Out Of Africa

December 23, 2005

More adventuring

hey everyone-
how are things going with everyone? So note to all anyone traveling to Zimbabwe don't do it with out lots of US cash and DON'T change all your money once you get here. This country is so economically torn to pieces, it's really sad. The country used to be amazing. The country was run by the agriculture business, and their zim dollars were equal to 1 british pound and $1.50 US. Now it is $82,500 Zim to the US dollar! We walked around with huge stacks of bills but it was really worth nothing, similar to monopoly money.

So the President had a huge castle in Scotland and a secret Swiss bank account, that were seized and frozen by the World Bank and IMF, so he became mad and kicked all the heads (who happened to be white)of large agri-farms out of the country, and put in local farmers who have no idea about large farming like that. The economy plummetted and everything has suffered. He also went on a rampage and killed thousands of poor who sold stuff on the streets, wiped them out. He has made it very difficult for people who make a living off of street vending to keep doing that. As the white farmers disappeared so did the agri business and everything good about the economy.

It's a shame because this is such a beautiful country with friendly people and amazing scenery, with mountains all over and Victoria Falls in the North. Everything is in crisis here, fuel is only sold on the black market, so is money, local currency, food, bread, eggs. President Mugabe is so desperate for foreign currency that he made laws that most hotels, hostels, and national parks require foreigners to pay in their foreign currency, but chances are you will get change in the local currency. We didn't run into this problem at first in Mutare, and if we did, chances are we would have run back to Mozambique! We did run into it in Masvingo on our way to the Great Zimbabwe monument. Masvingo hostels were terrible and only would take US or Rand from us. So we got bitter not knowing that it was gov't not the hostels doing this. Reluctantly we stayed at a ostrich farm that would take my travelors checques, she told us a little about it but not much, the next moring we hitched to the Great Zimbabwe monument which required us to pay in US dollars but would not give us change in US dollars because they didn't have the correct change, Jerks!!! We also needed to stay in the national park for the night. It was raining awfully bad at this time, and we pouted and walked back to the Great Zimbabwe Hotel and sat down at the bar and ordered two bad gin and tonics.

Up to this time we were very good about drinking and using ourmoney for travelling. It was a frustrating impulse buy, and a bad one at that. The bartender was nice enough to shed light on us about the economic situation about the money problem. And he told us what WE could do and write to the government and complain to them about the problem and that he is running out good tourists by forcing them to payin their currency. So we collapsed and walked back to pay for the horrible night and see the ruins, Great ZImbabwe Monument. So the Great Zimbabwe is apparently the oldest ruins in Africa south of the pyramids. We hicked out to see the so called amazing ruins that they didn’t use mortal on, Rhogue said it looked like Ireland stone fences with stones placed on top of stones. The first formation did not look that exciting really, and I felt crummy for dragging us here and wasting money on this not very exciting place, plus it began to rain. That’s never fun. There were more impressive ruins on top of a steep hill. That part was well fortified against any invaders, until the Portugese came and took all the inhabitants into slavery. We climbed up there in our ponchos, thanks mom for them. We sat and reflected awhile and continued through the maze of large boulders and stone walls. We had a garden-state moment yelling in the rain with garbage bags on ourselves. We were mysteriously answered by not-too-happy monkeys from the trees below.

Later that night in our not-too-nice accomadations, we made a list of things we were thankful for. Our place was a room with two cots, no sheets. So our list was: not going to bed overly stuffed, no leaks in real roof-not thatched, outlet-electricity-working light-we could listen and charge our ipods, curtins for no peeping toms, no sheets=no bedbugs, candle+stolen matches, we were alone and had a key. I guess it could have been worse. We decided to get an early, early start to get to Bulwayo on our way to Vic Falls.

That day would be the best day and luckfor hitching for us. So we left and as we got to the fancy hotel the bag was hurting my back and we took a break just as some men were leaving. I asked if we could get a lift to where they were going, hoping they were going to Masvingo. Luckily they were and gave us a ride into town. Good timing cause it began to rain now too. So they asked where we were from and we said Swaziland, they smiled and asked how our wonderful Monarch king was. They know their African countries well. We smiled back and said he was interesting. We asked how their president was, they smiled and they said interesting as well. They talked and asked us about Bush. They convinced us to go to Vic Falls first because it was ‘imperative’ that we see Harare, the capital, not duirng the weekend ‘cause it’s dead on the weekends.’ That was weird to us, if it really is a capital city. We had no preference and they took us to a spot on the road to Bulwayo where we could either catch another lift of get a bus if we wanted. They dropped us off and gave us their numbers and said to call when we got to Harare. They assured us that we would not have a problem getting a ride here, but we were skeptical at first. But it was early and the rain stopped, briefly.

Within 10 minutes a man stopped for us and some guy going farther down the road. We all jumped in, with this awesome guy, whose last name was Campbell, and he turned into our tour guide of the road from Masvingo to Bulwayo. He told us very much about the country and its problems. He told us that when he was younger the Zim dollar used to be equal to 1 british pound. He also told us that at one point the totally corrupt Mugabe was one of the top 10 richest people in the world. However at one point his Swiss bank account was frozen and his palace in Scotland was seized. All this done by the World Bank and IMF. In reaction to this, Mugabe declared economic war on the white landowners who owend the commerical farms that actually ran the country. He ran out the farmers and with them the agricultural economy ran too.

Cows and goats were crossing the highway as well talked-typical Africa style-and he commented that it never used to be like that but due to all of the econmic hardships peasants were taking down the fencing and seeling it on the black market. Also since there hasn’t been readily available petrol in years, he actually has to get it on the black market which he could get arrested for. He said it costs him twice as much at it does to get gas in South Africa. $6 million Zim dollars to fill up his tank. Mugabe is 84 and everyone is waiting for him to die so they can began rebuilding the country. Mugabe knows he’s done so many crimes that if he left office he would be prosecuted, so he rigs all the elections. He murdered 20,000 villagers once, steals $, has corrupt police. We were stopped once at a security check and he said they are a pretty common way for the police to demand bribes. I guess we didn’t have anything dodgy enough in the truck because we were allowed to leave.

Asbestos was and is a huge industry in an area that would drove through, weird. Don’t breath too deep. Our new friend figured it would take 10 years for the economy to recover from the damage created by Mugabe. The school systems are bad too. The government public schools will have a 400% increase this term that starts in January. Bad news. We came to Bulwayo and realized we were in a city-city, covered garbage cans and fancy street lights.

We searched around and found a hostel that would take our zim dollars no questions asked. This place was a paradise. We were given a private double room for no extra charge. Our room looked out to the pond and stream and waterfall that had catfish and bass that could be caught for dinner. There was also a pool, sauna and a video lounge which we quickly ran to. It was set up 80’s style with three movies dubbed onto one VHS tape. I watched Jungle Book as Rhogue slept and then we watched Armegeddon. We watched Fawlty Towers as we made dinner. We went back to the room and began to make our bed.

