Different Strokes
These are a some of the things I like in Swaziland.
- The “two-thumbs up” greeting. You walk by dudes on the street, give them the greeting, and say “Sharp! Sharp!” – a “sharp” for each thumb. I hope this catches on elsewhere too.
- The Swazi appetite for melodrama. Everyone, from the grandmother to the little 8-year olds, enjoy the tangled plot lines of “Generations.” This soapie about young, rich South Africans comes on every weeknight. I hate to say it but I’m getting into it too – maybe because I get a kick out of watching the Swazi reactions to the predictable twists. Better yet, the also near-universal fascination with pro-wrestling. There’s just something about foreigners beating each other senseless while wearing tights (or a dress). Sean told me he used to mess with the kids in his training family because they were all reruns and he knew all the plot lines from when he watched pro-wrestling as a kid himself. It reminds me of when my own grandma used to watch MTV’s “Celebrity Deathmatch” with me and chuckle as the claymation celebrities did atrocious violence to each other.
- One show I do really like is “Jika Ma Jika”. It’s like the South African answer to “American Idol” but with dancing. They do a mix between breakdancing and traditional dancing. It’s probably the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.
- Khumbi names. Khumbis are minibuses (like Stingerette for all yall Georgia Techies – but khumbis travel filled to the brim), and it is THE way to travel around here – it’s cheap transport, if a bit unpredictable sometimes. Anyway, who wouldn’t want to ride a vehicle named “Cheese Boy”, “Tarantino”, or “Lord of Sound”. My personal favorite: “Titanic”.
- Why settle for a regular can of soda or beer if you can have an “AfriCAN”? That’s right, it’s about an inch bigger than all the other cans.
I don’t know if you found that as mildly amusing as I do. Maybe it’s one of those “you had to be there” moments. Anyway, life is swell here. I went to the umphakatsi meeting today – that’s where the elders from the chiefdom meet to discuss chiefdom issues. I sat in a beehive hut until it stopped raining and then they had the meeting near the royal kraal outside. I almost fell asleep though – gotta get better at siSwati so I can at least figure out what people are talking about. I tried to make a good impression at the end though by shaking every single person’s hand (the way I’ve seen people do). If there’s something I ought to try to learn from these people – it’s charisma. The elders sure do pull a lot of weight around here. I’m going back with Jenny (my nearest PCV neighbor) and the bucopho when she comes back from tonsillectomy in a few weeks so we can figure out how to “set catchement areas” – basically define our turfs. I promised to deliver them a copy of my census report when I finish in January, and they seemed excited about that. One of the local Rural Health Motivators has been great in helping me get good census information on the region, even if the news isn’t so good. Seems like almost a third of the kids are orphans.
- The “two-thumbs up” greeting. You walk by dudes on the street, give them the greeting, and say “Sharp! Sharp!” – a “sharp” for each thumb. I hope this catches on elsewhere too.
- The Swazi appetite for melodrama. Everyone, from the grandmother to the little 8-year olds, enjoy the tangled plot lines of “Generations.” This soapie about young, rich South Africans comes on every weeknight. I hate to say it but I’m getting into it too – maybe because I get a kick out of watching the Swazi reactions to the predictable twists. Better yet, the also near-universal fascination with pro-wrestling. There’s just something about foreigners beating each other senseless while wearing tights (or a dress). Sean told me he used to mess with the kids in his training family because they were all reruns and he knew all the plot lines from when he watched pro-wrestling as a kid himself. It reminds me of when my own grandma used to watch MTV’s “Celebrity Deathmatch” with me and chuckle as the claymation celebrities did atrocious violence to each other.
- One show I do really like is “Jika Ma Jika”. It’s like the South African answer to “American Idol” but with dancing. They do a mix between breakdancing and traditional dancing. It’s probably the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.
- Khumbi names. Khumbis are minibuses (like Stingerette for all yall Georgia Techies – but khumbis travel filled to the brim), and it is THE way to travel around here – it’s cheap transport, if a bit unpredictable sometimes. Anyway, who wouldn’t want to ride a vehicle named “Cheese Boy”, “Tarantino”, or “Lord of Sound”. My personal favorite: “Titanic”.
- Why settle for a regular can of soda or beer if you can have an “AfriCAN”? That’s right, it’s about an inch bigger than all the other cans.
I don’t know if you found that as mildly amusing as I do. Maybe it’s one of those “you had to be there” moments. Anyway, life is swell here. I went to the umphakatsi meeting today – that’s where the elders from the chiefdom meet to discuss chiefdom issues. I sat in a beehive hut until it stopped raining and then they had the meeting near the royal kraal outside. I almost fell asleep though – gotta get better at siSwati so I can at least figure out what people are talking about. I tried to make a good impression at the end though by shaking every single person’s hand (the way I’ve seen people do). If there’s something I ought to try to learn from these people – it’s charisma. The elders sure do pull a lot of weight around here. I’m going back with Jenny (my nearest PCV neighbor) and the bucopho when she comes back from tonsillectomy in a few weeks so we can figure out how to “set catchement areas” – basically define our turfs. I promised to deliver them a copy of my census report when I finish in January, and they seemed excited about that. One of the local Rural Health Motivators has been great in helping me get good census information on the region, even if the news isn’t so good. Seems like almost a third of the kids are orphans.
posted by Mark at 4:30 AM
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