Evening of Dance Videos: Waterford Kamhlaba 2014

I know that I'm about three months late, but if you are interested, here are a few of the videos of performances from the 2014 "Evening of Dance," at Waterford Kamhlaba, where students perform dances from around the world. Just follow the below links and enjoy!

Indian Dance (choreographed and led by Deepali)

American Dance (choreographed and led by yours truly)

Maldivian Solo (choreographed and performed by Nayifa)

Contemporary Dance (choreographed and led by Sofie)

Contemporary Solo (choreographed and performed by Sofie)

Contemporary Solo (choreographed and performed by Stella)

Hip-Hop (3D, choreographed and led by Fernando)

Tumbling (not sure who was leading this)

Goodbye Dance (performed by the teachers, including MMw's famous solo)

Diwali at Waterford UWC

Hello! All right, let me try and get this blog back on track.

In July, my friend from India asked me how to write an event proposal. A few months later, we were shopping for, preparing for, and setting up for a Hindu festival called Diwali, which we were hosting as a cultural event here at school.

First of all, there was the food. Waterford so generously gave us funding for the event, so we were able to make a bit of Indian food for everyone to try. So, all morning was spent in the kitchen, working to make pakuras from chickpea flower, onions, and some spices.

Photo Credit: Deepali Tikone

Then, I left to start working on set-up. It took about eight hours to get all the furniture and equipment moved between buildings and set up properly, and then to set up all the decorations, including many strings of lights and about 200 candles, but in the end, I'm really proud of how it worked out!

Photo credit: Sarah Hahn

We rushed around like chickens with our heads cut off for the entire day, but the event itself was well worth it. We set the limit at 80 people to attend, because of the food and space limitations, and every single ticket that we gave out returned to us with a lovely person, complete in their requisite Indian attire, or at least a valiant attempt at such.

The program for the evening included a dance, a presentation about the history and religious significance of Diwali as the Festival of Lights, an lesson in dance, food tasting, and a fireworks display. For all of you who know Waterford, you might have a small inkling of how proud I am that we got fireworks on the field, smack in the middle of the cricket pitch! The following photos are credit to Kim Sinnige.

I almost had a change of life plans after this event, thinking I wanted to be an event planner or something. Anyways... I really encourage anybody at a UWC (or even another school) where you think you are lacking in cultural events to get up and do one yourself! Diwali here was something really special, and I hope that it's started a tradition in cultural events for years to come. 

Oh, and one massive final thank you to Deepali, my partner in crime in having the idea for, planning for, and getting this whole event to happen. Also, thanks to Nayifa and Sarah for working themselves silly all day setting up and cleaning up, and also to Waterford's administration for being so generous with the funding for this event, so that nobody had to pay anything to get in the door. And thanks to everyone who came and enjoyed!

Women's Empowerment - So, are you empowered yet?

This year, I'm helping to lead a women's empowerment group here at Waterford. We visit local schools with a program that is meant to empowerment the female students, and hopefully inspires them to dream beyond what is there in front of them.

I'm not sure if it's working.

The issue we had was deciding what really was "women's empowerment." I'm a very hands-on, do-it kind of person, and after having read "Half The Sky," (great book, highly recommend it), I was convinced that the only real way to do any women's empowerment was to pick an issue blocking empowerment, and work against it. For example, work on a project specifically focused on maternal health, sex trafficking, education, nutrition, etc.

The other view was that as students, our presence in simply speaking to students at various schools would be enough to inspire some sort of change, or at least plant a seed in one of the student's minds of what the future might hold, should they decide to chase it. My challenge with this is that it provides students with no support, and nothing that might make reaching their goals any easier. Sure, we've told them to dream, but all I can imagine is us leaving, and having them rolling their eyes and saying "we are dreaming... stupid Waterford kids."

So, here's what we've come up with as a middle ground. It's not a direct project, but it's also not just going to a school for a week, saying what we're going to say, and then leaving.

The plan is that we're going to be working at Motjane High School for the rest of the year. We're going to have four weeks with one group of thirty girls, and then four weeks with another group of thirty girls. Once a week, we will go down to the school and run a session around a specific theme. Each session will include activities, discussions, and lessons in which the goal is going to be to empower the girls as much as possible by "tricking" them into leading the sessions themselves, with as little guidance from us Waterford students as possible. The themes are going to be:

1. Gender Roles: How to break them without making everyone angry
2. Goal-Setting: How to make a reasonable goal and what to do to reach it
3. Relationships: Self-Esteem to Self-Defense
4. Women in Leadership Roles

Hopefully going back so often should have some sort of an impact. I'm really excited to start this section of the project, and see how it goes! I've found that every project is a bit of an experiment, and whether or not this is the absolute best way to empower this specific group of thirty girls, it's definitely not the worst. The school is keen to have us, and I can't wait to get started!

DIY: How to Live Out of a Backpack for a Month

So, today was officially finished term one of the new year! If you've read this blog before - you know what that means. If not, let me tell you: IT MEANS ADVENTURE TIME.

The last time I went meandering around the African continent, I headed north to Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique. This time, I'm going to be going west instead, to Botswana and Namibia.

I'm leaving tomorrow morning, bright and early at six o'clock to catch a bus to Johannesburg from Swaziland, and then hopefully it will all unfold from there! I don't have much to say about a trip in advance, other than how to pack, and so I figured that's what this post can be about. So...

HOW TO LIVE OUT OF A BACKPACK FOR A MONTH (or more!)