Rhogue threw me a pillow case then picked up her pillow. I looked down and just pointed in shock. She looked and screamed. There under the pillow as a perfectly positioned dead squirrel. I went up and talked with the owner and got us a new room. The next day after taking the hottest shower ever. I was talking with Norman and he thought it was one of the workers conspiring against them, the owners. Sunday (Dec. 4) was a boring day in which we decided to go to the city and walk around, in which nothing was open except one internet cafe.

Monday we went to town and bought train tickets to Vic Falls. The trains take longer but they travel at night. We got a sleeping compartment to ourselves and that was fun, we splurged and got a bottle of wine and cheese and other snacks for the trip. The power went out in the city, so we really couldn’t do much else of anything. We went and got our backpacks and made it to the train station. We ended having a SIX hour delay halfway through our trip. IT was horrible, we should have been in Vic Falls by 7 or 8 in the morning, but we got there around 1:30 pm. We walked around to the different adventure places. They had different packages of paying like $145 and you can bungi jump, white water rafting, and sunset cruise. Funny sunset cruise and it had rained every single day we were that country! We found one place really cool and liked the option and found out that they would have taken my travelors cheques, which we had changed at the bank so we had a receipt and could use them.

The more places we went to the more frustrated we got and the more it looked like we were in trouble and wouldn’t be able to go see anything. We even found out that the check passports to see where you are from at Vic Falls and if you are from America demand to get dollars from you or you won’t see the falls.

So one lady stopped and was talking with Rhogue and she explained the only two options we had: either switch money and get US dollars on black market, VERY BAD IDEA, easy way to get arrested there. Or we could use our last US$10 and go to Zambia and exchange money and get US dollars there. And that’s exactly what I did. The next morning I woke up early and started walking to the gate and heading towards Livingston, Zambia. Slowly as if a miracle was happening it stopped raining and the clouds were moving out of the way for the sun to shine on us. I went to the gate and asked for a day pass to Zambia, the guy said ‘oh going over to get US dollars?’ So, this happens regularly then, hmm? Mugabe stop making tourism so damn hard in your country. You make people not want to come to this beautiful amazing country. I took a cab into town and back to the border gate, nice guy. Both times I walked over the Vic Falls Bridge which is set back from the actual falls, and I couldn’t really see the falls all that well, but I sure could hear them.

As I was walking back a woman was bungi jumping. She was older and her daughter had just got back up from doing screaming how fun it was and encouraging her mom. I stood next to the 15 year old son. He looked scared like he didn’t want to do it. I asked him if he was nervous, “Hell yeah I am”. I asked him how he was able to convince his mom to bungi jump. He said, “Are you kidding this was all her idea. So I got back and we bought tickets back to Bulwayo for that night, we had bigger plans and we decided not to go rafting or anything like that. So I got the money and went back to the backpackers so see if she had US change. The bureau de change gave me all hundreds and I wanted exact change for seeing the falls, $20 per person.

We go in and we could hear the falls from the gate. It sounded amazing. Rhogue had seen Niagra Falls, I had not. See we got around and finally saw the most amazing sight ever. There it was Victoria Falls. All the pics don’t do it justice. The first time we saw it, we stood in amazement for 5 minutes before finally moving closer. We took our time gazing at the falls from different angles and stopping and taking pics almost everywhere. It was so amazing. We felt good and it was worth it seeing it, after all the pain and problems the rest of the country was given us, we totally forgot about it for the 2 hours we were in the park. Slowly dark scary clouds began to sneak into the area, followed by lightning. We thought it might be a good time to leave then.

We went to the market where most of the carved wooden pieces in Sub-Saharan Africa originate. The guys were wanting to trade for our shoes, visors, hats, even the shirts off our backs. One guy offered Rhogue two huge masks for her nalgene bottle that she had since 2002. She laughed at first but later on, she totally regretted not trading with him. We found the awesome dolls, that are special to only the tribes that inhabited the Vica Falls area. We also bought cool neckalces with the water good on it. Really cool looking. We stopped by a booking agent to see if there was room Thursday at a place called Antelope Park. The brochere said, “Only in Africa....” Sadly they were booked Thursday but had a cancellation for Friday. Good we thought.

We went back to the backpackers and picked up our bags and ran into a couple had done the rafting earlier that day. Normally the rafting here is a Class 5. But when it rains it floods the Zambezi River and it makes the rafting not as good. The guy said that it was so tame, they flipped only once and it was because the guide made them flip. He said we didn’t miss out on much, and that made us feel better about not rafting. So we jumped back on a train and headed back to Bulwayo. Got there in the morning and we back to the same paradise backpackers place! We hung out in town and got food and enjoyed just hanging out, not having to be anywhere.

Next day we headed out to Gweru and to Antelope Park. They had free pick ups from town. So when we got to town we called and a new girl was on the phone and sounded very confused and not sure where people were or anything. Dark, Purple scary clouds began to move in and fast. We kept ourselves busy by giving random people smiley face stickers. We went as far as daring eachother to give certain people stickers. Rhogue was more creative. She had me go into a bar and hand some out. She had me go up to this rough and tough looking guy and give him one, he started laughing and giggling. Then she had me go and give him one that he had to give to a stranger. He did and it was rather funny. The rain hit and kept coming. We ran into a nearby bakery with other street walkers and quickly had to close the doors and the rain began to sneak into the bakery coming in sideways. Trash began to drift by as the rain collected and created small rivers. We kept calling and the girl kept saying someone might be on their way, she wasn’t sure. Next time we called no one answered their phones. The rain began to slow and we opened the doors.

Some people took the chance and ran for it. All of a sudden a car pulled up and asked if we were going to Antelope Park. Finally they were here. Rhogue walked down two blocks where the water was passable. I just jumped the four feet to the car and barely got wet. The people in the bakery were quite impressed. The girls in the car worked at the Park and were in town and their phone died so they didn’t get the message to pick us up. But they finally did and asked how long we were waiting, 2 hours we responded a little pissed about the waiting. But we got to wait out the storm where we wouldn’t have been able to do anything anyways. So the storm created a river on the property not quite to the park, that wasn’t there before. It was so much that we couldn’t get into the park, we had to go in through the back entrance for employees.

So we made it in and J.P. was our tour guide and really nice and helpful and wanted to know what we wanted to do and figured out a way so we could do all of it. We went out after checking into our accomodations, with mosquito nets, Finally. We had spent all of Zimbabwe without Mozzie nets. Finally nice to get them back. We went out on a wonderful lion walk. The park takes lions 2 weeks old from the mothers and trains them and feeds them so they become familiar with humans and takes them on walks with the guests. After a certain age around 2 years they ‘retire’ them from walking. Most are put back into the wild, in neighboring Zambia, Botswana, or Namibia. So we went on a walk with 2 females and one male, all 13 months old. It was really fun. They were sort of lazy because they had been fed the other day, and they are only fed every three days. We toured a small part of the park with the lions taking us around and wrestling with eachother and climbing up trees and wrestling and just lying around being lazy cats. We made it back to camp just as the rains were starting. Hopefully it won’t be raining tomorrow when we got out for the fun activities.

