Peace Corps: Swaziland: (Not So) Short Update on the Past Several Months

Well, it is safe to say that even though I have had more internet access than even over the past year, I have completely failed at maintaining this blog. I finally logged back in and found a draft saved that I had written in February, but was waiting to add photos to. The draft is below, followed by an update for Feb-Present!

Wow! It's been a while! A lot has happened in the past few months. I was able to go home for my extension home leave in November, and enjoy Thanksgiving, my birthday, Christmas, and New Years stateside! Spending time with family and friends was such an amazing gift. There is nothing quite like being in America for the holiday season. Nobody does Christmas with more glittery decorations and sugary treats, which is exactly how it's supposed to be! In the middle of my home leave I took a trip to Washington, DC for a Let Girls Learn Summit, which was a really amazing professional experience. I spent the week with a few staff members from my post here in Swaziland as well as with PCVs and staff from Comoros, Rwanda, Guinea, Botswana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Namibia! We bonded over the shock of coming from African summer to American winter, and really enjoyed learning together. It was also a great honor to have the opportunity to meet the Director of Peace Corps, Carrie Hessler-Radelet, and Michelle Obama's Chief of Staff, Tina Tchen.

Musa, Pam and me representing Team Swaziland during an (absolutely freezing) night tour of the monuments.

The whole Africa Let Girls Learn crew

Highlights of my trip home included homemade Nutella cheesecake, catching a glimpse of my BFF who lives in London, taking a night tour of the monuments on the Mall in DC, a chocolate-covered fruit basket delivered to my suite on my birthday, lots of cuddle with my dog, watching the Seahawks dominate the Rams at my first NFL game in a few years, drag queen brunch at the Unicorn, and lots of good family time.

Providing moral support while dad cut down a Christmas tree

SEAHAWKS

Nothing like a Drag Brunch with the DB's!

The Little Mermaid at 5th Avenue was incredible!

I've been back in Swaziland for a month now, and I have to say readjusting wasn't easy. I left in the midst of the worst drought in recent history, and I came back to bright green hills and flooded streets. Water restrictions have been lifted and the water supply is almost back to normal levels. It truly is a miracle. The rain has been holding off lately, and it's been HOT and humid. As a west coast girl, I have zero tolerance for humidity. Every day is a battle.
I had a few days off last week, during which I went to visit my host family. I brought some soccer balls and a baby doll for the kids, special American treats for the adults, and we had a party. My family went all out, braai'ing three kinds of meat, making popcorn, and even buying a cake. It was so wonderful to be reminded that I have a place that truly feels like home here, too.

I've been busy at work trying to navigate the transition between GLOW and BRO leadership from one group of PCVs to the next, and planning a lot of exciting events. GLOW Camp 2017 could really, really use some support in the fundraising department, so if girls' education and empowerment is a cause you're passionate about I strongly encourage you to check out the link here.

For more information about GLOW, you can visit our Facebook page.

I brought back Christmas gifts for my host family, including a little soccer ball for Wakhile

And Aphiwe LOVED her baby doll

And now for the current update:

The past months have been super busy with work. There was a GLOW training or event every single weekend in March, for which I was writing concept notes, managing grants, getting quotes, organizing logistics, inviting counselors, and developing programming with a team of other PCVs.

Early April was spent helping prepare things for GLOW Camps 2018, which were a huge success! I can't say thank you enough to those who have supported this over the past three years I've been involved. Each week of camp is a truly transformational experience for Swazi girls, the effects of which are noticeable for months (even years) after they return to their communities.

At the end of April I went to Madagascar! My housemate and fellow G12 PCV Cody and I went on a two week adventure all over the island. We were met at the airport by Cody's friend Ananya, who is a PCV in Madagascar. She showed us around the capital city of Antananarivo before we departed for her "shopping town" or Antsirabe the next day.