First, you need a tent. I'm borrowing a backpacking/cycling tent from a maths teacher here at Waterford (because that's just how we operate at Waterford). I mean, you could try and not bring a tent, but it's much harder to find places to stay if you don't have a tent. If you're absolutely loaded with cash, skip the tent. But, let's just say that I'm planning on relying heavily on the house of cloth.

Then, depending on where you're going, you need a sleeping bag. I'm going to be in the desert for lots of this time, where it will get crazy cold, so this is definitely a "yes" for me. I'm borrowing one from my tutor here at school (that's kind of a boarding school thing - your tutor is like your parent, but not really). I didn't know what it was going to look like, but I just went and picked it up, and it's perfect for backpacking (small and such), so it's all great!

Then, you need water. I never carry less than two liters, and for this trip, considering the fact that it's the desert, I'm planning to bring three liters. I used a canteen last time, but it was somewhat annoying, as it didn't fit in the pack, so this time I'm just bringing five or six 500 ml bottles.

Speaking of packs, you need a decent pack. Some people go on about weight distribution and frames and blah, blah blah. That's silly. Get a small pack that's big enough for what you need, and not big enough for anything else. That way, you won't bring too much and hurt your back. Just make sure it's comfortable and sturdy, and you're good to go.

Other than that, just make sure you're wearing decent shoes that dry easily (don't pack any extras - that's silly), enough toiletries and meds, and that's about it! Extra clothing, while usually on the top of a packing list, is on the bottom of this. I bring one extra t-shirt, a jacket, and a flannel shirt. That's it. I mean, if you're living out of a backpack, expect to look like you're living out of a backpack.

And then own it, because backpacking is awesome, and even though you are going to look like a homeless tramp, enjoy it.

Yeah, so that's about it! I'm leaving tomorrow, and I'll be back to the Kingdom of Swaziland near the end of May! 

No Water? No Problem.

We woke up this morning to a campus without water. I kind of paused, and then brushed my teeth with the little bit of water left in my water bottle. I threw on a shirt, and left my room to go to breakfast. This is rather a normal thing here in Swaziland, at least in Term Two, when it stops raining, because that's where we get out water from ("god bless the rains down in Africa...").

But, upon opening my door to the big, wide world, I had to practically climb over the mangled ruins of IB1s who had never dealt with a lack of water before. I could hear screaming, quite a few moans, and one siren wail of "what are we doing to dooooooooooo?" It's like they were incapable of remaining human without instant water.

I'm not sure if I should say I helped or anything, because there's not much you can do (other than wait) when the water stops coming out of the taps at school. So, I went to breakfast, where there was Muesli, which is massively special, and none of the other IB girls got to see, because they didn't dare go out in public without a shower.

I just laughed. Not showering for one day? That's fine. I once spent five days in Malawi without a shower, and that wasn't even considering the cow pie smeared across my back.

Anyways, gotta go do my siSwati prep. Which can also be done without water, no problem. I mean, other than my tears at the fact that it's so much harder to reach the word count in siSwati because words are combined... example: Ngingatijabulisa = I am able to make myself have fun. DO YOU SEE WHAT AN ISSUE WORD COUNT IS?

Performances - Waterford Kamhlaba UWC Day 2014

(Please read the original post about this year's UWC Day here - this post is just some of the videos of performances from the day)

Here are some of the videos of the performances that took place yesterday at UWC Day - some are full performances, and some are just clips. Apologies to Russian Choir, Indian Dancing, Finnish Duet, Zimbabwean Choir, and Zim-Zam-Malawi Dance, which I didn't get the chance to film. Other than that, here they are!

AZONTO DANCE
SOUTH AFRICAN DANCE
GUMBOOT DANCE
MADAGASCAR DANCE
MEN'S VOCAL QUINTET
SWAZI GIRLS DANCE
SWAZI BOYS DANCE

Waterford Kamhlaba - UWC Day 2014

Today was Waterford's annual UWC Day here on campus! So, since we're such a diverse school and everything, a lot of the times we forget exactly how diverse we are. I mean, I sit between a Tanzanian/Rwandan and a Swazi in maths class, and live across the hall from a Zimbabwean, so it's pretty obvious that "diversity" is kind of an everyday thing for us here.

So, once a year, we have UWC Day, which is our big international festival. Oversimplified, we dress up like ridiculous patriots and traditional people from our respective countries and cultures, make lots of traditional food, and then watch each other singing and dancing traditional pieces.

The great question every year is "what do you wear for a national costume if you're _____?" In my case, what the heck was I supposed to wear as an American? Last year, because I did Indian dancing (my lovely Indian friend in the blue above did it again this year), I avoided the question. But, this year, as the Russian choir I was singing in didn't have a set outfit, I was left to dress like an American - here is what I came up with.

Overall, the day was definitely a success. I performed with the Russian choir, and then spent essentially the rest of the day hanging out, watching different performances (I'm going to attempt to post some videos later today), and eating lots of different kinds of food. Some of my favorites were the banana creme pie from the Britain stall, and the burfee from the south Asian stall, and of course, the caterpillars from the Lesotho stall. There was a specific name for the caterpillar, but I was too busy making this face as I ate it to remember...

Let me tell you - that was not a small caterpillar. Strangely enough, once I got over the fact that I had just ingested a two-inch long insect larvae, the taste wasn't all that bad. Kind of spicy, actually.

