Lovely Pretoria

One of the nicer things about being in PC South Africa is the fact that the first world is very close to us. In my village I have no running water, I use a pit toilet, and suffer through the dust and heat, but unlike many other PCVs around the world I can hop on a bus for about 6 hours and arrive in a city that is so completely like the US I could swear I'm back in Boston (except substitute the Boston accents for SeSotho and Afrikaans). Of course, this also creates for a huge transition every time we come to Pretoria. While it is one of the nicer things about being in South Africa, it is also one of the more difficult problems PCVs face here. In other countries, you have the village, and the capital city is actually not all that different from the village. Niamey, Niger was like that. We were living in a city, but it did not feel like a real city. Pretoria definitely is. Thus, a lot of volunteers have trouble adapting to village life, because they know that so close is a place that is almost exactly like home, and so visit it a lot. Luckily, I am far enough away from Pretoria and any other big city that I do not feel the urge to visit every weekend, and I am not frivolous enough with my money (ok, I'm dead cheap) to do so; so coming to Pretoria is a real treat for me. It is wonderful to come to a place where there are restaurants, where I can take hot showers, I can use free internet, and also see the smaller luxuries like paved roads, sidewalks, and grass.
I think one of the reasons I like coming to Pretoria is that random stuff can happen. For example, I am here in the city for a few days for my mid-service medical exam, and because Pretoria is a hub for travel around the rest of the country, I have seen like 20 other volunteers, many of whom I have not seen for about 6 months. We all stay in the same area, so often times we see each other at the backpackers, Peace Corps office, and even by running smack dab into each other on the street. Along with random meetings of others, random entertainment takes place as well. The week I was here, my friend Jillian discovered a free film festival at one of the malls-all European films with sub-titles, but it was free damnit! Who cares where the movies are from? So in the past 3 days I have seen five different films, without spending ant money at all! Like that would ever happen in the village! Finally, just weird things can happen that make great stories. Kelsey and I were walking to the mall one afternoon, and we noticed a man walking towards us holding a pigeon in one hand. I was looking at the pigeon, trying to figure out if it was alive or not (definitely did not look so good, its eyes were open, but it was rather limp and scruffy looking). The guy noticed me looking at it, so he stopped us and began speaking rapidly in Afrikaans (a quick note: it is a common belief in South Africa that all white people speak Afrikaans- it does not matter where you come from, you speak Afrikaans. I have been in my village for a year and still my neighbors and family do not believe me when I say that I don't speak Afrikaans) and started waving the dead pigeon around. We had no idea what was going on, until the guy started offering us the dead pigeon and naming prices. Kelsey and I realized that the guy was trying to sell us this pigeon... at least we think so. Actually, I am still rather confused about the entire situation; but he DID try to give us the pigeon, until we firmly stated that we did not want it. What on earth would I do with a dead pigeon? A dead chicken, maybe. I know how to pluck those and cut them up into pieces... and I suppose that a pigeon would not be all that different; probably tastes similar also. But I don't think that I want to eat it. But, it just goes to show, rather random things happen in Pretoria- making it a very amusing place to visit.

Flee! Part 5

Thank goodness that kelsey and i are good friends, because i'm certain another night of the twins screaming would have driven me insane. I really needed sleep! And
It is also a good thing that we both follow the PCV rule number 1: NEVER piss off your nearest volunteer, you never know when you might need to be a refugee for the night.

Flee! Part 4

I'm certain they think i'm some sort of monster. But, that's not really hard to understand as i'm probably the first white person they've gotten close to. So, to make it easier for them and our ears, i try not to get so close. But no matter where you are in the house you can hear them. Unfortunately our accoustics are very good. And as they like to cry all night, after three weeks of little sleep, i fled to stay with Kelsey, my nearest volunteer.

Flee! Part 3

But considering that's only for about 5 minutes a day, they really aren't that cute. These two love to cry, i don't understand it! They eat a little bit then cry, sleep a little bit, then cry, crawl a little bit, then cry. Cry cry cry. How is it that their tear ducts haven't completely dried out yet? It's a miracle that they haven't drowned. But the only source of humor that these kids provide is that they are terrified of me. They scream when i get too close.

Flee! Part 2

Last weekend was one where i just needed to flee. I really do like my village, but lately my home has been over crowded with not one, not two, but THREE babies under the age of one. If staying with these babies has done anything for me, it has strengthened my assertations that i am never having children. The 2 month old, my host brother's daughter, isn't bad. But it's the Terrible Twins, my host sister's kids that make me want to scream. They are nine months old and are cute when they aren't crying.

Flee! Part 1

One of the nice things about my area is that there are a good number of other pcvs around. You never know when life in the village might get to be a little too much, and the need to get out and see another volunteer takes hold.
Even if it is only for an afternoon, talking to someone who knows what you are going through can do wonders for keeping your sanity. And then there are times when you just need to leave the village completely for a free weekend (we get one of those a month).

The Miracles of Technology Part 4

But of course there are problems to this new development. For starters you might have noticed that this entry is in parts. Typing on a phone only allows as many characters
as a regular text message. So, everything I type now is going to be
in installments. Basically all my entries and emails will be like really long sms', which I just find plain amusing. Apologies for the annoyance, but at least I can update more often and send out more emails. For an easy access to internet, I will take what I can get.

The Miracles of Technology Part 3

I've forgotten what a pain in the ass dial modems are. And so as I tried to get my internet connection hooked up, my blogging and email took a back seat as I really could not bring myself to go to a cafe when I was so close to internet myself. But last night I had an epiphany. Perhaps I was expecting too much. Why couldn't I send emails and update my blog from the phone? And so here is the first update not from a computer but from my cell phone! Will the wonders of technology ever cease?

The Miracles of Technology Part 2

So, I could be sitting in my house with no running water, chickens and goats running through the yard and a pretty dismal pit toilet and surf the net. It is definitely an odd blend. Now, when I bought the phone I learned that I could hook it to a computer and voila! A real internet connection. And
using the internet through a cell phone is ten times cheaper than going to an internet cafe, so I decided to try it. 2 months and hours of frustration later I am still not there.

The miracles of technology Part 1

Well, I am afraid that I have been very neglectful of my blog for the past month or so. I don't really have a reason, but I do have an excuse. I blame my neglect on technology. Interesting excuse, right? Why would the wonders of technology keep me from updating? Well, soon after the last vacation I went on I went on a shopping spree and bought a cell phone with internet connection. Amazing contraption.
It uses the phone networks to connect, so as long as i have reception I can connect to the internet.