No matter how much I pretend to know, I have to admit that as of right now, I know very, very little about Swaziland. I'm writing this pretty much so I can laugh at myself in a few months, when I'm a little bit more educated about the nation. I refused to look anything up while writing this post (because that kind of defeats the purpose of this), so be warned that there are comparable amounts of fact and ignorance in this post.
I know that Swaziland is a monarchy, and I know that I should probably know the name of the king, but I can't remember it at the moment. I think it starts with an 'M,' as most of the Swazi-related words I've come across do. I know that Manzini is the largest city, and Mbabane is the capital. I know how to pronounce Manzini, but I have no earthly idea how to say Mbabane.
I know that it's borders are South Africa and Mozambique, and that no, it's not that country that's entirely surrounded by South Africa. That's Lesotho. I know that it's closer to the eastern coast of Africa, but I'm not sure how far away it is exactly from the ocean. I know that Swaziland itself is landlocked though.
I know that the electrical outlets look kind of like those in India, but bigger. I know that the electricity is 240V, instead of the 120V in America, but it doesn't really matter, because the electronics I was planning on bringing from America can handle the greater voltage anyways.
I'm pretty sure that Swaziland is the same latitude south as Georgia is north, and while I have no idea where I got this impression, I think that Swaziland is somewhat rainy in the summer, and doesn't get all that cold in the winter. I think that the mountains Mbabane is in are something like the Appalachians, although I have no idea what the Swazi mountain range is called. I'm not even sure if they consider it mountains, or if that's just my Midwestern observation based solely on pictures of the campus that I've seen.
I know that Swaziland used to be a British colony, and that it declared its independence sometime in the 1950s or 1960s. I want to say 1957, but am 99% sure that's wrong. I know that the Swazi flag is a red, yellow, and blue stripes with some sort of black and white shield in the center, but I'm not quite sure of the significance of any of that. I think the red has something to do with blood.
I know that they hold some sort of ceremony every year called the Umhlanga, or something close to that, which translates into the Reed Dance. From what I understand, a bunch of young girls dance topless for the king, wearing blue and red skirts, and holding these really tall reeds. The king's wives, thirteen or fourteen of them, wear red feathers in their hair. I'm not sure of the significance of any of this.
I know that the people of Swaziland are Swazi, but I'm not sure if there's another word in siSwati, the local language, for Swazi. I think I read somewhere that siSwati is one of those "click languages," and is related to Zulu. I know that 'hello' in siSwati is 'sawubona,' and 'yes' in siSwati is 'yebo.' Either thank you, please, or goodbye is something along the lines of 'ngikifuna.' Now that I'm reading that, I'm pretty sure I have nothing past the first two letters of that word correct. I know that siSwati has a bunch of sounds that English doesn't have, and should be more of an adventure than Arabic was. Although, from my understanding, it looks like siSwati uses our alphabet, which is simple (and boring).
I know that Swaziland has the highest AIDS rate in the world. I read somewhere that it was around 35%, and while I'm pretty sure that's a WHO number, I'm not sure from which year. I know the Peace Corps currently has volunteers there.
I know that I know very, very little about the country where I'll be spending the next two years of my life. I guess that just means I have lots of room for improvement!
I know that Swaziland is a monarchy, and I know that I should probably know the name of the king, but I can't remember it at the moment. I think it starts with an 'M,' as most of the Swazi-related words I've come across do. I know that Manzini is the largest city, and Mbabane is the capital. I know how to pronounce Manzini, but I have no earthly idea how to say Mbabane.
I know that it's borders are South Africa and Mozambique, and that no, it's not that country that's entirely surrounded by South Africa. That's Lesotho. I know that it's closer to the eastern coast of Africa, but I'm not sure how far away it is exactly from the ocean. I know that Swaziland itself is landlocked though.
I know that the electrical outlets look kind of like those in India, but bigger. I know that the electricity is 240V, instead of the 120V in America, but it doesn't really matter, because the electronics I was planning on bringing from America can handle the greater voltage anyways.
I'm pretty sure that Swaziland is the same latitude south as Georgia is north, and while I have no idea where I got this impression, I think that Swaziland is somewhat rainy in the summer, and doesn't get all that cold in the winter. I think that the mountains Mbabane is in are something like the Appalachians, although I have no idea what the Swazi mountain range is called. I'm not even sure if they consider it mountains, or if that's just my Midwestern observation based solely on pictures of the campus that I've seen.
I know that Swaziland used to be a British colony, and that it declared its independence sometime in the 1950s or 1960s. I want to say 1957, but am 99% sure that's wrong. I know that the Swazi flag is a red, yellow, and blue stripes with some sort of black and white shield in the center, but I'm not quite sure of the significance of any of that. I think the red has something to do with blood.
I know that they hold some sort of ceremony every year called the Umhlanga, or something close to that, which translates into the Reed Dance. From what I understand, a bunch of young girls dance topless for the king, wearing blue and red skirts, and holding these really tall reeds. The king's wives, thirteen or fourteen of them, wear red feathers in their hair. I'm not sure of the significance of any of this.
I know that the people of Swaziland are Swazi, but I'm not sure if there's another word in siSwati, the local language, for Swazi. I think I read somewhere that siSwati is one of those "click languages," and is related to Zulu. I know that 'hello' in siSwati is 'sawubona,' and 'yes' in siSwati is 'yebo.' Either thank you, please, or goodbye is something along the lines of 'ngikifuna.' Now that I'm reading that, I'm pretty sure I have nothing past the first two letters of that word correct. I know that siSwati has a bunch of sounds that English doesn't have, and should be more of an adventure than Arabic was. Although, from my understanding, it looks like siSwati uses our alphabet, which is simple (and boring).
I know that Swaziland has the highest AIDS rate in the world. I read somewhere that it was around 35%, and while I'm pretty sure that's a WHO number, I'm not sure from which year. I know the Peace Corps currently has volunteers there.
I know that I know very, very little about the country where I'll be spending the next two years of my life. I guess that just means I have lots of room for improvement!
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