sebebe rock hike and a word on combies

 today Louis and I   decided to hike sebebe rock hiking trail.    sebebe  is  the second largest exposed rock in the world. the bigger one being   in Australia.    when you see it from the road it looks like a  not gigantic, round   hard mountain-  I guess, basically what it is , a  very large exposed rock-      there is some green on the bottom , growing from the black of bushfires, and then the big rounded rock.  we  hiked from the back end  up so it  ended up not seeming like it looked from the front.  Louis said it looked a lot like iceland .                  the day was cool which was great.   , we got to the base of sebebe  about 11 am and  we were the first hikers of the day. we were actually the only hikers of the day.              .  the first part of the hike is a  dirt path road heading up passed some  houses made of small logs and mud, brick combo. and as always , smattered with chickens and a couple dogs- partially burnt trash ,  and hanging laundry.  . steep, just challenging  enough. dry grass and small rocks.      then it starts to  level off .        the walk from then on is mostly  grassy, with lots of boulders strewn about-  one  probably 60 or 70 ft high     .  I guess at one point , they all rolled there from somewhere higher. but now, they all seem pretty stable,    although they did look like they somehow stopped mid stream.   the green is  mostly on the background of the black of fairly recent cleansing bush fires-  there are  lots of wildflowers starting and a   very nubile green .                       just when I hoped to see some cows, we were amidst a herd of about 30, lots of whom had very large horns.  they didn't seem to mind us, but they definitely noticed us.  we walked with and then passed  them onto the top , where we climbed up some steep rocks to a vast overview of mountains and valleys.  Swaziland is very mountainous-   we turned back, revisited our herd and this time had the pleasure and brief company of a shepherd, or as Louis said, since  they were not sheep , the man was a cowboy.  he pointed us in the right direction since we lost sight of our markers and a couple hours  later we  were back on the road , hailing a combie . really nice southern African music playing in the background , through the rolling hills.  it was a good day. really nice to spend time with luigi Louis. 

The long road to nowhere

Michael was sick today for the first time since I got here and was unable to go to work. That meant that James and I got up early for no real reason, and were left in comfortable weather with no work to do. We decided to take a kombi to Ngwenya, the town in Swaziland just across the South African border. The glass factory is there, as well as some shops. I had been once before, and it is the only place I have seen Swazi flags for sale. James and I each bought Swazi flags for our collections, and were once again left with nothing to do.

What to do...

We were getting hungry. There was a café near the glass factory, but we were feeling a bit more adventurous. The South African border was just a stone's throw away, so we figured we would go to Oshoek (The town on the South African side) for lunch.

For all the talk that Oshoek gets, there really isn't much there. A convenience store isn't much of a place to have lunch, especially if you cross a border for it. Unfortunately, that is literally all that is in the "town" of Oshoek.

Without a kombi in sight, James and I decided to walk down the road a bit in search of a town or pizza place. We walked for about ten minutes, until a white guy in a pickup truck stopped.

"Where are you guys going?" he asked.

I didn't really have an answer.

"Um...to the nearest town?" I said.

"I'm not going there, but I can take you seven kilometers down the road."

Without any sign of food in sight, we hopped into the back of his truck and we were off. Some other people were in the back too, and I had my usual siSwati conversation with them.

"Saobuona!" (Hello)
"Yebo." (Hello)
"Ungani?" (How are you?)
"Niyapila, ungani?" (Good, how are you?)
"Niyapila." (Good.)

That is about all the siSwati that I know, but it made the guys in the back of the pickup happy.

After seven kilometers, the pickup turned down a small dirt road and we hopped off.

If we thought we were in the middle of nowhere before, we hadn't seen this place. A car would pass every five minutes or so, and we could see was the beautiful farmland of rural South Africa.

Now what?

Road signs showed that there was a town on this road eventually, but it said nothing of the distance from it. We figured it was possible that it was just over the hills, and if not a kombi would eventually pass and we could flag it down.

A kombi passed, but it was full.

We kept walking.

Sitting under a distance-lacking road sign was an old woman. We asked her how far it was to the nearest town, but it was apparent that she could speak no English.

We kept walking.

We passed a woman walking down the road in the opposite direction, and asked her how far it was to the nearest town. She didn't know.

We kept walking, and decided that we would flag down a kombi headed either direction. At that point we would have had no problem going back to Swaziland.

We walked past a farm, and a man plowing the field flagged us down.

"Ungani!" he shouted.
"Siyapila, ungani?"
"Niyapila!"
"Do you know how far it is to the nearest town?"
"You don't want to walk there, it is 130km away."

@$#&!

So there we were. 130 kilometers away from the nearest town with only flags. At that point we figured we should just cut out losses and head back to Swaziland. We turned around and began to walk the other direction.

Several Swaziland-bound kombis passed. They were the big 22 seaters, probably coming from Jo'burg. Unfortunately for us, they fill up completely in Johannesburg before coming to Swaziland so they don't need to stop.

What to do...

It wouldn't be easy for someone to mug us if we were in the back of a pick-up, right?

We decided to try and flag down every kombi or pick-up that passed.

None stopped.

We decided to try and hitchhike in any vehicle that passed other than huge trucks. Finally a man with a young child in the passenger seat stopped. He was very friendly, and offered to take us all the way across the border and into Mbabane.

Once back in Mbabane, we took the usual kombi to Ezulwini and went out for pizza. It was the best pizza I ever had.

