Blogs from Barberton, Mpumalanga , South Africa, Africa - page 2

Do people put Christmas lights up in SA? Bear in mind that I don’t walk anywhere at night, so I only know what I saw in the daytime. Maseru, Lesotho’s small capital city, had decorative lights strung across main street and, in a small park, red and green plastic palm trees stood around a traditional Christmas tree shape out of white lights. I didn’t see lights or decorations in front of houses in residential areas of Maseru or Pretoria. Most homes are surrounded by walls with gates across the driveways, so you can’t see much. At the Bloemfontein mall (where I went to see The Hobbit) there may have been some signs about Christmas in store windows, but I don’t remember much decoration there either. Back in Kameelpoort, I saw one man putting up a short ... read more

The highlights of my Lesotho trip remain to be told. Hopefully I can make it shorter than my description of public transport. Those first 3 days impressed upon us (I hope they impressed you!) that we were indeed venturing into the unknown. Hmm... watching Star Trek Next Generation episodes this past week has rubbed off... “venturing into the unknown”... navigating with the help of an old The Lonely Planet guidebook. Perhaps a more apt comparison is this: When I saw a Lesotho man wearing a T-shirt saying “Alaska - The Last Frontier,” I wondered: “Maybe Alaska is “The Second to the Last Frontier” because I’m in the REAL frontier now.” Our first two nights in Lesotho were the most rustic. At Sani Pass, they turned on the generator from 5 pm to 10 pm, and gave ... read more

My picture doesn’t show the cold drink bottles very well, but do you remember one of the cultural conundrums I wrote about? Why do people put the plastic bottles filled with water out on their lawns? Notice that they are spaced around on the grass, but the bottles are never opened to water the grass. The answer that Shilpa (the previous PCV here) and I received from various neighbors is this: The bottles discourage dogs from pooping on the lawn. .......OK..... can this really work? I don’t know...maybe some of you want to give it a try.... read more

What a Mixed Bag! Three of us SA26’s did day site visits. Eva and George came to Kameelpoort where they toured Sele Secondary and Ndayi Primary, met my host family and then I cooked lunch for them. On following days, we visited Eva at Mt. View, then George at Kwagga. Site - How it looks/How it feels Carolyn I have hills around my town. And the town is sweet. I like my 12’ x 14’ room in Martha’s yard. She has a new kitten and a dog she keeps tied up. George BEST A view like the best of Montana. Big sky, rolling hills with cows and a stream (which I’d never go in!) Has his own bathroom w/flush toilet. Hot water from outside tap. Eva and I loved turning it on and feeling the water! ... read more

I have gone to three weddings this month. Weddings are a big expense, because you feed everybody who comes. Usually a two day affair, Saturday at the home of the bride and Sunday at the home of the groom. People are there from morn to night, music is playing (DJ music) all that time, community members dance whenever, eat whenever, and somewhere in there they exchange vows. Wedding A - of Mama B (Leah Bundu) the maintenance worker at Sele School. Her family home was over 2 hr. drive away. First they wore traditional clothes, bridesmaids in pink and blue, and bride in the red and black blanket. Later...this is SA time so l.a.t.e.r... they wore “western” clothes, bridesmaids in green, and bride in white. Earlier in the day someone brought our group some ... read more