Swaziland… That's cute, but what is it?

Unjani from Swaziland!!  ("how are you?" in siSwati)

I’ll admit it.  When I learned about the Hole in the Wall program in Swaziland and was offered the job, I DID wikipedia Swaziland.  I knew it was a country in South Africa, but I just wanted to… double check.  So no judgments here if you thought I meant Switzerland or somewhere else in Asia.  Well, maybe medium judgments.

So after 3 flights and about 30 hours of travel, I touched down on the one airstrip in Manzini, Swaziland as the Hallelujah chorus played on my ipod.  And out of 300+ songs in my Christmas playlist for my ipod to select at random, it felt fitting… like my ipod knew… I made it!

My co-consultant Justin and I traveled together and were picked up from a guy we are working with – Khulekani (camp name = Raps).  As we drive the 30 min to Mbabane (the capital), the first thing I noticed when we entered the town was a KFC and a Curves fitness center.  “How could this be?” I asked.  “This is Africa, where are the huts?!”  And Raps said, “As in ‘Pizza?’”  (Okay, that thing about the huts only happened in my head.)  But the rest is true, and as we rounded the corner we approached the Woolworth’s department store and the local mall.  There is no mistaking the mall.

My first “official” Swazi lunch was cheese pizza from the local fast food joint.  And subsequently I’m surprised at the amount of pizza we’ve eaten here – I guess there are only a few local specialties and many people in town often grab fast food when they go out to eat.  So pizza, burgers, and tikka chicken seem to be the local specialties.  Considering I have only recently reintroduced rice back into my diet, I was glad to see that bread and sandwich-y foods are an option here.  We have had rice with most dinners at camp so far, but rice once a day seems like a walk in the park to me now.

Justin ordering us our daily pizza

For our first dinner on the town, we wanted to really get in with the locals so we went to a divey bar that we’d heard had good chicken.  We walked in and no one was there except for bar regulars who just stared at us.  We asked the waitress for a menu and she said “We have no menu.  Only chicken.”  We were like "Great, we'll have 2 of those then."  She said "Two chickens?"   "Yes, two chickens please.“  “Two chickens, one for each of you?"  "Yes, please, two chickens. "  (And thinking to ourselves- what doesn't she get?  Why is she repeating this again?)

She walked away looking at us weirdly and then came back 10 min later saying the chickens will take 40 minutes.  We were a bit surprised but went with it.  An hour later, two whole chickens on two big plates came out of the kitchen.  So….then it all made sense.  “Chickens.”  I'm guessing they also accounted for slaughter-time in that cooking-time estimate.  See, I just thought she had bad grammar, but I guess she just thought we were pigs.

Other than that I haven’t had many other major language miscommunications.  The Swazi language is siSwati, and it’s a doozy.  There hasn’t yet been one instance of me trying to say a word in siSwati that isn’t immediately followed by laughing in my face.  It’s because of the clicking - there must be about 10 different kinds of clicks you can make with your mouth that are part of this language!  For instance, we give out an award called “Umkhempi Logcamile” to every child.  There is a “click” where the “g” is.  If you say it correctly, then you’ve celebrated the child and called him/her a “Super Camper!”  If you use the wrong click, then you’ve said “Kid who peed on himself.”  I mean, come on….I feel like I’m being set up here.

That being said, the camp here is completely different from the camps I worked at this summer in Vietnam and Cambodia.  I was preparing for intense African summer heat and rugged conditions and mosquito nets at night, but it turns out I should’ve prepared for fancy camp instead.  We are up in the mountains at a guest house/conference center where the weather is cool and there are practically no bugs, it’s amazing!  I want to say that my experiences in SE Asia made me stronger and better equipped to deal with big bugs flying around me at night, but sadly I’ve regressed having turned off my “survival mode” three months ago.

Waiting for public transport- "coombi's"

Mbabane

Mbabane street vendors

A few fun facts about Swaziland that I’ve learned in my two weeks here:

Swazi’s have a lot of national pride for their Kingdom.  They all love the king – King Mswati III.  I’m not exactly clear on what the king does, but I believe he is in charge of the government and also owns most of Swaziland, including the mall.  There is a plaque there to prove it.  He is also on Forbes Top 20 richest monarchs list.  Is it strange that there is so much poverty in Swaziland and yet the king is one of the richest kings in the world?  Nah.