I can now officially say that I have hitchhiked. Wawa says it is the way to get around in South Africa. It was a good experience, but I don't think I will do it again unless I need to. Overall I had a good day. My goal of getting a Swaziland flag was fulfilled, so I consider it a success.

Sorry I haven't posted lately. My computer seems to have lost the ability to connect to the internet, so I am on the desktop computer in the Lidwala office. I didn't tell you guys that the new building project is a house for a teacher, so we have been working on that lately. Snakes and cement thieves have been the only major obstacles. I will go back to work tomorrow.

Cheers.

The internet has been down for a week and just came back.

Hello everyone! The internet at Lidwala has been down again, so I am at a restaurant with internet to write this post.

The building we made is officially finished. There was a big ceremony for it on Thursday featuring Roland and the village leaders. Nosipho acted as a translator; to siSwati for Roland and English for the village leaders. The leader’s speech primarily involved yelling at the villagers for not being as helpful as they could.  

Over the weekend the trip to Mozambique began. Since Samantha left yesterday, James and I are currently the only volunteers here. Lidwala has never been so empty.

Lobamba, on the other hand, has never been so crowded. The reed dance is this week, and people from all over Southern Africa are coming to Lobamba to find spouses. Over the course of a day, the parts of Lobamba that are normally empty have been filled with temporary shops. The bus I took to work this morning was packed to the brim. To make more room, James and I moved to the back. The bus then proceeded to take a more direct route to Manzini, thus skipping the stop I get off at. As soon as we noticed the different route, we had to get off the bus. We weren’t really able to make it to the door until it had driven down the highway for a bit. Luckily when we got off, we were only about 500 meters from the usual bus stop, and we had no problem walking.

Whenever Swazis talk about the reed dance, they begin in a serious voice and then proceed to break out laughing. From what I understand at this point, it is a giant dance. Women do anything they can (yes, anything) to try and attract a husband. Men come from all over Swaziland to watch. That is it in a nutshell. Lobamba has become more crowded than ever before. I have only a vague idea of what to expect.

The building is done at Ekuzukekeni. Tomorrow we will begin building a home for a teacher at another local school.

Cheers!

Final touches

I know I haven’t posted in a while…sorry about that. I just didn’t get around to it. I think if I post every day it will just be repetitive, so I am going to post less frequently than before.

On Friday I bought some paint to cover over an awful and completely inaccurate map of Swaziland that World Challenge painted. As a geography enthusiast, seeing wrong maps makes me cringe. I bought some cream paint to match the walls, as well as some coloured paint.

On Saturday I went on All-Out’s highlights tour. It included the second largest rock in the world, the oldest mine in the world, zip lining, a glass factory, and the untimely death of my camera. We stayed overnight in an incredibly remote part of Swaziland, where it was very windy.

Yesterday we worked on the building site. I began to work with James, my new roommate from the UK. He will be here for two months, meaning he will go around the same time as me. Before coming to Swaziland he was volunteering in Thailand.

The building is essentially finished. Today the doors and windows were installed, and I began to paint a map of Africa with flags on the wall. On Thursday there will be a ceremony for its completion, with the special guests of Roland and the village elders.

I have a bit of a cold, but I am excited to go to work tomorrow. I think the map will be finished, as well as the rest of the building.

Tata!

Victoria Falls

I returned to Swaziland today. The road home was long, but fairly well paved. I spent last night at a friend of Nosipho's apartment in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. To get to Bulawayo from Victoria Falls we took a Kombi, which is not an easy task while carrying an entire bloody Marimba set. For a few extra dollars we were able to put them in the trailer. We arrived in Bulawayo at around 4:30 am. I spent the previous night at an old friend of Nosipho's in Victoria Falls, and every night before at a nice hostel called Shoestrings. I stayed on the Zimbabwe side for nearly the entire time, only crossing into Zambia for a functional ATM machine and an incredibly shady currency exchange.

I spent more time in Zimbabwe than I had planned. I expected to be back in Swaziland by Thursday or Friday, but the Marimba set was not yet complete. In a way I am glad that the Marimbas were so important to this side trip, because it made me feel that I wasn't totally slacking off from my volunteer work. Because we went to Zimbabwe, some of the schools in Swaziland will now have a music programme. That feels good.

I still had a chance to do the things I wanted to in Victoria Falls; mainly seeing them. I went by myself because Nosipho needed to yell at the Marimba guys for taking too long. It is interesting to walk to the falls, because you can see the smoke through the trees before you can actually see the falls themselves. It seems like a very thick fog, and all of a sudden the falls are there. They are also much less crowded than I expected.

I was also able to see some of "real Zimbabwe" which was good. I never like seeing only the touristy bits.

Swaziland feels like home now. When I returned to Swaziland from Zimbabwe it felt like I was returning home. I guess when I come back to the US it will be like going to double home.

At this point I am just rambling because I am tired. I should probably end the post now. Tata.

Crossing many a border.

I apologize that my post is once again incredibly delayed. I do have a lot to post about, but with limited access to a South African style outlet it has been difficult. I am currently in the town of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

Today is 5 August. That means yesterday was 4 August, the day of many borders. But in order to understand that, you must understand what happened on 3 August. I will begin with that. We woke up in Botswana. Somewhere in Northern Botswana, Roland illegally passed a slow moving truck, and was pulled over by the police. We met them in the police station where they said the minimum fine was 1,000 Pula, or about 120 United States Dollars. After negotiating with them for about an hour, Roland talked them down to 400 Pula. It’s so nice that Botswana cops aren’t corrupt. If it was Mozambique they would have you open your wallet and fork over whatever you had.