At the end of the day - I'm tired, thirsty (from eating Zambian salty snacks) and with aching feet, but I'm also smiling and chilling. Just as I think the "UWC Day" is over, my friend from South Africa walks into my room, and I realize that it's not over, at least until we graduate. And then a Zimbabwean comes in and asks if I've seen her phone, and I hear a Tanzanian laughing in the corridor. Thing is, I haven't thought of anyone by their nationality in a long time. I guess it's just today, and tomorrow, I'll forget we're all from different places, and we'll all just go back to complaining about teachers and homework (some things are the same everywhere).

Waterford Kamhlaba - Inter-House Athletics

First of all, on Sunday we went hiking, and so here is an obligatory "awesome-Swazi-rocks" picture of me and my wonderful IB1 from Ethiopia.

Anyways, yesterday was Waterford's annual inter-house athletics competition. The way that inter-house competitions work in these parts is that the entire student body is randomly grouped into three houses. Here, the houses are Henderson, Guedes, and Stern, named after the founders of the school (in very proper South African boarding school style).

So, I'm in Henderson, which is the best house, and also happened to be the winning house of the day, with six hundred and something points. My small contribution to that was my winning six points in running the 3000m race! Now, I am wonderfully sunburned (again, whoops), and quite honestly not looking forward to going back to classes tomorrow.

Here are some of the highlights photos from those that I took yesterday:

UWC-Moments

Nothing extraordinarily exciting (always a relative statement) has been happening around here this week, but there have been quite a few moments that have made me laugh when I think about how "UWC" they are. Here are my top ten from this week:

1. The sheer amount of time that I've spent speaking Arabic this week, after nearly three years of ignoring the fact that I speak the language.
2. When the Dutch student is shocked that I am speaking siSwati with the Swazi student.
3. When I sit down at dinner and we joke that it's a south Asian cultural meeting, but it's not even a joke, because the other people at the table are two Indians and a girl from the Maldives (Maldivian? Not sure).
4. Seeing my bookshelf and realizing that the titles are in three different languages, and that I understand all of them.
5. DRIVING ON THE LEFT FOR THE FIRST TIME.
6. The fact that one of my best friend's room is a mess right now because she's spending all her time constructing a costume for a traditional Malawian dance, to be danced by a Zimbabwean boy and a Zambian boy at the cultural day in a few weeks.
7. I am in a Russian choir. Enough said.
8. Because currently looking around the room, I could thirteen nationalities. There are fourteen people.
9. When maize-meal porridge is served at a meal, everyone has a different name for it "from home.
10. Because today, I got rejected from a job in Germany, and I don't even care, because in a month, I'm going to Namibia and Botswana.

Anyways, that's pretty much all! And to make this even more UWC, here's a picture of me representing the Anti-Human Trafficking group in an assembly announcement. Thanks guys!

Gone Rural, Gone Global?

(This is an article on Gone Rural BoMake, an NGO here in Swaziland, based on a visit to their site and interview with the a director. Please check out their website for more detailed information on what they do in different areas of the community).

At Waterford, all IB students are involved in various sorts of community service, but we each have at least one "big" project to work on each year. This year, my two big projects are a women's empowerment group, and the computer classes that I started teaching last year.

Yesterday, our women's empowerment group went to visit Gone Rural BoMake, a group that creates an extra source of income for rural women by selling handicrafts that the women make, mostly from grass and recycled materials. The organization then sells the handicrafts to upmarket shops overseas, using some of the profits for the women's income, and some to support other community projects, such as a mobile medical unit and paying for school fees for OVCs (orphans and vulnerable children).

Walking into Gone Rural, there's a large mosaic on the wall reading "Sukumani, bomake!" (translating roughly into "Stand up, mothers!"). The lawn was lined with racks of dyed grass, drying after being colored. The way the group works, the women gather grass from where they are, and give it to Gone Rural in exchange for grass that has been dyed. The cost of the dye is part of the business plan for the NGO, and so there are no supply costs to the women.

At that moment, it started pouring rain, as it often tends to do in Swaziland, and so we all crammed inside a second barn, where the rural women were selling their handicrafts to Gone Rural. At the beginning of each year, the women decide on a price they would like to recieve for a certain item. Thereafter, anybody who makes that item will recieve the same price from Gone Rural for it. Gone Rural buys the handicrafts from the women for this price, and then marks them up to sell to the outlets abroad, to make money to pay for dyes and administrative costs. The outlets abroad then mark them up even more, which is why there are grass placemats for fifteen US dollars.

After that, we went into their storeroom, where they keep the completed products that are waiting to shipped off to the shops. The stores were truly stunning, with stacks of beautifully woven baskets from ceiling to floor, in all sorts of colors, shapes, and different varieties. There were baskets made of grass, recycled materials, and even t-shirt scraps from a factory in Mbabane. Some had ceramic bits in the centers, and some were just grass.

As someone who has lived in America for the majority of my life, I have indeed encountered shops selling this sort of stuff as "African" and "tribal," and I wonder what to think about it.  If people abroad are really into these styles, and really like grass placemats and baskets, then more power to them! But, I wonder how much of the business is created on the portrayal of the rural women as some sort of charity case, who need support through these purchases, and how much this mindset funds the NGO. While it's great that this can be a source of income for the women, on a global scale, I'm not comfortable with the fashion being charity - especially such ignorant charity. And, judging by the names of the companies selling the items, I wonder whether the retail of these sorts of products abroad furthers the ignorant consolidation of Africa into one landmass of grass mats and baskets. There was a pile of baskets going to "Kalahari," an Australian retailer. I wonder whether the customers of that company could differentiate between where the Kalahari is, and where Swaziland is. (Hint - far away). There was a pile of placemats going to an American company called "Ten Thousand Villages," and I don't think that's going to help with America's perception of Africa, either.

