Lazy Sunday

Seriously lazy. Today is freezing (sorry east coaster's), a brisk 50 degrees. Funny thing is, we joke about Californian's reactions to cold, rain, or any type of severe weather, but they ain't got NOTHIN on South Africans. Granted, central heating isn't exactly abundant in this neck of the woods, but once a single cloud covers the sun or the temperature drops below 65, people lose it. Women travel with multiple blankets covering them, children are kept inside, and even my running group won't dare to spend one hour of the day subjected to the brutalities of winter. All I hear is distressed complaints of "kumakhaza (it's cold)" over and over again. A few weeks ago, when I was at church in Pretoria, I was sitting and having coffee before the service started. Some lady came up to me and said "What is your story?" A bit confused, I started to tell her, and she said "I knew you weren't from around here." Even more confused, I asked her what gave me away, and she replied "Look around, you are the only one not wearing a sweater." It was definitely no less than 65 degrees that day. So since it is both cold and rainy today, I'm still in bed (it's 12, oops), catching up on e-mails, reading other volunteers blogs, uploading pictures (check them out!), and watching movies. How any PCV lives without electricity and an external harddrive filled with movies/tv shows, podcasts, and music (all acquired by completely legal means of course) I will never know.

One thing I will complain about, regarding the cold, is the bucket bath. yikes. I boil the water, I point my space heater directly at my face, I warm my towel up before I put it on. Regardless, it's painful. One time, I had the brilliant idea of sitting inside my bucket (pretty much exactly like the picture of my two host brothers). Everything was going swimmingly until I displaced all of the water, soaked my entire floor, and was left even colder than when I started. Oh well, you win some you lose some.

On the work front, I'm finishing up my Community Needs Assessment and starting to prepare myself for the projects I want to start once lockdown is over. My organization and much of the community wants to set up a drop in center for orphans and vulnerable children to come after school and get fed/help with homework/play games, etc. We have the space and the help, so I'm hopeful that we'll be able to get that off the ground once we can get some $$. The nurses at the clinic are hoping to start up support groups for those affected by HIV/Aids, with different groups for men, women, pregnant mothers, and children. The educators at the schools want to start after-school programs for the learners, because right now the only extra-curricular activities they are engaging in are alcohol and sex. Though I'm overwhelmed by the need and my limited resources, I'm really excited about the prospects of these projects and what outcomes they might bring.

This weekend I was in Pretoria, taking care of some stuff at the PC office, and hanging out with the volunteers who are about to COS (close of service, i.e. go home). Some of them live nearby to me and have been really helpful with advice on adjusting, and working hard to welcome us newbies. They are also a lot of fun and I'm going to miss them a great deal when they leave. In Pretoria we went out to some delicious meals (pizza, obvi) and saw Sex and the City 2. For those who haven't seen it, don't waste your money. I'm still angry about how absolutely awful it was and I only paid $3 to see it. I then went grocery shopping and stocked up one some good foods that we can't get on this side (hummus!) and headed home. As I lay in bed writing this, my host mom just knocked on the door and said come. I'm still in my pajamas and definitely have not brushed my hair, and I walk into the house to see 5 family members who I haven't yet met sitting in the living room waiting to greet me. Awesome. Though people here may be poor, they take a lot of pride in their appearance. Most people wear clothes nicer than the ones that I had brought, and shoes are huge. Girls trek through the dirt roads in 5 inch heels. And another weird thing, somehow their shoes are always immaculately clean. Without a doubt I always have the dirtiest shoes and get many disapproving looks when I jump onto the bus looking like I've been camping for the past 3 months. So, yes, I am more than a little embarrassed right now.

World Cup is less than 2 weeks away, and people are going crazy. Commercials and advertisements flood TV, radio, and the streets, and every Friday people wear Bafana Bafana (South Africa's team which did not qualify to play but since they were hosting it were allowed to participate, shame) jerseys to show their support. Everyone who doesn't know me in my village or shopping town assumes that I'm here for the World Cup, which is slightly annoying but also kind of funny because even if I was, why would I be out here in the middle of nowhere? Prices for everything (food, clothes, transport) are quickly skyrocketing and my humble Peace Corps stipend is not, so I am having to limit myself to 1 pizza instead of 3 when I go into the city. Just kidding. Or am I? I will be going to a game or two (was able to get SA resident prices for tickets, only about $20 while the rest of the America is paying hundreds...suckas) If anyone is planning on coming out, let me know!
Peace,
Emily