J.P. took us out for a game safari first thing in the morning where we saw wart hogs, impala, vultures, cheetah, giraffes, water buffalo, spring buck, zebras, and some more lions. We even saw some sheep. We were out in beautiful sunshine and were out for longer that the supposed time limit for game drives. We came back and got to play with lion cubs, who were like 6 months old and they were really big, even for that age. They were just as lazy, even more docile than the lions on the walk. But we played with them taking pictures and having a good time. Next was the last event of the day, before we were to get on a bus back to Bulwayo.

We rode on a elephant into a pond where in flopped into the water, getting us soaked. He would dip his head in then get back upright, then dip his backside. The girl on the other elephant, got the elephant that was flopping all over and she was going under water much of the time. Only in Africa.

We got out and changed clothes and J.P. took us to town. We thanked him so much and he brought us all the way to the bus station. We were able to get a bus immediately and got to Bulwayo in time to get tickets to Johannesburg. $2 million zim dollars, well we were hoping not to have any zim dollars left over from our time there. So we made it to the SA/ZIM border around midnight. We had a nice friendly make (mother) in line behind us and chatted us up while in line. For some reason since we were white they let us go first, it didn’t make sense because we still had to wait for everyone else to go through the line.

Finally around 7:30-8 we made it to Johannesburg. We needed to leave so we could get to Durbin before night fall. We found a reasonable priced bus and got on, they were leaving within 15 minutes. It was a crazy futuristic double decker bus. It seemed like a plane, they gave us snacks and coffee or tea, and had a slightly nice bathroom. We even got to watch that horrible Jennifer Lopez movie Monster-in-Law. Then the showed us a horrible Indian talent show from J-burg. Really awful.

We made it to Durbin and got a nearby backpackers called Banana Backpackers.

We looked through the book and knew we wanted to go to this place called the BAT Centre. It is an art studio/store, restaurant, bar, jazz venue. Pretty much everything. We went to check it out and there were some guys there selling their stuff, directly in their studio. I saw a pottery guy, named Clive and started talking to him. His stuff was really good. He has been in several African exhibits in England and two or three in the States. Bill Clinton, Susan Sarandon, and Oprah even have some of his pieces. He was nice and took us out and took us to the only place still open for food on a Sunday night. It was an Indian place and fairly close to our backpackers. I got the bunni things. It’s bread hallowed out and they put in Curry chicken inside. It was spicy and really really good.

The next few days were filled with going to the beach, and to the Indian market and back to the beach. Durbin was amazing. I fell in love with the city that night. Everyone is so friendly. The beach is not touristy. Locals come and hang out there during the day and even the night. It’s not shady at night. It’s well lit, and patrolled by police. There’s a skate park and an amusement park, a free public pool. Afrikaans children playing with Indian and Black children. One night we met a wonderfully nice Indian man, and he put it perfectly: “Kids play with whoever. Kids don’t see color, they just want to play.” He was very friendly and we talked for nearly an hour about everything from Indians in Durbin and America to finding jobs in Durbin and the job market in the area. We exchanged emails and left him with some stickers for his nephew whose birthday brought the whole family to the beach that Tuesday night.

On Thursday we met a couple late 20s from Chicago. They planned this for a long time. They were traveling through Africa for the past 4 months. They were meeting their families in Cape Town for x-mas then continuing on to India and then Australia. They were going to be gone for 7-8 months total. They had budgetted and saved for years before going on the trip. Sounds like it was really fun for them.

We got an email from Alan Brody the UNICEF representative of Swaziland, and who we were staying with before we left. He was having a Christmas, Chaunika, Kwanza, whatever your denomination party for Peace Corps Volunteers. He wanted us to come back for the party. It sounded like a good idea. on Friday Dec. 16 we head back to Swaziland to where we started our whole huge adventure. The party was fun and most of who we wanted to see came out for the party. It was good to see everyone and hear what they were up to and hear that the office was still and crazy and unorganized as they were when we left. So what next? Not sure maybe come home for a bit, who knows.

I know I want to work in Durbin if at all possible in anyway shape or form. That would the be ultimate. I’ve collected all the papers from the area and will start by seeing if any newspapers want photographers. Happy Holidays all Seasons Greetings, Happy New Year, and all that fun stuff.

PS PICTURES COMING SOON.....stay posted

Posted by colin at 10:30 PM | Comments (0)

November 30, 2005

Flexability equals more fun in Africa

So after leaving Maputo, which we left at 5 in the morning on Thanksgiving, we spent 15 hours on a bus up to Vilanculo. It was horrible, but we met a really nice french couple. Romial finished up at graduate degree at Grahamstown, South Africa in International Studies, and Katrine, I think was his sister. So getting to Vilanculo at 9:30 we went to the same backpackers, called the Zombie Cucumber, which is a hallucinagenic drug in Haiti, weird. Well there is a drug there and is nicknamed the zombie cucumber. We are still having a hard time with the Mozabiqan Meticals $1 equals roughly 25,000 meticals. So some of the most amazing coral reefs are around on islands not too far from Vilanculo. So we looked into taking a trip to one of the islands or some and scuba-ing around and seeing amazing salt water fish. By the way, the water is so clear and tourqouise, and the sands are amazingly white, and clean. So we took a break because this company gave is prices in Rand, another in US dollars and the third in Meticals. They also had differnt overnight trips and lunch was or was not included. So we took a break and had our thanksgiving feast of...you guessed it baracuda!!! It was really delicious. We met back up with the French couple and decided on the same boat trip, an over night trip that included lunch, dinner, and lunch the second day. The guy, Junior was a horrible business man, who didn't tell us the full options the first time we saw him. He also wasn't enthused about having our 'business.' He whispered alot about having us camp on the island but it had to be a secret and it was at a guy he knews beach. IT seemed real shady and sketchy, but we ultimately decided he was the best 'option.' This is also the same place that when the french people went to see him, his dog jumped up at bite them both. Pleasure doing business with you. So anyways, we left Saturday morning, and took a single motor dhow boat there, with three Mozamiqan guys, with one who barely spoke english. He didn't understand when you were asking him a question. He would just smile and nod. It turns out there is a PC volunteer there and he teaches english in the school. Most likely the same people that learn enough english to harass the tourists to the area. So we make it to the island of Bazaruto and walk around the beach, absolutley breath-taking. Water clear as clear can be, and sand as white as paper. Meredith found a sand dollar on the beach but sadly it broke is transit back to the main land. So the guys called us after an hour for lunch, mmm crab, it was amazing. We next went to the next island of Margarque and snorkeled, so amazing. By this time I could tell i was getting a bad burn, even though, yes mom, I did put on loads of sunscreen. Good thing I packed the Aloe lotion. That night, more baracuda for dinner. We camped on the sands near a fire, the island was rather cold compared to Vilanculo which was hotter than anything, but the hostel had a fan, and a mosquito net. We woke up for the sunrise, Sunday morning, absolutely amazing. I was in pain though. I was burned literally head to toe. I wore a hat all day, but the sun reflected off the sand and water and burned my nose forehead and upper cheecks where no facial hair was, plus my ears were burned. My legs burned and the tops of my feet, weird. So on sunday we had calamari for lunch. All I can say is octopus is interesting!!! so say the least. So we returned by sailing back to Vilanculo, all of us being burned pretty bad. We stayed Monday as a recuperation day and planned to leave Tuesday for Tofo Beach, mmm more beaches and more options to get terribly burned. At the last minute I decided it would be a shame to come up here and just turn around and go back to Swaziland and South Africa. At the last minute we decided to contiue up to our next destination, Zimbabwe which is where I am typing this from. It is such a better country overall than Mozambique. It was a British colony, so they speak english here. People are friendlier, and they are NOT pushy in the markets demanding you just look at their crafts. Well we are still in Mutare, the Border and third largest city in the country. Ultimate goal is to get up to Victoria Falls, one of the seven wonders of the world. So, after waking up at three am to finish packing and to get to the bus, to find the right bus, we took an 8 hour ride up to Inchope, through 3 separate rainstorms. We got off there in another rain storm and saw two goats strapped to a minibus and found our mini bus to Chomoio, and finally made to the border and into english speaking countries again. So we stayed at a guesthouse B&B last night owned by an Irish couple, strange. Well, Rhogue is getting antsy, and we are looking into what comes next. I'll update later. Ok bye, love you all.