We  drove through until we made it to the ferry to Zambia. The line of trucks at the ferry was kilometers long, and we were told that many truck drivers need to wait for up to three weeks to get across. Furthermore, the ferry that is based in Botswana was currently out of order, so only the Zambia-based ferry was running. The line of trucks was twice as long as usual. Apparently prostitutes complain when there is a smaller line of trucks, so I guess someone was happy.

Once we made it to the border, Roland figured that we would have enough time to meet up with some friends of his for lunch. They operate a hostel in the northern tip of Botswana. From their beautiful property, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and, of course, Botswana can be seen. They were incredibly friendly, and the lunch they made for us was wonderful.

We went back to the ferry. After going through Botswana exit customs, Roland decided to cross the border on an earlier ferry than the rest of us so he could begin Zambia’s annoying formalities for allowing a car into the country. Bob, Nosipho, and I waited in line with the car. That’s when it happened. The ferry made one last trip to the Botswana side, and then spent the night in Zambia. Roland was in Zambia with no way of getting back. Since he had all of the papers for the car, we could not meet him via Zimbabwe or Namibia. Furthermore, Nosipho is on a tight schedule as she is attempting to get instruments to begin a music programme in Swaziland. She needed to meet someone in Zimbabwe in the morning, meaning that she could not afford to spend another night in Botswana. Basically, we were stuck with a car that could not cross borders, and somebody who needed to cross a border. Not to mention Roland, who was stranded in Zambia for the night. Bob and I dropped Nosipho off at the Zimbabwe border and spent the night in Botswana.

Botswana needs to seriously consider closing their customs office before the ferry. Our group of four spent the night of 3 August in three different countries.

We crossed into Zambia on the first ferry that morning (6 AM), and Roland was waiting for us on the other side.  He had gotten most of the formalities figured out, and was surrounded by a circle of scammers telling him that he needed even more. Once I got my visa and Roland got third party insurance and extra reflectors for the car, we were off. The drive through Zambia was a beautiful one, with Elephants and Zebras visible from the car window. We arrived at the hostel in Zambia, and all I wanted to do was take a nap.

Nosipho came into Zambia at around 1:30. She arrived at the hostel, and said it would be much better for her if we could stay on the Zimbabwe side instead. The hostel in Zambia kindly gave me a full refund.

So that’s how I ended up in Zimbabwe. It is weird to use the United States dollar here. Last night a traditional Zimbabwean band came to the hostel and sang. Being the lover of African music that I am, I bought their CD. They were very happy, and let me take a photo with them.

Today I went white water rafting on the Zambezi, beginning right near the base of Victoria Falls. My only experience with white water rafting is from a Boy Scout trip in upstate Pennsylvania or something, so I didn’t expect much. It was only once I was in the raft when I learned that this course houses the number one toughest white water in the world. Yikes. The boat capsized twice, and both times I found myself under the boat and pulled down the rapids. Don’t get me wrong, it was a wonderful experience. I just swallowed about half of the Zambezi.

Zimbabwe is a nice country. Western news makes it seem like the most backwards country on earth with no development at all, but it doesn’t seem any worse here than Zambia or other countries in the area. People here are also much more hyped up about the elections than you would see in any dictatorship as bad as the news makes Zimbabwe look. Election posters are everywhere, meaning at least some people believe their vote actually counts.

I don’t know when I will leave Zimbabwe; probably Thursday or Friday. Thanks for reading, and sorry for the late post. 

On the road

I am writing this post from Palapye, Botswana. We drove for about 12 hours today through the beautiful countrysides of Swaziland, South Africa, and Botswana. The roads were good for the whole trip, besides an area with a lot of potholes just past the border in Botswana. The scenery is spectacular. Since Botswana has, by law, free range for all wildlife, it can be seen from the car in plain view. I am off to Livingstone, Zambia tomorrow.

I meant to delay this post, but not this much.

Okay, so Lidwala's internet was down when I tried to post this. I am currently in Palapye, Botswana, where the internet is free. 

I didn't want to post for the past few days because I was worried that people back home would worry about how uncertain my trip to Victoria Falls was. It is better now, so I will explain what happened.

I found out that this opportunity existed on Sunday. In other words, less than one week before it would depart. That means that no matter what, planning was put off until the last minute.

I asked Kristen if she wanted to come, because she signed up for the six week programme. That means she would be in Swaziland for two weeks after most of the people who arrived in my group, and thus have enough time to come to Victoria Falls. She said she would love to come.

We talked to Roland about the trip on Monday. On Tuesday. we booked beds at a hostel in Livingstone. Later that day, Kris got a phone call, and found that she had to return to Belgium early because of a family emergency. She is currently on her flight home.

That means that I would have to go to Zimbabwe, Zambia, and South Africa alone...or so I thought. Having heard the horror stories of traveling alone in Morocco from my mother, I didn't think it was the best idea to need to find my own way back to Swaziland. That is particularly the case in Zimbabwe, a dangerous country to begin with that is even less stable than usual due to upcoming elections.

Then it hit me. All of the volunteers went to a birthday party on Sunday, which was the last day for most of them. The party was for Nosipho, an incredibly friendly employee of All Out. When Kristen and I told her that we were going to Victoria Falls, she said she was incredibly jealous, and she would drop anything and everything to come along. Unfortunately, Roland said only two seats were available in the car, so she couldn't come.

