systems involved. This is just scratching the surface.

On a personal note, I'm still without a site, but my Peace Corps supervisor is back and I'll be meeting with her when I get back from Cape Town week after next. (Yay!) I really want to go cage-diving with the great whites, but I think back to this IMAX show I saw as a kid where my mom and I rooted for the shark... There might be some weird foreshadowing in that, so I'll keep my distance : )

Sala sentle,

Casey

Homeless in South Africa

So, yes, I'm currently homeless in South Africa. If I think about it too much I start to get a little anxious, so I just try not to think about it that hard : )

Rather than stay in Pretoria through this site change, our Peace Corps Country Director has me visiting volunteers to help with their work. It's nice to be productive during this transition period. With a change of scenery, I'm already feeling better about moving to a new site, wherever that may be.

Being temporarily homeless, I was thinking about the people in South Africa who are homeless homeless, like squatter-camp homeless, not like my current couch-surfing homelessness. I'm lucky that I'm under the auspices of Peace Corps so that I can still get money for food and transportation, but there are so many others who are without a solid roof - or they're living in a shanty spot.

The South African government has these housing sites called RDP (Reconstruction and Development Programme) where they build low-cost housing for people who are homeless in South Africa. From what I've heard from South Africans, often times the houses are built first without hooking up water or any electricity, so really it's only like one step up from being actually homeless.

There are lots of opinions on how effective these housing projects actually are - especially considering the corruption that seems to surround these RDP sites. Some people will buy them and then rent the rooms at a spiked cost.

Recently, I was visiting a fellow volunteer friend and near her village is a site of these RDP housing developments. The 'houses' have only two rooms and often times multiple people live in these houses. Most sites have pit toilets (outhouses if you're from the country) and there are normally taps or boreholes nearby where people can get water.

I took a video to show you what it looks like. At the beginning of the video, you can kind of hear the beginning of Higher Love by Steve Winwood (from the late 80s/90s) playing on the radio. I thought it was quite the appropriate song to play as I took the video of these RDP houses since Winwood sings "things look so bad everywhere; in this whole world, what is fair?" (The full lyrics are linked in case you're interested. It's a really great song, especially for soundtracks.)

RDP Housing Site in Rural North West Province, South Africa
(23 seconds)

It's such a different reality to see these types of housing developments and then see the richness of other areas in the country. The gap between the haves and have-nots in South Africa is among the highest in the world, if not the highest.

So, for now I'm couch-surfing. But I have some leads on new sites and will hopefully have an update soon.

Sala sentle,

Casey

I Guess We Were Warned About Times Like These

During the Peace Corps application process, during the 'staging' where volunteers prepare to leave and at the in-country training, they warn volunteers of the big ups and big downs they might encounter. I'm fairly level and try to remain balanced so my experiences so far have been really great (albeit ridiculous at times) and I've laughed a lot. But some days it's just not as easy to find the funny.

Last week was a string of those kind of days.

The big news is that I do not live in Mafikeng anymore. I can't (and won't) say why on this blog except that it's a security matter. I can't say anything because of Peace Corps regulations and I won't just because of my own standards. This site is supposed to be a fun and informative blog about my experiences, not my online journal. But I am safe, so that's good.

Since I have a lot going on in terms of finding a new site and home for the duration of my tenure in South Africa, I'm not in funny-writer mode. But since I still want to be positive, I'm going to leave you with this really amazing video of a group of learners at a middle school in the North West Province performing a Tswana cultural dance. I am so impressed, especially by these boys, and what they can do. Enjoy.

Middle School learners from the North West Province doing a Tswana cultural dance
(1 minute, 34 seconds)

Whey they sing, "ke mang?" is like "it's who?" and as for the rest .... yeah, I don't know. You can make up your own meaning, that's always fun.

Sala sentle,

Casey

Conversations with Ororiseng

So the other day I was doing dishes and Ororiseng, my 9-year-old host sister, came up to me:

O: I have a fur coat.
Me: Oh, that's cool, I had one when I was young too.
O: My grandma has a whole lot of fur coats.
Me: Oh, cool.
O: Do you like fur coats?
Me: I don't believe in fur.
O: (blank look)
Me: When I was young, I thought they made fur coats from the fur when animals passed away. But when I got older, I found out they kill the animals to get their fur and sell it. I don't like the thought of hurting animals, so I don't believe in wearing fur coats.
O: But mine's pink.

Aww...

I realize that maybe the fur conversation may have been a bit too much, but I take every opportunity I can to teach Ororiseng something or show her another point of view since she is always looking for information. I think she really listens to me, and I believe in treating youth like growing people and not "little kids" so I am pretty honest with her. She asks me a lot of questions and I think she's really thirsty to learn.

