Full Weekends

[Standard delivery of apology for taking so long to update the blog]

Sorry, folks. Schoolwork combined with a horribly sluggish internet makes updating the blog one of the bigger chores of my stay here.

In the past few weeks we’ve been having some awesome weather. Pretty much every other day, we get a torrential thunderstorm. We had our first really legit Swazi thunderstorm last Tuesday. All day there was thunder, but at around 6:45 the rain started to come in. Soon after came the famous Swazi lightning – the sky was streaking with gorgeous bolts for hours (Seriously dad, if you ever want some good pictures of lightning, come back to Swaziland). The power cut out (of course), and people became but the lights of their cell phones that they had in front of their faces, trying to navigate through the pitch-black corridors. Most people gave up on their homework and simply took some time to watch the spectacle before going to bed. My friend Daniel counted thirty lightning flashes in one minute… it was magnificent. I popped in my iPod and sat at the window for a while – sure, I probably should have been doing homework, but these are the types of things you gotta watch.

These past two weekends have been extremely packed – it all begins two Fridays ago, when we had our first Anthropology field trip. We went out to Ngwenya Mines, a fairly popular tourist stop in Mbabane. However, we went with a guy named Bob Forrester (the old Anthropology teacher at WK), who was able to show us a totally new side to the tourist spot. We arrived and met up with Bob, who told us about the significance of the mines and the vast amount of iron deposits that still exist in the area. The huge quantity of iron in the area is significant because some of the first tribes in the area, thousands and thousands of years ago, used iron dust in the form of ochre to become spiritually connected to another realm. It is believed by anthropologists that this was done largely through the use of cave paintings. And while we weren’t able to see any cave paintings (at this location), Bob took us a little off the beaten track to show us a mine that anthropologists believe is the first in the world.

Lemme repeat that: The oldest mine in the world. Bob told us that only about 30 people have seen it in the past 40 years.

It was really spectacular – we went to the mine and just sat in silence for a while, and then talked about methods of digging and spiritual processes that are believed to have taken place in the mine. I’m not much of a Romantic… but I dunno, I found the mine really amazing. When I was sitting there, I felt like I was sitting at the center of the Earth… I also thought about the fact that, thousands and thousands of years ago, some of the first beings that we would recognize as people were sitting in the exact same spot.

So anyways… it was a really fantastic educational (and even spiritual) experience.

As a huge contrast, we got back from the mine at around six, I went to my cubie to change, and turned back around to perform in the Form 5 V-Show (“Vanity Show” – Basically, a talent show… on steroids). Every year, the lower forms organize a talent show where people can show off talents in whatever area they see fit. There was dancing, singing, and even a display of nunchuck skills. Practically the whole school was there, and people were going NUTS. I decided on a whim that I wanted to perform in the show with my friend Basti, just a few days earlier.

So with Basti as my drummer, I got up on stage and performed “A Thousand Miles” on the piano, accompanied by the voices of pretty much everyone in the audience. We had a tremendous amount of fun. I got video footage… It’s really funny. You can’t even hear me over the singing of the audience. If anybody from choir is reading this, it made me miss you all bunches, and reminded me of when we used to sing this before class.

March 26^th (Two Saturdays ago) was the date for Earth Hour. A couple awesome kids at WK, along with a club on campus called “Green Revolutionaries”, got most of the lights in the school turned out and organized a miniature acoustic performance in the amphitheatre. It was very UWC – green, sustainable, organic, etc. People played guitar, read poetry, and gave inspirational quotes. One of my co-years from the states (I’m sure I’ve mentioned Anne Caroline before) wrote a poem that is nothing short of phenomenal. Seriously, sitting a candlelit amphitheatre and hearing this poem just… blew me away. I’m going to put it here so it can live out immortally in the Internet:

Bubble 

I was looking at a bubble when I noticed

that rainbows appeared on its skin. 

The bubble rose up in the air 

I saw the world seen by those who walk on their heads 

A world where leaves sink deep into the sky-

growing trees with blossoming roots

Water flows up making canals,

Laugh lines in the sky 

Books read from Right to Left and

jump ropes make slapping noises as they brush the skies 

Mountains are stalactites that hang from the Heavens  

Tears fall up and everyone seems to be smiling 

This was a world where all women wear miniskirts and no one accuses them of “asking for attention”

Where the word “rape” is rearranged to spell “pear” and eaten with cottage cheese and raisins 

“Racism” almost makes “charisma” if you add a few letters 

A world where W.A.R is an acronym for We Are Reunited

there is no need for Peace marches so instead, knitting circles are held 

Katrina is only a name- and the Lower 9^th Ward is, of course, Upper 6^th Avenue 

In this world the only drugs are Endorphins and

people shoot up on Confidence 

There is no disrespect, disregard, or disinfectant.