Swazi’s operate on “Swazi time” which means arriving somewhere between a half hour and a few hours late for things.  As one who is occasionally challenged with being on time, I can understand on some level.  But it works out for me here, because in Swaziland, I am always early!

In order to own a TV, Swazi’s have to pay an annual TV tax of about $50 a year… similar to how we might pay property tax or yearly car registration fees.  A Swazi can buy a TV and can get channels without paying the tax, but if the TV tax man shows up at your door to investigate whether you have a TV or not, you’d better have proof of paying your taxes or they will threaten that you could go to jail.  A woman I work with had a TV authority show up at her door out of the blue and she had to backpay taxes from the previous 4 years in order to keep her TV.  And, if you sell your TV or throw it away, you must notify the TV authorities and show proof of where it went so they can track down the next owner and make sure they have paid their TV tax as well.

Swaziland has the highest number of lightning strikes annually than anywhere else in the world.

Christmas is acknowledged in Swaziland, but not always celebrated.  There are a lot of Christians here, and Zionists as well.  It depends on who you talk to about their feelings on Christmas – the child of a woman I work with came home from school and told her that his teacher told him there is no Santa Claus.  He is six.  Seems a bit young to take away their youthful innocence, regardless of what you believe!  At the stores in the mall they play Christmas music and are decorated with Christmas trees and garland, but I guess the mall is the only place that is “Christmas-y.”  Luckily I brought my repertoire of Christmas music to play for everyone at camp and a few strands of lights to decorate with.  Phew, Christmas saved!

It is very rude to use your left hand to give or receive anything.  You should always extend your right hand, and if you want to be extra polite, use your left hand to hold your right arm out by holding onto your right arm near the elbow.  This is done a lot when meeting new people or thanking someone when shaking their hand.

Women cannot own land here.  They must either have a husband or a father or a son (even if that son is a baby) who can buy the land in the male’s name and then the woman can live there.  There are tribes in Swaziland where the chief gives people land if they come to him and say they are in need, and they usually only have to pay with one cow to receive these large plots of beautiful green property throughout Swaziland.

Women should get married by the time they are around age 25, otherwise they may be out of luck and never get married.  Similar to what I learned in Cambodia!  Many people marry young and some end up getting divorced, which is an option here.  But, sometimes the man will be unfaithful and move on with another woman without getting a divorce, and unless the man’s family releases the wife from her marriage, she still has to remain married to her husband (even though he is with another woman).  When Swazi’s get married, they have red mud spread all over their faces as a commitment to each other (instead of wearing a wedding ring!).  If the wife’s family pays the husband’s family one cow, they will “wash the red mud of marriage bonds off her face” and consider the marriage over.  One cow can really get you out of trouble in this country!

Some new words:

Yebo (pronounced “yay bo”) = yes

No = no

Unjani = how are you (to one person)

Ninjani = how are you (to a group)

Siyabonga = thank you (from a group)

Nyabonga = thank you (from one person)

Numbers are spoken in English because they are too complicated for Swazi people to learn in siSwati!

Swaziland has the highest rate of HIV per capita than any other country in the world.  1 in 4 people have HIV, and 50% of people in their 20’s have HIV.  Life expectancy is 32 years old.  This has dropped from 61 years old in 2000.  This is very clearly a national crisis in Swaziland and there is a big push for HIV education here.  I can see it on billboards all over Swaziland – billboards about using condoms, being faithful to your spouse, and taking medicine to prevent the spread of HIV.  I’m glad to be doing this kind of work with kids who need education about living with HIV and how they can make smart choices for their futures.

Justin and I prepping for training

Jaci & Zandy - our Swazi camp counterparts

I think that should do it for my new learnings of the week.  We have spent the last two weeks training the staff on how to run these programs, and now the kids actually come this weekend – I’m gearing up for lots of dancing and singing African songs – it’s what we’ve been doing since I first got here!  I like this job.

APT

Welcome to Hollywood! What’s your dream?

Oh it’s good to be back in America!  I have to say that when I first got back to Chicago, I was hesitant to do things like brush my teeth with tap water and walk outside without a handkerchief to wipe my sweat.  It was bizarre to be consciously aware of the fact that I had gone 20 minutes without sweating the first time I stepped outside.  I knew I loved not sweating, but now I REALLY know how much I love it.  My first morning back I woke up in my sister’s condo and wondered what hotel I was in and in which city.  It took a solid 15 seconds and my brother running in to jump on the bed for me to realize that I was back home.  And that there was cheese in the fridge… oh the cheese…

A treat from my darling sister to welcome me home...