I also think youth retain tons of stuff so I'm also really careful what I say because I know she'll soak it up like a sponge. She's just so special and she wants to learn, which is a fine quality in any growing (or grown!) person.

Ororiseng, my host sister, and me

This situation is also different because of culture. I'm honestly not sure about Ororiseng's culture, Tswana, if they kill animals for purposes other than eating. Another one of the South African tribes, Ndebele, kills animals to wear their hides as a power thing to show that the hunter is fast enough to kill a cheetah, lion, what-what. Makes sense, but I'm still not excited about it.

I think Tswanas are more utilitarian and do things for very practical purposes like eating and surviving. But, if wearing animal hides is part of Ororiseng's culture, I don't want to influence her away from that. I still won't believe in killing animals for domination and sport to wear their fur, but I understand it's a realistic part of many cultures worldwide and I respect that.

It's also very different for someone to uphold their heritage in wearing a pelt of an animal sacred to their culture than some starlet wearing fur at a Hollywood event with no connection to anything other than fashion. Anyway, that was a lot about fur. And fur isn't even on my top ten list of issues I advocate for, so I'll wrap this up : )

Sala sentle (stay well),

Casey

Did I Just Defend Tim McGraw?

No offense if you love country music, but I’ve just never been a fan. However, it does seem to be the music most closely associated with good ole American values and the heartland so some songs like I'm Proud to be an American have popped into my head since living in South Africa.

So the other day I’m watching this South African program called Flash! which is like a classier version of E! (sorry E!, I still love you) and Flash! was doing their weekly top-something list and this list was about surprising pairings in music. They highlighted the Tim McGraw and Nelly team-up for 2005’s Over and Over Again. I remember at the time not really liking either artist, but I enjoyed the song. And I was excited about the bridge between country and hip-hop.

Like a VH1 show, Flash! has barely-known personalities discuss their list of the top-somethings. One of the commentator guys goes “I mean, Nelly, he’s so cool and hip and then what’s he doing singing country music? And who the heck is Tim McGraw?”

Ack! I say to the TV! Tim McGraw is like the number one country music singer and his wife Faith Hill is like an even bigger deal than he is! Go to Nashville, they’ll ask who you are!

Then I realized I just defended Tim McGraw to a C-list personality on a South African TV show I’ve watched twice…

This story illustrates how much of a pro-American I have become. I’ve always been proud to be from America, but living in another country has really shown me how excited I am to be American. (So much so that I defend a music artist I'm not really a fan of!) This is, of course, not to say that America is perfect and without flaws (reading the newspaper will confirm that). But people want things to work. They care about what happens to their communities and there’s a sense of pro-activeness in most Americans that I really enjoy. Things just work more slowly here in South Africa; it’s a different culture and the dynamics are different.

Take for instance, being a woman. A woman in America who wants it all – career, family, personal life – may feel guilty that she can’t spend as much time with her child because she’s working. But she still works to provide for her family. And, most likely, her husband supports her in this as they’ve probably discussed the situation at length as they are partners in their relationship.

Here, the cultural vibe (in general) is that a woman working usurps the man’s authority as man and the woman will not work because of this. (I do know of instances in South Africa where women defy this, so like anything else, this isn’t a 100% rule, but this mentality is alive in many men I have met.) I try to keep my social liberalism and feminism in check while working at a men’s empowerment organization, but some days it’s mentally exhausting to accept that this is how it works here – women are truly second class in so many ways.

The organization I work for has conversations with teen boys about “What is a REAL Man?” That conversation makes me cringe. Because the boys answer things like “not gay” or “doesn’t cry.” These boys are being socialized in a way that alienates those boys (or men) who are gay or who feel like crying to release emotions. It’s systemic, social and cultural and it makes me so sad. Articles ask why men are so angry in South Africa. They ask: Why is it that 1 out of 4 men has raped a woman? Well, maybe they’re trying to prove this uber-manhood they’ve been socialized to grow up to.

I don’t have an answer for this. However, it makes me happy to think that in America, we at least have those conversations about it being okay for men to release emotions. There’s more of a social awareness in America about different ways of viewing and living life that I haven’t found here. Then again, that would be individualism and South Africa is still deeply rooted in Ubuntu community culture. (Interesting volunteer blog post about Ubuntu here.) I’m happy that as Americans, we are generally more accepting of who people are (except maybe in small, rural counties in some of those red states : )

I’m not trying to spread “Americanism” or push Western thought here, but I’m trying to at least spread an open-minded way of thinking during my time in South Africa and question what isn't normally questioned. Will it stick? Only time will tell.

In the meantime, I'll keep defending those pieces of American culture that aren't so prevalent in South African media, like country music : )

Sala sentle, (stay well)

Casey

Ke a leboga thata! (Thank you very much!)

