...and certainly not her last.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
just what South Africa needs...
I've found the answer to all of South Africa's problems with violence and racial tension in this simple poem by Shel Silverstein:
" I will not play at tug o' war
I'd rather play at hug o' war,
Where everyone hugs
instead of tugs,
where everyone giggles
and rolls on the rug,
where everyone kisses,
and everyone grins,
and everyone cuddles,
and everyone wins."
I'd rather play at hug o' war,
Where everyone hugs
instead of tugs,
where everyone giggles
and rolls on the rug,
where everyone kisses,
and everyone grins,
and everyone cuddles,
and everyone wins."
*****
In other news, I went with the lay counselors last week to turn in their application to apply as an Non-profit organization. It has been a dream of theirs for over two years, so it was quite momentous. We also had a little celebration for the arrival of our lay counselling training certificates. Other than that and a couple more meetings with them this week, where I will wrap up my training on writing a strategic plan, I'm a complete waste of space, due to the fact that Im America bound next week!! Soooo excited, soooo distracted.
Ke tla go bona ka next week!
- Bontle/ Heather
In other news, I went with the lay counselors last week to turn in their application to apply as an Non-profit organization. It has been a dream of theirs for over two years, so it was quite momentous. We also had a little celebration for the arrival of our lay counselling training certificates. Other than that and a couple more meetings with them this week, where I will wrap up my training on writing a strategic plan, I'm a complete waste of space, due to the fact that Im America bound next week!! Soooo excited, soooo distracted.
Ke tla go bona ka next week!
- Bontle/ Heather
Saturday, September 12, 2009
High School, Peace Corps style
These past couple weeks Ive been in and out of the village for various Peace Corps trainings, and the time spent with my fellow Americans pretty much solidified my creeping suspicion that being in Peace Corps is kind of like going through those awkward high school years all over again. You body is going through weird changes you can't seem to explain or understand. You spend hours alone in your room listening to angsty music by candle light. You have wild, emotional mood swings... one minute you're ecstatic with joy, and five minutes later you're balling your eyes out. ( and ten minutes after that you realize you've gone through your last roll of single-ply toilet paper and must devise a plan to reuse some of the less wet ones for the outcome of the upset stomach you've just given yourself).
There's also a very high school-like social structure to Peace Corps... every six months new volunteers come in, so youve got freshman, sophomores, juniors, and Seniors. The freshmen look up to and admire the upperclassmen, but at the same time think they're assholes for acting like they know everything... until the freshman become sophomores and realize they know sooo much more than the freshly arrived volunteers... and tell them so. In Peace Corps South Africa High School, I am now a sophomore, and I definitely feel like the freshman should listen to me. Because what do they know about keepin' it real in South Africa? And dont they understand Im only trying to help them? Dont they understand anything Im trying to say? No, of course not. Because this is high school and "no one understands me". Ah, back to feeling misunderstood by the world. The newly arrived volunteers wont understand because my own friends dont understand. I mean, its one thing to not be understood by South Africans, but to not be understood by fellow Americans? Eish!
Its that vicious cycle of analytical thought all over again. Except this time I suppose I have the foresight to realize Im behaving as if Im in high school. And i realize its silly to expect everyone to understand each other all the time.. Especially in Peace Corps South Africa High School, where everyone's situation is so entirely different and there are a million different factors both within and out of our control that make it so. And I dont really have much to say to the new volunteers, because most of what they will experience will be completely different from my experience.
Im not saying Ive stopped listening to angsty music. What I am saying is that I'm trying to own the feeling that I dont need to be understood all the time. I think life could be more enjoyable, where ever you are, if you stop yourself from trying to make people understand who you are and what you do. If you stop trying to change other people's perspectives and just focus on your own individual growth and learning process instead, while being observant and respectful of other people's experiences. Im also saying that from now on, I'm buying my one-ply toilet paper in bulk and stashing some away for a, uh, rainy day.
There's also a very high school-like social structure to Peace Corps... every six months new volunteers come in, so youve got freshman, sophomores, juniors, and Seniors. The freshmen look up to and admire the upperclassmen, but at the same time think they're assholes for acting like they know everything... until the freshman become sophomores and realize they know sooo much more than the freshly arrived volunteers... and tell them so. In Peace Corps South Africa High School, I am now a sophomore, and I definitely feel like the freshman should listen to me. Because what do they know about keepin' it real in South Africa? And dont they understand Im only trying to help them? Dont they understand anything Im trying to say? No, of course not. Because this is high school and "no one understands me". Ah, back to feeling misunderstood by the world. The newly arrived volunteers wont understand because my own friends dont understand. I mean, its one thing to not be understood by South Africans, but to not be understood by fellow Americans? Eish!
Its that vicious cycle of analytical thought all over again. Except this time I suppose I have the foresight to realize Im behaving as if Im in high school. And i realize its silly to expect everyone to understand each other all the time.. Especially in Peace Corps South Africa High School, where everyone's situation is so entirely different and there are a million different factors both within and out of our control that make it so. And I dont really have much to say to the new volunteers, because most of what they will experience will be completely different from my experience.
Im not saying Ive stopped listening to angsty music. What I am saying is that I'm trying to own the feeling that I dont need to be understood all the time. I think life could be more enjoyable, where ever you are, if you stop yourself from trying to make people understand who you are and what you do. If you stop trying to change other people's perspectives and just focus on your own individual growth and learning process instead, while being observant and respectful of other people's experiences. Im also saying that from now on, I'm buying my one-ply toilet paper in bulk and stashing some away for a, uh, rainy day.
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