IST

I'm leaving today for in-service training, and will be away from my
laptop (but probably not e-mail) for the next two weeks. IST will be
held in Polokwane, and I'm looking forward to going to get a break
from constantly standing out and constant culture shock, plus seeing
all the other volunteers I went through training with. And I guess
I'm supposed to be a learning a few things, too, though that's really
ambiguous.

These past three months seem at once endless and incredibly short.
I've started a lot of things and have a lot of ideas, but have been
frustrated by many other factors: lack of understanding why I'm here,
both on my part and others', difficulty moving things along, getting
people to follow through with things they've told me to do. At the
same time, I've had some pretty incredible experiences, especially
whenever I get a chance to meet and interact with youth here.

That last paragraph was so typically Peace Corps. Prepare for another.

The thing most often mentioned by other volunteers was not to have
any expectations, and I though I'd purged myself of them before
coming to site, but alas, it was not so. Some things I'd been
prepared to laugh off and take in stride, like my strange tea habits
or children touching my hair and even waiting hours for a scheduled
appointment to start, but others, like actually getting to work in a
field that has to do with HIV/AIDS, have taken me by surprise.
Hopefully the next three months will be easier, though that's another
expectation too.

After IST, I'm planning on going to Pretoria for the Fourth of July
bbq at the embassy. I'll return to Mapayeni the following day.
Happy Fourth of July, everybody!