So my parents, who are so lovely : ), sent me a care package from America! And in this care package along with some surprises for me, my mom sent small toys for my host brother and host sister! They were super excited!

For Realeboga (ray-ah-lay-bow-hah) who is 5, my mom sent some little cars. One of them has a sticker that says “Police” which Realeboga loves because his dad is a police officer. I’m so serious, within two days, they were super dirt-covered and looked like he had them for months! He was so excited!

Realeboga, my 5-year-old host brother

(He's quite a cut-up!)

For Ororiseng (oh-roar-ree-seng), who is 9, my mom sent a package of three small plastic dolls. She loved them! She gave them all names from High School Musical, haha. What’s really cool about these dolls is that one is black, one is Hispanic-looking and the other is white – and the white one is a redhead too! Talk about diversity!

Ororiseng, my 9-year-old host sister

Toys aren’t really around in any household I’ve been to around South Africa, at least not in the way you may see an entire playroom at someone’s house in the states. Which is why I think Ororiseng and Realeboga really appreciated these toys my parents sent.

But having few to no toys makes kids creative. For instance, last weekend, Realeboga made a “helicopter” out of a piece of stick-on-tile that he cut up. I was pretty impressed! Since the family is converting their house into a guesthouse, there’s a treasure-trove of construction goods that he makes toys out of. He's quite clever.

Ororiseng, Realeboga and me
(p.s. I love that he's eating a carrot! It's just so silly!)

Thank you again mom for sending those toys! They loved them so much! Here is a short video of Ororiseng and Realeboga saying thank you. At the end Ororiseng says thank you in her first language, Setswana. You may need to turn up the sound. And sorry it's dark. I'm not really sure how to fix that.

Thank you video from Ororiseng and Realeboga
(29 seconds for those of you with slow Internet)

Ke a leboga, thank you and dankie!

Casey : )

I'm Feeling a Bit Like Molly Shannon

So it's June and I bought a heater.

Yes, I realize I'm in the southern hemisphere and it's late autumn/early winter here, but still, it's Africa. A heater is just one more thing I really didn't expect to buy here.

It gets to 5C at night! I'm not totally adjusted to the F to C conversion, but take away 5 degrees and you have literally freezing since 0C equals 32F! Yikes!

At work it's freezing too - lots of tile. My hands have always been colder than the rest of me and all I can seem to do to keep them warm is put them in my armpits. (Sorry)

But then it makes me laugh because I think of Molly Shannon as Mary Catherine Gallagher on Saturday Night Live. So the laughing then makes me forget, if even for a few minutes, how cold I really am.

Molly Shannon as Mary Catherine Gallagher
Promo for Superstar, the movie they made from the character

But don't worry, I just do it for warmth. No smelling involved or jumping backwards onto things : )


Sala sentle,

Casey

The Ren Cen Was on South African TV Last Night!

And yes, sadly, it was about GM filing for bankruptcy : (

The Detroit Renaissance Center is the mark of Detroit (among many other fabulous buildings, of course, including my favorite, the Guardian Building). The Ren Cen is the stock image for anything from auto commercials to RoboCop (which I saw for the first time in South Africa!) and even to comedy clubs.

One comedian said the Ren Cen is like Detroit giving the finger to Canada (which is directly across the water from it) with that one big building surrounded by the smaller ones.

Detroit Renaissance Center, home of GM
(as viewed from Canada)

Here in South Africa, the SABC anchor woman gives her ongoing report each night of the "global economic meltdown." Way to not soften the blow on that one . . .

I keep wondering, would they say that on TV in America? I know our news can be sensational, but would we say that? Economic meltdown? Eish. Sounds to me like someone pressed the wrong button at the power plant. Or in the hatch on Lost. (Mmm, Lost...)

It's like I'm in a really elongated Groundhog's Day. I was graduating from college in 05 when Michigan really started to feel recession. Then I moved to Cincinnati in summer 08 when the whole country felt recession. Now I'm in South Africa where the "global economic meltdown" has officially hit.

Which is quite sad because the effects of the economic recession will likely be much harsher here than America. Poverty is high - depending on the source, about one-third of South Africans are impoverished. There is little access to water, let alone it being drinkable, shortages of food and people are likely surviving on government grants.

The gap between the haves and have-nots is literally among the highest in the world. And HIV incidence rates here are the highest in the world as well. Put all of that together with an influx of immigrants and it's likely to get a bit messy. Eish.

Luckily the South African government is trying to emphasize entrepreneurship and the Department of Labor has a call for proposals out there for grant money available to those who can train workers in new areas. I suppose each country will manage along in their own way, right?