But, nothing is perfect, and BoMake has created something that is relatively sustainable, and seemed to be doing an effective job providing some extra income to the women. But, from the perspective of a representative of a women's empowerment group, I wanted to know what the NGO was really doing to empower the women, beyond providing them with an extra income.

Now, before I continue, I want to make it clear that BoMake is doing good work, providing a mobile clinic, and a support structure for these women and their familes that would probably not otherwise exist. But, I am less positive about how they are creating an empowering environment to these women.

I asked the woman in charge how long women tend to work for Gone Rural on average, making these handicrafts. I was hoping to hear that Gone Rural was a stepping stone for women to start their own businesses, or get involved in something of their own choosing, but that wasn't the case. To the woman's credit, she said that the NGO helps to pay for funeral costs, but that's not exactly the empowering answer that I was looking for. Once a woman starts working for Gone Rural, it doesn't seem like there's much of a chance for any stepping up beyond being an artisan. Admittedly, it's better than nothing, but it doesn't really strike me as the creation of a ladder, which is what I tend to think of women's empowerment as. Whether or not people choose to use it is another issue, but the ladder has to be there. This ladder, while it was technically there, had only one rung, and then nothing else.

I wish that groups like this would educate the women in business techniques and entrepreneurship skills, which could be transferred, should they choose to pursue other work. Weaving grass, while providing an income in this one environment, isn't the most transferable skill.

The woman then elaborated that the women's daughters oftentimes start working for Gone Rural when they turn sixteen, which is the youngest age that the company will allow. At this point, I couldn't help but wonder how empowering something really is, if even as generations pass, people find themselves in the same position. Sure, they're no longer at the bottom, but it's as though their ceiling is so much lower than everybody else's.

I'm not sure what else to say. It just feels like another story of an NGO that is doing really good work, but still struggles to find a way to balance charity, aid, empowerment, and the humanity and dreams of everyone involved. And I suppose that's the issue that is always faced in community service, whether it's here in Swaziland, or anywhere.

Because I Can't Remember Arabic, I'll Write in French?

Last night, another student arrived here at school, from Iraq. He's a wonderfully nice guy, but his English is anything but wonderful (yet). The thing is, he's from Iraq, and I really wanted to use my Arabic, but I just realized how absolutely terrible my Arabic is! It's strange, to know that I knew things at one time, and now simply have no idea. Want to know how extreme this is? I used to be able to write pages and pages in Arabic, and now the only word I can seem to pull out of my head is "al-umam al-muta7eda" (United Nations).

My French is wonderful, and I'm quite proud of my siSwati, but after three years of no use, my Arabic is not in the state that I wish it would be in. Strange, considering all the effort that the State Department put into trying to convince me to maintain my Arabic after NSLI-Y, but it just didn't happen. Now, though, I really want to fix it in university. Scratch that - I will definitely be fixing it in university. Insha'allah.

And now, to remind myself that all of languages are not absolutely terrible, I have (loosely, because I'm tired and my brain isn't fully functioning this early in the morning) translated this post in French, as seen below.

La nuit dernière, un autre étudiant est arrivé ici à l'école, d'Iraq. Il est absolument gentil, mais son anglais n'est pas (encore) aussi gentil. Donc, il vient d'Iraq, et j'ai vraiment voulu utiliser mon arabe, mais j'ai réalisé comment pas terrible mon arabe était devenu. C'est bizarre, à savoir que j’aie su les choses, il était une fois, et maintenant je n’ai aucune idée. Voulez-vous savoir comment extrême est-il? J'avais pu écrire des pages et des pages d'arabe, et maintenant le seul mot qui je peux souvenir est "al-umam al-muta7eda" (les Nations-Unis).

Mon anglais est super, et je suis vraiment contente avec siSwati, mais après trois ans sans l'utiliser, mon arabe n'est pas dans l'état que je voulais. Bizarre, en considérant tout l'effort fait par le gouvernement des Etats-Unis pour me convaincre de continuer avec l'arabe après mes études en Jordanie avec NSLI-Y. Mais, c'est la vie. Maintenant, alors, je voudrais l'étudier à l'université. Attends, je suis sure que je vais l'étudier a l'université. Insha'allah.

Et maintenant, pour me souvenir que tous mes langues ne sont pas absolument terrible, j'ai (peut-être, à cause des problèmes dans le cerveau qui existe à cette heure du matin) traduit ce blog en anglais, comme vous pouvez voir en haute.

Olympics, Pancakes, and Hiking

This weekend was such a great time away from school, at least for a few days. I spent Friday night at a friend's house, watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Sadly, Swaziland did not have a team, but Zimbabwe was well-represented! I mean, if you can call one athlete well-represented, but good for him! I am continuing to fight for the TV room at school when I want to watch certain events, because the guys in hostel seem to think that soccer is constantly more important than luge. But, that might just be because those who have grown up in the southern hemisphere are woefully uneducated in the ways of winter sports. We had a good time watching figure skating ("HOW DO THEY DO THAT WITH THEIR BODIES?") and freestyle skiing last night ("Wait, so it's a race, but they also get points on how their knees are held together, AND how they flip off the jumps?").

