SWAZI!!

The weekend of May 27th I went to Swaziland with several other volunteers for a music festival- AMAZING!! I started my weekend by going to visit my host family from training. I was a bit hesitant at first to stay with them because I didn’t feel like we had the best relationship while I was living there, but it was an absolutely great night. It was really nice to spend time with Mae and Pai and Valdo again, and to catch up on what they’ve been doing for the last few months. My host dad and I talked a bit as well, and my host mom was surprisingly fun to be around. And walking through the town made it feel like I’d never left. I didn’t spend as much time there as I’d liked, but the time I did spend was quite surreal. So, on to Swaziland. Crossing the boarder was fun for the sole reason that it was my first time leaving the country since arriving here- finally stamped my passport! Swazi was beautiful and complete culture shock. We were all floored at how developed it felt. Every little thing seemed to surprise me- there were trashcans, no wondering goats or cows, people spoke English (for the most part), yet we were still the only white people. The whole speaking English thing actually turned around to nip us a few times- we’ve gotten so accustomed to being the only people to understand our conversations that it was a little embarrassing every once in a while when someone behind us would laugh or raise their eyebrows at what we were saying. Anyways, Scooter, Ann, Emma and I finally made it to our hostel at about noon or so. It was beautiful- not only did it have a pool and an outside bar but also hot, running water, flushing toilets, comfortable beds, and extremely friendly and helpful staff. We were in heaven! We sat down for a celebratory Swazi beer which turned into an 8 hour meet and greet with other travelers staying that the hostel. We met Americans, British, Irish, South Africans, an Australian, a Canadian, an Israeli, and other PCVs from other countries. It was quite a mixture. The festivities started Friday night and once we arrived to the concert, we met up with other PCVs from Mozambique. Saturday morning we woke up with the sun, as usual, and made the trek into town to find a Chinese restaurant we’d seen on our way in the day before. Of course it was closed because it was still breakfast time. Anyways, we spent Saturday afternoon at the hostel chatting with people, napping, and planning our night. The concert that night was amazing- on the main stage during one of the performances men got on the roof and started dancing with giant ropes on fire- it was wild. The music was great of course- performers from all over- Swazi, South Africa, the US, England, everywhere. I was having such a wonderful time on Saturday that when it came time to leave the hostel on Sunday morning I negared. I ate breakfast with Ann, Emma and Scooter, but when they left for Mozambique with a Canadian friend we’d made, I decided to stay and go to the concert for the afternoon. And I’m so glad I did! I hung out with people from the hostel and, even though it was raining all afternoon, the concert was a blast. We drank spiced wine, ate delicious fair food, talked about our experiences traveling, and danced all day. It was very refreshing to meet new people and hear about other stories from Africa and traveling. I will admit, at one point when one of my new friends suggested I just dechar Peace Corps and keep traveling with them, I hesitated before I declined. The people that go backpacking in Africa are definitely of a different breed than those who backpack through Europe. I liked what I found out here. Well, after an absolutely amazing and eye-opening weekend, I made the trek back to Moz. I met up with Clancy, Val and Jenna on the bus to Maputo so that was perfect. We swapped stories, talked about what we bought, who we met, what we ate, and how we can’t wait to go back again next year. The entire weekend was a laugh-fest and I know I’m going to keep the memories I made there with me for a long time.