Ode to the Pigs of Tiping Secondary School (I think I smell bacon in my near future)

              Pigs are, I have decided, most definitely the bane of my existence. Upon arriving home after vacation in Cape Town I was given only a couple days of rest and relaxation before I was aggravated by the filthy creatures that roam the school compound. They have pens! They should stay in them! Now, Mé Mathabo claimed, when she came out before school opened, that the pigs broke their gates. I know for a fact that she opened the damn things. There are four grown pigs and 19 piglets roaming the school compound as we speak. Why? Because they are starving. Mé Mathabo claims the school cannot afford the feed needed to keep them. But what happened to the money gained from selling the last bunch of little monsters? I have no idea. As my father put it, ‘you have to be a pretty poor farmer to loose money on a pig project’. The best part about this situation is that she was once the agriculture teacher at one of the larger high schools in Quthing. Hmmm, something is not quite right.

           

            So, for two weeks I had to chase the little shits away from my garden. For two weeks I kept a metal rake next to my door so that at a moments notice (anytime I herd their vile grunting and snorting) I could run out screaming and yelling, waving it around, attempting to hit as many as possible; I’ve come to cherish the sound of their little squeals. Those are moments I wish Peace Corps kept secret cameras hidden around to document our two years at site; The Real World Peace Corps style. God only knows what the local people were thinking when they saw me do this (because it happened, on average, 15-20 times a day—they gave me quite a workout). 

           

            Then, one day, I had to leave my precious garden to attend my Mid-service conference (it’s the conference we have to officially mark our 1-year of service as a PCV, the point where if we early terminate our service we can still call ourselves Returned PCVs, or RPCVs. The R is a big deal) held in Morija. I was gone for 3 days but when I returned to Tiping I found my beautiful garden completely destroyed. No more green beans or peas, no more carrots or onions, no more lettuce, not even tomatoes or green peppers. Everything was gone. All that hard work, gone. Whelp, there is always an upside to every situation; no need to chase after pigs anymore--unless I want to hear them squeal. Hehehe

           

            Aside from the pigs, all is well here on my end (no, I am not going nutty, I promise). Great news! When I finally gave up hope that the cell tower was going to be anything but landscape decoration, it began to work. I am now the proud owner of a phone that gets service (most of the time). It’s all still a little buggy; every now and then the service will cut out for an hour, or a day, but overall it’s a huge improvement! I still can’t quite believe it’s working. I was able to have a conversation with my parents while sitting on my bed just the other day. Ahh what a luxury!

           

            School started, finally. After being postponed for two weeks, we opened this past Monday, the 28th. The postponement means we will continue the school semester two weeks into the winter break. Remember, my students have to walk to school everyday—it’s cold in June! It snows! This isn’t Texas. I don’t foresee a remarkable attendance rate but at least I live on the school compound. 

           

            Once again, I mentioned this in my last post, but I am now teaching Mathematics to Forms A, B and C. So far I am really enjoying it. It is definitely keeping me busy; our school day has 9 periods in it, Tuesday and Wednesday I teach 6 out of those 9 periods. The added workload forces me to stay well organized and I find that I work well under pressure.

           

            Not only am I increasing my class load, but also I am busy preparing to receive books from the African Library Project for a school library at Tiping. I was volunteered by the other teachers to take care of the school lunch program (which includes collecting money from students who can afford a school lunch, budgeting the money throughout the year, pricing food stuffs, and purchasing it all—or telling Mé Mathabo to purchase everything). I have officially started my girl’s soccer team. Finally, I plan to introduce the idea of a student senate to the school. Along with all of that, I seem to be something resembling Mé Mathabo’s personal assistant. Am I a pushover? Maybe.

            I am doing quite well: very happy to be back at school. As always, I wish you all the best and I miss you terribly, but this year is going to fly. Truly. I’ll be seeing you sooner than you know.

            Love and hugs,

            Sadie

P.S. Yes, I do still shave my underarms. And yes, I do still bathe everyday. Living without running water is considerably easier than living without cell service.

           

Sharity's P.O.V.

I have to admit that when the trip to Lesotho and South Africa was proposed, I was not thrilled by the prospect. That’s not to say that I did not eagerly want to see Sadie, her site, or South Africa. Yet, (1) the timing was terrible for me, (2) recent discoveries of food allergies and intolerances made me extremely apprehensive of unpredictable conditions and accommodations, and (3) I possess knowledge of what it is to travel with Dad, Mom, and Sadie for extended periods... Moreover, I did not have the time to adequately prepare for the trip, with regards to research about Lesotho and South Africa and familiarizing myself with the itinerary. To say that I experienced a great deal of anxiety prior to the trip would be an understatement.

But the trip itself was fantastic.

Admittedly, Dad and Mom are not savvy international travelers, though they did their best to prepare and cope. And, understandably, after a few days in our company Sadie could not help a brief bout of recidivism to her youngest child role. I perforce took up the mantle of leader, even if it meant bearing accusations of being a backseat driver. That was the least of my worries. Might you be familiar with the phrase “herding cats”? It applies here.