My time back in Chicago was a whirlwind of visiting family and friends, packing and loading up a moving truck with all my worldly possessions, and just generally gearing up to become a west-coaster.  The decision itself to move to LA was the easiest one I’ve ever made, but the thought of leaving Chicago indefinitely was a harder concept to wrap my head around.  I’m lucky to have many reasons to come back every year, and am hoping that my new proximity to the ocean entices many visitors!

umm...4'x7'x6'... this may not end well.

  

miracle packing!  truly.

Arrival Day!!!

Now, I initially started this blog to tell long-winded stories about my travel adventures and share personal opinions about my experiences in other cultures.  Well luckily for me, Los Angeles is a pretty foreign culture in itself… so I am constantly walking around looking at things and saying, “What is that?  Does everyone know about this?”  Generally followed by the standard response from Brendan, “Yes, Ann.  Everyone knows about this.”

Have you ever heard of food trucks?  I mean, I understand the concept of food in a truck.  But there has been a crazy food truck revolution here within the last 5 years.  There are tons of trucks that pull up on the side of the road and people just know to buy food from them.  Taco trucks, hot dog trucks, sandwich trucks, Italian food trucks…  They even have food truck night in Santa Monica where all the food trucks just come and park and everyone walks around and eats from the food trucks.  It’s like the Taste of Chicago, except with trucks, everywhere, everyday, all the time, and less people shoving you while you eat.

Let’s talk about “sign spinners” -- people who stand on the street corners and hold signs advertising for stores in the area.  This is obviously a marketing tactic I’ve seen before, but I didn’t know these people had an official title other than “guy who holds sign.”  Shops will hire people to stand on street corners and spin their store signs in fancy ways and throw them around to grab the attention of passing motorists.  So if you see a good one you should give them credit because they’ve stepped up their game and turned this job into an art-form.  The whole thing makes “guy who holds sign” look pretty sad in comparison, and I like to see these “sign spinners” having so much fun in their jobs on the side of the road.

Maybe I don’t go to Home Depot enough, but I’m pretty sure this next thing is a California thing as well.  We went to Home Depot and there were all these Hispanic men standing on the side of the road by the entrance, just hanging out.

I asked, “What are they doing?” 

“They’re looking for jobs.”

“Why don’t they just go into Home Depot and try to get one?”

“They can’t do that, they wait outside here for people to come to them.”

“Well why would the Home Depot people come out here and ask them to apply for jobs when all these guys have to do is walk 20 feet inside and fill out an application?”

“They’re day laborers.”

“Well why don’t they apply for the daytime shifts then?”

“They’re illegal, they are looking to do jobs for customers.”

“What?  Is that a thing?!  Does everyone know about this?”

“Yes, Ann, it’s a thing.  And everyone knows.”

-- the verdict is still out, but I don’t think this is normal protocol at all Home Depots across America.

Finally, the fact that every road with a number must be prefaced by “The” when talking about it is definitely foreign to me and specific to LA.  I think most people know about this, but I have many questions about its origins and who decided this rule?  It applies to all roads with a number (e.g. “the 10”, “the 405”, the “5”), and apparently it doesn’t matter if it is an even number or not.  I thought maybe certain roads would be exempt from this rule because they didn’t quite flow as well (e.g. “the 134”, “the 1”), but it seems that is not the case.  But regular roads are just roads.  There is no “the Lincoln Ave.” or “the Santa Monica Blvd.” so don’t even try it or you’ll just make a huge fool of yourself.

see that behind me, as i stand on my rooftop deck?  i believe that's what the natives call "ocean"

This is all I’ve got for my new world in Los Angeles/Santa Monica so far.  I’m sure there will be more, and I’ll certainly keep you informed when I come across more ”cultural differences.”  All in all, I am so happy to be living in California.  Though I’m already missing snow and cold crappiness of the holiday season in Chicago, I know I’ll feel pretty okay about the sunshine-y weather come January.  I’m told I can get to snow within an hour’s drive….so that makes me happy.

For now, I’m taking a brief hiatus from my new life in La La Land to check out a little place called “Swaziland.”  Where the wine flows like beer…  No, wait, that’s Aspen.  So I’m back on the road, back doing what I did this summer in Vietnam and Cambodia – working as a consultant for Hole in the Wall setting up camp/education programs for kids with HIV.  It came up pretty last minute and I am so excited to get another opportunity to do this!  I have no idea what to expect from South Africa, but I can’t wait to learn and publicly “deconstruct” my new cultural immersion experiences once again.

