So as of August 28th I am no longer a trainee, I'm an official Peace Corps Volunteer. There was a ceremony at the embassy in Mbabane (I wore a hot red dress) and we got to meet the king's first wife, Her Majesty Inkhosikati La-Matsebula. It was wonderful to spend a few days in the capital. We had the chance to purchase some household items for our new homes. More importantly, we got milkshakes and cheeseburgers. I may not have been a huge fan of KFC in the United States, but I love it here. Our final night in the village of Khiza consisted of a wonderful send-off party by our host mothers. There was even chocolate cake!
Early on the 29th we, with our massive amounts of luggage, were divided into groups and driven to our permanent sites. It's a little daunting to be left all by yourself in an unfamiliar place, with a family that is still relatively new to you. The next 3 months are what we call integration. This means, I'm supposed to be integrating into my community (!). I'm allowed to work, but I can't start any major projects until after in-service training at the end of November.
The past 2 weeks I have spend familiarizing myself w/ the village of Phobane. I work with a great Swazi dude named Bongani, (my official Peace Corps-assigned counterpart). We've visited the clinic, homesteads, community leaders, NGOs, and all sorts of stuff. School is starting this week so we will be dropping in on the high school to see what sort of assistance they might need from a Peace Corps volunteer.
My new host family is incredible. Make and Babe Ndwandwe are really young (Make is 23) so they don't actually try to "parent" me, which is such a relief. I also have a feisty sister, Lindiwe (age 16) who's been adopted by the Ndwandwes. We all watch Generations together.
I'm still adjusting to Swazi culture. What amazes me is how short the Swazi grapevine is. I've been introduced to people in the community who will tell me "Ah! I hear you went to the store yesterday." Clearly, I'm being watched. Yesterday, I saw my closest PCV neighbors (Hillary and Jay Jackson, 2 villages and 1 mountain over) at the opening of our new youth center. The first words out of Hillary's mouth were "So I hear you hurt your ankle?" Peace Corps is not kidding about living in a fishbowl!
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Where did you get a red dress? What is the queen like? I don't know if you always played nice with others, I remember some stories of you torturing me a bit...It's okay, I forgive you. KFC has always been marvelous; do they have the same menu as here? Congrats on being a legit volunteer!
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