All my love goes to everyone at home in the U.S. I know some have it harder than others, especially my friends in Michigan. And if you'd like to escape to South Africa for awhile, you know how to get a hold of me : )

Sala sentle (stay well)

Casey : )

p.s. my apologies to anyone who read this when I first posted. I'm a constant editor and made a few changes.

Things That Make Me Laugh - African Version

• When people bring up colonialism in Africa …. and then all look right at me
  
• When my training village host mother drunk dials me at night (seriously)
  
• When really professional people’s cell phones ring and it’s a 50 Cent rap about “bein’ up in da club, doin’ my thing” … and then return to work-related conversation like a gansta rap was not just on their phone
  
• When my coworkers tell me I must give them American money when I leave
  
• When a guy at the taxi rank yells "I like your figure! Yrrr!" and then is surprised when I don't stop to chat...

My New Mecca

Splish Splash Laundromat in Mafikeng

You know what they say, cleanliness is godliness, right? : )

Is It Appropriate To Wear White Face Paint After Labor Day?

I’m not a fan of putting lengthy journal-type entries on my blog because, honestly, I feel like if it’s too long people won’t read it. But, I like this story and wanted to share : )

So, like the title says, I try to make my first response funny to everything I encounter. It’s so easy to find the funny when you just look for it.

This weekend I was at Spar, a local supermarket, and they just opened this particular location. I have to admit, I was pretty bummed because the café I typically visit was closed, so I had to go to Spar to get some lunch (they have a really great buffet!). I also don’t really buy or cook meat since I’ve lived in South Africa (too expensive) so I eat meat on the weekends when I can go out and have someone else make it for me. (Haha, I hope that doesn’t sound too stereotypical-American.)

Since this is the Spar Superstore grand opening weekend, it’s crazy! There are tons of kids, the local radio station is blasting music and there are these guys on stilts who remind me of, gulp, clowns. (They even have their faces painted white!) And for those of you who know me, I am like deathly afraid of clowns (thanks mom, dad and Stephen King).

So I’m standing in line at the buffet figuring out what I want when I see – out of the corner of my eye – the stilt guy is walking towards me! Yikes! I think. What does he want? I’m not a kid; I don’t want to talk to a skinny clown on stilts. But, then, as I’m about to have a panic attack because he’s getting ever-closer to me, he says in a thick Afrikaaner accent, “It smells like burning.”

I try to bite my lip to keep from laughing (since said clown who smells burning is still right behind me), but I can’t. I just bust-out laughing. In my head, I keep hearing him say “It smells like buuuurning.” In his accent, the ‘u’ in burning is really drawn out and the ‘g’ goes up at the end – like it’s burning but it ends on a happy note. He’s not trying to be funny, it’s just the accent. Afrikaans is the language created by the old Dutch settlers and it's sort of Dutch/German/Swedish sounding. (Say it out loud, you’ll hear it - or in case you need the audio, here's a clip of my re-enactment:)

Casey's janky re-enactment

I have a flashback to when my cousin Patrick and I were kids and used to watch the Simpsons. We’d quote everything Ralph said, like on his Valentine’s Day card to Lisa: “I cho-cho-choose you!” And I swear one episode he says “It tastes like burning” in that dumb sweet kid voice of his.

Now a conversation ensues of where the burning is coming from and the stilt-guy is insistent that the chef go check it out. By this point, I’ve had enough, I’ve got to go, I don’t want to look too crazy laughing to myself!

I eat my food at the food court area and then leave. Thank God. Oh – and while I’m eating, the radio station plays “Karma Chameleon” by Culture Club*/Boy George and “Man, I Feel Like A Woman” by Shania Twain. Where am I?

Ahhh, so anyway.

This is why I love the balance of life. Just when there’s a bad day (café closed) something good or funny will happen (skinny stilt-clown smells burning).

I really do love my life. I never know what’s going to happen!

Sala sentle,

Casey

* I was part of starting the Culture Club at my high school. We went to plays and art museums. I thought it was awesome! But I think it folded the year I graduated. Heck, I went to a high school out towards the sticks. Football and confederate flags were much more popular than the Culture Club that the art teacher started. This side note has nothing to do with anything, other than the band Culture Club reminded me of this fun memory of those three or four outings we took before the whole club fell apart. Maybe if we only had a hit song, the club could have made it… : )

But You're So Fair-Skinned

When I told people I'd be living in Africa for two years, I got a lot of "but Casey, you're so fair-skinned..." I then usually made some joke about stocking up on really high SPF (which I did, in special thanks to my Godmother!) and talked about how much I like freckles - which I really do.

Even with SPF though, I've managed to get quite a few new freckles. Most of them came out during training when it was still summer (February and March). I thought I'd do a classic Before & After to show you some of my new African Freckles, especially my forehead.

