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 :)

Do's and Don't's of Visiting Your Long-Lost... Parents?

A POST!?!?! Yes, I am going to continue to make blog posts for this year in Swaziland. Tell yo' friends.

Anyways.

So, I have spent the last seven weeks here in 'Murica for my first visit home in a year. While it has been wonderful, let me make a list of do's and don't's for someone coming back to visit their parents after a very, very long time away from home.

DO gently remind your mother that you have been living away from home for a year, and that you do indeed know how to dress yourself, and do not need to be reminded of how cold it is outside.

DON'T proceed to wear flip-flops, and then complain about how cold it is. Because there will be no pity.

DO enjoy some America foods.

DON'T enjoy so many America foods that while packing to return to Africa, you find that some of your Africa pants don't fit anymore.

DO have faith that the Africa pants will fit in a few weeks, once you are separated from these America foods. Specifically bagels.

DON'T pretend that just because you're "visiting," you don't have to do dishes.

DO continue to pick up your socks. Or start to pick up your socks, if this wasn't previous a habit.

DON'T forget to clean the toilet. While there might be someone at school who cleans toilets for you, your mother STILL isn't the maid. And if you don't clean it, it will become disgusting.

DO see all your friends in America.

DON'T worry when things are awkward at times. You've been apart for a year. It's going to be a teeny bit weird. Or a massive amount weird. But, that's okay.

DO enjoy it. Especially if you only have a few weeks before you leave again, time tends to fly.

So, I'm currently on a plane (the magic of delayed posting), heading back for a second year in Swaziland. I had kind of forgotten what is was like the first time around, but a few of the new students have started their own blogs, and I'm starting to realize how different it is to do all of this the second time around. Before, I didn't know what to pack. Now, I know to pack a rain jacket, because even if it's sunny during the day, it's damp at night. I know that despite the fact that the bus from Johannesburg to Mbabane is rumored to be able to make the trip in five hours, it never takes less than eight.

I know how big (or small) my room is. I know that some of stuff is in my friend's room, so that they could repaint my room over the holidays. I know that the cafeteria milk is half water. I know that the lettuce gets gross near the end of term. I know that I can hitch-hike into town and be safe. I know that you don't pronounce Mbabane as "EM-ba-bayn" (although that's still adorable, Mom and Dad).

I know what colors the mural in my corridor are, because I spent a hundred hours painting it. I know that the yellow fruits on the trees outside the laundry room are delicious. I know that my friend from Malawi will share them with me, and I know that my friend from India will share the mulberries with me. I know that my friend from Zimbabwe lives across the hall, and that if I point to the poster in her room, she will break into song. I know that my friend from Lesotho will say that I'm "hlanya" when I pretend to speak seSotho, probably because I'm interrupting his physics work.

And I know that it's pronounced "li-SEW-too," not "li-so-THOUGH." (No judgement, America. Maybe only a little bit). But mostly, it's that this time around, I'm not flying across the ocean to a mystery - I'm returning to just another one of my lives, which I suppose is also inherently weird.

Anyways, I get to Swaziland on Sunday night, and then it's another year in Swaziland, and hopefully blog posts throughout. To any northern-hemisphere people reading this, enjoy the rest of your winter! (Teehee...)

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 :)

Long Time No See, Internet

So, I'm not going to make excuses - this blog has been dead for a while now. I've been working on a book about my travels, and that has started to take precedence over the blog.

It's not that I'm not writing anymore, as I am, but the inspiration to do the whole blog thing has left me, at least for the time being.

If I do feel the urge to post again, I will, but right now, I'm at the point where I've been in Swaziland long enough that it doesn't feel like living abroad anymore, and so my normal activities, the ones I used to consider blog-worthy because they were abroad, just seem normal. That's a wonderful thing for me, but not so great for the blog.

I'm not sure if I'm explaining this correctly, but that's about it.

Anyways, I'll post if anything becomes of this book! Other than that, I'll be back in the States for a few weeks in December, and I shall see all of you lovely people then!

Safe and Sound

Well, I'm back in Swaziland! I successfully made it through South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, back to South Africa, and then back to Swaziland!

I have millions of stories, and I'm working on sorting out my pictures and stuff to post about my adventures, but for now, check out a post about my trip (I feel so special!) from the blog of a Peace Corps volunteer I stayed with along the way.

Anyways, I'm safe and sound, back in Swaziland - getting ready for the last term of school this year. It feels strange to be back at school, not to mention staying in the same place for multiple days in a row. You get kind of used to continuously travelling, and now staying but just seems... strange. It's nice, though, after a month of living out of a backpack!

Where in the World is Diana? MOZAMBIQUE

This post was written in July, and has been automatically set to post in advance. I'm currently on a term break, and am travelling through Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique.

 

Well, I've estimated that I'm somewhere in Mozambique right now, which is one of the bigger countries in the area, as you can see:

 

I'll be heading out of the bottom left it of Malawi, and then pretty much just straight south, towards Beira, Inhambane, and then to Maputo.

 

 

After that, you can see that I'll be heading back to Swaziland! Sadly, that means that this month's adventures are almost done - happily, that means I'm almost back to internet access to tell about it!