Anyways, then, on Saturday, I spent the morning working at my friend's dad's restaurant in Mbabane. They were having an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast, and so I was waitress-ing. Let me tell you - keeping coffee coming to people is not easy.But, that kind of stressful, energetic, dealing-wth-impatient-people kind of work just happens to be my forte (cough, used to work at Toys-R-Us, cough), and so I felt quite at home. I know, I'm strange, but I really enjoy working, and it's not something I get to do all that often here in Swaziland. And, while I spent the whole day thinking I was just helping out, I got paid at the end - that's a few hundred more emalangeni to help finance my return to Cape Town in a few weeks!

So, that was Saturday. Then, yesterday (Sunday), we went hiking just outside of Mbabane. The hike was along this ridge, and then down into a valley where we swam in the river. The thing with this hike is that, while navigation is pretty easy (stay on top of the ridge), there are these massive boulders along the way, and you can find yourself pretty easily in quite a sticky situation, where you don't want to go forwards or backwards. Essentially, the whole thing turned into more of a climbing than a hiking trip, with people pulling each other up rock faces, or yelling encouragement as people essentially crossed their fingers and jumped three meters down. It was very team-build-ish, but definitely a great time. And, the swim in the Mbuluzi never ceases to make me happy.

So, that's about it! Now I'm back in school for another week, trying to enjoy it, but already missing the weekend! Here's a picture of our lunch spot yesterday, and our swimming spot.

Superbowl... Monday?

This is going to be a very short post. We spent last night watching the Superbowl, which started at 1:30 am on Monday (today) here because of time differences. Here's a joke: what do you get when you stick a Norwegian, a Bolivian, a Zambian-German, a Dutchman, a Turk, and two American girls in a room to watch the Superbowl?

Cupcakes, because that's what you make at three in the morning when nobody really understands what's happening with the game.

Anyways, I didn't get a single wink of sleep, but it was a wonderful night, and totally worth it. #uwclife.

The Lovely People of Mpaka

Today added another event to the continuation of Waterford's community service projects related to Mpaka Refugee Camp here in Swaziland. The difference? Last year, I simply helped out with these projects, while this time, I ran it.

As compared to other events we've run with Mpaka, which oftentimes focused on entertaining the younger kids at the expense of the older ones, this event was geared for high schoolers and up. Apparently, at the camp, the bus driver went through quite the battle to make sure that parents didn't get their ten year-olds onto the bus, because the day we had planned back at school was not catered for younger kids. But, once the people from Mpaka made it all the way back to Mbabane, and to Waterford, we were waiting, and the day only went uphill from there.

This was meant to be a day with purpose. Once everyone got there, we broke into discussion groups. There was a group for those interested in working in medicine, a group for those wanting careers in science, one for those interested in business, and various other groups for those who weren't yet quite sure. The core in all of the groups was discussing issues in education, and how to achieve despite them, along with goal-setting, careers, and general things in life that everyone would like to see improved.

After settling all the groups down into their respective locations (sigh, organizing 150 people is hard), I sat down with my favorite group of people to talk to - the twelve-year old boys. They're hilarious honest, and goofy, and just great to be around. Last time I had talked to this particular group, they had described the challenges they were having in school because they weren't Swazi. This time, several of them were speaking siSwati, and said that everything was great. (They're still oh-so proud of their English).

The boys had plenty of ideas that were different for each other, but the one thing that they could agree on was that the worst thing at the camp was drinking and smoking. It's always strange to see a group of twelve year-olds swearing that they'll never drink, and wondering whether they'll be able to keep that up, especially considering the particularly difficult hands of cards that they've been dealt. I really hope they can.

After these discussion groups, we quickly gathered back in the ampitheater to re-group. I couldn't help but smile as I heard Waterford business students talking with some of the older guys from the camp about what you need to start a business. Sometimes it feels like discussions are a waste of time, but in other ways, it's empowerment. Knowledge is power.

Anyways, after that we split into what I had meant to be the "fun activities." I put that in quotes not because they weren't fun, but because they were just so much more productive than I expected. Everyone picked between the climbing wall, volleyball, dancing, Wii, and using the computers. I headed over to the IT center, which proved to be the most popular choice by far.

Once we got over there, these guys used the one hour they had on the internet to their advantage! I've never seen so many school admissions applications, college forms, and homework printed. They were creating email addresses, typing business letters, and researching scholarships. I genuinely hope that something works out that stems from that one hour, because it was the most glorious use of the IT center that I have ever seen.

Overall, it was just a wonderful day. It's a strange perspective to look back on an event and be proud of how I organized it, and not simply of just "how it went." (Believe me, nothing ever just "goes." Someone makes it "go"). The understanding that everyone has a chance to do whatever they want in life is something that can sometimes pass kids up when they grow up in the camp, and I strongly believe that days like this make a difference. And that makes me proud.

For tonight, I've got a geography essay, a French essay, and a whole mess of random homework. And I'm thankful for that chance. And I'm not even being facetious.

Swazi "Senior" Year

It's strange to be back at school as an IB2, which is essentially the equivalent of being a senior at high school in the States. First, it's strange because I've already done the whole senior thing, and the fact that I'm back at this point again is weird. Second of all, because suddenly there are a bunch of IB1s here, and that's just weird. They're running around complaining about the slow internet, and not complaining about the cafeteria food (which is obviously the wrong order of complaints - food is obviously more important than memes and Youtube).

But, other than the fact that half of the hostel is different people, things are pretty much the same here. It's summertime, so the sun is shining (sorry about that, Chicago), and I'm back into shorts and a t-shirt. I spent a whole day decorating my new room, which ended in a grand explosion when I tried to plug in my Christmas lights with an electrical converter and no adapter (or maybe the other way around, I'm not sure which is which). Regardless, electricity in America is 125V, and here it's 250V.