And, yes, sadly my hair also gets frizzy in hot environments, so my pre-PC hair was much smoother. Remember, I moved to Michigan for college for a reason : )

Now that I'm working and not having to tredge through the sandhills everyday in direct sunlight, it's a little easier. The sun is pretty intense here. I pray for cloudy days - even just a little! It's funny because I equate bright sunlight with beaches and I am soooo far away from a beach right now. Thank God vacation is coming! Or, holiday, I guess they say here, thanks to English influence : )

Sala sentle,

Casey

I'm on the South Africa US Embassy Site! (Someone Tell My Grandma!)

I am in the Peace Corps group SA19, the 19th group to volunteer in South Africa. Our swearing-in was 2 April 2009. Representatives from the US Embassy were there and lo and behold they wrote something for their website about it! The article is here.

My hair is in the first one, I'm making a weird face in the bottom-left one (we were singing the American National Anthem) and the other...well, I'm tall and wearing heels, so you can kind of see my head in the back : )

Interesting Tidbits About South Africa

Disclaimer: The following facts were taken from Peace Corps, South African news sources (SABC) and talking to South Africans. Should someone who knows more than me about South Africa see an error, please let me know. None of these facts were blatently made up.*

• South Africa's nickname is The Rainbow Nation due to the mixture of people from various world cultures and religions.
  
  
• South Africa's unemployment rate is 23.5%.
  
  
• South Africa's population is 48 million.
  
  
• There are roughly 5.7 milion cases of HIV in South Africa (approximatly 12%, +/- depending on the study). This compares to the US's population of 400 million with an average of 1.5 million cases of HIV.
  
  
• Same-sex marriage is legal (although not entirely welcomed and de-stigmatized culturally).
  
  
• If a political party gets 2/3 of the public vote in the presidential election, the party has the power to legally change the constitution without going through any other political channel.
  
  
• During Apartheid, black South Africans had to carry passes (like passports/IDs) with them whenever they left their village/town/city to show proof of who they were. They could also be forcibly removed from an area if they were there more than the allotted time (like 2-3 days).
  
  
• Only 35% of South Africa's new entrant workforce (who have passed metric - like a high school diploma) will enter the workforce. Of those, 10% will drop out and 55% will never work. (Courtesy of SABC News)
  
  
• Afrikaans, the language created by European settlers in the 1600s, is the newest world language and is only spoken in South Africa.
  
  
• South Africa provides for 10% of the whole of Africa's GDP. A good portion of that is revenue from the mines of diamonds, gold and platinum. (Side note: I live 200K from a platinum mine).
  
  
• A Google search and leafing of NationalGeographic.com reveal that lion deaths are not very common in South Africa and, in fact, lions outside of game preserves are actually more in danger of being killed by poachers. Lions also do not kill friendly, dark-haired women from America, it goes against The African Lion Code.
  

*Except the last sentence of the last bullet, that's for my dad : )

Side Note

I guess it says something about your less-than-fabulous ability to handwash clothes when your laundry inventory list from the laundromat lists "1 - light pink towel" when you don't own any light pink towels and those used to be purple.

My Life

• 5:45 a.m. - Wake up, get ready, eat breakfast
• 6 a.m. - Do those morning breathing exercises that Dr. Oz on Oprah said to do.
• 7 a.m. - Leave for work with my host family (6 of us squeezed into a Kia Picanto, which is like a clown car - je deteste clowns) and my host mother drops her kids at three different schools, me at work and then goes to work herself

Kia Picanto (very smalll!)

• 7:15 to 4 (ish) - Work - which includes all or none of the following (depending on the day): trying to understand what or who my coworkers are gossiping about (in a mix of Zulu, Xholsa and Tswana), writing reports, reviewing documents, editing grants, going to meetings, doing stuff for Peace Corps, etc.
  
  Work Side Note: It's especially funny at work when I hear my coworkers gossiping and then I'll hear 'Kess-ee', which is how they pronounce my name, or 'lekgoa' which means white person. 'Lekgoa' it's usually followed by screaming or really loud laughing. I know some lekgoas, and we can be funny, but I'm not sure that's why they're laughing...)
• 1 to 2 p.m. - Work lunch break which I use to go get groceries or do other shopping. There's a mall two blocks behind where I work and the Post Office is about 5 blocks. There's a grocery store and my bank about 3 blocks away.
• 4:30 p.m. - Get picked up from work by my host mother
• 5 p.m. - Go for a walk/jog, sometimes with my host sister and host brother
• 6 p.m. - Make dinner (I've upgraded to peri-peri mac-n-cheese, yum : ) My host sister asks me if I can actually make anything other than mac-n-cheese, potatoes & onions or pasta with red sauce. I tell her yes, but I'm a lazy cook. Which isn't really true, I love to cook, I just wish I had my own kitchen space to cook. Sharing a kitchen with a family of 7 makes it hard to move around much.
• 6:30 p.m. - Watch 7 de Laan : ) "dit lekker" (it's nice)
• 7 to 9 (ish) - Write, do work, watch DVDs, plan for vacations, balance my checkbook, watch TV, clean, etc. Sometimes I make short phonecalls to the US since the rates drop drastically at 8:30 p.m. Before 8:30 p.m., it's the equivalent of like $1/minute! Yikes!
• 9 (ish) - Plot out how to kill the next flat spider and do one last spider/bug check of my space before sleep.
• 9 (ish) - Do those evening breathing exercises that Dr. Oz on Oprah said to do.
• 9 or 10 p.m. - Go to bed and most nights include listening to the neighbor's dogfighting at night. There's like a huge doghouse (taller than me!) and who knows how many dogs, but at night, they fight pretty rough. Naive me, the first time I heard it, I thought "good dogs, I bet they are scaring off an intruder," yeah right. It's every night. I'm thinking it's a suburban dogfighting cell.

