Siyaphila! (We're alive)

Sanibonani friends!

I am alive and well! I am so happy to finally have found my way to the internet. I have daily access to email and facebook on my cell phone but am unable to send any form of a long reply until I get to a computer in the nearest town. Please feel free to send me any updates on life via email or facebook and I promise I will eventually get back to you. I will hopefully be on a computer and blog a few times a month.

Last week the 52 of us were sworn in and are now officially Peace Corps Volunteers! After swearing in we went to meet our principals at a supervisors workshop and were then driven to our new home for the next two years. I am living in the province Kwa Zulu Natal near a town called Manguzi and sometimes called Kwa Ngwanase. My new address is:

Terri Dove
Gazini Primary School
Kwa-Ngwanase
3973
South Africa

I live in a very rural village called Gazini. It's incredibly beautifully. Gazini is located very close to the Indian Ocean and the soil is white sand. There is sand everywhere, all the time, and I quite enjoy it. The trip to Manguzi is 16k and about 45 minutes. Manguzi is considered my shopping town where I can buy groceries, do shopping, use a post office, library, etc. I am staying with a large family on top of a hill overlooking a field and a forest of gum trees. I live in a small two room house with no electricity or running water, the toilet is a pit latrine, and I cook on a one burner gas stove. I use candles at night and bathe in a bucket. My dad has about 40 goats, 15 chickens, and 10 cattle or so. I feel right at home. So far I am really enjoying the challenges of rural life in South Africa.

I will be working with two schools, Gazini Primary (equivalent to k-7) and Manhlenga High School (8-12). There is a lot to be done and my principals and the teachers are eager to get to work. The first three months will be spent getting to know the area, interviewing teachers, observing and teaching classes, and learning more Zulu.

Everyday is more random than the next. The community has been so welcoming and they often sing songs made up of lyrics that go something like this. "Welcome Terri dove. You are coming from America. God Bless you. We thank you Terri Dove. We are so happy Terri Dove." There is always singing and dancing. I get lots of presents of delcious bananas, fresh vegetables, straw mats, and one of my students gave me a coconut!

I will type up another blog with stories and more information about what I'll be doing soon. Much love!

Sale Kahle!
(Stay well)