Posted by colin at 02:05 PM | Comments (0)

November 23, 2005

Life as a backpacker!!

yo ho yo ho a backpackers life for me. So what have I been up to and what will I be up to??? So my travel partner, meredith came down with a terrible kidney infection, major back problems and not good all around. Lucky for her and us, she went to college and was good friends with the son of the director of UNICEF Swaziland.

So we have actually been staying in Europe, well land that is owned by the European Union and used by diplomats. His wife is Ghanan, and knows how to cook, so I have gained MAJOR weight back. I have a little pudgey belly now. She cooked amazing Turkish Lasagna, best thing EVER. So staying with the Brody's has allowed us to come up with more of a plan or less of one.

So we finally left Swaziland, briefly it sort of seemed like it was holding us in, not letting us go. But now we are in Maputo, Mozambique. We hitched out of Mbabane, and then took a bus to the border...Speaking of borders, we actually ran into problems because, we were stamped into Swaziland on our PC passports, and when we resigned, took it back from us.

When we went to MOZ embassy they would not give us the visa cause we had no Swaz entrance stamp on our personal passports. So thanks to a tip by our trusty backpacker firends, told us to try and sneak over the border, not really 'sneak' but it's worth a shot to see if swazi's don't look and just stamp us out. And that's exactyl what happened, we went to South Africa for only a few minutes and came back, so we got our exit and entrance stamps..WOOT...so back to the present as soon as we crossed the border into MOZ, it was very noticeably different, you could easily see the portuegese influence in the architecture directly on the other side of the border.

But we came on a bus with a lovely lady who was Swazi and married a portugese man, so she spoke four languages, english, and siswati, portugese, and bantu, which is MOZ language. She went all the way to Maputo with us and helped talked a taxi guy out of over charging us. So we are at Fatima's backpackers. Maputo is known for its fresh fish, being on the Indian Ocean. So tonight we are going with a group of others our age, so the fish market, and buy amazing food that you take to a restaurant and they cook it for you. So, it's four students on break for south africa and two from Finland. Tomorrow we are all going to Vilanculos, which is some of the most amazing beaches in the world, or we are told.

Maputo is an interesting city/capital. The population is over 1.5 million, which is bigger than the whole countries population that I was living in for the past 5+ months. IT was intimidating at first. But we walked around all day today, and feel confident in knowing it and ready to move on the the next place. You can tell the Portuegese feel all over the place. Many condemned buildings all over the place. It's hard to tell if all the run down buildings are from the Civil War or not an interest in refurbishing the places. It sort of looks like Cuba a little, not that I have been there, yet, to know what it's architecture looks like. It really doesn't feel like a city either, there is no business area. It would be like going to Chicago, and there being no loop. It's weird. Well I have to go and get ready to go out to the Fish Market. Ok, later everyone.

Posted by colin at 02:31 PM | Comments (0)

November 08, 2005

And that's all she wrote...

So it is absolutely official, I resigned from the Peace Corps (forced to resign, looks better on the resume) on Monday 7 November, 2005. I will be traveling for a brief time and coming home after a few months of travel. I will have a travel partner and in some cases travel partners. I will spend a little time here in Swaziland visitng other volunteers. Ellen I have looked into this and it's no more dangerous than me living here for two years. I am planning on travelling to places that intended on traveling to anyways while here, and it's places that current volunteers have gone to without problems. The Department of Defense must have thought it was safe enough to have PC offices in these countries. I have been given the thumbs up from the parental units, sorry ellen and camille. I am currently looking into emergency short term insurance, and plane ticket prices home. And I will also post my accomplishments letter that is given to PC. I really need this time here before I come home, consider it closuer to a bad relationship or just any relationship. It needs to be done and get to see part of the African continent while I am at it. Below I have attached the letter I wrote to the country director. It explains alot about the negative emotions and feelings I was going through and lack of support from the administrative office. She blew off the letter and said it was a waste of my breathe.

Nov. 6, 2005

Dear Patricia Austin, Country Director

I understand following our last conversation that it was your decision to administratively separate me due to Peace Corps policies that I violated. ALthough I respect your decision and admit that i did, in fact, break rules, I would like an opportunity to express to you in writing the extensive reasons behind my actions that resulted in me breaking certain rules. We have already tlaked about a lot of these reasons but I want to really spell it out for a few reasons. For one thing, I want to give my group of volunteers a accurate record of what took place (I will leave a copy of this letter with all of the VAC representatives as well as any other member of the group that requests it). Another reason is that I feel like my experience with trying to get effective support from the ofice really spotlights the lack of communication between staff members and how the volunteers suffer for these miscommunications. The last reason is more heartfelt--I do want to stay in the Peace COrps Swaziland program and I am hopeful that in the spirit of flexibility and a new commitment towards clear dialogue between the staff and volunteers that you may decide to reverse your decision.