Weekends

• Hand-wash my laundry - which I'm hoping may change soon b/c I found a laundromat in town and it seems clean and safe enough. It's actually a split Landromat/Tattoo Parlor. Fun combination : )
  
  

  Some of my laundry on the line
  

• Walk to town - it takes me about 45 minutes to walk to town and generally very pretty. There's this cute cafe that one of the volunteers showed me and I love the atmosphere! I sit, read, write letters and drink bottomless tea. I usually also go grocery shopping, go to the bank, etc. in town on the weekend. This weekend I actually ran into people I know! It's weird and exciting to actually recognize people now. But that means I always have to wear make-up when I go to town. Well, win some, lose some : )
  
  
• Hang out with other volunteers - there are a few volunteers arond Mafikeng who are actually leaving between June and September. All the other volunteers from my group are clustered in other provinces, but the closest volunteer to me from our group is maybe 2-3 hours driving. Haha, so since I can't drive, that's like a half-day on a public taxi-bus.
  

That's pretty much my life right now. But I'm continuing to meet people and get the guts to ask for rides (I feel like such a mooch doing that!). This weekend I'm going to take the pilgramage to the laundromat and then check out a pizza place (!!) that I found the other day.

Sala sentle,

Casey

How I Spent My Weekend

Tusk Mmabatho Hotel & Casino pool and dining area

Seriously.

It started by going to Tusk Mmabatho Hotel & Casino for some drinks with fellow volunteers.

It ended with a complimentary night's stay, breakfast buffet and lounging by the pool the next morning under a large canvas umbrella.

I love my life.

Casey : )

A Few of My Favorite Things

While I'm endlessly glad that I bought a whole bunch of $5 DVDs on a Day-After-Thanksgiving Sale (gosh will I miss those sales for two seasons!), I am pretty excited about some things I've been able to find in South Africa that are truly South African.


1. DOOM!

So my two biggest worries coming to Peace Corps were (1) bugs and (2) hygiene. During training, Peace Corps gave us this stuff called Doom, basically like Raid, but cooler! This stuff smells better (honestly, they have like 'spring fresh' Doom) and it kills fast! I once shot a couple sprays at a mosquito and he fell down immediately. This is totally why I could never be Buddhist, I like killing bugs too much. Oh, and it can kill those 'flat spiders' - it takes lots more than two sprays, but it'll get 'em!

2. Simba Mexican Chili Chips

I'm not even a chip person, but I love these! I think it's because they have very little salt and mostly flavor. Simba brand has all these crazy flavors like Spare Ribs (seriously!), Tomato Sauce (basically ketchup), HSM Balls Chutney, Salt & Vinegar and I think something else meaty. Who would have ever thought to put meat flavor on chips?!

3. Zing Tropical Juice

Umm ... it's delicious. All my favorite fruits made into once juice for my enjoyment. So good.

4. The soapy, 7 de Laan

Soapys here are crazy! There are so many of them, tons of different languages and some crazy stuff happens. 7 de Laan is the Afrikaans soapy and I'm almost afraid to admit how much I like it. I kinda planned on not watching TV here, but my host family put a TV in my room and I got bored one evening ...

I'm not a soap opera person which is why I think I like this one. It's much less 'soapy' than the rest. No one is getting killed, there aren't any crazy accidents or drug addicts like other soapys have. It's more like a sitcom to me.

And it's all in Afrikaans (with a tiny bit of English) so I can understand this one better - oh, and it's subtitled, but I'm picking up a few words. Most other South African soapys have like 6 of the 11 official languages and it gets confusing, even with subtitles. Some of the other soapys stop subtitles when a character speaks English, but b/c of the accent, I sometimes miss that it's English.

Anyway, 7 de Laan, very good.

