First Time Blogger - Beware...

So I'm just going to warn you all before I start that this is my first 'blog' experience, so you must be patient with my erratic postings and blabberings.

Anyways, WELCOME to my life on the internet as I work with people in a small rural town in Swaziland for the summer.  Thanks for your interest and I will do my very best to keep this thingy updated and interesting… no promises though, this is a very small town…

I should start with the beginning of my adventures, which led me to the City of Lights, Paris.  It was amazing, even better the second time I must admit.  I was there with my friend Taylor and her friend Ruphen for five awesome days.  We did everything, saw the Mona Lisa, climbed the Eiffel Tower, ate baguettes with ham and cheese, took the metro everywhere, spoke French like pros (well, almost), and we had an all around great time.  There is so much to do in Paris that I feel the need to go back and live there…maybe next summer… :) I love the crowds of people going different places and the strong emphasis on family – especially on the weekend, when we saw a lot of families just chilling in the park adjacent to Versailles (Louis XIV’s castle, probably the most intimidating house I have ever seen.  My word for this place would be grand – I think that was what Louis was going for…).  I got to practice my French, and we realized why EVERY year in high school they review how to order food in French – it was very useful there.  We went to museums, the aquarium, and to the Tuileries – my favourite place in Paris.  It is a beautiful garden between the Louvre and the Champs-Élysées, there is a fountain in the middle and it is the perfect stop to just realize that yes, you are in Paris.  In all, Paris was fantastic and I am so glad that I was able to go back!

Onto a different country, a different hemisphere, and a different culture.  The country of Swaziland is simply beautiful, like taking a scene out of the Lion King and pasting it into real life – yes the sunsets are that epic.  My first weekend here was spent with the nine students going to live in Swaziland.  Five of us with SWANNEPHA, and the other four with SOS Children’s Village.  The weekend was an basic introduction to Swazi culture, language, and customs by our contact here, Jabu.  One evening we went on a Safari and saw impalas, a crocodile, some warthogs, and some zebras.  At our camp there was an ostrich and some more impalas.  They just sort of lounge around, not really taking notice that there is a human only a couple of meters away.  The weekend was quite fantastic and I feel that it helped prepare me for the rest of my stay.

My town of Siteki is very small.  There are 6,152 people living here according to the GeoNames geographical database, well, currently there are 6,154.  I am living with another UBC student, Ayelen, and we have an amazing host mom, Mage, meaning mom in SiSwati.  The house is small, but welcoming, and we have electricity and a tv!  I was not expecting that, but it’s a nice little perk.  Our Mage has given us Swazi names, mine is Busie – meaning blessed and Ayelen’s is Dumsile – meaning to be praised, Aye says that I should start the praising now… :)  We’ve been in Swaziland for a week now, and we really haven’t done much work with SWANNEPHA so far.  I think that it’s because there isn’t any funding right now, but we are going to think of some projects to keep us busy.  Maybe visit high schools and have discussions on HIV and dating, but we have to make a plan, I shall keep you posted.  Other than that, it is a beautiful sunny day in Siteki, we just got out of church – I’m going to have to save that experience for another post J and we are going to head home and cook something up for lunch (I know, a scary image has popped into your head of me cooking/burning something…but no worries, I have Aye to supervise)

I’ve decided to end my posts with a word in SiSwati and its translation.  Today it is the greeting “Sawubona” [Sow-bone-a] which literally means “I see you”.  This greeting is said to everyone, and I mean EVERYONE.  From cashiers to close friends, the Swazi people greet everyone with this saying, and its response is “Yebo” [yay-bow] – meaning yes.  Pretty cool no?

Love you all to bits and I hope you have an amazing day!

xoxo

Gina