All About Durban

There is a chart on the wall of the medical office that charts the emotions of PCVs during the two years of service. This chart has been compiled from data gathered from volunteers since the founding of Peace Corps in the 1960s. Each volunteer has a unique service experience, but we all seem to experience the same emotional timeline. During Pre-Service Training (PST), the chart has a zig-zag. Our emotions are up and down as we experience culture shock but also adjustment. During this period we see other Americans almost every day and get internet access a few times a week. Following PST there’s integration, which is a 3-month period where all we do is get to know our communities – no projects allowed. This is a high stress period – after all, we have no friends in the community and much more limited contact with Americans. After integration, there’s the remainder of the first year. This is shown as period of low stress, but it still has some challenges. We’re doing projects, but they’re likely all failing as we try to learn to work with locals at their pace. The daily frustrations are building, and we have nothing to show for being here 9 months. If Peace Corps were only one year long, people wouldn’t do it – it’s far too frustrating and things take too long. The line on the chart shows stress – when the line is above the baseline, it illustrates high stress.

Durban is a city in South Africa that has shopping, quality restaurants, a beach, and South African culture. It was the perfect get-away for 8 frustrated and exhausted first-year Volunteers.

Day 1: We wake up at 5:00am and start trying to leave Patty’s site, which is near Manzini, which is where the khumbi is to take us to Durban. Patty’s house is a 30-minute walk from the tar road, and the last thing before said tar road is a bridge. Due to rain, it was flooded. We were stuck in her community. Through being picked up by a school bus and taking back muddy dirt roads for an hour to another rural community, we were able to reach the tar road, and catch a khumbi to ride an hour to Manzini. We took the last seats on the khumbi and we were off. 7 hours later, after innumerable and lengthy pee breaks, we arrived in Durban, which is normally 5 hours away. We checked into our hostel, which was awesome, took showers, and went out. We ate Mexican food for the first time since leaving the USA, and it was delicious. We then went dancing at a bar called the Dropkick Murphys, and not a single man told us he wanted to marry us or put his babies in us. It was wonderful.

Day 2: We went to the Gateway Mall. This is one of the nicest malls I have ever been in, regardless of country. It had more designer stores than the entire state of Indiana, and it was air conditioned. We walked and shopped for hours, stopping at lunch to eat the first Thai food we’ve had since leaving the USA. Again, delicious. I found a McDonald’s and got a medium Coke, no ice (just for you, mom!) from a soda fountain. We all got bubble tea as well. Then we shopped for a few more hours and went back to the hostel to party. It was Patty’s birthday, and the hostel owner had purchased a bottle of champagne for us. We got to meet a lot of travelers from a lot of different countries, which was really cool. I loved this hostel – Hotel Tekweni.

The next day, we went back. We had McDonald’s for breakfast. I had hashbrowns, and I was so happy. We got back in 5 hours and I took an extra day at a Swazi backpackers (Sundowners) because my site’s transport sucks a lot. I also thought I deserved it – the second I stepped off the khumbi in Manzini, some jerk started grabbing my hand and saying that he would love me quickly and wanted me to have his firstborn. After 3 days off of that, I responded quite nastily, and he walked away looking wounded. Thanks for the welcome home, Swaziland.

In summary, Durban was food, shopping, not getting harassed, and relaxing. I went with a great group of girls that I had a lot of fun with, and I do feel refreshed and ready to face the next month. Once that month’s over, I’m off to Cape Town for a long vacation. Then it’ll be Mid-Service Training (MST), mid-service physicals (THE WORST), G10 will leave, and G12 will arrive to start their service. Peace Corps is flying by!