Today.

I must share my day with all of you out there (well, I know my mom is reading this anyway...hi mom)!  This morning I woke up at my normal time – too early (you don’t want to know). It’s been cold (yes, cold!!) and rainy here so getting motivated to run in the morning can be challenging. But I am on my final month of training for this insane run. Anyway, in the name of Peace Corps safety we all have to get burglar bars installed when we move into our rooms. Burglar bars are these awful, ugly prisoner looking gates and bars on our windows and doors. So you have to first unlock your door and then unlock the gate (prison like bars) to go outside. This morning I was ready to go outside for my run (first to use the pit toilet to be completely honest) and was trying to unlock my outside gate when a funny thing happened. The lock wouldn’t open. It was stuck. I was locked inside my house. For the first 10 minutes it was amusing. After 20 minutes I was getting panicked. What do you do when you are locked in your house? Call the police? Or just start yelling? I figured at some point my host family would get up and see me. But that would be a couple of hours…and I really had to go the bathroom? So I started getting more aggressive with the stupid lock and, luckily, after another 30 minutes or so and by a complete miracle the gate just clicked open. I can’t tell you why. But I’ve never been so happy to get out of my house. I really had to go the bathroom by that point.  But now I am scared to lock it again.  What if I can't get it open tomorrow?  This is a real problem. 


Unfortunately, on my run I ran into Patrick. This is a guy who keeps turning up for some reason. First it was on a taxi where he declared his love for me by telling me I “rocked his world” (understand he had never seen me before – sometimes you just get people telling you they love you). Then I see him again walking to one of my centers. He again says that he loves me and that I need to just “try to love him.” I said that I didn’t really want to try to love him. So this morning he asked me why I haven’t been visiting him? Really?

But, then, my day took a fantastic turn for the better. Today I started to get the school connected to the internet (I now help a couple days a week at the primary school in my village – I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this?). I helped them figure out how to use their modem on their one computer and we set up their email account. They practiced sending an email - they were so happy! The idea that they could send information without having to drive it to an office was like magic…it was just such a fun teaching moment.

And then I had the opportunity to sit with the principal and talk about the challenges that the teachers/school face (let me tell you there are some enormous challenges). It was a really great conversation. I have been quite impressed with his candor and honesty. He said that for him it’s more important that the learners at the school understand the information they are being taught – not just that the school has a high pass rate (which may be a larger challenge I’m starting to learn). He was saying that there is so much pressure on the teachers to just pass learners but yet there are so little resources for the teachers when they need help if learners aren't performing (and not to mention physical resourcs).  We then moved into talking about the challenges of South Africa in general and I asked him if he saw a fix to the challenges/problems. He feels strongly that education, particularly for those in leadership roles, is what will move this country forward. Thus, his emphasis on teaching and education.

I end my day proud to be in South Africa. Challenges and all.

St. George.

Last week our group (otherwise known as SA21 – the 21st Peace Corps group to serve here in South Africa) gathered for a mid-service conference in Pretoria. It was an opportunity to reconnect, reflect and then look forward.  We only have a year before we have to decide what we all will do next? It was really good to see some of the volunteers that I hadn’t seen in a long time and be together again – the group you arrive with really becomes your extended family (all of the good and the bad)! Being here puts you in this heightened state of awareness and really helps you see what you want (or don’t want). Sometimes it can be amazing and other times it can be a bit overwhelming. I don’t know that I have it all figured out but I’m glad I was able to be in some good company last week. Plus, I got to take unlimited showers and eat a lot of food.
And, even better, I got to come back home to my amazing community and host family that I love.