It is clear from the recent IST conference that the staff wants us to feel that they are fully committed to helping the volunteers succeed and be safe, happy, and healthy. Unfortunately, it did not feel that way to me during our 3 month integration period especially in the beginning. I was dropped off at a site that quickly affected my mental health due to its lack of human prescence, constant homestead visitors looking for the mostly absent indvuna (my babe), no secure pit latrine, and residing in the same structure as bats and chickens. Nobody else lived on the homestead on a regular basis. I briefly met Xolin, my bhuti (brother), at the end of August while he was there for a few days during a school break. I had to asume that the administration knew what my site was like since the Peace Corps had obviously been there to establish the safety of the homestead and to install the burglar gate and window bars. It is not in my nature to complain so even though I felt very trapped and alienated I did not understand that my situation was unacceptable not only to me but also to the Peace Corps. I did become really depressed and in hindsight I know I scared fellow volunteers when they noticed my altered personality and extraordinary wieght loss. THe only way I really knew to feel comfortable and "like myself" was through visiting another volunteer who was my best friend from training. She provided a lot of well-needed support and I was able to resume my usual fun activities of instigating bomake water gun fights and climbing trees with kids. It was a flight mechanism and I understand that the Peace Corps cannot condone absence from site durin gthe first three months (especially without notification), I just want you to understand the motivation. I did talk to teh PM a fdw weeks into my stint in Mambane and told her I was going crazy (in those words) due to living by myself on a homestead. She told me Mahlubi would be out the following week but offered no short term advice or encouragement. Obviously that didn't help my mental health in the meantime. She also did not respond to my complaint in a sympathetic or encouraging manner which caused me to not want to contact her again. It is difficult to ask for help from people that you hardly know when you are depressed so I continued leaving site. When Mahlubi finally did come in early September he only stayed for a short time and he did not thoroughly examine the homestead. He told me to investigate options in my community on my own during CHAT. The PCMO later told me that he was completely wrong and that it is the job of the Peace Corps office to investigate and secure potential future homesteads. I'm sure you can imagine my confusion in this matter. I knew I needed to change homesteads but was left feeling like I couldn't trust any one Peace Corps employee to help me find an effective and timely solution. Interestingly, the next time that Mahlubi came to my site for the routine site visit, in early October, he finally noticed all of the commotion coming from the chickens that were under the same roof and he said he wanted me moved as quickly as possible and that the few weeks period was "not soon enough." He declined to actually look at the pit latrine (a couple of walls, no door, no roof), at my water source, or at the room in my structure in which the chickens resided.

Although I do not at all feel it was intentional, I do think that I slipped through the cracks of the Peace Corps medical office in terms of the above issues. I had sever insomnia, loss of appetite, extreme wieght loss, and feelings of helplessness and isolation. I talked to PSN representitives about it on many occassions. I also communicated to the PCMO that I would like to have her visit my site ASAP because there were so many issues I needed to talk to her about. The medical handbook clearly speels out that this is an option available to volunteers and I also know she had visited lots of other volunteers. Her visit was continually put off. Her reaction when I was finally pulled into the office for mental health monitoring was supportive but not comprehensive. I was surprised to be taken to her personal residence straight off the bat so that she could unpack groceries. When we got to the office we officially noted that I had lost around 20 lbs. In our discussion that follwed we discussed my homestead situation and my absences from site. We talked about how I flet depressed at site. She told me she wanted to keep me in Mbabane until Monday to talk about the issues further but that she would check in with me the next day. We chatted Sunday and she told me that she would call me on Monday to let me know when I should come into the office. I sat around Grifters all day and then finally buzzed her around 3:30PM. When she called back shd said, "We didn't forget about you, we didn't kick you to the curb yet." She didn't ask how I was doing mentally that day or anything about my health she simply told me that she and Pattie would not have time to talk to me until the next day first thing in the morning. I waited for an hour before I met with the PM and assistant PM and not the PCMO. ALthough she did greet me she did not inquire about my health although I was still in Mbabane under the pretense of mental health observation. We discussed my site issues and then I was sent to the volunteer lounge to type up what we discussed for my file. After completing the letter I waited around for awhile before the PM came back to let me know that they had ead the letter and were going to give it to the CD to read before we were to all meet to discuss the events. The CD made it clear that due to the absences from site that she could administratively separate me from the program but kindly gave me the chance to defend myself. At that point it became clear that she did not read the letter or been told about any of the problems that I was experiencing at site. She listened and decided to give me one more chance. At this time I did not really feel comfortable discussing the issue of my mental health and how it had played into my decisions.

At a subsequent meeting with the PCMO we agreed to have weekly phone "check-ups." Clearly this is not the same thing as being able to properly deal with my issues with a trained professional. I was never offered formal counseling or phone calls with O.S.S. Although I did not request these resources due to my lack of knowledge of their existence at the time, I know that I would have and would currently benefit from them. It quickly became apparent to me that weekly check-ins by phone were insufficient and that I did not feel comfortable getting into many of my issues with the PCMO. Eventually these calls petered out and then stopped. Even though the PCMO had discussed with me the fact that I felt depressed I still never got a site visit from her despite numerous requests. During my initial stint in Mbabane for observation we had set up a time for a site visit two weeks later. When I called the day before her visit to confirm, she told me that senior staff had determined that she should wait until the site change to conduct the visit. As of the writing of this letter the PCMO has still not visited my site although the homestead change occured Oct. 20. The fact that I was diven another chance without increasing my level of psychological support and observation is baffling in hindsight.

My mental health/depression has been remarkably better lately and I wish I could say it was manly due to support from the Peace Corps. However, it is my peers who helped my regain my former fun-loving personality and motivation. I admit that I did seriously consider whether I would be able to handle this program but realized that I still had strong resolve to stay with appropriate support. It would take a very unique and superhuman individual to be able to make it through the first three months feeling like they were alone both lierally (on the homestead) and by the Peace Corps administration.

Unfortunately I did leave my site one last time in order to help out the same friend who had helped me out so much. She heard about the death of a close family member the night before and I knew that she was really upset and lonely. My plan was to leave my site as early as possible, bring her a little care package of goodies to cheer her up as a surprise (she had no idea that I was coming), and return to my site before nightfall. It would have been a day full of grueling travel butwould not have been impossible and therefore I would not have been away from site overnight. My bus broke down and I ended up reaching her site much later than I had intended and I was unable to turn around. On top of that, I became ill. Although we scoured all of the medical handbooks we were given we were unable to find advice for short-term ceaseless vomiting. I did call the PCMO and she recommended O.R.S. and said to call her if the symptoms persisted after three days. Rest assured that I never would have compromised my health or security by concealing my location if I had been given any reason to believe that I was suffereing from anything more sever or treatable than a common gastro-intestinal problem.

So where do we go from here? I know your path and that in some ways your hands are tied on this issue but that you are ultimately the decision-maker in this situation. I am happily settled in my new homestead. I have a wonderful relationship with a motivated counterpart. Now that we are past our intergratino period I know that I can get mental health breaks as needed as will follow the proper Peace Corps protocol for doing so in terms of notificaion. The bottom line for me is that I am invested in my community, have already established good working relationships with NGOs, and feel that I can work effectively within the Peace Corps Program. I am not trying to avoid the fact that I knew I had one last chance and blew it by visiting my friend again. I am also not trying to use the sad situation surrounding my motivation to visit her as leverage. I take full responsibility for that last infraction. I simply want you to give a more attentive look into the issues surrounding the inital "strikes" and how they would have been affected by more thorough and professional mental health monitoring and prompt administrative support on the homestead issue.

Again, nobody can make it through the experience alone. Id' be really grateful if you could help me continue being an effective volunteer in this country by giving me permission to remain with the program.

Colin McAuliffe

Posted by colin at 02:06 PM | Comments (0)

November 03, 2005

What Comes Next?