5. Black Cat natural Peanut Butter

It's just peanut butter. And it's not marred with all the crazy stuff they put in the peanut butter sold in America. This is just natural for natural's sake. I love it!

6. Tag Lines

So there are some pretty funny tag lines for stuff here. This picture is of Sasko bread's tagline: "Since forever." For whatever reason, it strikes me as so funny b/c there are so many products that are like, "Since 1972" "Since 1909" "Since 1890" - and I think that 1890 one is the Wheat Bix I eat for breakfast... This Sasko one just feels like a little kid who's like, "Oh yeah, your bread is from 1972, well ours is since, uh, well, since forever! ha!"

There's a supermarket called Spar and their tagline is "Good for You" and the lady on the commercial says it kind of condescending with undue inflection on the 'you', it's pretty funny. I tried to find a clip of it, but I couldn't. It's like, why not good for me and my family? Why not good for my wallet? Nope, just good for me. haha.

7. Law & Order: SVU

Yes, it's here! And I think they're the new ones! SVU is my favorite among the L&O series and I've pretty much seen every one ever made and the one last week was totally new to me - yay! I've also found 30 Rock (season 1 though...) and some crazy show I've never heard of - Work with Me. Anybody? It's got Nancy Travis, who was in So I Think I Married An Axe Murderer with Mike Myers from the 90s. It's also got that adorable guy from Can't Hardly Wait, the guy who's in love with Jennifer Love Hewitt. Anyway, it looks like it was a sitcom in the 90s but I totally don't remember this.

That's the short list and I'm sure I'll have more as I continue to live here.

Sala Sentle (stay well)

Casey

Overheard in Mafikeng

My little 5-year-old host brother, Realeboga, talking to his 9-year-old sister, Ororiseng, in the car. The radio show was talking about the election results and mentioned ANC president Jacob Zuma.

R: "Zuma presidente ka eng?" Zuma is the president of what? (huge grin on his face)
O: (blank look)
R: "Presidente thaltswa dikoloi!" President of washing cars! (huge belly laughs while he makes a 'wax-on-wax-off' motion)
O: (rolls her eyes)

Haha, kids.

My New P.O. Box

I decided it's easier for me to have my own P.O. Box so I can check when I need to (and the key at work kept disappearing...).

My new P.O. Box is 1973. That's the only part different, the rest is all the same. It's updated under Coorespondence too.

Best,
Casey

Editor's Note: Layout Change

I began to realize that lots of people had the same layout I previously had (surprise, when I picked it from a group of templates ...). So I decided to switch it up.

I also really love green : )

Best,
Casey

Election Fever

This Wednesday marks the third election of post-apartheid, democratic South Africa. There has been quite a bit of buzz!

I will mention upfront that I am certainly no expert on politics in South Africa. I just wanted to talk a little bit about the way politics work in South Africa, from what I've heard and understand.

And, honestly, since I'm still bouncing back from election fatigue and campaigning in the US, I've mostly avoided any election news or debates. We had almost two years of that in America, so I'm finished for awhile!

Anyway ... : )

Since 1994, the ANC (African National Congress) has been leading the country. It's the party Nelson Mandela was part of that elected him the first black president of South Africa. There is quite a bit of history with the ANC, which I won't go into, but for more info: http://www.anc.org.za/.

There are multiple visible political parties in South Africa that represent each racial or geographic demographic and some that are for unity, etc. (Unlike the major two-party system I'm used to in the US.) Due to the racial skewing during apartheid, when the country became democratic, the government made sure each racial group had representation.

Also, in South Africa, citizens vote for the party and then the party elects the president. That was also something quite new to me.

There are posters everywhere and so when I was walking to town I took pictures of the ones I saw (since some parties are more geographical in nature, not all parties are represented with signage in Mafikeng).

And the ID sign, I just love their hutspah!

On some signs, since they appeal to racial and geographic areas, they'll write in English and the mother tongue. The dominant language in Mafikeng is Setswana and you can see some Setswana on the SAPP and STEM signs. Pretty interesting.

The elections take place on Wednesday and it's a public holiday, so people have the whole day to go and vote - isn't that nice?! So I'll have that day off too. I'll probably just handwash some laundry : )

South African citizens internationally had an opportunity to vote last week and I watched some coverage about that. The majority of South Africans living abroad are located in England. They also showed polls in DC, New York and LA. But I think they said only about 1,000 South Africans had voted in the US. They said about 7,000 votes were placed by South Africans living abroad.

From what I've heard, results should be announced on Thursday or Friday. There has been a lot surrounding this election, so it will be interesting to see in which direction the country will go.

That's all from my news desk. Good night and good luck : )

Casey

Welcome to Mafikeng, South Africa

Dumelang!

