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!