When I found out that Kristen couldn't come, I called Nosipho and asked if she still wanted to come. She said yes. Here's a bonus: Nosipho is half Zimbabwean. Her father currently lives in Bulamayo, Zimbabwe. In other words, I am going with someone who knows the area very well. I don't think I will be in danger when I am with Nosipho.

If you didn't understand what happened, it's okay. I barely did myself. All I know is I am now going to Zimbabwe with an awesome Zimbabwean. My passport has 24 new pages from the annoying US embassy, I have 12 new Malaria pills, and I will spend the night after tomorrow in Botswana. I can't believe it is actually happening.

So that's where my mind has been since I got back from Mozambique. I feel bad for Kristen, and hope everything goes well for her at home.

In all honesty, this has been a very productive week at the building site. I just haven't been able to think about it as much as I should. A family of volunteers came this week to build with us as a part of their vacation. They are called The Mays, and they are from England. They are very nice.A lot of people think I am in their family because they all have blonde hair and go to the same place as me to work. They then hear my accent and lose that notion.

The toilet is now built. It has a roof, two toilets that aren't just holes in the ground, plaster, and a nearly complete coat of paint. It should have running water by next week, but I will be in Zimbabwe. It still looks damn good though.

Sorry I took so long to post. I didn't want to worry the people at home with my uncertainty, but that is no longer a problem. I have no idea how the internet will be when I travel, so don't wait around for posts. I hope you understand.

Tata for today!

A week in Mozambique

Typical Mozambique. 

I arrived in Swaziland from Mozambique yesterday. I was in Mozambique from 21-27 July, so I haven't been able to update. The internet there is called "john", and he can't be connected to from outside of the room that he is in.

This poster advertises FELIMO, the awesome ruling party.

Mozambique was one of the most interesting places I have ever been to. I was shocked at how different it is from Swaziland there, because the countries border. Compared to Mozambique, Swaziland feels much more modern, but more traditional at the same time. Swaziland feels modern in the sense that you can go to modern buildings, have hot water and reliable electricity, etc. That is not the case in Mozambique. However, in Mozambique, you would not be able to buy a wife for eleven cows, and you would never see a man walking down the street wearing skins to show his wealth. All in all, Mozambique is incredibly poor compared to Swaziland, but it is much more globalized.

I rode in the back of a Soviet truck!!

In Mozambique we mostly did tourist things. The market in Tofo is what I expected to see all over on this trip. Beautiful things for sale and pushy salesmen to sell them are all over Tofo, some of which even show up to the lodge and try to sell things to you there. In Mozambique, lots of the salesmen were willing to do almost anything to get rid of their crafts. If you said you didn't have Mozambican Meticas, they would sell things for whatever currency you did have. If none at all, they would offer to trade for the clothes that you were wearing.

We went on an ocean safari in Mozambique, where we saw lots of humpback whales. We also went kayaking and horse riding.

Wawa and Jess

On the Mozambique trip, I asked Wawa what other trips All Out Africa offers since I will be here for a while. He mentioned something about Zimbabwe and Botswana, but he wasn't very clear. This morning Roland (the head of All Out) was at Lidwala, which is very rare. I asked him if he knew anything about that, and he said he is leaving for Victoria Falls on Friday with two seats available! Kristien from Belgium and I will probably come along with him! I am incredibly excited, as Victoria Falls was something I have always wanted to see, but never believed I would actually be able to.

Most of the volunteers that arrived at the same time as me are leaving tomorrow. Right when I finally learned all of their names. It will be sad to see them go, they were a nice bunch. I can't imagine staying for only four weeks, it feels like I just got here.


I will go back to the building site tomorrow, and work there until Thursday. I don't know what I will work on yet.

Two posts about Mozambique

I am writing this post from the bottom of a mosquito net just outside Maputo, Mozambique. It is Sunday, 21 July. I do not have internet connection here, so it will be posted later. I am sorry for the delay.

On Friday we finished putting the roof on the toilet, which was very satisfying. That means that the building portion of the toilet is finished, and we now need only to plaster, paint, and of course put in the toilets. I came in on Saturday for a bit to help work on the water tank on top of the mountain.

We left for Mozambique at 10 this morning. The border security was not bad. When I tried to leave Swaziland, the customs officer could not find my entry stamp since it was so light, so I had to show her where it was. Mozambican border security isn’t a problem; you just need to get out of the car to go inside. This was the first border where I have done that. They gave a pretty nice stamp.

Almost immediately after crossing the border, you notice a difference in architecture. Many buildings in Mozambique have walls made of sticks, which I did not see much of in Swaziland. There are also lots of buildings with logos painted on them, like there are in Ghana. Overall, Mozambique feels much more like Ghana than Swaziland does.

Mozambique has murals of Che, and some other awesome Communist stuff around. Mozambique was communist until Apartheid South Africa and the United States funded terrorists to overthrow the popular communist government. After one of the worst civil wars in African history, Mozambique emerged as the poorest country in the world. As the apartheid government began to lose power, it could no longer fund terrorism in Mozambique, and the civil war finally ended. Elections were held, and FRILIMO, the Communist Party, once again gained power by popular support. Though Mozambique was destroyed by the US and South Africa, it is making a slow recovery. It now boasts one of Africa’s fastest growing economies. I am confident that FRILIMO will lead this country to a peaceful, prosperous, and equal future; free of Western exploitation.

Well, that’s post-colonial Mozambique history in a nutshell if I remember it correctly. Maputo has other cool stuff too. Flags from Brazil, Angola, and some other former Portuguese colonies can be seen around the city. There are also three wheeled taxis here, like I have seen in so many Bollywoods. I was not expecting to see them here. It’s a pleasant surprise.