So yeah, a bit of an explosion.

Mostly, though, I'm just excited. I've really missed the mountains. Ahhh... Swaziland :)

Blogarific

Hello everyone! I know this blog wasn't the greatest at the end of this year, but I'm going to try and be posting a little bit more on it for my second year in Swaziland. I'm in the States right now, but I fly back to Swaziland through Qatar in just about two weeks. It's a very different feeling to be flying back to Swaziland, because for the first time, the big question was, "what is it like there?" Now, my biggest question is "I wonder if the cactus in my room is still alive?"

So, to be quite honest, I'm still in America at the moment, and while I've had a wonderful holidays, I don't have much to write about travelling or culture or whatever this blog is supposed to be about. BUT, there are a lot of people who seem to be writing a whole lot about getting ready to go to Swaziland - the IB1s (the year directly below me in school - aka, the ones going to Waterford for the first time next week).

In honor of their new adventure, and also because they're all very excited and writing lots of blogs, here is a list of some of the new "swazi-uwc-travel-i-am-so-excited-look-at-me-i-can-write" blogs that I've come across from my IB1s.

IB1s:

• Lise A (Norway, blogs in Norwegian): http://swazistories.com/
• Connor B (German, blogs in English): https://connorbaer.org/
• Roos M (Netherlands, blogs in English): http://redemoor.wordpress.com/

Also, IB2s who have a blog (no guarantees on how well-maintained they still are)

• Torunn S (Norway, blogs in Norwegian): http://swazitorunn.tumblr.com/
• Nick C (American, blogs in English): http://nickcarey0326.blogspot.com/
• Moritz (German, blogs in German): http://chicken-with-rice.blogspot.com/
• Stella H (German, blogs in German): http://stellaswasiland.blogspot.de/

Also, Waterford graduates (you might have to scroll back a bit to get to info on WK)

• Sofia G (American, blogs in English): http://sofiagd.wordpress.com/
• Julian (German, blogs in German): http://www.juliinswasiland.blogspot.com/

And, if you would like a list of lots and lots of blogs from ALL the UWCs, check out Connor's blog's "The UWC Blog List."

That is all from me for now - wishing all the IB1s good luck as you guys leave for orientation, I'll see you after a week when I get there as well! America, you've been great, but I really just want to get back to Swaziland :)

School in Swaziland

Remember this? Still going on. Thanks!

Today, I was running between classes, studying, getting ready for a physics test, just doing the normal school thing, when I realized... I'm doing the normal school thing in Swaziland. Seeing as how school here has finally become "everyday," I figured it's as good a time as any to write about how school here is different from school in America. I think I did this on the first day of school, but I figure I must have a little bit of a different perspective six months later (hopefully).

SCHEDULE:

First of all, there's the seasonal thing. Schools here run year-round, so we have school from January through April, May off, June and July in school, August off, September through November in school, December off. Keep in mind though, summer is December and January, because it's in the southern hemisphere, so I suppose we do get a bit of summer off. Although, that doesn't help the fact that my Facebook was flooded with "SUMMER" statuses in June, just as I was starting a new term... anyways.

The other thing that goes along with schedules is the lack of bells. Culturally, time is less "of the essence" than it is in America, and so showing up for classes a few minutes (not a lot) late is totally acceptable, whereas in America it's really not acceptable whatsoever. You can see it almost ingrained into the timetable by the fact that there are no passing periods at school here. That doesn't seem so strange at first, but when you have siSwati class that ends at 15h20 (3:20 pm in American time), and French class that then starts exactly at 15h20, being late isn't really an option. Add into that the fact that teachers, unconcerned with time, rarely start on time, and you've got a school that consistently runs about five minutes late.

Except for the end of the day. The teachers always make sure we get out on time.

CLASSROOMS

The next thing is the classroom block, which was designed by a man from Mozambique. That being said, the building is not well equipped to handle winter (namely, now) on the top of a Swazi mountain. The windows don't really fill the frames - literally, there is a centimeter gap between where the glass ends, and where it should end, if they wanted the glass to fill the window. If a room should be lucky to have a source of heat, it comes in the form of a pipe that runs along one side of the room. The pipe is filled with water, which is heated, which provides heat to anyone who goes over and wraps themselves around the pipe - but nobody else. And to be fair, the pipes are very rarely working. That being said, compared to America, where people wear their coats, boots, and scarves outside, but not during the school day, at school here, you see people bundled up all day long - and rightfully so. Contrary to popular belief in America, Swaziland does indeed get cold. It's not as cold here as it is in the States, but it's inescapable (there is no real heat anywhere), and so it almost feels colder.

As far as the classrooms themselves, they're just much simpler. Classrooms in America have computers, projectors, document cameras, overheads, SmartBoards, and so on. Classrooms here are lucky to have more than one electrical socket. Chalkboards, and in some (fancy) rooms, whiteboards, are still in style here. To be quite honest, I can't decide whether I prefer classrooms with or without technology. I think that on both sides, the teachers have just kind of adapted to use what they have, and it works out.

TEACHERS

To put it bluntly, teachers here take the authoritarian viewpoint of a classroom. "Sir" will get you a very long way. I guess ma'am would too, but my only female teacher is my siSwati teacher, and so we call her "make" (mah-gay). Asking questions in class, an encouraged practice in America, is only "acceptable" here. I can think of one teacher off the top of my head who will stare you down for a solid five seconds, before starting to answer your question.