I thought it would be fun to post a video of the shopping complex closest to me. It's about a 10-minute drive or 40 minutes walking. There's a grocery store, Wimpy restaurant, Clicks (like CVS), FNB (my bank), a Fruit & Veg shop, Internet cafe and an eating cafe. It's pretty nice.

I feel pretty lucky b/c in the village we stayed in, Seabe, there were like three identical shops that sold basics like rice, drinks, canned food, bread and such. And, seriously, that's it. No banks, no fresh fruit/vegetables, no restaurants, etc.

Video of a Mafikeng Shopping Complex

During training, Peace Corps just gave us food boxes w/ staple items. Luckily, I got to take some of those items with me to Mafikeng. (Mostly so I could save money and not buy new stuff for awhile!) So I've been trying to come up with new food dishes, especially things I can put curry into : )

I've come to the realization I can't make restaurant-quality Indian food, so I've given up on that and pretty much just try to put curry into other stuff!

So ....... I made curry mac-n-cheese! I have to say I felt like a Zingerman doing crazy new things with mac-n-chz! (Although this mac-n-chz was quite a bit cheaper than the stuff in Ann Arbor!) Sometimes I even put diced tomatoes into it - yum! : )

Yum - curry mac-n-chz!
(sorry it's blurry!)

When I was walking around town this weekend, I thought I'd take a picture of the SAMAG office. It's a relatively small office, 7 staff plus me. And, oh yeah, everything has barbed wire on it, so you can see that on the door.

SAMAG office

Best to you for a fabulous week!

Casey : )

Winter is Coming

It's kind of funny; people keep telling us that "winter is coming" but it's hard to believe when the sun shines bright everyday and the temperature is 28 C (around 82 F). At night it gets kind of cold, like low 50s and will apparently get into the 40s by July. Generally my theory is that winter only comes at night and then goes away.

In any case, I'm very excited for winter! It sounds like it's just about perfect - beautiful and warm during the day and cool for sleeping at night.

I thought I'd put up some pictures since I haven't had good connections before to post photos.

Mandela sign at the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg (Joburg)

Scenery in Marapyane, Mpumalanga Province

(Just down the road from the training college)

Our Setswana language group at swearing-in: Amy, Glenn, Magdeline (teacher) and me

(not pictured from our small group: Jackie)

Anne and Casey at Swearing-In

Some of the ladies at the Family Farewell function

Back row: Laura, Casey and Amy

Front Row: Nadine, Nisah and Sharleen

The whole group at Swearing-In

As goes the curse of being tall when pictures are taken, I'm in the back, you can kind of see my face near the middle...

(The country director, McGrath, is on the far left of front row and the associate director of training, Lisa, on the far right standing.)

Sharp Sharp

South Africa is a very interesting place to be with some first world areas, some third world areas and lots of Western influence (mostly from the U.K. and America). I thought it would be interesting to highlight some of these similarities.

• Soapys! These are like soap operas only much more intense! (And they move faster than American soaps.) I think a better comparison is that South African "soapys" are like Tele Novella in Mexico. Very dramatic! Here's a clip to one called Generations on YouTube. There are several others like Soul City, Isidingo and 7 de Laan (Afrikaans soapy).
• English phrases. Like the bathroom is called the 'loo' and apartments are called 'flats.' (I haven't seen an elevator yet, but I have it on good report that it would be called a lift!)
• Cricket, rugby and soccer is actually called soccer. So silly me, I thought that outside the US they called soccer football, but in South Africa, I haven't heard anyone yet call it football. And I thought cricket was played with mallets, but it looks more like a cross between hockey and baseball .... (what are the shin guards for?!)
  

Setswana Words and Phrases (Just for fun!)

• Sharp, Sharp (or just Sharp) - meaning: it's all good, cool, etc.
• Le kae "luh-kai" - meaning literally: where are you?; taken as: how are you?
• Ke teng "kay-tang" - meaning literally: I am here; taken as: good
• Ke a leboga "kay-ah-lay-boh-hah" - meaning: thank you
• Gape "hah-pay"- meaning literally: again; taken as: repeat (I used this a lot!)
• Ema "ay-mah" - meaning: stop
• Ga ke itse "hah-kay-eat-see" - meaning: I don't know
• Ga go na matatha "hah-hoh-nah-muh-tat-hah" - no worries, no problem (think Lion King, Setswana is close to Swahili, where they have the phrase "hakuna mathatha"
  
• Short left or short right - meaning: asking the taxi driver to make a short stop (yeah, I know it's in English, but I still think it's funny)

On a happy note, I passed my language exam (yay!) and I'm officially in Mafikeng at my new site! We swore-in on Thursday and I arrived about 9:30 that night. Now I'm just unpacking and getting into the local culture.

Much love,

Casey