Christmas in America and culture shock

After countless hours in transit, I am officially back in Swaziland after an amazing trip back to America.  November was a rough month here in Swaziland for me.  My Gogo died after a couple weeks in the hospital which I wrote about in a previous blog post, Toto, the puppy died probably from a parasite, and my father was diagnosed with cancer (he went through surgery great and is cancer-free now).  So when I decided to go to America for Christmas, it was just the kind of vacation I was needing.

I have been in Swaziland for 19 months now and was really looking forward to good food and good people.  My mom asked what I would want to eat while in America, and I said 'meat that I can cut with a knife.'  I know that sounds like a weird request, but here in Swaziland they only eat stew meat that's pre-cut up.  So as soon as I arrived to London Airport I got a steak, which was fantastic!  Although an airport is not the best place to get a steak since they don't have steak knives there, so my hands were really tired from trying to cut my steak with a dull butter knife.  Being at the airport was my first experience back in the first world.  I had a long lay-over so I spent time smelling every perfume, shopping in fancy shops, people watching and of course eating that steak.  I noticed every child had an ipad in there hands and every adult had an iphone, meanwhile I had no phone and was knitting a scarf.

I was expecting a big culture shock when I arrived in America, but in realty I haven't been gone all that long.  I still remember what its like to be American. I haven't forgotten how to flush a toilet or use a shower.  Ipads existed before I left America, they are just everywhere now.  However, I did notice how smooth the roads were to drive on.  Over Christmas, I was able to spend time with all my cousins and their babies and I must admit that it was really strange for me to see how the men interacted with their children.  They played with their children, changed their poopy diapers, held their children, fed their children, and I guess just acted like normal fathers.  However, that is not the case in Swaziland.  I rarely see men interacting with children and most mothers I know are raising their children as single, unwed, uneducated 20-somethings.

It was so great to be in America where everyone speaks English.  I could listen to and understand two conversations at once instead of never hearing what anyone was saying when they speak in siSwati.  It was great to catch up with all my family, cousins, and friends over the week, but at the same time I didn't understand the context of all their conversations.  It felt like when you read the sequel to a book without reading the first one, its hard to know what information you are missing and what is new to the plot.  I felt half-lost in many conversations unsure of what I was missing but knowing that I didn't have the whole story.

America was great, hectic though trying to see everyone and do everything, but totally worth it.  And in true Central New York fashion it snowed almost the entire time I was there, and particularly hard snow whenever I needed to travel anywhere.  Thankfully I missed a heatwave that passed through Swaziland at the same time which would have made my Christmas in Swaziland really miserable had I been here.  Instead I spent Christmas surrounded by family, great food, and awesome Christmas cookies inside a warm comfortable house.  It was great to hear every ones interest and excitement about the work I am doing in Swaziland and I am so thankful for every ones support.

Unfortunately,  time went too fast as it always does on vacation.  My flight back to Swaziland had an even longer lay-over in London, so I planned to meet up with a good friend form college and spend the day being a tourist through the city.  I braved the Tube and got to see Buckingham Palace, a changing of the Guard and Westminster.  We at lunch with a perfect view of  Big Ben, Parliament, and the London Eye.We got a drink in an English Pub and as we left a man opened the door for us and said "Cheerio" which was so English and made me laugh.

I spent my New Years on the plane back to Swaziland which was pretty uneventful.  Happy New Year to everyone, may it be prosperous. Now I am back in Swaziland, spending two nights in town before diving back in to community life.  Camp GLOW Training of Trainers is next up on the list of things to do, so I will ake sure to update and tell you all about it when it happens