See you in Swazi!

APT

Brendan and I on the porch of our new place

it's a dong-eat-dong world...

The final chapter of my Asian Adventure…. 

So I’d decided that two and a half months of working in Vietnam and Cambodia wasn’t enough, and I needed to do some traveling afterwards to get a truly well-rounded view of the countries.  Luckily, I have a travel buddy who was very excited to come and meet me to cruise around SE Asia together.
 

"Fish pedicures" in Siem Reap

 

Brendan and I traveled for 3 weeks through both Cambodia and Vietnam.  We were able to meet up with some of my co-workers from Vietnam along the way, which was wonderful!  I wanted to be sure that Brendan got as much of an authentic experience as possible, and when he arrived he was very excited to eat lots and lots of local food.  However, having really explored the range of local foods myself every meal for the previous 10 weeks, I was not ashamed to say, “Oh that’s cute, but I need pizza.”

Here are some pictures from our travels.  I hope they make you want to go to Cambodia and Vietnam, because everyone really should!!!  It is so affordable and we saw so much, but never felt rushed for time to enjoy ourselves in each place.

We started in Cambodia in the capital, Phnom Penh, and made our way to Siem Reap to see the temples at Angkor Wat.

Do one or the other, but NEVER both.

temple heads

angry temple heads

Floating village outside Siem Reap

 

Then we spent a day in Saigon and flew to these beautiful secluded islands off the coast called the Con Dao Islands.  They looked like the islands from Jurassic Park, rising straight up out of the water.  We rode motorbikes all over the island and ended up on these gorgeous secluded white sand beaches with not a soul in sight.

We made our way to Hoi An, which is a town heavily influenced by the Chinese and known for its tailors who make every kind of clothing imaginable, hand-tailored for about $30 a piece. (I stocked up!)  Hoi An is near Danang on the famous “China Beach” were US soldiers went for R & R during the Vietnam war.  There was a full moon festival occurring at the time and children dressed up like Chinese dragons, dancing for everyone in the streets and asking for money.

Children's festival - dragons!

temple on top of Marble Mountain

I know it's hard to tell which is the authentic angry temple guardian.

Hoi An - land of colorful lanterns!

bags.  big bags.  angry flight attendant.

After Hoi An we flew to Hanoi and spent a few days taking in the northern culture -- so different from the south.  We happened to be there right before the 1000 year birthday of Hanoi, but sadly missed the festivities by one day!

Morning aerobics!  shirts off, old dudes.

Bun cha - street food w/ my friend Khanh from the Vietnam program

an offering of beer to the gods...they won't miss one tiny little beer...

 

We took a bus/van/boat/bus to our own private boat cruise on Halong Bay, where we spent 2 nights gliding through these massive rock formations on an eco-friendly, solar powered wooden ship.  Just us and our cook and the captain.  Totally ridiculous and awesome.  We kayaked through caves and biked to a small village, and spent the afternoons on the deck enjoying tiger beers and swimming off the side of the boat.

our "junk"

biking to a tiny village that was blasting karaoke when we pulled up at 9am!

our "back-up" captain.  surely just as capable.

From Halong Bay we headed by boat/bus/van to an overnight train that took us to the mountain town of Sapa, where the H’Mong tribes live.  We spent 2 days trekking through the rice paddies on the mountainside and meeting local people, buying crafts from women that literally followed us around for hours at time to try to get us to buy something.  (One of the grabby ones almost got a punch in the face.)  This region is right near the border of China and is incredibly different from the rest of Vietnam… extremely worth the 12 hour overnight train ride!

Rice paddies along all the mountains

Red Dzao H'mong tribe

Black H'mong tribe...stalking the westerners!

 

Back to Hanoi for a night, to enjoy one last Bia Hoi.  Bia Hoi is the local beer that you can only get at certain places, and mostly on the sidewalks from a keg and a local guy just sitting outside with a bunch of mugs.  A Bia Hoi will set you back 4000 dong, and though you might say –

“What!  Nobody walks around with that kind of dong in their pocket!”

When you learn that 4000 dong = 20 cents, you understand that it’s truly a dong-eat-dong world out there, and the Bia Hoi is king.

20 cents!  how about another...and another...

 

And……I’m out!  Of Asia, that is.  And on to the next adventure……

APT