Congrats to SA-16 on their recent Swearing-In

Last Thursday, Peace Corps South Africa celebrated it's 10th year in South Africa. Prior to the event, rumors were flying around about the big name guests that were supposed to attend...Nelson Mandela was one of them. Big dissapointment! He was a no show! At the actual event, however, there were a bunch of supervisors who came to pick up their new volunteers, visitors, the Ambassador to South Africa and the Regional Director for Peace Corps South Africa. One of the things I spoke about with the Regional Director was my plan for post Peace Corps. Among many ideas, I'm considering extending service for a year...to cool places like Ethiopia or Ghana! I'll keep you posted on what I really do.

I'd say that one of the highlights of the event was the gift from SA-16's training village to the new volunteers, a traditional dance from a group of the village's young girls. I tried to upload the video, but the file is too big, so here's the no-so-good picture instead:




Other highlights include seeing friends,




pigging out at the buffet line (I perhaps had the best, most tender steak ever), and meeting up with my friend Rich who was a PCV in SA-8. During the summer between my freshman and sophmore year of college, I went to Tanzania for a couple of months with Operation Crossroads Africa (wonderful program by the way...I put the link up for it in the last post). While participating in the program (during orientation I met my soon to be best friend/soul mate Jeb), I made friends with Rich who went to Howard University. Rich joined Peace Corps as a member of SA-8 and still lives and works in South Africa. It's a shame that it's taken us a year (since I've been in country) to meet up, particularly since we live an hour away from each other. It was fun none the less!



After Swearing In, new volunteers were shuttled off to their sites, and the rest of us lived it up in Pretoria, etc. for the rest of the long weekend. I'll make another post to explain what I did.

Once again, congrats to SA-16, you've now joined the ranks!

My People, My People

Over the past couple of months, I've received several hits on my blog from African Americans currently serving or interested in joining the Peace Corps. It has been rather insightful to hear about their experiences all throughout the world. It's interesting to see that, although we're spread out around the world, we share a common experience back home and abroad.

In some way, we are positioned within a unique opportunity to expose people in our respective Peace Corps sites to African Americans in addition to demonstrating that we're dynamic people and not just limited to what they might have seen on t.v., heard about through the grape vine, or listened to in rap songs. Within our American communities, we are exposing people (whether we're trying to or not) to African Americans who are doing positive things on a global scale, and potentially serving as an example to someone so that one day they could say..."Hey if he/she can do it, so can I!" I say the later with emphasis, particularly because, unfortunately and for many confounding reasons, many Americans don't have the opportunity to travel abroad or are not exposed to the joys of doing so. This is particularly the case as it relates to African Americans. We continue to be an under-represented bunch in the realm of international travel or just travel in general. I know people who haven't been out of their own town. Now I'm not saying this in judgment, but as a reality.

I hope that, through my experience, I can encourage other African Americans to explore their/our world. One doesn't just have to join the Peace Corps to do so. There are many domestic programs like City Year, AmeriCorps and Teach for America. Study abroad programs are also an option with Operations Crossroads Africa and Bardoli Global. I hope to serve as a resource to people of color who are interested in joining the Peace Corps and traveling abroad. In addition, I look forward to meeting and networking with other African Americans who are or were in the Peace Corps so that we can learn from each other's experiences.

It's Official...I'm coming home.....

For a vacation. In November. Just in time for Thanksgiving. YEAH! For the past couple of months, I've been toying with the idea of coming home for a visit. At first I felt that there was some merit to saying that I haven't been back to the U.S. for two years. I wondered if coming home would break my focus, because I've adjusted to life in Rustenburg, but (maybe I'm rationalising here) it's not so different from home in many ways (which I've discussed at length in previous posts). Additionally, I've spoken to several PCVs in my group who have gone home and, instead of making it difficult to come back to site, it's left them refreshed. I think that's what I'm looking for: renewal and refreshment. It will be nice to see my family, friends, soul mate Gerald, Jestein, and Medin. It will be nice to eat all of the foods I've been craving...I've already made a list (who knows if it will all happen, but wishful thinking is allowed, right?):

• Chick-fil-a
• Willy's
• Wildfire
• Benihana
• Adobo Grill
• Mity Nice Grill
• Atlanta Fish Market
• Taco Mac
• Fat Willy's Rib Shack

Gosh, that list makes me so hungry! This also means that November (when I'm in town) is a good time to: have a baby, get married, buy a new car/home/condo, and feel generous enough to take me out to one of the above mentioned restaurants. November is, however, a couple of months away (but just enough time to book your tickets to come visit me), so I've got to buckle down until then...I've got work to do! Until the next time!