24 and Still a Virgin!

We had a braai (that is South African for BBQ) with some of the women from the office at the center I was at in South Africa, and it was tons of fun.  The weather was beautiful and the company was pleasant.  And of course, we had to comment on my love life because it is apparently pretty fascinating and freakish to the South Africans.

People in South Africa found it very hard to believe that I am single.  The reason being that I am 24, so I should clearly be in a relationship and popping out kids by now.  Never mind there are things that I want to do and having a guy around would probably prevent me from doing them.  (Seriously, who would want to wait around for me while I am off doing all the things I want to do?)  But that is not the way things are in South Africa, especially a South African township.  Women are expected to want (and actually want) to have kids and a family, and they don’t waste any time getting started on it. 

The whole time I was in South Africa, people would ask me questions about why I was single and why I didn’t have or want kids.  My answers were that nobody wants to date a girl going around the world doing stuff and isn’t entirely sure what she is doing with her life.  And my answer to not wanting kids was that they are a lot of responsibility and I am too selfish to take care of a child for any extended period of time. 

So, back to the braai and the reason for this blog title: we were sitting around talking about how I am single, and one of the women randomly shouted, “24 and still a virgin!  Yo!”  (“Yo” is something they would always say when they were surprised or frustrated with something.)  I just kind of laughed and let them going on talking about my love life.  About 5 minutes later, the conversation had moved on to my sleeping habits.  The person I was sharing a room with told everyone that I don’t really sleep in, no matter what time I go to bed.  I was told that if I found a boyfriend I would stay in bed and sleep more.  As soon as I find a boyfriend, I will let you all know how this theory works out.

You need a Spoon

Pretty much every place I go, I find some kind of food that I fall in love with and miss like woah when I leave.  Here, (at least so far) that food is pap (or, since I am apparently Shona now, sadza). 

It’s made from mielie meal(or corn meal stuff), and has the consistency of Play-Dough.  (The process of making pap involves you first making porridge, and then adding more mielie meal for the thicker consistency.)  And the funnest part (at least for me), you eat it with your hands.  Everybody eats it with gravy and chicken, but I prefer beans, spinach, and cabbage.  You grab a piece off the pile of pap on your plate, dip it in or scoop up your chosen pap-accompaniment, and then you hope that not too much falls all over while you try to quickly get it into your mouth. 

The first few weeks I was here, everybody would always ask me if I needed a spoon to eat my pap, and my response was always no.  If I am going to eat traditional food, I am going to eat it in the traditional way.  Everybody would give me a doubtful look, and then hand me my plate.  And nobody can believe I actually enjoy eating these foods that they eat all the time.  I have gotten some laughs because I apparently eat my pap funny (I think it is the split second of panic that it is all going to fall on the floor before I get it into my mouth that contributes to the hilarity of me eating pap), but in my defense, I have only been eating pap for a few weeks, and these people have been eating it their whole lives. 

Since I first ate pap, my pap-eating skills have been improving.  In fact, I have even moved on and  learned to cook it (so some people can get excited about me making fun food we can play with).  Last night, I made pap all by myself, and it turned out fantastic!  (Despite the fact that the family that lives here got home when I was in the middle of mixing in the last mealie meal, and the dad wanted to finish it for me.  I told him no, I am making it.  How am I supposed to learn to make it if I am never given the chance to make it?  And the mom said I did a great job.)  So look out for my mad pap-making skills when I get back.  And hopefully my pap-eating skills will improve some more and become mad as well.

As an update since I originally wrote this: I have made the pap almost every day.  And every time I make it, "it's nice."  FTW

My Next Adventure

Some of you might know I have been thinking about volunteering abroad for some time now, but I have never really had a good time to go.  I could have gone for a week or two here and there, but I wanted to stay someplace for an extended period of time volunteering.  I have this mentality that I need to stay for several weeks to make a real impact on anything, and I think it makes a bigger impact on me if I can stay and experience the culture for an extended period of time.

I have finally found the opportunity to go.  When I come back from Chile, I will be home for about 2 weeks before leaving for South Africa for 2 months and Tanzania for 11 weeks.  This means a few things.

First of all, everybody needs to mark their calendars for when I will be home (February 17- March 3).  There is clearly going to be a Hello/GoodbyeIowa party, and there will clearly be another "Dollar Dance" involved.  I have yet to decide if party panties will be required, banned, or simply accepted.  Nobody wore them last time, and look what happened.

I also would like to ask for your help in the process of my volunteering.  I am going to be doing fund raising to cover costs, and I think it is going to prove to be challenging to do this fund raising from another hemisphere.  Costs include program fees, flights, visa/entry/exit fees, etc, and right now I am thinking I am going to need to raise about $7000 (this is a rough estimate) by the middle of January.  The organization I am going through, A Broader View, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, which means my expenses and donations made to my trip are tax deductible.  I would love to hear about any ideas you have for fund raising or opportunities you hear about for possible funding (like grants and whatnot).  You could also just send me money :) 

In both South Africa and Tanzania I will mostly be working with children.  In South Africa I have signed up to work in the education field, and I would help with teaching, upkeep of the school, and mentoring students.  In Tanzania I have chosen to work at an orphanage.  At the orphanage I would be involved in helping with every day routines (brushing teeth, getting dressed, eating, etc), and I will have the opportunity to help with teaching the children.  I also might get the opportunity to help with construction projects, which I am really excited about. 

I am really excited about this new adventure I am going to have because I will be able to encounter first hand the harsh reality that these people live, and I will be able to offer them help.  I will be able to see and experience a completely new way of life.  I also hope that I will be able to share my experiences through my blog and enrich our understanding of how the world works. 

Finally, I changed the name of the blog.  I figured since my dreams are actually become reality, and I am going to get to travel more and experience new and exciting things, I should make the blog more all encompassing.  The title can't be exclusive to Chile if I am going to blog about things beyond Chile. 
 
Besos y abrazos :)

Current Tunes: Hilltop Hoods (I am totally digging them.  They are an Australian rap/hip-hop group.  They also do work to help get aspiring rap/hip-hop artists make CDs.  Solid.)