For the next week I will just be doing touristy stuff. That usually annoys me, but it is nice to give the blisters on my hands a break from working. I think I will enjoy it here.

I am trying to leave Swaziland once a month, so I will never have to renew my visa. I am thinking about Botswana next month. Wawa said All Out is trying to organize a Botswana trip from Swaziland now, so if I go I may be on the first trip of its type, but we’ll see. I love Swaziland, and I would have no problem going back and staying for a long time. 

Someone had the brilliant idea to leave for Tofo at 5:30 in the morning. I fell asleep in the van and woke up as we were driving through the beautiful city of Xai Xai, which reminded me a lot of Brazil. The architecture here closely resembles that of Brazil, although the city is much more impoverished. We arrived in Tofo around noon, and it was pouring rain. The other people in my group were annoyed that they couldn’t go to the beach right away, but I didn’t mind. It gave me an excuse to rest a bit.

When the rain cleared up, we all went to the market in Tofo. There I saw for the first time on this trip what I expected to see in Africa: crowded, chaotic streets, pushy salesmen, and bright coloured fabric. The poverty made me sad as always, but it gave me nostalgia for my days in Ghana. The market in Mankessim has a similar feel to the one in Tofo.  I ended up buying a few things, some out of pity for the salespeople and some because I genuinely liked it. I am proudly wearing a tshirt featuring Mozambique’s awesome first president: Samora Machel.  As a third-worldist, I feel that many people in this country have similar political views to me. I have seen several paintings of Che, as well as a house with Fidel Castro written on it in bold letters. I also see posters advertising FRELIMO, the awesome current ruling party of the country.

Here the damage caused by the USA is plainly visible. A country cannot be this poor with so much natural wealth. Civil wars do not happen when people support their government, unless a foreign nation sticks its nose where it shouldn’t. That is exactly what happened in Mozambique, but FRELIMO is leading the country back to prosperity. 

Almost finished...

Today the same world challenge people were there, but they seemed to be doing good work today. In the beginning, Michael actually told me to teach some people to mix cement. After I showed them how, one asked how long I had lived in Africa.  I considered both of these things to be honours. Later on the building site, I subconsciously understood the Siswati word for brick, though I cannot remember it at the moment. The local builders asked me who my favourite musician is, and when I said Miriam Makeba they smiled. I feel like I am finally beginning to fit in here. We made great progress today; the building is very near completion. Michael said it will probably be done by Saturday, so I plan to go into work to make up for skipping on Monday. I bought a six pack of Kola to celebrate with all the builders.

A quotation by one of my favourite African leaders of all time:

“Whenever I ask about Pepsi-Cola or Coca-Cola, people immediately say it is an American or European drink. This is not true. The kola is African. They have taken the cheap raw material from us. They produced it, they made it into a drink, and they sell it to us for a high price. Why are Pepsi-Cola and Coca-Cola expensive? Because they have taken our kola, produced it, and sold it back to us. We should produce it ourselves and sell it to them.”

-Muammar Qaddafi, Conakry, 2006.

Sorry I don’t have a lot to post about today, but I am feeling good. I think the trip to Mozambique will be perfectly timed so that I will finish the day before I leave.

See you!

Let's be honest, World Challenge is annoying.

Yesterday the internet went out again. It just came back now, so I will do another double post.

Yesterday I went to the building site where some Scottish people from World Challenge were working. They were pretty lazy in all honesty. They only had to build 20 bricks and it took them about two hours. A local builder told me that we didn’t need any more bricks for the toilet and they were just making them to learn how. I eventually went over to help the Swazi builders who were doing actual work. When I got there, they said they had made the gaps in the wall too small for the door frame. Without a chisel, I had to use a trowel to cut down a two meter high brick wall. Michael marked the two gaps that needed to be widened from 79 to 87 centimeters wide. I was assigned to one, and one of the lazy Scotts to the other. I finished in about half an hour. My arm was tired, but it wasn’t too bad. I went to the other gap to see how the Scott was doing. He was less than a quarter of the way done, so I said I would help for a bit. He took off and my help consisted of cutting down the entire rest of the wall. He also cut the wall incredibly unevenly. At the top he cut it to 95 centimeters, and at the bottom it was 80. I had to redo the entire thing. One of the Scottish “volunteers” told me that I had an English accent—probably the most inaccurate thing I have ever been told. That night I informed Ben and Jess (the two English volunteers in my group) and they just broke out laughing.

I’m not going to lie; most of the World Challenge groups annoy me. There are some that are alright, but most just plain suck. They seem to be here for their own benefit, not to help people in need. They also have priority over the local builders for access to the tools, so it seems like they often slow down progress rather than speeding it up. I know I am no expert builder so I am sorry to rant, but they should not come to Africa to goof off.

Today the really lazy group left at noon. I helped the local builders lay bricks at the bottom of the mountain while Michael worked at the top. We made a lot of good progress today; about four or five new rows of brick.

When we got back, we went to Pick ‘n Pay to buy some candy which we used to play poker with. After that my roommates and I ranted about World Challenge. All in all it was a good evening.

Bye to Jacquie and Helene

Me (left), Helene (centre),
and Jacquie (right).

Yesterday was another lazy Sunday. I went to an interesting take on an American/Mexican restaurant with Helene and Jacquie because it was their last day.

