Adventures on the Dark Continent

On April 2nd, I finally passed my one year mark! Already, it is past July, and I only have 9 months left! Every volunteer will tell you this, but it is truly amazing how fast and how different the second year of service goes. Already I am thinking about the things here I will miss, the people that I may never see again. It is common knowledge in the Peace Corps Volunteer community that the first year is beset with struggle, but that the second year is incomparable in how much easier it is. This is not to say that the second year is a breeze, simply that you know more or less what to expect, and with whom to speak when you have a problem/ question.
For the longest time, my self and other volunteers here have used the world cup as a marker…when it finally rolled around, we knew we would be almost done. Not only has it “rolled around,” it is over tomorrow! I know that the few months that I left will go so quickly! And there is still so much yet to see (namely Namibia, Leotho, and Mozambique)!
For those of you that have talked to me in the past 17 months, you will be shocked to know that I have made white friends here. This means that I have had to confront some of my own prejudices about white people in this country. As a PCV here, I feel camaraderie with the rural black population, and it took me a long time to approach whites here without eyeing them as racist assholes. But I have met some people who go into the townships outside Jozi and Pretoria, and are more aware of their country’s strengths and weaknesses than most. Trust me, no one was more shocked by this development than myself!
In my village I have a functioning girls club (albeit with low attendance, but its something!! I won’t complain!! I have also heard a rumor that there might be a new PCV placed in my village! I am ambivalent about this, until I meet the person. But as nearly everyone around me is leaving by late August, I would be really happy for the presence of another American! Otherwise, I might be the only American for about 400km!
I gained about 20 lbs in my first year here. It wasn’t terrible, but I wasn’t really happy with my new found shape. I started jogging in February after my parents left, and I am running a 5k a week, for a total of about 11km a week! I am planning on entering the Soweto marathon in November, but will only be running a 10k. All this running has shown results; I have lost about 15 lbs, and am feeling great!
Despite some serious doubt/ dread, I am taking the LSAT test in October (oh shit, only 3 months to study!!). I am writing up applications and what not for law school, and plan on enrolling for fall 2011.
That’s a brief update for now. Despite being MIA for almost 7 months, my computer is still no closer to being fixed than it was in December when it died (speaking of things I will and won’t miss…this pace. Or lack thereof). But I am planning on borrowing a computer to get through my Law school applications etc, so hopefully come August I will be more regular in my postings. For those of you on facebook, I just added some pics from World Cup, and will add more the next time I am in town. Be on the lookout!!

I know that this is a wee bit late, what with the final game tomorrow, but the World Cup has arrived in South Africa!! It has been impossible not to catch World Cup fever with the whole country going crazy!! Well before I arrived there were countdown’s in every McDonalds/ KFC/ airport etc for the opening game. As time passed, the excitement grew. Flags were put up all over, construction was hastily completed, and excitement was practically graspable in urban centers.
For the opening game, I stayed in my village. Vuvuzellas (now infamous) were heard for weeks (at all hours of the day and night) for weeks beforehand, but opening day they started at about 6 AM. I went to work and me and the women there sorted vegetables and parcels to be given to orphans in our area. For the game I went to a friends house where four or five of us sat around blowing our vuvu’s, and cheering on Bafana Bafana (South Africa’s team). The spirit in the air was electric; you could feel that the whole country had stopped and was cheering for Bafana with all their might. We didn’t win, but the vuvu’s still went mad, and there were parties all over my village that night. I had to take sleeping medicine to drown out the noise of the vuvuzelas!
For the Bafana v. France game (in which Bafana won, but was still knocked out of the tournament), I was at a small bar in another volunteers town. The game was shown on a projection screen, and the bar was so full to packed that people crouched on the floors in order to get a glimpse. The game was awesome to watch with such a crowd, and the amount of cheering and vuvu blowing was deafening. We sang Shosholoza (a black freedom song) and generally had a grand time. Despite us being knocked out, everyone was very happy at Bafana’s excellent game (although many wished they would have played like that earlier. Shame).
All in all, I attended three games. I paid about $15 per ticket, as I qualified as a South African resident. The final game was a round of 16, so I paid about $37 for it. I would say that all in all, the world Cup was a wonderful experience, and it was amazing to watch South Africans and international fans come together at the stadiums. I hope that the world watched in wonder as all the problems people saw attached to Africa’s hosting the cup melted away. Yea, people were robbed…but seriously that would happen anywhere! I am so happy that I was able to be a part of this.
The final game is tomorrow, and despite some scheduling mishaps at Shaka airport in Durbs after the Spain game, there have been no major concerns. Congrats South Africa!! And I think it’s amazing that there will be a first time World Cup winner tomorrow! So excited!