Oh, and it's not acceptable to call teachers by nicknames of their last names, which is pretty much how we call all of our teachers in America. If I tried to call my geography teacher "Wekky," I think I'd get slapped.

Anyways.

The strange thing is that despite all the pomp and circumstance in the classroom, teachers are much more chilled out with assignments. In America, they rarely accept late work, but here, late work is almost the norm - probably has something to do with the "late" culture.

Other than that, the only difference I can think of is the marked lack of quirky teachers in America. I know that some of my American teachers who like to think of themselves as quirky will be disappointed by this, but they have nothing on the pure weirdness of my teachers here. My physics teacher has the habit of leaving the classroom mid-sentence, going to get something to drink, sometimes changing his clothes, and returning five minutes later. He then picks up exactly where he left off in the sentence, and doesn't even mention the fact that he left. My English teacher regularly makes jokes about things he probably shouldn't make jokes about. My French teacher once walked into class, said simply "J'ai déchiré mes pantalons. Je dois retourner chez moi." (I've ripped my pants. I must go home). He then walked out, and didn't return.

You know, totally normal.

YEAH.

That's all I can think of. School really isn't that different. I mean, we use textbooks in America, and don't really have proper textbooks for most classes here. We have a bell system in America, and class just kind of "starts" here. Teachers in America are chilled about classroom ceremony, and strict about schoolwork, while teachers here are strict about ceremony, but chilled about schoolwork.

The funny thing is, I go to school in Swaziland. And that's normal. And right now, like any teenager in America waiting for summer, I'm in school, waiting for August, which is the term break. Except that instead of working as a camp counselor in my term breaks, I'm going backpacking through six countries in my term break, but more on that in a few weeks...

International Weekend Field Trip



So, I spent this past weekend in Durban, South Africa, for a geography field trip. That's right - international weekend field trip. This is the kind of thing that they should put in a UWC brochure or something. The point of the trip was to study coastal processes, and so while we were technically in Durban, most of our time was spent on this little beach called Treasure Beach, doing geography research. As you can see in the pictures, the weather wasn't beautiful... it was dramatic, though.

Obviously the best thing to do when there are two meter high waves bashing against these massive rocks all along the coast is to get in and try to measure them with meter sticks. All in the name of the fieldwork!

Thankfully, the weather got better and the next day was slightly more tolerable. And so, here are some pictures of how I spent my fourth of July in South Africa, listening to geomorphology lectures and looking at ocean creatures... not very American, I know, but to make up for it, I'm pretty sure I hummed The Star Spangled Banner all day. It was stuck in my head.

Overall, it was a pretty good trip, although now we have so much work to do with our completed research! Anyways, I'm back in Swaziland now, and will be here for another month until the term ends, and then it's off for another month of adventures during the term break! I hope everyone in the States is enjoying the summer. Just know that I'm enjoying the winter here... silly southern hemisphere.

Physics: Swazi Style

In Physics class today, we were talking about gravitational fields. For those of you who aren't into physics, the main idea is that every object has a gravitational field, and objects within that field are attracted to it, at least a little bit.

Let me paraphrase the lesson. Now, you have to hear this in the strong Ugandan accent of our wonderful physics teacher:

"Now, if there is a very massive particle, he is like the very powerful chief. A very powerful chief has much influence for the people in his chiefdom. But! If you are what? Far away! Then, you may choose to roam further away from the chief, and then you may choose to do what? Insult him! You may even dare to insult him, without fear of getting forced to go back to the chief to be punished! If you are outside your chief's gravitational field, then you may hurl insult after insult without fear of being hit! Remember though, the king will have a very big gravitational field, so if you want to hurl your insults at the king without being hit, you will have to go where? Far away!"

I mean, I guess the complicated graphics and computer simulations worked for physics classes in America, but here, we operate solely with paper, pencils, a board, and some metaphors about the local chiefs and king. I guess these are the benefits of learning physics in the last absolutely monarchy in the world...

A Day In The Life

I did this a while ago, but it's been a while, so I figured I'd just write a "life-in-Swaziland-at-UWC" post. An overly detailed post, but hey, maybe you're interested.

06:45 - Multiple alarms go off. It's a little bit chaotic in my room at exactly six o'clock, and while I'm a light sleeper who doesn't need four alarms, I'm just paranoid that three of them won't go off or something. That never happens, and so I always have four alarms going off at exactly the same time.

Anyways, I wake up my friend from India, and five minutes later we're walking out of hostel in our sweatshirts and hats. Mind you, it's winter in June in the southern hemisphere, and while I refuse to call the daytime weather "cold," at six in the morning, before the sun comes up, there's frost on the ground and it is quite cold.

We're not up at six because we're crazy - six o'clock is running time. I normally run up the mountain and down, and then run a mile or two around the field, but I donated blood yesterday, and was told not to do physical activity today, so I figured running was pushing it enough, and that I didn't need to involve any mountains today.

Side note, to anyone who doubts the idea of donating blood in what is technically considered a third world country with an AIDS rate of one in three, the lady got the needle into my vein on the first try. That's a lot more than can be said about blood drives in America.

06:45 - Done with running! We head back to hostel to shower and get ready for the day.