Today on the other hand was very eventful. I was able to book

Mozambique embassy in Mbabane

the last spot for the Mozambique trip, so we went to the embassy today to get visas. Wawa, our guide, said it didn’t matter what we put on the visa application forms, and they change their rules each day. So when we handed in our application forms, the embassy staff said we needed to redo them all. We did, and it worked the second time.

We got back from the embassy around 11:00. Wawa said we had 10 minutes to make our lunch, and we would be off to the cultural village tour. Instead of making lunch I said my last goodbyes to Helene and Jacquie. It was sad to say goodbye to them, but now I have a reason to go to Germany or Australia.

Singers in the cultural
village

We went to the cultural village which was very interesting, but I am

always a bit uncomfortable in places like that. The guide said that people actually live in some of the houses, so I feel like touring them is putting the people at the same level as zoo animals.

After that we went to Mantegna falls, which is right next to the cultural village. Some people went to swim in the water, but most of the others, myself included, couldn’t be bothered to. The view was too wonderful to be spoiled by hypothermia.

 We then went to the Mozambique orientation. Roland gave a long PowerPoint presentation, and it looks like Mozambique will be really cool. When the orientation was over, Wawa was in his van with all of our passports. They had fancy new visas from Mozambique.

My fancy new visa

When we got back home, the room was completely cleaned out. Jacquie and Helene were gone, and the cleaning woman had visited our room for the first time since I got here. On my bed was a wonderful goodbye note from Jacquie and Helene, as well as an assortment of gifts that ranged from leftovers to inside jokes. It made me happy.

I now have two new roommates; Ben from England and Tessa from The Netherlands. They arrived here at the same time as me, but they were staying in a tent until now. When I got into the room everyone was laughing hysterically for no particular reason. I eventually joined in. It continued for about 15 minutes, and into about the first two paragraphs of this post.

Well, that's about all for now. Mom, I hope the photo at the top is adequate. Tata!

Making a foundation

Hey everyone, sorry I didn't get around to posting yesterday. I worked on the tank at the top of the mountain for the toilet we are building at the bottom. In the morning I pushed a wheelbarrow full of tools up to the top, so I was already tired by the time I started working.

When we began to work, Michael said that we didn't level enough land for the foundation before. We leveled out the last bit and began to mark the foundation with sticks and fish line. When it was marked we began to dig the trench around. It was half a meter deep, which doesn't sound too difficult. But it was very hot, so everyone was tired. The World Challenge people worked 10 minutes on and 10 minutes off. I just worked until I got tired, got a drink, and worked some more. They also took an hour for lunch.

I was very tired. Today I slept in for the first time since I got here, which was nice. Most of the other volunteers went zip lining, and will be back tomorrow. I just hung around the lodge.

Two of my roommates will go home to Australia and Germany on Monday. Hopefully the people who replace them will be cool.

An unproductive day

Today wasn't too successful. In the morning Michael said that he had to talk to his boss, so we should go to the building site without him. He said he would come in 20 minutes or so. Fortunately, the school children were there with some other volunteers, so we were able to hang out with them for a bit. Michael came in about an hour and a half. He said there was some trouble with a cheque, and he needed to keep driving back and forth to the bank with his boss. He said he was sorry, but it was too late to begin working.

On the bright side, I got a Swazi phone today. If anybody from home wants to give me a call on Skype it should be cheap, and receiving a call is free for me. I’d love to hear from people at home J

The Swazi country code is +268, and my number is 76706144. Weekends would be best, because there is a six hour time difference and I work during the week.

Thanks for reading my blog!

Yesterday and today

09 July

Today I laid bricks at the toilet we are building. The day was fairly similar to yesterday during work.

This is a great movie.

After I finished work, I went to The Gables for the first time. That is the name of the local shopping centre near Lidwala. I bought some needed water, toothpaste, and shampoo.

It was my turn to cook dinner for everyone tonight. My Welsh roommate Catlin and I made Spaghetti Bolognaise with garlic bread.

At night I showed a few of the other volunteers The Gods Must be Crazy; one of my favourite South African movies. Thanks to Mom and Dad for showing it to me. The other volunteers seemed to enjoy it.

10 July

Today had a very interesting distribution of labour over time. For parts of the day I was working very hard, as I was using a pickaxe to clear out land for a water tank. We were working with more people from World Challenge, and around 11:30 they decided to take a lunch break. Michael said we should wait for them to begin working again because the land was already cleared and he didn’t want to give the same directions for the next thing twice. So we waited.

I had nothing to do, so I looked around. Charlotte and Eleanor were laying down and using their backpacks as pillows. After intense pickaxing, that looked incredibly comfortable. I decided to join them. I closed my eyes for a bit, and when I opened them it was 1:30. Michael said we should just start without the World Challenge group, because he wanted to leave the building site by 2:00. We began to gather rocks to build a foundation. Some of the World Challenge people came back about 20 minutes later.

As we collected the rocks, one of the local builders was using a pickaxe to neaten up the corner of the foundation. He came across an enormous bolder, which was inconveniently sitting in the exact area that needed to be cleared. The builder dug out the boulder from the back. It was not round like a boulder should be, but rather lopsided. It was too massive and hard to break with a pickaxe, so all we could do was push it. It took about seven people to move the boulder. One well-timed push by everyone at once could get the boulder to move onto its side, thus pushing it forward a few centimeters. It was incredibly difficult. It took about ten pushes before we finally got to the ledge, and one last push sent it on its way and out of ours. It was very satisfying to see it go. Michael and another local builder both said I was very strong, but they seemed to have done more than me.