Diseases are treated with plants and bark and meditation 

Humans have transparent skin and Obama STILL won the election 

I saw the Haitian buildings crumble up in defiance

Dusty-faced children scrambling from rubble into comfortable homes 

Afghani women wear what they want: Burka, Prada, or Nada 

Corporations are a silly name for relationships and

All the CO2 and Methane in the air turns to snowflakes which taste like tick tacks

Animals are not served for dinner but at dinner

The Oceans are as clear as the sky below and the rainbow fish is seen everyday 

Storks still fly belly up to deliver babies

So sex is purely for pleasure and abortion is unheard of 

The people live for sound of silence, right after laughter 

Cancer can be massaged out and

The only types of AIDS are lemonade and limeade 

Corn is eaten in tortillas and cornbread, and is not used for everything from soda, to building materials to vegetable sheen! 

Rivers flow upstream and Salmon are confused 

Every person is born with 2 eyes, a nose, 2 ears, and Health Care 

Adults and children alike hang by their knees on monkey bars to catch stardust on their tongues 

I wondered if this could be a dream or just the world which lives behind our closed Eyelids

I tried to swallow as much as I could but before my thirst was quenched 

The bubble flipped me right side up again… or was it wrong side down?

Much respect, AC.

Moving along, this past weekend was also extremely packed. This starts with Friday, directly after school, when I finally got the guts to shave my head. As something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, I was motivated by my friend Ane (IB2) (who did the honors). It looks good… although a LOT of people have told me that I look like I’m going to the military. Which I suppose is actually true. Think of how Simon Pegg looks in Hot Fuzz (for those awesome people who have seen Hot Fuzz), and you have a rough idea of how it looks on me. Ish. I’m still brushing my hand though my hair a lot and junk. But hey – if I ever find I don’t like it, I can take solace in the fact that hair grows… and I can just revert back to wearing a beanie all the time.

Directly after, I went camping with a few friends this weekend out in the middle of nowhere in Swaziland. Seriously, this place was crazy isolated. It’s owned by the parents of one of the girls who went, though, so its not like we were doing anything dangerous or outrageous (mom). I didn’t even stay up that late, because the next day…

I had St. Joseph’s Commserve! For anybody who recalls me writing about Mpaka, St. Joseph’s is kind of like a Mpaka equivalent, but with kids that are more disabled. Many were in wheelchairs, some had facial deformities, and all were extremely pleasant and fun to be with. We went out to Mlilwane Game Reserve so we had a pool we could take them in, and I spent most of my time swimming and playing volleyball with the kids. Out of all the commserve I’ve done here so far, Mpaka and St. Joseph’s have definitely been some of my favorites. Y’all know I adore playing with kids, and these projects are all about that – showing a group of underprivileged kids a good time. Plus, I got to practice my SiSwati a little more with the kids (Uyatsandza yini kubhukusha?), an added plus. Many said I was pretty good at it! They must have been trying to flatter me because I was holding a box full of potato salad…

After getting back from St. Joseph’s, I hopped straight into rehearsal for the school wide music concert, which happened that very night. I sang a few songs with the choir and played jazz drums with a small jazz combo I’m now a part of, “The Showcase”. We had fun (despite it not being our best performance), and many people came up to me afterwards to tell me that they didn’t recognize at first the young army sergeant that walked up on stage to play drums (me). 

As if this all would not comprise a full enough weekend, on Sunday I got up before seven and hopped in a combi with my Anthro class to check out some cave paintings in northern Swaziland. We met up with Forrester (again), who described the significance of cave paintings in connecting with another realm, and how Bushmen would frequently go into trance to solve problems by communicating with higher beings. We looked at a lot of paintings in depth and learned a lot about modern day Swaziland from the things Bob told us about the paintings. The paintings were really cool, although having my carsick and exhausted body travel another three hours in a car over the weekend may not have been the best thing for my health. Eish.

I promised you all a UWC day photo last time I posted – Here’s a nifty shot of me, Sofia (Germany), and Anne Caroline:

This coming week, it’s cycle grades (report cards), climbing community service, and planning for my South Africa trip (I leave really soon?). I wanted to apologize to all my frans and family who are reading this about my lack of correspondence – I promised I wouldn’t lose touch, but I fear that I’m doing just that. It’s difficult… I’m on the internet once every couple of days and its insanely slow (I recorded the other day, fifteen minutes to log in to FB). I plan on sending out postcards soon, if not from SD then from South Africa or Mozambique during term break. I’m also super stoked for CDO Class of 2011 – I can’t believe how close you all are! Didn’t we just start freshman year a few weeks ago? Sending my best for an awesome last month and a half… its going to amazing!

I’ll try to update more regularly from now on… but if I can’t, know that I love you guys and am still thinking of you everyday.

Sala khale,

Eli