Descending into the marketplace in Antananarivo

Ananya, Cody and I at the Mada Peace Corps office

Experiencing public transport in Mada made be incredibly grateful for the public transport in Swaziland. Malagasy people are generally small in stature, and the amount of leg room on the mini-buses reflects that. We spent about 5 hours riding in one to get to Antsirabe, which is a super cute town with delicious pizza and lots of bicycle taxis.

It was so much fun to have Ananya show us around Antisirabe for a few days. We visited the public hot baths, hiked around a beautiful lake, toured the local market, and ate wayyy too much bread and cheese.

Pit stop on the long journey to Antsirabe

Our home in Antsirabe

STREET FOOD.

We got adventurous and visited the hot bath house

For the next leg of our journey we had hired a tour company, as Madagascar is really hard to navigate, the roads aren't the greatest, and neither of us speak French or Malagasy.
The drives were just as interesting as the destinations at times. It was fascinating to watch the landscape change completely as we move throughout the country. We pulled over to the side of the road and watched the locals producing eucalyptus essential oil, which was a process I had never seen before.

When we arrived at our first destination, Ranomafana National Park, we found ourselves int he middle of a lush, beautiful rain forest straight out of a movie.We stayed in a small cottage on the river and spent the evening enjoying the scenery. The next day, we went on our first hike. We spent the morning in the forest with several different types of lemurs.
That evening, we went on a night hike to spot the nocturnal mouse lemur and geckos.

View from the room

Brown lemur

Chameleon

Next, it was off to Isalo. We stopped at a small restaurant for lunch of "zebu" meat (beef) with rice, a Malagasy staple. We also stopped at a small, locally-managed park to get up close and personal with ring-tailed lemurs. There were so many!

Isalo was SO different from Ranomafana! It was arid and rocky and dry. We arrived at our hotel and relaxed, preparing for another big hike the following day.
The first leg of our hike was through some large rocks and up mountains that are sacred to the local population. We passed tombs way up high in the cliffs and learned about the people's traditional burial rituals.

Next, it was up and down windy paths until we finally descended into a canyon. It was dry season, so we were able to walk along what sometimes becomes a river bed. There were waterfalls and beautiful rock formations everywhere, as we hiked further into the canyon. Finally, we reached natural pools and had a swim, before hiking back out and swimming again at a waterfall.

Finally, we had lunch in a grove of trees filled with lemurs who were (too) friendly. There was a delicious meal prepared for us, that looked so tasty one lemur thought I should be sharing with him.As soon as my salad was placed on the table, a lemur hopped up, grabbed the hard boiled egg and avocado slices, and ran off with them! Leaving me with just some lettuce and tomatoes!

I was exhausted by the time we reached our hotel again, and slept well before waking the next morning for the journey to our last destination in Madagascar, the beach town of Ifaty.

Words can't really describe any of the beautiful places we saw in Madagascar, and with Ifaty I'm intimidated to even try. It was literal paradise. Our tour had us booked in a beautiful little boutique hotel on the beach, complete with a ocean-facing balcony, luxurious cabanas next to the infinity pool, and swinging beds on the beach. It was magical. We spent our days here soaking up the sun and wishing we didn't have to leave.

Napping hedgehog!

So many baobabs

Roadside rum distillery

I highly recommend Madagascar to anybody who is interested! The airfare may be expensive, but everything once you're in-country it really affordable. If you're interested in nature/ecotourism, it is a must. I also have nothing but great things to say about Madagascar Natural Tours, which is the company that guided us around the country. The entire experience was truly wonderful!

So, back in Swaziland... Since returning from the trip in May I've been keeping busy with work. GLOW launched our first-ever Income Generating Project Workshop in early June, and I'm so excited to hear from the counselors and GLOW girls about their successes and challenges and lessons learned when we meet again in September!

Currently I'm studying for the GRE and making plans for when I return home. I've received my official Close of Service (COS) date, which is September 15th, and I'm beginning to plan the trip that I'll take before returning to Washington.

I am slowly beginning to process the fact that I'm leaving here for good...My heart is full of a million emotions! I'm going to soak up all the best of Swaziland in the last two months!