I will probably work at the same site tomorrow. Hopefully no more boulders will show up.

This boulder is about half my height and 100 times my weight. 

Delayed posts. Sorry.

Okay, so here’s the deal. The internet at the lodge has been down for the past few days, so I have been writing my posts in MS Word. I will paste them all into one post when the internet is working again. I’m told this happens a lot here, so if I don’t post for a while at any point in the future that’s probably why. Sorry for the inconvenience.

5 July
Today I worked on building a kitchen. Michael and I took the All Out Africa van to the site rather than public transportation, because we needed to bring some posts and wheelbarrows to the site. 

This was the first day I worked with other volunteers, and lots of them. A group called World Challenge was working on building, so I worked with them. They were students from a boarding school in Scotland, and they had camped out at the site. Michael and I left the site before they were finished. We left around 15:00. By that time, posts were already in the ground and the shape of the building could be clearly seen. We hitched a ride in the back of a pickup and headed for Lobamba. Michael taught me that “Saoboma” is hello in siSwati, so I will begin using it as much as possible. Although the building progressed very quickly, Michael said it was harder for him to work with so many people.

We transferred onto a Kombie, and as we got off it was pulled over by the police. Michael said we need to cross in the zebra crossing when the police are there or we could be arrested. I don’t want to be arrested for J-walking. It’s possible that he meant to say fined rather than arrested, but I can’t be sure. I J-walk all the time at home, so I will need to be more careful about it here.

I have the day off tomorrow and the day after. On Sunday two other builders will return from Kruger and begin working with me. When I got back from work today, there was a huge crowd of local people at the lodge. I believe it was an event to celebrate the Americans finishing their school project, but I’m not sure. My roommates and I slept for the vast majority of it.

Have a good weekend everyone! Thanks for reading my blog!

6 July

Today I went on a very long hike with two of my roommates; Jacqueline from Australia and Helene from Germany. We went to Executioner’s Rock, where in the old days those sentenced to death would have the choice of being executed or jumping off the side. We took a taxi to Milwane Wildlife Sanctuary and hiked from there. The trail was very beautiful. Africa’s red soil contrasted very nicely with the deep green coniferous trees. Beautiful streams flowed throughout. Unfortunately, I brought only three cans of soda to drink, so for the entire way up I was very thirsty. After about two hours of ladders and trails, we made it to the peak. The view from the top was absolutely breathtaking, and it felt like I could see all of Swaziland from the mountain. By the end of the hike, my legs finally caught up to my arms and back for tiredness.

I am looking forward to a relaxing day tomorrow. The other volunteers will return from Kruger, and I will be working again on Monday. Sorry that this post is delayed, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. I should be posting daily again when the internet is back up. Cheers!


7 July
I actually have nothing to post about today. I had a well-earned day of relaxation and laundry. There was no room on the clothes line to dry, so I climbed on the roof and dried my clothes there. The internet still isn’t working, so I’m sorry this post will be delayed. The other volunteers came back from Kruger in the evening. 

8 July

Today I built with some other people from World Challenge. They were from England.We were working in Ekuguzugeni where the toilet is being built, and we worked on it more. I helped build bricks for the first time. A lot of the English girls were obsessing over making the tops of the bricks smooth, but when they went on their lunch break a cat and a chicken walked over them. I think they look cooler with the footprints. Charlotte and Eleanor are the other builders this month, but they will only be here for a week. They just arrived yesterday from Kruger. All the rest of the day was normal. I finished work around 3:00 PM and relaxed at the lodge. The internet finally came back today, so I should be posting somewhat regularly unless it goes again.

Building a toilet

See that cement? I put that there. 

Today we began to build a toilet at the local school. By toilet I do not mean the bowl, but rather the room it is in. In Swaziland they call that a toilet, rather than a restroom, lavatory, or bathroom. It was tough work, but we made good progress. We began by piling up eight wheelbarrows worth of dirt and mixing it with cement and water. We loaded that back into the wheelbarrows, and moved it back behind the school where the toilet is being built. As I shoveled cement into the foundation, local workers filled wheelbarrows with cement and brought it over. I probably shoveled at least a ton of cement, and I can feel it. But the work is very rewarding. When we finished laying the floor, we began to put on the bricks. They are made of local mud, so they are the same colour as the ground. I learned how to make sure they are level, as well as grout. We finished for the day around 14:00. By that time I was covered in the beautiful red soil of Africa, as well as the not as beautiful cement.

Kitten at the building site

When I returned home, my roommates decided to watch The Lion King since we aren't seeing it in real life in Kruger like most of the volunteers. Wawa, one of the staff members here, had it on a thumb drive. When I put it into my computer I could see that there was also Swazi music on it, so I copied everything and I am listening to it now. It is probably the most beautiful music I have ever heard. Here is some for you :)

Michael laying bricks

After the movie, some American students who are taking a college course here made everyone hamburgers and apple pie for U.S. independence day. I had a veggie burger. I finished the day by talking to my roommates, and comparing everyday life in our respective countries. I love those types of conversations.

It may rain tomorrow, so I don't know if I will be able to work. We'll see. It will be hard to mix cement in the rain. My arms and back wouldn't mind a day off, but hopefully I will be able to do something.

Today's progress. 

A sample of Swazi gospel radio

Here is some Swazi gospel music. It is not all that plays on the radio here, but it makes up a large potion of it. The same song was playing on the bus to work today as the one I loved yesterday, so it is stuck in my head now. I think this is it, but I could be mistaken. This style of music is generally followed by someone yelling at you in siSwati about Jesus for the rest of the bus ride. 

