Just about a month and a year ago I got back from my EVS and even today i still am amazed and a bit confused about the crazy world we are living in...well, perhaps it’s me being Estonian therefore as according to most widely known stereotype “a bit faster than a Finnish person” (sry Henna :)) in understanding things or hell, probably it just me…anyhow, will leave that to you guys to figure out, you got nine months to see whether stereotypes about Estonians bare any ground and IF it seems they do, then challenge those bastards (stereotypes I mean).
Well, about the thing…I did my EVS in Rep of South Africa in one of the tree capitals called Cape Town and in one of the first black townships called Langa (meaning Sun in isiXhosa which is one of the twelve official languages of the country). Why I keep saying “in one of the” is merely cause this country is crazy and my first month went by in desperate endeavor to try to figure out when everything is “one of the” then where/what is the whole??? … well, during my 6 months there I did not figure out the One and Whole dilemma of mine, but I learnt a lot about one of the local cultures called Xhosa and people sharing it, I learnt a lot about myself AND most importantly got to know how some define life in Europe. Namely in one of the gatherings I notice a lady staring at me, I was confused cause…well, it was my first meeting and being only white person in the room with no black friends, there was no way I could have known her from before, so I don’t know how exactly I caught her attention, but she decided to approach. After little chit-chat she asks where am from and hearing it is Europe (SA is another country where Estonia is not working out) she practically yelled “aaahhh, it is where you have permanent toilets, yeeesss!!!”…so,no French Revolution, no houte couture, no Euro, but permanent toilets, that is how Europe seemed to some looking at this way.
Except going to meetings, really there was a lot of meetings and not the ones when you meet on the corner of the street to plan where to go next and then you actually go for it, not those constructive ones. They were just big gatherings which usually ended up with a conversation “what was offered for the snack” and it was muffins all the time, but people kept going. Not me though, I decided to sacrifice all the muffins for the time I had during the 6 months with the kids at the orphanage.
I worked in Siyaphambili Orphan Village (well, village was a wishful thinking, but starting big at least helps to start..) which accommodated 15 kids who had either lost their parents to HIV/AIDS or lived in such a poverty that they had to be removed from their parents. Honestly, Villages is really what Cape Town needs, what Rep of South Africa need for all the people in need, cause it was just a drop of sand what Siyaphambili contributed to the solution, but I was so proved to be part of that drop. Seeing those 15 kids getting help and living in conditions, which are not anywhere near to our standards here, once more corrected my perspectives and priorities in life. Well, another thing which helped a lot was the fact that I shared those conditions with them. Yes, I had my own room (after one of the house ladies removed her stuff and relocated to the children room).
Apparently they did not quite get what I was doing there and where exactly I was suppose to live, but it was sorted out rather quickly when I declared that I am to stay HERE for the next six months. I believe we got a long with that house lady just perfect and her food became the best I ever had (there)…which I take as a sign of friendship from her side as well, cause unfortunately she was the only lady not speaking the mix of isiXhosa-English, so I couldn’t ask her directly, whether we were cool…
Anyways, it is hard to forget my very first night there. I woke up with a peculiar sound and once I managed to peak out from the bars (for protection) covering the windows, there were huge flames, like really huge. Luckily they did not reach to our house. As I heard later then fire brigade got there 30 min later, though Langa is like 15 min away from Cape Town center (with very old minitaxi which is like Flinstones car where, ou so many times, I fought with the temptation just to put my legs on the ground and help the bloody thing to go faster) and on top of it all fire brigade got there with empty tanks and water was nowhere around…I truly hope it was a folk fable and in reality things are not so tragicomic, but the thing which was burning is called Joe Slovo, area for informal settlements.
At the same night, got back to bed thinking I have at least 5 hours left to sleep was my first wishful thought. Rest of the night I fought with a human finger size cockroach. Indeed, I could hear it running on the carpet, but Ii couldn’t see it at first (it fell on my face while I was trying to sleep and from the bounce it made when I threw it against the wall, I knew it was no flea am fighting with) so, I armed myself with hair spray left behind by the house lady and started the hunt. It was successful one as many others yet to come with all the “domestic” animals in the room, but it was okay, cause I knew that I can return to the land of permanent toilets any time.
There were loads of things I had to readjust myself to, during every meal time I had to serve men and boys before women and girls (ou, how I got it wrong at the beginning, but it is another story), also had to do my washing with hands from socks to winter clothes (yes, there is winter is SA) for the whole 6 moths and it is very hard to try them during the winter cause sun is the only trying system they have, no heating system what so ever, and it gets cold, ou so cold and wet, ou so wet. Another skill was making strategies for going to bathroom while there was nobody around cause without the lock it was very common that I was caught while doing all the things I had used doing while locking the door. Well, it was a kind of a survival camp and I made it with a master degree in strategical planning. What I did not master and am ashamed to admit it to my friends back in South Africa was dancing to house music, I mean it is phenomenal how they sense every little rhythm and put it into accord with their body, like really. I was suppose to become an ambassador of one of the local dance moves and was suppose to spread it to masses in our night clubs, but I should have told them already back then that, cause obviously they were too nice to say it out loud, that I suck when it comes to dancing, when it comes to moving your feet, body, head and hands all together and separately at the same time and then not so at the same time and in way that it all looks nice, well, I just don’t have it in me…and I don’t go to night clubs, so I was a failure already from the very first moment.
You are still in the beginning of your EVS, I dare you to make another round of evaluation and find things why you are here and things why you are not here as well…am sure there are things you are not able to go on compromises, it is okay too…well, it was hard for me to admit that no way am gonna dance like them, but it is okay :)
Ahh, my experience has become a sort of mosaic in my head and it is weird to write about it after so long time. Every time I’ve told the story it is a bit different, well, this time it came out like that…
Anyways, did you already book a coffee time with your mentor for the first gossip round? Did you learn the names of your staff members? Did I just hear you complaining about how difficult Estonian is???????? Well, I tell you, if you master this I will personally excuse you from all the estonain classes…this is what I was facing…
…and yet, I would do it all over again!
See you around,
Kai
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