Well, it is official. I am not a part of the Peace Corps. Well not officially now, but it is happening that i am resigning from the Peace Corps. Pretty much the plans from the previous post are still true. I am going to backpack around Africa for awhile. I will have a travel partner, don't worry. I won't be going to any place dangerous. There is plenty to do in South Africa. So maybe I won't even leave that country.

I have things I want to finish at site and maybe spend the rest of November traveling and seeing other volunteers and what they are doing at their sites. And spend December Traveling and enjoying the sites and sounds. I am sad slightly but I really do think that mentally for my health this might not be that bad of an idea.

If Brad and Jimmy are still trying to come, I hope either around New Years or just after and I could possibly get a buddy pass back with you guys or if you came now I could give stuff of mine to take home and you could see africa and I can show you africa. If you came soon you could bring the dodgeballs if later, i would suggest that you don't bring them. But it would sure be nice to see you guys over here, and what better time than now with you friend living backpacking around the area.

Ellen, to ease your concerns I looked at the PC info about leaving and traveling and visas and I can go to the Embassy and get the proper information that I need and not to worry about that.

I do feel good about the decision in the long long run.
Other volunteers would possibly agree with all the weight I have lost and how I have actually changed from how I used to be. Seeing death all around you and seeing people die of AIDS who are your neighbors can do that to you, I guess.

I have no idea what comes next, I am here, and I want to see Africa, then when I get home I want to gain my weight back and I have no idea what will come of me next.

Mom and dad, I am sort of looking in your direction for this one, but since i will be traveling I am giving up my free ticket home, and I am looking at prices to come home and they range from $1000-$850. And hoping I can get some help from you guys.

I will write again soon.

Posted by colin at 12:25 PM | Comments (0)

October 31, 2005

Riding that Train

Hello friends and family.

Yet again things are not going well. I know for a fact that I will not be here for very long. Sadly Brad and Becky I doubt I will be here sooner than the turn of the year. Other volunteers say that you should not allow the administration office ruin your Peace Corps experience. Sadly when you need to have help from the office and they do not give you the support you need, what’s the point of working for the organization. There is no support and the office is hypocritical. They help some and not others.

Am I sad, yes I am sad, I was getting projects done in my community. I wrote a proposal to UNICEF to get shoes and socks for the students at my NCP. I was able to get the shoes donated. So yes I am sad but when your boss treats you like a little kid and not a professional, it’s not a good working condition.

Another problem that occurred is the volunteer that I am dating here, was sexually harassed. She was walking on the main road of her community broad daylight, 1 pm, she left the store and returing to her house and a man just grabbed her crotch. She reported it to PC and they have made it into her fault. Just something that happens her or a regular basis, female volunteers getting grabbed and gropped. It’s just not a good working environment.

So you’ll be home for Thanksgiving? NO. I am staying here, at the moment. I am going to field terminate which means that I am going to stay in the country, but won’t have health insurance and no money from PC. I have a few more projects that I desperately want to help finish in my community then I might back pack around Africa for a little while. I have sent out my resume to all the major papers in Swaziland and South Africa. Hopefully something will come through with that. Job market in America is not all that well as usual, from what I hear but maybe I am wrong.

Brad and Jimmy I have a HUGE plan and want and need your help. Please Please call me as soon as you can preferably this week. Get together and call me any time I don’t care, I still don’t sleep well at night so you can call at three in the morning.

I will post again soon as soon as I find things out.

Posted by colin at 09:53 AM | Comments (0)

October 21, 2005

I have a Pet Monkey, hello!!!!

Ok, so I will start of with the bad news first. I was really really sick a last week. Projectile vomitting all over the place. I couldn't keep anything in my stomach, not even water. I would say that i lost another 10-15 more pounds but i'm not sure. Vomit city for 4 days or so. Yeah that's it. On to the good news. I have switched homesteads, Thursday 21 October. PS. I still have the same address PO BOX 1093 Siteki, Swaziland, Africa. The homestead is better, four kids, 20,19,14,13. They all speak fluent english. The babe (Father) used to be a member of parliment. Five dogs on the homestead that bark and nothing and everything. SO that's good sort of. the mother just had puppies so cute and adorable, then can't open their eyes yet. AND...i have a pet monkey!! It's a smaller place for me, but all my stuff still fits, somehow. It is a thatch roof which is supposed to be cooler than tin roofs. I am not sure yet. SO my first night there, it rained, something uncommon in this area, even though it is rainy season, 4 year drought. SO it rained so hard last night and thundered and lightned like i have never seen before, directly above me, the power went out, yes i do have electricity now. and it went out last night. And my whole room flooded (25x25 feet maybe) and it came through the wooden door and under the door and through some parts for the thatch roof and it came in from a corner of the room it came from all over and it was creepy and this morning i had a full inch of water in every part of my room. So that wasn't a really fun first night, but prior I had a wonder talk with my new babe. We talked about everything from politics to religion and everything inbetween race relations. He is skeptical of the bible and all the contradictions that he reads. I just say and listend to him.

Speaking of religion, i have received questions about the religious practices in the country. IT is all over, mostly christan, methodist, zionists and jehovahs witnesses are HUGE here. But regardless of religious beliefs all swazis have roots in traditional ideas and thoughts, THey have dreams of ancestors that give them answers to what to do, who to marry, when to harvest and plant crops things like that. It was funny though when we first came into the country the catholic church here declared masterbation safe or 'legal' in hopes that the 14-25 age group would have less AIDS cases. I have a feeling it won't make a difference especially in the rural areas that are more set in their ways than urban areas.
More sad news. I have been visiting homesteads and finding about who lives there and if anyone has been tested and basic questions like that. I came to my first homestead the other day with people who had been tested, three members had been, and they were all HIV positive but they are getting medicine but the gogo (grandmother) was terribly ill horrible legions, leprocy all over her body. Talking with members of the first group that are getting ready to leave the country, many have a fatalist attitude. They feel that there will not be a Swaziland in the next ten years. It's sad but it is possible if there is no MAJOR help from the government who seems to not care at all. There is so much to do and so little time, two years seems to take forever sometimes and at other times it doesn't seem like it will be enough time for everything i want to do. Err, it's all so frustrating.

Ok well I gotta go, I have a lunch date with another volunteer. But i will update again soon, two weeks or so. OK bye take care and I miss you all.

Birthday shout outs:
My mom oct 18
diana dames oct 20
lucas poirier(nephew) oct17
mark novotny oct 23

belated one
Camille july 17 and brad rackow
lester june 5ish?
ellen aug 2
jimmy o aug 5-7 i think

ok bye

Posted by colin at 10:11 AM | Comments (0)

September 30, 2005

The Sun is shining through the Clouds..(sort of)

So things are much better now. I keep myself busy and might be moving as soon as 20 October. Same community different homestead. I have weekly calls with the medical officer to deal with the depression. The calls are more often if I desire. I don't trust her because this is the woman that told me that when I spilled battery acid on me, it was just water.

