In South Africa, I spend far more time in malls socially than I ever did in America. I don't really go to the mall in Giyani, either, mainly because it's small and the grocery store I shop at isn't in it. But whenever I'm in a city, or even in another town in Limpopo, the mall seems to be the first stop. Partly, the malls are more all-encompassing than the malls in San Antonio. They have, besides the usual stores and restaurants, grocery stores and movie theaters. If I want to buy food, I have to go to the mall. Movies are cheap here, so watching movies is a common past time for PCVs who have to pass through Pretoria and have an afternoon to kill (I have seen five movies in the last month! Five!). That also requires a visit to the mall. Hatfild Mall has a Lebanese restaurant and an frozen yogurt place, both popular stops, and a few coffee shops. Plus, frankly, there's not a whole lot to do in Pretoria when you return time and again.
In Durban, on the other hand, we had a free day before taking the night bus back to Gauteng before GTOT and it was more or less unanimously decided that we should go to the mall for the day. I was in favor of it, and enjoyed myself in the mall. But Durban has plenty to do besides malls: the beach, the markets, the museums, the Marine World, etc. Partly, we were tired from our week at LST and just wanted to zone out (we saw a movie at the mall). Partly, half the group had just been to Durban for vacation and the other half were going to be coming back soon. But really, if we had wanted to, there would have been something else to do in the city.
Malls, most PCVs who frequent them will acknowledge, aren't even that exciting. There's not much to do after you've reached the point where all the movies playing are so bad that you actually refuse to see them, after you've eaten three enormous meals, and after you've browsed through things you can't afford and don't want to buy, possibly running through your list of things you can't buy in your shopping town while at the grocery store. I think that we keep returning because they're comforting to be in. They remind us of home, even though very few of us ever went to malls much at home. They offer us anonymity and relative safety to wander, which doesn't really happen where most of us live. They're full of mindless activities, which is a relief for those of us who spend too much time thinking serious thoughts and need to get out of our heads. Yes, we could go look at important historical monuments and museums after traveling all day before our meeting tomorrow. Or, we could go see James Bond blow things up and then get ice cream.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Five Weeks in one Backpack: Update
I am in the PC office between journeys. LST was really productive, we learned a lot about running life skills groups for youth in our communities. There were speakers from the CDC giving general background, as well as more experienced volunteers running mock sessions with us to discuss and practice faciliation skills and techniques. There was time to reconnect with volunteers I hadn't seen since IST in July, a beach, and a cheese plate at every meal. Great week overall.
GTOT was another productive week. We turned previously-arrived at learning objectives into a schedule of events for SA 19's pre-service training, and created lesson plans for all of the sessions they'll be having. There were also role-playing days where the language and cultural facilitators practiced their lessons, with the volunteers acting as students. We were some very troublesome pupils, far more disruptive than most trainees usually are, but I think that the new LCFs came away from the sessions much more aware of how difficult teaching Americans can be. I'll be going to PST in early March to facilitate a few sessions. Unfortunately, Tsonga, my target language, isn't being taught this time around, so I won't get to help out with language classes, nor will my LCF be back.
The most exciting part of GTOT was of course the fact that the water was off for the last three or four days we were there. Now, PC brought in barrels of water for us to use, but no water in an environment designed for indoor plumbing is a lot different from no water in a village with pit latrines. We grumbled, though mainly in an amused way. There was much discussion of bowel movements, but also something of an epiphany: GTOT was held at the same place that SA 19's training will be held, though PC has sworn up and down that the water issue will be resolved by then. What if we hadn't had running water our first few days in Mokopane? We would have been very unhappy indeed. After over ten months in rural South Africa, it's a problem to work around, but fundamentally not a big deal, and a source of humor more than anything else.
The title of this post is inspired by the fact that all of the things I took on this trip originally fit into one backpack. This is the same backpack I used in high school for my textbooks. Since I'm traveling between many of these places on public taxis, it's really the only reasonable way to pack. I plan to do a lot of laundry this month. However, the amount I have with me has already expanded frighteningly. Not only did we receive many, many manuals during LST, I went shopping in Durban and Pretoria, and picked up books at the PC library. I'm going to have to start shedding possessions soon.
GTOT was another productive week. We turned previously-arrived at learning objectives into a schedule of events for SA 19's pre-service training, and created lesson plans for all of the sessions they'll be having. There were also role-playing days where the language and cultural facilitators practiced their lessons, with the volunteers acting as students. We were some very troublesome pupils, far more disruptive than most trainees usually are, but I think that the new LCFs came away from the sessions much more aware of how difficult teaching Americans can be. I'll be going to PST in early March to facilitate a few sessions. Unfortunately, Tsonga, my target language, isn't being taught this time around, so I won't get to help out with language classes, nor will my LCF be back.
The most exciting part of GTOT was of course the fact that the water was off for the last three or four days we were there. Now, PC brought in barrels of water for us to use, but no water in an environment designed for indoor plumbing is a lot different from no water in a village with pit latrines. We grumbled, though mainly in an amused way. There was much discussion of bowel movements, but also something of an epiphany: GTOT was held at the same place that SA 19's training will be held, though PC has sworn up and down that the water issue will be resolved by then. What if we hadn't had running water our first few days in Mokopane? We would have been very unhappy indeed. After over ten months in rural South Africa, it's a problem to work around, but fundamentally not a big deal, and a source of humor more than anything else.
The title of this post is inspired by the fact that all of the things I took on this trip originally fit into one backpack. This is the same backpack I used in high school for my textbooks. Since I'm traveling between many of these places on public taxis, it's really the only reasonable way to pack. I plan to do a lot of laundry this month. However, the amount I have with me has already expanded frighteningly. Not only did we receive many, many manuals during LST, I went shopping in Durban and Pretoria, and picked up books at the PC library. I'm going to have to start shedding possessions soon.
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