Anyway, Dad and Mom have already described to you Sadie’s initial bait and switch regarding our accommodations in Lesotho and the basic itinerary we followed as we made our way into and across South Africa. I more or less agree with their sentiments. I, like Mom, do not care for camping, so staying 3 nights at Sadie’s site was an adjustment, though all I had to hear was the word “latrine” and I knew exactly what the quality of the conditions would be and what to expect (thank goodness it wasn’t “hole in the ground, exposed to the elements”). In fact, her site ended up being far better than I had anticipated. Although, I could have done without the wretched Ralphie’s “gifts” of half dead lizard, desiccated mouse corpse, and ticks. At any rate, Lesotho and South Africa were beautiful and the people we met were wonderful.

I feel incredibly grateful that I had the opportunity to travel to such faraway places with my family; indeed, I’m beginning to appreciate more and more the hilarity of the entire endeavor. It was a Christmas Vacation that I will never forget and which National Lampoon can never surpass.

Love to Dad, Mom, and Sadie.

Sharity

Mom's point of view

OK, so even though Sadie and Rusty have thoroughly filled you in on our trip to Southern Africa, no one will leave me alone until my perspective is communicated. This will be short. I want to begin by saying that I would not trade these few days in a land and culture very different from my own for anything - it was educational, enlightening and endearing.

I’m not going to begin by saying that I was my charming self, anyone who knows me well, knows that’s not even remotely possible. You have to remember I’m a spoiled, white American woman of a particular age that has been pampered. I agreed to spend one night at Sadie’s site without running water, electricity and an inside bathroom, I spent 3 nights. Not of my choosing. What I realized is, that if I have to, I can survive less than ideal conditions. Although, after one night when it was necessary for me to visit the latrine 4 times, no one really wants to live with me under those kinds of conditions. And remember I said I’m of a particular age, so when I say it’s time to go to the bathroom I don’t always have the time to stumble over everyone in the dark, find the flashlight, unlock the security gate with an old fashioned skeleton key, sprint several yards through the weeds, down the hill to the smelly latrine. There were certain garments that were thrown away, not making the trip back home.  Oh, and I almost forgot, it’s summer time there and there is no air conditioning - need I say more! I have to say I have a much greater appreciation for the young men and women serving humanity in remote parts of the world.

Sadie kept us all busy by showing us how to cook on a two burner gas contraption, hauling water, washing our clothes in a wash basin, and bucket bathing. You can’t imagine how good it felt to wash off, no matter the washing process after traveling for two whole days just to get to this remote location. Brushing our teeth and spitting in the bucket was also welcome after a couple of days by which time your teeth feel like they’ve got moss growing them. After the third night in remote Lesotho I was ready to head south into South Africa where I hoped the infrastructure would be more of what I am accustomed. And I’m happy to report that it was much more accommodating to my needs/wants (what’s the difference?). Anyway, throughout the entire trip I’m still sleep deprived and my blood sugar levels low, and though the entire trip progressed smoothly and without incidence my anxiety levels remained high. I’m a worrier and a “what if” er. But my kind husband and patient daughters understand my insecurities and made the trip wonderful and unforgettable in so many amazing ways! We saw beautiful country, met beautiful and endearing people and came away with a sincere appreciation for a part of the world I would never in a million years dreamed that I would get an opportunity to visit.

In closing, I want to say thank you to Sadie for being so brave in going so far away to serve people and humanity in an effort to make our world a better place. And I want to say thank you to Sharity for being the ultimate understanding daughter to me and incredible big sister to Sadie. You had the ability to understand and fulfill both our many needs. Love you both and pray for your safety daily!! Mom

Thank you

I would like to express a much appreciated thank you to Mark, Ann and Maren Pratt for allowing us to use your home as a staging area. Thank you for driving us to and picking up three weary (probably smelly) adventurers from the airport. The shower and lunch before we drove home were just what we needed.

Some more photos

Sharity and Arletta at the start of our 16 hour flight to Johannesburg.

Sharity and I after about 36-40 hours of travel at a motel at Mohale's Hoek.

Sadie, Aparna and Tishina.

Molly and Sadie inside Molly's rondeval.

Sadie's teaching colleague/neighbor and her twins.

Sadie demonstrating her water hauling technique. She didn't do it hands-free like the pros.

Some of Sadie's students that came to meet and visit with us.

Sadie is growing a garden - if she can keep the pigs out of it.

The pigs - four sows each with a brood of piglets that run around all over the compound.

Sadie in front of her room.

All around Cape Town

This dish made Sharity "very happy". Mussels in about a inch of butter.

Sadie and Molly in a pub on the water front.

Waiting for the wine tour bus on Long Street.

The family returning from Robben Island.

James, Sadie and Rusty on the wine tour. Yes, we had to wear the hats.

Sadie seemed a bit too enthusiastic about the wine.

Last day before heading home.

Sadie Marie

Road trip - South Africa

Driving British style.

Sadie, Arletta and Sharity in their Besotho traditional skirts in Montagu.

Walking the historical path in Montague.

The girls overlooking Franschoek.