This experience really forces you to reflect and get to know yourself, something I needed much more than I knew until now. It has taken me until this past week to get used to the slower way of life. I live in a rural, 3rd world country, that is being destroyed by HIV/AIDS at an alarming rate, 4 out of 10 gave HIV. Everything shuts down at 5 when the shops close and at sunset everyone is inside. Powerlines barely block my views of amazing scenery past the poverty that is my community. There is one dirt road into and out of my community. It takes me a two hour bus ride to buy anything more than eggs bread and candles. The other thing that is difficult for me is I have never lived alone, not like this. Sophomore year of college my roommate ilved with his girlfriend. Everything in the dorm room was mine. I was very unsure of myself early in college and mostly kept to myself. I was the one in the corner of the dining hall with his face buring in a book. Probably some obscure Black Flag or Sex Pistols biography or US/Middle Eastern Policy by Chomsky. 1st two years of college I made acquaintances not friends. No one I really opened up to. No one I really got to know or got to know me. I physically live alone now in a 3 room tin roof building. There is one man who lives on my homestead. And he works until the sunsets.

No, but things are looking up I work or teach at the Neighborhood Care Point (NCP), a school for orphan children. It has 89 students and three teachers and one cook who volunteer. They get food from WFP (world food program) and cook two meals for the kids each day. Some orphans are lucky and live with relatives others live alone or in child-headed households. I teach informal, very informal English and Math. The ages are 5-15 and they are learning at first grade levels. I am working on bring more NCPs to help get the close to 800 orphans schooling. I am looking into finding funding for the students so they can go to the primary school next year or sometime soon. I taught the kids dodgeball the other day, and they loved it. So whenever I can get those dodgeballs from Jimmy, the kids will go insane. They are picking up the game fast.

The other day i went to Siteki, the closest real town, and visited another volunteer for the day. She lives at a deaf school, doesn't teach there, just lives there. And while waiting for her, I played volleyball with some of the deaf kids. That was fun.

So I talked to my mom about getting her schools kids to donate things, pencils, crayons, markers, paper. She's going to do it but money is a problem to send the things. Those that are teachers, I have a way around this, the US Embassy!! They can get away with not paying for postage or paying very little postage!

Jimmy I thought of some ideas for you. You could come here and do some video taping. Some things are: talking to NADA and seeing if they would give you money to video tape international dodgeballing. Another thing is I can talk to NGOs over here, mainly NERCHA, who paid for the NCP, and see if they could come up with anything for you to come here and video tape the NCP, you could shack up with me.
Another option, is we talk to PC Washington and do a day in the life video for their website and come and tape me and I could take you around to some other volunteers and tape them. Just rough brainstorm ideas.

Erica J, I saw your package left the states in late August and went all the way to Switzerland and I got it on my actual birthday.
other note, I was mistaken and still have not received any other packages, i'm looking at mom, dad and ann, sorry. I hear that after it goes through the mail, it gets hung up at the Embassy for some reason.

I can eat happy, I found Lemon Pepper. I gotta go now but I'll update soon again.

I miss you all. xoxoxo -colin

Brad sorry to say that I am beating you in the beard growing contest, non contest. And Feb. sounds great. I will have vacation time by then.

Posted by colin at 09:48 AM | Comments (0)

September 18, 2005

Birthday UN fun

Not to worry people but, I have been have some major problems lately. I will be spending my birthday in Mbabane, the capital, under surveillence for depression and other medical/health reasons. I am not too happy as of late and not sure what I am doing here and what my goals are supposed to be. There are times where is it fun to be here and not, this is one of those NOT times. I have wasted away to 135 lbs, down 20-25 lbs before i left. I live a very lonely life on my homestead and I am looking into moving sites but the soonest i could do that is by the end of october. So i have to decide if i can last that long and lose less of my sanity. BUt i was able to see some of the volunteers and we braii'ed, or cooked and grilled here for an early bday get together.
I got a kitten to try and help keep my sanity, and that has not helped. I called her Mabala which is Siswati for Freckles even though she doesn't have freckles, she has stripes though.

I taught at the orphan school the other day. Some orphans live with relatives and most live with siblings all alone. This is for pone part of the community. It has 30 students, but my area has over 800 orphans. NGOs pay for the creation of the school and food for the orphans. Their ages are 6-16. Sadly the chairman of the school is corrupt and steals blankets and food for the children. BUt he has been suspended and can't go near the school for a undetermined amount of time. I taught maths(yes they call it maths, plural here) and i taught english. Well sort of. I would hold up a pencil and say this is a pencil, then all the kids would repeat after me. Then we would do that for 20 minutes. It helped a little not much though. I have been writing letters home and writing in a journal and reading lots. Even with my thoughts of maybe wanting to come home, i just read "Dude, Where's my Country" and still want to come home sort of, ha.
Some of the other things i am planning on working on here are to bring another orphan school (they are called Neighborhood Care Points, NCP) to a different area in the community, I want to start a type of gym class for the schools. Jimmy in a few weeks I will seriously be talking to you about donating some dodgeballs for the gym class. It was funny I stopped by the NCP before they went on school break and they were playing this form of dodgeball with plastic bags as the dodgeballs. It was more like dodgeball meets running bases, funny though. So yeah I really want to bring dodgeball here, I'll let you know in a few weeks.
Another thing is working with the youth group and their vegetable garden and candle business, so some income generating programs.

Since so many have asked here's My address:
Colin McAuliffe, PCV
PO BOX 1093
Siteki,
Swaziland, Africa
(you don't need the H100 code)

My cell number is 001-268-631-6083

1.www.nobelcom.com Rate:16 cts a min
2) www.add2pin.com. Rate:12 cts a min. 1-877-800-2556.
you can text me an email on my phone at: 2686316083@mtnconnect.co.sz

nothing big but like two sentences can be sent. sometimes is takes a long time to get to me, so maybe date it too.

ok well I will update soon and hopefully have much better updates for everyone.

Posted by colin at 09:47 AM | Comments (0)

August 30, 2005

I am alive, BUT be warned!!!!!

Sonnaibonnai, ALL......things are so darn crazy here, i don't know where to really start. I have my own place now, i live alone in a two-three bedroom place, it's actually nice compared to some other volunteers places. PEOPLE WHO WANT TO VISIT ABSOLUTELY CAN AND ARE STRONGLY URGED TO COME AND VISIT. I now live in mambane on the mozambique border on a plateau. the weather is nice and so are the people.
Here's a list of problems that have happened to me so far though:

-Black eye from getting powdered milk thrown at me
-barbed wire in my foot, received extra shots for that one
-mild insomnia
-explosive diahrea. nothing like it in public bathrooms in AFRICA.
-severe insomnia 4 hours sleep in 8 days.
-food poisoning (projectile vomiting)
-bee sting
-was attacked by a battery that spit battery acid on my hands and face, very close to my eye. It burned holes in my pants. The medical doctor told me it was just water.
-i lost 16 lbs by august 4, and have lost even more, my face is really thin and it's creepy to look in the mirror see your thin face and wonder who that is. weird!
-lonliness, isolation, mild depression

I attribute some near the end to moving away from everyone, americans, and traveling and walking all over the place.

