Blog Entry # 2, from exile

August 26, 2007

Today is my host brother’s birthday. We began the day by singing “happy birthday” to him while he was still in bed. He’s fifteen and very much a teenager who puts a lot of effort into being cool. I really, really like him. During breakfast a song came on the local radio station and my host mom and brother got up and sang and danced together. It was fun and sweet – a great way to start a Sunday! I only have two and a half weeks left with this family. (I’ll be gone for a week visiting my permanent site in a week) and I will really miss them when I’m gone. My host mom blows me away with her independence, her sassy-ness, and her sense of humor. I’ve promised to come back and visit during the next two years and I know it will be a promise I will fulfill.
Today is also special because I’m learning to make “dumpling” which is bread that is steamed on the stove top instead of baked in an oven. Our oven is a wood burning oven that the family rarely uses (it hasn’t been used once in the four weeks I’ve been here). We cook on a hot plate, outside on the fire, or on a paraffin stove. I’m afraid of the paraffin stove (it explodes sometimes and lets off nasty fumes) so all of my cooking is adapted to the hotplate or the fire. Learning to make dumpling is huge for me because it means I can make my own whole grain bread when I’m cooking for myself at site. The dough is rising in the sunshine as I write this.
This afternoon I’ll probably see my friends Megan and Mike. Megan is a passionate “bollo” (soccer) player and she has organized a Sunday afternoon game. Megan and Mike are great company. They are clever and tough minded with a good mix of dark humor. When we get together the conversations are often a bit absurd but always good. It’s nice to have people around to keep my mind sharp! I won’t be playing soccer but I feel an obligation to learn about the game as part of my cultural assimilation. For the record, I’m officially a “Chiefs Supporter” although I’m not totally clear what that entails – I just know everyone in my host family likes the Chiefs so I have become a fan by association.
My language skills are developing slowly. I’m pretty frustrated by my slow progress but I have to remember four weeks ago I couldn’t express ANYTHING n Setswana and now I’m regularly having simple conversations entirely in Setswana. Mostly, I just push myself to us as much Setswana as possible mixed with my English (I’ve mentally dubbed this combo “Swinglish”). Sure, I have the vocabulary of an inarticulate two-year old but at least I know I worked hard to sound like a toddler! I’m getting used to being laughed at for my blundering word (mis)use.
I’m getting really excited to find out where my permanent site will be. We find out Friday. It’s really strange to have so little control over where I will be living for the next two years. Within a week, I’ll know what village I’ll be living in, if I’ll be living in a host family’s main house or outbuilding, what schools I’ll be working with, who my supervisors will be, what town I’ll be closest to ( and how close – some villages are 2+ hours from the shopping town), and what Peace Corps volunteers will be closest to me. There are so many variables that will shape my experience for the next two years! This week promises to be a waiting game filled with questions/demands from some of the other trainees who seem less willing/capable to realize they don’t have control of the site decisions…..
I need to go study Setswana. The adjectives are driving me insane but I suppose someday, under some unforeseeable circumstance, I may need to say “the tall man”.