The nation-wide shut down correlates almost exactly with Group 6's six month anniversary of arriving in Swaziland. After six months we're well o our way to adjusting, settlign into routines, and this is starting to actually feel like our lives again. The edge wearing off coupled with the cgloom of the holidays away from home in addition to the lack of work mean it's time for vacation.
PCVs vacation hard. For us (at least for some) travel is not to get out and experience a new local culture and more what Africa has to offer. It is for a change of scenery and to grasp some of the things we sorely miss. In Maputo, we didn't go to museums, local markets, or cultural shows. Rather, we h ung out at the malle, saw a movie (Nim's Island. . . not that great), went to several coffee shops (and a juice bar!), showered three times a day, and ate a ton of seafood.
Soem might be disappointed in me when I say that I spent more time with Afrikaners than Mozambiquans. Partially because there aren't too many locals in hostels, but also because I miss speaking English at a native level. I miss being sarcastic, I miss being able to not take my work home with me. On vacation we get to take a break from the fish-bowl effect. In Moxambique I could order a drink from a bar and not have to worry about my host family, my community, and the PC office hearing about it. I h ad conversations where no one asked me to marry them, give them money, or find them a job. I had conversations where no one cares that I was white. It was glorious.
We did try the local cuisine, and it was delicious. But we also spent a couple nights havign pizza or just cheese and crackers. Certainly, we weren't looking to avoid local culture. But we've had a big dose of culture these past months and we're not looking to be good travelers or even laid-back tourists. For me, this trip was about being my authentic, Western, non-working self, in a beautiful country away from the prying eyes of my Swazi friends and family.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Swazi shut down
December and January are difficult months here in the Swaz. Between Christmas, New yYear, and Incwala (a traditional celebration) the whole country is more or less shut down. Schools and government offices close and it seems as though the limited private industries look on in the envy and think "Eh, let's pack it in too." For the average PCV this is excruciating. The pace of life here could already be described as painful, but the holiday season can be downright mind-numbing. Especially since the bulk of my time has been spent with the schools, I've been out of luck. Along with my boredom I've also been jealously listening to my fellow voluinteers talking about their clinic work. My community doesn't have a clinic. the nearest medical facility is Njanini, which doesn't need me, seeing as a married set of volunteers lives next door. However, a nearby volunteer named Amanda left early (we miss her) and has left a relatively close clinic without a volunteer. Am I above poaching my friend's turf? Of course not.
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