Brief & Random

So I arrived in Johannesburg on July 15 and immediately traveled to Marapyane College, an abandoned teachers college in the Mmpumalanga Province. Some years ago the government did an audit of the country and determined there were too many teachers. The solution? Close 20 teachers colleges. . . here we are today with 17,000 unfilled teaching positions.
The 44 of us stayed in the college dorms for the first week. We ate 5 meals a day, 2 of which were tea breaks complete with sandwiches and biscuits. We met our language trainers, the country director, and our first chickens. It turns out roosters can crow all night and truly are alarm clocks. That first week my body began to adjust to waking at 6 and now sometimes I roll over at 5:45. All of us were given a great deal of information in preparation for moving into home stays where we stayed for the first 2 months. So what exactly did we need to know before moving in with a rural South African family?
- how to bathe in a bucket (top down with a towel underneath yourself)
- hold your elbow when shaking hands to show respect
- people show affection by holding hands with those of the same sex
- they will assume that those of us who are white speak Africaans
- they will except those of us who are black to learn the language quickly
- how to wash clothes in a bucket
- get up before your parents to pour out your pee bucket
- people go to sleep after “Generations” (soap opera @ 8pm)
- food in the fridge is everyone’s food, the only food that’s yours is in your belly
- ONLY use your right hand when accepting –anything- never use your left (My brother just handed me a pen and I reached for it with my left he pulled back until I reached with my right. Also interestingly women only paint the nails on their left hand!)
What did the South African parents need to know about Americans?
- we drink a lot of water
- if we are sitting alone somewhere it does not mean we are lonely
- we like to read
* Since apartheid has ended villages and signs are slowly changing from Africaans names to Sotho names. Many villages have two names now i.e. Warmbads to Bela Bela, Pietersberg to Polokwane.
* Pap is many peoples “favorite food” it’s eaten most days by most people. It’s essentially finely ground mealie meal/corn meal . . . it’s eaten as a soft porridge for breakfast and as a thick solid oblong ball for lunch and dinner. Generally it’s eaten with grated tomatoes or sopa, a thick brown gravy with beans. . . I think. Whatever the case it has grown on me and is making me grow.
. . . Which brings me to weight. At my first homestay my mother grabbed my arm fat and said “OOO, you’re getting fat!” Then when I arrived at my permanent site the second time my brother Puku said “What do they feed you in Marapyane? Your cheeks are fat.” Then there’s my new host father who insists on my eating all the time. Each of these comments led me into a cultural conversation. Here people want to be fat, which they also consider strong. They want me to also be fat so that everyone can see I’m not suffering. These comments I may(?)get used to in time. . . but until then they are motivation for me to run with the girls in my village!

Ubuntu. Philosophy of life here. It means essentially I am because you are. How I love this place, these people, this life.