Happy Thanksgiving!

So I haven’t been very good at updating this lately. I’m sorry! I guess that I am suffering from that fact that I have just been in SA too long. I guess that I don’t find of what I am doing to be exciting or “blog worthy”. I mean I’m sure it is it’s just that nothing really shocks me or surprises me anymore, so it doesn’t occur to me to share it.

Recently, I have been all over the place. Last week was my Close of Service (COS) Conference where the group the arrived in SA on January 30th, 2008 got together for the last time. We had 30 to start—then 29—then 30 and now we are down to 25. The conference basically consisted of us reflecting on the highs and lows of Peace Corps service, what we would miss upon leaving, and what was going to happen when we got home (i.e. jobs, school, resumes, all that fun stuff).

It was bittersweet because this was the last time that I was going to see a lot of these people. It was also hard to hear the realities of the job market in America. We had this Returned Peace Corps Volunteer panel that had Peace Corps, CDC, and USAID workers who were currently working in SA with their respective organizations. They basically said that if you didn’t have a Master’s degree that you were pretty much out of luck and should consider a volunteer position to gain more experience…! WHAAAAT? WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS????!!!

Anyways, whatever. Usually pessimistic Therese has decided to face this transition with a forced relaxed confidence. I am terrible with transitions and had a really rough time when I graduated from college. Most of it was my own doing and I’ve decided not to put myself through that again! I recently did get into one of my grad schools I applied to, so I guess I don’t need to worry about that so much anymore, even though the cost terrifies me. I am nervous about my future but figure that in the end, it might be hard, but I will survive it whatever happens.

So I won’t be finishing Peace Corps until March, so the COS conference was a little premature. However, it does put me in the “finishing up” mode. Some people choose to leave early for work or school so they have it kind of early so they can catch everyone before they leave.

So, today is Thanksgiving in the States which, of course, means nothing here. Last year all the volunteers in my province got together for a weekend of fun in the 100 degree+ weather to eat and be merry. Due to people punking out and us all being relatively poor this time around, nothing of that sort will be repeated. However, I will be seeing some friends over the weekend and will attempt to celebrate in our own way if it kills us.

Today I will be getting ready for a training I am conducting on Monday with my coworkers where we will attempt to recreate all the crafts we made over the past 2 years so that they have confidence in running the club once I am not here. Believe me, they know how to do everything but the issue is their confidence in their abilities, which is pretty low. We will be attempting to remedy that.

Today I wish I was at home with the family watching the parade and eating Turkey and stuffinggggggggg but maybe that will happen next year?

I figured that I would end this post with a list of what I love/am thankful for in South Africa to go with the holiday:

-My host family (Nozipho, Smi, Nothabo, Ntofo, Sindiswa, and Musa)
-Zulu music and dancing
-Neighborly Ubuntu (caring for each other).
-Livestock that roam freely (cows, sheep, goats, chickens, guinea fowl).
-My coworkers (Zodwa, Lindi, Thuli, Mama Mpembe, Fezile)
-My youth club group and the amazing kids!
-The crèche (preschool) kids who bumrush me for hugs when they see me and call out “Yes Sister Sthe” while I am in earshot. They think that this is my name, not just Sthe. Also, I would say with near certainty that all children who know how to talk know my name. The toddlers especially love to greet me (even if I do not know them--their friends have told them about me).
-My village. It is beautiful and safe and everyone is very welcoming and sweet.
-Having and making my own schedule
-Everyone looking up to me and thinking that I am a genius (although this can get very old)
-Feeling like a Mom to Nothabo, Ntofo, and Sindiswa
-Being a role model just by the fact of where I live
-Slow paced life
-Being concerned about things that matter instead of frivolous BS that America seems to be obsessed with (celebrities, scandals, etc.)
-Babies on the backs of their mothers
-African babies/children in general
-People greeting me or yelling to me as I pass
-Everyone knowing me (which also can get old).
-Living in a rural area
-Being in Africa
-The reliability of taxis (even though they can take forever to fill).
-My room
-Being on my own (it can get lonely though)
-Cow birds. This may sound weird but there are these wonderful white birds that sit next to/on cows here and have a wonderful symbiotic relationship, which I really love for some reason.
-isiZulu (the language).
-Being able to feel the sun on your skin.
-Uphuthu (Zulu maize dish)
-Indian food everywhere
-Impromptu parties and loud music everywhere which is OK. You can’t file a noise complaint here ☺
-Getting in touch with old friends back home with whom I’ve fallen out of touch
-Large amounts of vacation time
-Feeling of accomplishment and pride of what I’ve done and being able to see it in front of my face.
-Getting to see and experience Africa up close and personal.

I’m sure that I will think of more…however now I must actually do some work. See, there I go again, working on my own schedule.

Happy Thanksgiving to all the Americans! (Or as Nozipho puts it after I wished her a Happy Thanksgiving: “Oh, I don’t know these white people holidays. Happy Thanksgiven!”~don’t worry, I corrected her to an American one not just a white one ☺).