Fire!
Well, we set the neighborhood on fire today. And no, that’s not a metaphor. I wasn’t technically involved in the starting of the fire but I still feel partially responsible. Julia and Shady were burning the trash in the trash pit, but as it was a windy day, the fire spread. Since it’s winter, there is plenty of dry grass all over the place that loves a good fire. So apparently nobody noticed the fire spreading until it had burned all the way down the field in the back of the house and through the fence into the neighbors’ yards. So in an attempt to put the fire out before it spread further, Julie, Rorisang, Shady and I spent at least an hour carrying buckets of water across a thistle-filled field and through a barbed-wire fence for about an hour in an attempt to put the fire out. Had there been a tap close by we might have had more success but with the distance we had to carry our water buckets there really wasn’t much hope. The neighbors wouldn’t come out to help either so Julia eventually called off the fire-fighting attempts. Gogo was less than pleased when she returned from church to find half of her field burnt and the fire still spreading across the neighborhood. She told us we must apologize to the neighbors, but depending on how much the fire reaches we may have to do a lot more than that.
Critters:
I found a chameleon in the middle of the road last week while on my run. I almost stepped on him but lucky for the both of us I didn’t. I was enchanted by the idea of a chameleon and a little curious so I bent down to get a closer look only to realize that one of his legs was bent funny and he was lying on his side, unable to move. So I picked him up and carried him the remaining 15 minutes to my house where I pondered what to do with him. Rorisang totally freaked out at me when she saw him since she really hates anything resembling a lizard or a snake. I thought he was really cute though, with the buggy eyes that move every which way. I kept him as a pet for about a day but then went away for the weekend so I put him under a tree in the hopes he would catch some bugs. When I returned he was gone so either he found a way to mobilize himself or was eaten by something else…
Again with the sickness:
I had yet another bout of sickness a few weeks ago. It turned out to just be a 48-hour stomach flu but was very un-fun all the same. I learned that one can pass out when one has the flu and that waking up in the village from passing out is a little less than ideal. And seriously, I’ve been sick way too many times in the last year and I’ve promised my mother to start taking multi-vitamins. I hope it helps. Although, I’d consider myself pretty gosh darn healthy to begin with. I get plenty of sleep, stay hydrated, eat vegetarian but get enough protein, and exercise regularly! I think all the sickness comes from being around children all day every day in the schools and unintentional encounters with bad water. I’m just hoping that all these new bugs will result in a stronger immune system.
Strike Season:
Strike season is back in full swing. You may remember from posts about a year ago that both the postal service, and the national telephone company decided to go on strike. Well this year it’s the teachers! They are demanding an 8.6% salary increase as well as a housing allowance increase from the government. They did strike stuff Tuesday so nobody was at school then but since then it’s been a little different for each school. My schools were open the rest of last week but now there’s talk of continuing the strike next week. It’s a little confusing but Peace Corps has told us not to go to school in the event of a strike so it seems that most of us are just taking it one day at a time.
The Terrible Two’s:
Baby Kamano is quickly turning into a toddler and jumping right into the “terrible two’s” well before his 2nd birthday. He’s started hitting me when I refuse to give him my food and feeding his own food to the dog, much to the chagrin of his mother. But he’s also starting to talk a lot more and as such I’m learning a lot of Setswana from him!
Play dates!
I’ve had a few fun weekend adventures lately. A few weeks ago I met some friends in Rustenburg where we ran a 5k fun run and supported our friend Liz who was awesome and rocked a 25k mountain race. I’ve been a lot more into running lately but running up and down a mountain for 25 kilometers is still waaaay beyond me. Last weekend I made the long trek out to the Northern Cape for the first time. About half of our group lives in the Northern Cape province, in or on the edge of the Kalahari and it’s quite a long haul from where I live much closer to Pretoria. From Rustenburg, a 2-hour trip from where I live, it took about 6 hours of public taxi rides and it took me much longer to get back home, with an overnight stop halfway. It’s not a trip I’ll volunteer to do often but it was really great to finally see Kuruman, the town so oft talked about by these folks, and of course, to see friends that I rarely get the chance to spend time with. Aaaand, this means I’ve now officially been to all nine of the provinces! Woohoo! Limpopo is the only province I have yet to spend any significant time in, but there’s still plenty of time for that.
What was especially interesting to me on this trip was to see the difference in the rural areas in my part of the country and theirs. The areas farther west of here, starting around Mafikeng, are far more impoverished than where I am. This can be attributed to the fact that where I live mines and factories surround us and provide solid jobs for members of rural communities, not to mention our proximity to Pretoria and Jo’burg, surround us. Aside from this though, I also noticed a difference in the people. Gogo thinks this is because the areas around Mafikeng and Kuruman are much closer to Botswana and thus, more engrained in the traditional Setswana culture, whereas here so many people are trying to urbanize and be cool city folk. Or something along those lines. I’d hate to generalize but I think she might be onto something. It might just be one of those “the grass is greener on the other side” things, but the people I encountered on taxis and whatnot on my journey seemed much more friendly and carefree that side.
Winter is still here…a cold front came in this week just as it was looking like summer was creeping it’s way in. It’s been quite chilly but I’m still trying to enjoy it while I can since I know I’ll most likely be miserable when the summer heat returns.
Alrighty, that’s all I’ve got for now. Everyone in Iowa- please stay dry and hydrated! This flood business/water shutdown doesn’t sound good!