That's a big truck!

Today my building project officially began. However, the two other volunteers working on the building project this month went to South Africa for the week, so I am working with only Swazis for now. My day began at 8:30. I caught my first Kombi with the lead builder Michael and two other volunteers who were working in the same place. Beautiful African gospel music was playing on the radio, and hearing it made me happy. I'm not religious, but I love the style. After each song the announcer would speak in siSwati, with an occasional "In the name of Jesus Christ" thrown in in English.

When we got to the school, children instantly surrounded us and began to fight over who got to touch more of our arms. The other volunteers were working with the kids, so they were all set for their programme. I on the other hand had to make my way through and follow Michael to begin building. Swazi children like to grab your hand and pull down with all their weight; and they are much stronger than you would think. They also like to grab one hand each and pull in opposite directions. All in all, they are completely adorable, but a bit of a struggle to walk past.

When I finally made it to Michael, he was waiting by a dirt trail up the side of a mountain. The trail looked barely wide enough to walk down, but in the distance I could see a massive Nissan Diesel dump truck making its way up the mountain. When it got to us, Michael talked to the driver in siSwati, and eventually climbed into the back of the truck. I joined him. Ducking and dodging branches is one thing, but when you need to keep your balance while standing and driving it is something else. Standing on top of dirt doesn't make it easy to balance, but I managed. Michael does it almost every day.

I rode on top of this truck and helped fill it with dirt. The school is in the background. 

When we got to the top of the mountain, the truck began to roll down. A few large rocks behind the tires solved that problem. Once it was secured, it was time to empty the truck. Though it was a dump truck, three guys hopped into the back and began to shovel it out. I joined them. When it was empty, Michael and I hopped back in the truck and headed to the school. As we passed, all of the students began to chant "That's a big truck! That's a big truck! That's a big truck!" We parked in front of the school where more dirt was waiting for us. This time, we had to shovel the dirt into the truck, rather than out of it. With the hot African sun beating down and gravity working against us, we felt very sore by the time the truck was full. I brought three water bottles, and we finished them almost instantly.

Ekuzukekeni

Michael showed me all of the tools I will use for home building, and by 11:00 he said we would go. Children came out of the school and began to throw balls at me, and they were all very excited when I threw them back. But I was tired, and somewhat relieved when recess ended and I could just sit.

I got home with Michael around noon. He said we would start working hard tomorrow. If today wasn't working hard, I don't know what is. But overall I feel really good about this programme. I am not treated any better than the locals for being white, and I like that a lot. Volunteer work should be real work, not fun and games. I look forward to tomorrow.

Tata for now!

Hello, Africa!

Cow crossing near the National Museum

Hello, my name is Louis. I am 18 years old and I am from Philadelphia in the United States. This is my first real-time travel blog, so I hope you enjoy it. For the next three months I will be volunteering in the Kingdom of Swaziland, located between South Africa and Mozambique. For the past few weeks I have been traveling in Europe, where I visited Iceland, Greenland, England, and Ireland. I may do an occasional throwback post to one of them. I arrived in Swaziland yesterday, after a long flight from Dublin via Frankfurt and Johannesburg.

 Today began with orientation. The woman giving the presentation was very warm and welcoming, and she was very articulate in speech. She gave some basic information about the country as a whole, and the volunteer projects. Close to the end of the presentation she got a phone call. When she put down the phone she said that it was her boss, and one of the other staff members at All Out Africa had just unexpectedly passed away. She started to cry, and another staff member finished the presentation. I felt very sad for her. Throughout the day, other volunteers who had known him were sad too.

Lobamba

Most new volunteers begin their trip by visiting Kruger National Park in South Africa, and work until the end of the month. They then go to Mozambique for a week, and finish their programme. Since I will be here for three months, I will wait to go to Kruger until August or September.

The vast majority of volunteers here are girls. Of the 16 new volunteers, only one besides me was a boy. I am also the only American who arrived in July. My roommates are all girls; they are from Wales, Germany, and Australia.

Gallery in Lobamba. 

At 14:00 today we began a tour of Lobamba. We visited the National Museum of Swaziland, and headed for the town proper. Inside the town we were treated like celebrities. We were surrounded by children who kept shouting “How are you! How are you!” as it was the only phrase in English they knew. When we answered, they could not understand us. By the end of our walk in the town we learned to just wave, and respond to their how are you by asking the same question to them. We went into a one room art gallery, where a man was singing and playing the guitar while his wife played the bass. He said that he started the gallery himself from nothing, and produced his own work to fill it. He lives in the gallery, but his door is always opened. Anybody can come in at any time, as he does not believe in privacy. When other artists saw what he had created, they donated their art to the gallery as well.

Buick belonging to the late king. 

Swazi culture is all about sharing, so during traditional meals only one plate of food is served to each table and people take from it as they please. As our guide said, it makes it more difficult to poison someone if you need to eat from the same plate as them. I shared with the other vegetarian in the group, who is a girl from the Netherlands. Swazis don’t use silverware to eat, so for our traditional meal we didn't either. My hands still feel a bit sticky. When we were full, people from the town came and collected the remainder of our meals to feed their families. If I had known they were coming, I wouldn't have eaten as much.

 Well, that’s about it for today. I will begin my volunteer work tomorrow, and I don’t really know what to expect. Stay posted and I will tell you how it goes.

 Cheers for now!