07:00 - I get ready really fast, and so right at seven, I head down for breakfast. The Emhlabeni, my hostel, is across campus from the dining hall, so it's a little bit of a walk, but campus isn't that big, and I get there pretty fast. Breakfast this morning was corn flakes with hot milk (they serve cold milk, but hot milk is much more popular here - it's an acquired taste), papaya, or "po-po," as it's referred to, toast, and a biscuit (biscuits in the American "biscuits and gravy" sense, not in the British "cookie" sense - I think I've been at an international school too long when I start clarifying things like that). Anyways, it was pretty good, and the hot tea was welcome, as it is every day in winter.

I  still can't get over how it's winter in June.

08:00 - My first class of the day - geography. My teacher is from Tanzania, and his accent adds an extra layer of difficulty into the lessons. As he puts it, "You cannot talk in my class! I don't speak good English, and half the class doesn't speak good English! We barely understand each other, much less with you talking in the background!" We're preparing for a field trip to Durban in a few weeks, so we were preparing stuff for our fieldwork there. And yes, Durban, South Africa. International field trips, yo.

08:40 - Maths! I've started calling it "maths" instead of "math," which makes me feel like a traitor to America, but hey, it's hard to resist. Anyways, we're working on trigonometry proofs in calculus. Yes, maths is the same everywhere around the world. It's not any more exciting in Swaziland than it is in America. Well, other than the fact that everyone here uses Casio calculators instead of Texas Instruments (I cling to my TI-84+ like it's a mathematical life vest. Casio confuses me).

09:20 - siSwati class. We go through some translations, and then just talk in siSwati for a while. I have nothing more to say about siSwati class, other than that uma ngikhuluma siSwati nebangani name, ngijabulile. Lesinye sikhatsi, ngiyasokola, kodvwa manje, ngati emagama kakhulu.

10:00 - Break time! This is kind of a weird concept that hasn't entered into American schools. In America, we have five minutes passing between classes. Here, classes start exactly as the last one ends, and you are just one or two minutes late all the time, but then there's a forty minute break right at ten o'clock every day. It's nice, and we get a snack, which is always welcome. Well, most of the time. Today is was a roll and hot chocolate. Hot chocolate is strange here too - it's not sweetened in itself, you have to add sugar. That might just be the school cafeteria though.

10:30 - Time for community service. A few of us headed over to the Mbabane government hospital, picked up a disabled guy who stays in the ward, and took him to the park. He's not properly cared for in the hospital, and so we take him out so that he doesn't have to sit in the same room the whole time. He doesn't speak, and doesn't really respond, but we try to entertain him, as you can definitely tell when something makes him happy. Today, we spun around on the carousel thing with him.

Let's just say that didn't make him happy.

Then, he went to take a nap, and so we chilled on the swings for a while. Some creepy guy yelled across the parking lot whether me and my friend fro South Africa wanted a push, to which we replied a very strong, "Cha!" Cha means no, and is pronounced more like "ta" that "sha," because "c" in siSwati is a click, not a sound that exists in English.

12:40 - We returned to school for a lovely cafeteria lunch. Today, I had pap, which is corn with the yellow shells taken off the kernels, then boiled and mashed up like potatoes. It's more rubbery than mashed potatoes, and not really my favorite food, but I'm sick of rice, which is the only alternative.

13:20 - French class! We practiced introductions for speeches in French, and then headed out a bit early. Compared to America, where teachers NEVER let you out before the bell, classes let out early quite often here.

14:40 - English. We talked for a bit about an assignment, and then surprise - we got out early!

16:00 - I headed over to the IT center to set up the computers for a computer class that I teach to some kids from SOS Village, an orphanage in Sidwashini, right by the school. They're super beginners are computers, which is really cool, so today we were working with the freeware version of Excel - LibreOffice Calc. We were just doing simple functions and graphing, but it's interesting to see what questions they had - what does the shift key do? How do I type a plus sign? How do I highlight the box?

17:30 - We wrapped up the computer class and headed over to the dining hall for dinner. In line at the dining hall, I got stopped by my second year from Mozambique, who asked if I wanted to come to supper club. Supper club is this thing where four or five students go to this one English teacher's house for supper, just to get away from eating in the cafeteria, at least for one meal. I enjoy it, and always go when invited, as it means several things: soda, nice glasses, a normal table, and conversation that doesn't revolve around school. Today, he also made us soup, which was a lovely bonus. To be honest, any food other than the cafeteria good brightens my day considerably. Conversation revolved around America's position in the world compared to China, and sex as a means to find religion. Definitely better conversation than "school," and it always amuses me that it's totally normal to have dinner a teacher's house here.

19:00 - Supper club wrapped up, and I headed over to the IT center, which I supervise on Thursday nights.

And that's where I find myself right now, about to start my homework. I hate to burst any bubbles about whatever Utopian life you imagine I have, chilling in Swaziland right now, but there's something you should know. While it is summer in the States, with warm weather and without school, it's currently winter here in Swaziland, and school is in session. I have siSwati to study, a math test tomorrow, a geography test next week, an English essay to write, and Physics formulas to study. Not saying that school isn't great and all, but I assure you, the next four hours of my night hold nothing entertaining enough to write about. And so, I'll summarize.

19:30 - Work on homework in the IT center.
21:30 - IT center duty ends, lock up the IT center, head back to hostel.
22:00 - Dance to some Indian music in the corridors, complain about life, hug and laugh about how complain-y we are, make some tea, complain about homework, procrastinate, and then finally go work.
24:00 (or 00:00, depending on how you look at it) - Give up on work and go to sleep. It's another long day ahead of me tomorrow!

Actually, tomorrow is a special day, and an really abnormally long day, but that's for another post.

And so you have it - a day in the life of a Waterford student!