The Unexpected

“Now it is not good for the Christian’s health to hustle the Aryan brown

For the Christian riles and the Aryan smiles and he weareth the Christian down

And the end of the fight is a tombstone white with the name of the late deceased,

And the epitaph drear: “A fool lies here who tried to hustle the East.”

-Rudyard Kipling

I am fast approaching the sixth month mark of my time here in Swaziland.  Looking back on the past six months, there are some things that I expected, and some things I really didn’t.  Here is a list of the unexpected:

I did not expect such indifference towards my past, my culture, or my country.  Granted this is also a product of the communities I’m working with- mostly rural poor with limited media access.  The few times I have gotten questions, they have always been amazingly random: “Is wrestling real?”  “Do you have cows in America?”  “Are celebrities Satan worshippers?”

I did not expect Swazis to be as friendly and helpful as they are.  When the young khumbi conductors see the lost little white girl standing at the Manzini bus rank (which African guidebooks dub the most crowded bus rank in Africa), I don’t even have to ask for help guiding me to the right khumbi.  I am asked “Where to?” in clipped Swazi English.  I tell them my destination and the young men guide me like they’re the Secret Service and I’m the President fleeing a bomb threat.  Also, cheers to the man who carried my enormous gas can with me, the grandpa who pulled the tick off my neck, and my host brothers for never once complaining about the extra chore of caring for my dog when I’m away. 

I did not expect health problems to consume so much of my time.  Since coming here six months ago, I have been treated for giardia, African tick bite fever, a cough that lasted three months, viral infections of horrific sore-throatiness, and GI illnesses that remain undiagnosed (pending an upcoming visit to a specialist).  I’ve always been a bit paranoid about my health, so the trip has not been fun.    

I did not expect to see so many awesome insects/bugs.  They often look a lot like bugs in the States, but somehow bigger and more colorful.  When there are hundreds of giant grasshoppers hopping in one tiny corner of the grass, I’ll be looking to the sky for the next plague to strike. 

I did not expect training to cover the topics it did, and expected more depth in other areas.  We spent a solid four or five days on mental health/feelings/diversity/grief, which may be very valid given past attrition rates.  Apparently the shift was more of a global standardization of Peace Corps policy (perhaps in response to the now infamous rape and murder cases), as the past group reports having had significantly more time devoted to technical trainings.   I am a total workaholic, though, and wanted three months of solid language and technical trainings. 

I did not expect to draw strength from meeting Swazis working to change their communities and country.  Trying to effect change with families that sometimes only have the abilities/resources to care about their immediate condition produces only a few, small victories.  Listening to an impassioned speech on corporal punishment by a ministry employee at a training reminded me to quit being selfish and to do what I’m here to do.  In discussing corporal punishment, the gentleman reminded us that the manipulative argument of cultural heritage should be challenged in many arenas, not just in the arena of school discipline.  “Yes, it was done to us, but we need some kind of introspection to ask, was it right?”  Knowing that there are people such as him working for change inspires me to not give up on changing behavior in a small way in my community. 

I did not expect to spend so much time straddling two communities.  One community is my village.  The other is the Peace Corps, which is a strange little group of Americans who are all so stunningly different that you know that you would spend very little time with most of them if you weren’t thrown into a program together.  Over time, our group has finally become more cohesive, and I will be going on vacation to the beaches of Mozambique over the New Year with some of my fabulous new friends!  (Can’t wait!!) 

Finally, I did not expect to spend at least five minutes every day with my jaw hanging open, staring in awe at the buena vistas.  The sun rises and sets in colors too brilliant for words.  It conveys to me only the melancholy reflection that this incandescent paradise is tainted by a disease which preys upon the deepest chords of our humanity.