Hello all you lovely people still following my journey, My previous posts have focused on my projects here in SA, so this post I wanted to share a bit of what I do outside of work. Just another special part of Peace Corps is that we are in this 24/7. Through living with a host family, making friends, and learning daily chores of life in SA - I feel like I’ve had to work just as much on everything outside of work, as I’ve had to on my actual job. When I first arrived at site, I pictured myself using my weekends to meet up with other volunteers, escape to local towns and take vacations. My mindset changed the closer I grew to my village. It costs money to go anywhere and so I recognized I was one of the few people ever leaving. Now I get serious FOMO (fear of mission out) when I leave my village, therefore I am happiest not going anywhere. On Saturday’s, I usually spend the morning doing chores. This includes laundry (all hand washing), mopping and polishing the my room (there is so much sand everywhereeeee). If there is a funeral, that will be held Saturday morning. It is a sad reality that funerals are apart of my communities weekly plans. When someone dies, prayer is held every evening leading up to the funeral and then the person is buried Saturday morning. I enjoy spending time with my younger siblings and neighbor kids on the weekends. We bake, watch videos, color, and DANCE (a lot). We also usually take walks to the local shop - by that I mean about 1/4 mile walk to the main road. They’ll always go with me cause I’ll buy them a sweet. In the afternoon I usually head out to my favorite part of my village; the station. This the area on the main road where you would go to catch a taxi to town. It is the ‘main hub’ and to me it feels like a student center on a college campus. At any time of day, I can go here and find people around - boy’s playing soccer, people sitting and vendors selling food on the side of the road. There are also car washes, small shops and the taverns. I usually come out to this area to meet up with my friends and sit together. Sitting with others is something I’ve never done as much as I have here. It was a change for me to enjoy sitting and not feel like I need to go and be materialistically productive somewhere else. I love it and I attribute a lot of my happiness to the station. Later in the evening, I’m going to be honest, I will go to the taverns in my village. This is quite rare for Peace Corps Volunteers, especially female volunteers. I attribute my ability to go here by the friends I have - most of whom are young men. I have friended this group become the reality is that most women my age are busy at home with their children. Women and girls therefore usually do not leave their homes and are also responsible for all the house chores like cooking and cleaning. Although I have conflicting feelings as I do not bare the responsibilities other women in my village have, I feel lucky to have these friends. A tavern in my village is one room, about the size of a small bedroom. You go inside to purchase drinks and then sit outside on plastic crates, rocks, or cement blocks. If someone has a car they will open all the doors and blast music from there. Interestingly enough, going to taverns has also been a successful place to talk about HIV. The number 1 way that HIV is spread is through unprotected sex. With this being a sensitive topic, it has been helped to discuss this topic in a more casual setting. On Sundays I usually go to church. Religion is very important to my host-family and overall in SA. Since arrival, one of the first questions people ask me is “what church do you go to?”. I usually have a hard time following everything being said at church but I enjoy the singing and being together with others. At church we are required to wrap our heads, wear a skirt and have long sleeves. If I don’t go to church, then I may find myself at Monchongolo. This is a traveling event that showcases traditional dance groups from surrounding villages. It is a huge event with crowds up to hundreds. It kindof turns into a big party once it get’s dark with DJ's blasting music and everyone showing off their incredible dance moves. And that's usually all for my exciting weekends. Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in my projects, but being able to enjoy life outside of work is where I've found happiness.
Anyways, I hope some warmer weather starts coming to everybody that side! I'm eagerly waiting our 'winter' over here. - Josie :)
8 Comments
|
AuthorJosie Petersson Archives
October 2018
Categories
All
|