But so I live in Mambane with one other man (babe which means father)
he's always busy and only talks about business with me, so we don't talk much and i am really lonely. I will be getting electricity soon but it will be used to cook and for charging electronics (laptop and ipod). I really like living by candlelight. It is so fun and rather romantic. Mambane is about two hours from the closest town where i buy most my things. Siteki is two hours by public transport and you have to drive on a dirt path to get to me. Remember the country is the size of New Jersey so it is real easy to run into other volunteers and meet them for a day, lunch, or something.
Hitch hiking is easy and mostly safe, and it really cuts down on paying for transport big time. I have gotten really good at hitching now. Peace Corps Swaziland understands this and does not take a positive or negative stance on it. They told us that it sometimes is the only way to get around, but to be careful and not do if you have a choice. Another thing that happens is you meet interesting people that are excited for you being there and they live in mansions compared to what i live in now, i.e. they have running water, and invite us to come and stay. I along with another volunteer who travel lots together have collected a list of people who have offered us beds. A wonderful South African coulpe. A crazy British Rasta man and his New Yorkan wife. They have two studios, one for music and they have a photography studio!!!

PLEASE BE ADVISED!!!!
When i get a chance to upload pictures I will be putting some extremely graphic things on the internet. There will be female nudity from the reed dance and HUGE major cultural experience here, that is supposed to promote female chastity and virginity, but what happens are girls from 8-30 come and walk around topless on the prowl for a man, rather the opposite. Plus there will be pics of me actually killing a goat with a dull knife. If it is possible i will be putting a video of it online, if not you will have to wait.

I have been busy visiting other volunteers and putting together my place. But i know i will be working more as a comminity developer bring better water to the area. Being up on the plateau, it is extremely difficult for the Swazis to get water. Currently I get water from a muddle hole in the ground that is frog infested and each scoop of water has so many frog eggs in it. I boil my water and put it through a water filter system that PC gave all of us. I will be working at a orphan school and teaching life skills to them.

OK, well i have to get going, but I have the website problems all figured out now and can post and so now i will be posting more regularly and so you should check back as often as you want to.

Ok take care for now
I miss you all
-Colin

Posted by colin at 08:10 AM | Comments (0)

July 05, 2005

July 7, 2005 Update

note: this entry was done by Colin's brother-in-law after trying to fix the software that runs this site. The following was an update Colin sent VIA email to me back in early July. Now that things are fixed either Colin or myself can make updates. :)

Hey everyone, things are going amazing!! Swaziland is awesome. I live a great family and they love me like i am their own. My new name is Mfanufikile Dlamini. It means 'boy has come' and it's the funniest name since sliced bread here for some reason. Language is hard to get a grasp on but i'm getting there. My family is huge like 40 people on my homestead. But this is not permanent. I will know next week or so. So I will be moving then I will give out a mailing address then.

I got erica's letter and so far that is it. Thanks Johnson. Things are crazy. I had my first scare a few weeks ago. We were walking and i stepped on barbed wire. not the whole fence but just the little barb, it went through my foot and everything. I had to get a tetenus shot. I also have a black eye from getting a hot chocolate can thrown at my face, not funny megan.

I am excited to be here but feeling really homesick. We had a fourth of july celebration. I saw a chicken sacrifice and that's what they called it a 'sacrifice' i have not been lucky enough to see a pig sacrifice like some others...shame....i milked a cow too. wild times...i fetched water the other day, fun times...Me and one of the other trainees made spagetti for both of our families combined, like 50 people. they loved it. i got a kiss on the check from gogo (grandma) for the 'wonderful food' as she called it.

so yes things are going well i am eating well mom and dad, i had spam the other night though, really gross. not a fan...Becky, I hope you are still planning on coming in November around Thanksgiving, cause we can have thanksgiving with the US ambassador at his house he invites all volunteers to come over and get drunk, he really loves whiskey....shhhhhhhh ok well i have to prepare for an HIV lecture i am giving to high schoolers tomorrow, and i have to do it in Siswati

Salani Kahle!!!! (Stay well, everyone)

-Colin (Mfanufikile)

Posted by colin at 06:29 AM | Comments (0)

June 09, 2005

We Are There!!

So we are in a hotel in Johannesburg, South Africa. We flew from JFK in New York to Dakar, Senegal, and then came straight to Johannesburg. Our flight was delayed two hours. Maybe you heard about it. Some guy in Senegal stowed away in the wheel base as the plan too off. As the plan dropped it's landing gear on it's way to New York, his body parts were dropping all over NYC. So that is why our flight was delayed. So I will be getting a cell phone that you guys can call me on as well.

The number is 09268 631-6083. (the 09268 number is the country code number). PS go to nobelcom.com to get calling cards to call me.

The flight was awful. I didn't sleep all that well and I was in the back of the plane. I began to get frustrated and was punching by seat by the end. I freaked out about a few things too, rereading peoples cards and things like that. But we leave for Manzini, Swaziland Friday morning.

The group is getting cooler and cooler every day and minute. We actually had a small scare already. We took buses all the way from Philly to NYC and we got to the airport then they told this one girl that she couldn't come she wasn't fully cleared for health reasons for some reason. She needed to go home and take care of whatever the problem was. There's a chance she can meet up with us soon though. That was sad, cause everyone bonded with everyone really quickly. It's good group all in all: one girl is from hawaii, one is from India, and everyone else is from all over the States.
Ok, well time is running out tonight. So sorry but i won't be able to update in a long time, but we can all write eachother now. Ok
checking out of the Swaz!!!
-Colin

Posted by colin at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

June 07, 2005

Last Night in the City of Brotherly Love!

Ok Hello-Everyone.
I leave the country for Africa Wednesday. I am really looking forward to it, after finally meeting everyone. Cool group of people. I was wrong actually and I am with a group of 33 people. three married couples. Oldest is 35. youngest is 21. 9 guys total. one girl from hawaii, alabama, new york, pennsylvania, VA, MD, MA, IL, IN, MN, MT, OR, CA, I will actually not have email or check this for the first 8-9 weeks of training. But I will have a cell phone. If people are seriously interested in calling me, cause it is really cheap to call me than for me to call all of you. Please check out nobelcom.com Choose US to Swaziland. and you can purchase a card from them, and electronically add minutes as well.

for the 8-9 weeks my snail mail is

Colin McAuliffe, PCV
U.S. Peace Corps
PO BOX 199
Mbabane, H100 Swaziland

PS thank you jimmy and ann and everyone else for the rest of that night and all of monday (the flight to Philly) i had "out of africa" in my head. Thanks alot guys.

Posted by colin at 11:57 PM | Comments (4)

June 06, 2005

So This Is It!!

Ok!! So this is it. I am leaving, I am gone. I am in Africa now to save the world from AIDS. Check back often and I'll have stories and pictures. So come back and see about my exploits.
I'll let everyone know about info when it become available.
Later and I miss you already

-colin

Posted by colin at 06:29 AM | Comments (1)