A Whirlwind Week

The past week has been crazy busy with my Supervisor’s Workshop (Monday-Wednesday), my site visit (Thursday-Sunday), a day of travel (Monday), and a full day of training (Tuesday).  Boy!  I finally made it back home to my host family during PST, and I am glad.  I have really missed my host family this week, and know that leaving them in a week and a half will be hard.

Which brings me to an important point-I swear-in as a legit PCV in a week and a half?!  Wow!!  Time goes FAST!  I am beyond excited to actually be a PCV and start my service.  I visited the village I will be living in for the next 2 years, and I am excited!  It’s a TINY, deep rural village in the western part of Northwest Province, in the general area of Ganyesa.  That’s where my mailing address is.  Check my “mailing info” page for my new address and start using it ASAP, if you feel so inclined to mail me anything.  🙂  By the way, I got 7 letters today from 7 different people, so thank you to everyone who sent me mail.  I shall mail back, when I get stamps and postcards!

Since my village is deep rural, it’s a bit isolated.  I’m only 7km away from the nearest PCV, Sue, so that’s awesome.  But transport to her village can be hard to get.  Thus, I am getting a bike.  In part to get out of town and in part because my second school is about 5km away from my home so a bike is considered necessary for work.  Thus PC pays for it. 😉 Once I get to Sue’s village I can get a taxi very easily.

I will post in more detail tomorrow or the next day about my site, leaving the tar roads behind, hanging with current PCVs, and what life in my village is like.  But I’m beat tonight and am ready to hit the hay.

-Jen

Site Annoucements!

Yesterday we finally got our site announcements!  The big PC wait is over, finally!  I know where I will be settled for the next two years, and next week I shall visit my site for four days-exciting!  Though I will miss my host family I have now. 😦

I can’t give you specifics about where I will be, because PC has its policies.  Apparently we’re soft targets for terrorists….so no location is given here.  I can tell you that I will be in Northwest province, but near Northern Cape.  So a bit away from Pretoria and where I am now.  My shopping town is Vryburg, but that’s as much as I will say here.  If you are dying to know where I am, shoot me an email.

I have several PCTs (soon to be PCVs) that are stationed near me, which is pretty awesome.  One will live about 10km away, and another about 30km away.  The others are a bit farther out, but still close.  Oh, I’m pretty close to the Botswana border-I envision a trip there in my future…  And I can use my Setswana there as well, apparently.  Though it is a bit different than SA Setswana.

I have 2 schools, although I was only given information on one of them.  That one happens to be an upper primary school (not sure what that means) and is looking for someone to help with English, economics/accountancy, and computers.  I shall likely not be helping much with economics and accountancy, but you never know!

My house is said to have electricity, but no running water.  There is a tap in the yard though, which is a plus.   There are 3 adults and 7 children at my home-shoooo!  A big family, and lots of people to talk to!  🙂  I have my own room/area with a separate exterior door though, so I’m not actually in the house.

Well, I will tell y’all more when I get done with my site visit next week.  Til then, go siame,

-Jen

The Climax of Suspense!

18/8/2011

Tomorrow is the big day: Permanent site announcements!!  They are not until the afternoon though, so PC has plenty of time to torture us with waiting.  And other PCVs say they do indeed tease us before giving us our sites.  So mean!  And I’m sure tomorrow will drag.

Luckily this week has gone pretty fast.  Between getting stalked by a goat, being offered porcupine meat, and cramming Setswana knowledge into my head, I haven’t had much time to breathe…or write.  But you can check out some interesting stories in my TISA section (This is South Africa).  It’s just little stories about my life here and what happens on a daily basis.  It’ll show you what a day in rural SA is like, and probably give you a laugh since it stars me-an ignorant American.  J

I am super excited for 2:30pm tomorrow, when theorectically we get our sites.  I can see them delaying it for a bit though-tricky training peoples.

It finally rained this week, for the first time since I came to SA.  Let me tell you, rain and a tin roof makes for some NOISE!  Luckily it was just during the afternoon and evening, at not while I was trying to sleep.

Oh, the news is on.  I shall go watch.  I wonder what language it will be in today!

-Jen

Patience

If you ever consider being a PCV, or even just applying to PC, make sure you’re a patient person!  Of course we all expect to wait during the long application, continually checking our emails for an update from PC.  And even after we get invited, we wait for updates, staging info, and of course, our day of departure.  But guess what, once you get to your country, you still must wait.  You must wait for an endless amount of vaccinations, tea breaks, your one free day a week, walkaround allowance, field trips…and of course, site announcements!  We get our site announcements in six days and I am just about out of patience!  I think all of us are.  Pretty much the single biggest announcement for PC, and I just want to KNOW!

So, next time I get internet I shall know where I’m going.  I won’t publish the town/village name due to security, but I will know what type of school I’ll be teaching in, which province, and potentially what type of work I may actually be doing.  Though I won’t really know that til I’m settled in at site a few months down the road. 🙂

Right after site announcements we head off for a week-to have a supervisor’s workshop with our school(s) principal(s) and then for a four day site visit.  So the next few weeks are super exciting, but will likely go really fast.  Then it’s the end of PST-crazy!!  Time flies when you’re at PST.  I’m not sure when I’ll get online again, but hopefully next weekend before I leave for the workshop and the site visit.  Just know that I’m happy and well and can’t wait to find out where I will live for the next two years!!   And if you really like me, check out the”mailing info” tab for suggestions for packages.  🙂

-Jen