Briefly. . .

I want to thoroughly update my blog however each day comes and goes with more happening and I continue procrastinating. The thought of summarizing two months in a concise entry is overwhelming. So I am just going to begin by talking about life and then catching up the rest later.
Last Friday we had our swearing in as volunteers. We had a great ceremony with speeches by the US Ambassador and two PCVs who spoke in Sepedi and Siswati. The principals whom we will be working with over the next two years attended and after we ate a traditional feast (sour pap, cabbage, beets, chicken, setempa- I’ll explain these foods later. . .) we were swept away- each to a different village.
I drove two hours from Mpumalanga to the area of GaMasemola which is in the Limpopo Province just maybe 50km south of Polokwane. The village I stay in is 5 km from a main road and my nearest PCV, Kelly, said her principal referred to the area in which I live as the “bush”. I am absolutely in love with my village. We are located in a semi-mountainous area with gravel everywhere. There are approximately 800 residents here, 2 tuck shops, my key primary school Mannyetha, and a ridiculous amount of goats.
I am adjusting to daily life which seems to revolve around the Lebelle River. The 2km winding path that takes me from home to the river slowly transforms from low-lying prickly bushes, aloe plants, and dust to lush grasses and massive trees. Since it has not rained here since March I walk (or rather glide at a slow African pace) with my sisters to the river each day. Once we pass the herds of cows that feast on the tall river grasses it’s a sprint down the warm sand to the rivers edge. We scrub down the 20L buckets with pebbles. I never seem to clean my bucket up to Pleasure’s standards- she always insists on “helping” me. Then the girls help me wrap a scarf for my head and hoist the container up. The first time I carried a ½ bucket, but since then I’ve been able to carry my share of water. The neighbors stare and laugh from their yard. I just shout “Ke na le mathla!” (“I have power!”) Lebelle is also where I wash my clothes, swim, and occasionally am lucky enough to spot a monkey in the trees. But I’ve learned to keep sightings to myself so that the boys don’t take out there slingshots. Slingshots lead to monkeys moving across the trees until there’s no where to go but down, from there the dogs take over chasing until. . . well let’s just say it’s not a pretty end.
I’m staying in a room that has a door leading directly outside, but I’m just a wall away from my 20 year old brother. Then main home is steps away; we share a concrete patio. In the main home stays my mother who only speaks Sepedi, my father who worked in a DeBeers mine for 30 years and four children. Daily life consists of: heating water over a fire in the fire hut, taking baths in a bucket not much larger than a couple huge dog bowls, peeing in pit toilet during the day, at night in a small bedside bucket, and fetching firewood from near the river (the only place to find trees). It’s amazing how quickly a person can adjust. One thing for sure, I’ve relearned all things I knew in the states and nothing is simple.
I’m exhausted from today, dust down my lungs, sun on my skin, lots of walking. . . I promise to write more later.