Sonia Marsh's Blog, page 7

A Leatherman, Goal Zero, Gorilla Tape. Packing for Peace Corps

 

A Leatherman, Goal Zero solar charger, Gorilla Tape, and a Black Diamond headlamp. I never thought those would be the important items in my suitcase, but apparently so. Peace Corps packing is quite different from  vacation packing.

Packing for 27 months is hell. Don’t know what to bring with me.

I have no idea what I truly need in Lesotho for the Peace Corps, but I’m following the advice of other (PCVs) Peace Corps Volunteers.

I packed my solar panel, “Goal Zero” for charging my cell phone, as we shall not have electricity. I’m not sure how to use it, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out. What about my “LuminAid” solar light, to read in my hut at night.

I also purchased a “Leatherman, Wingman” as I shall need pliers, a screwdriver, bottle opener (crucial) a wire stripper (maybe) and more.

The “Black Diamond” Spot Storm headlamp will help me find the outdoor toilet in the middle of the night, and gorilla tape, to block the icy cold air from gaps in the windows when it snows in the winter, and I’m tucked inside my sleeping bag with layers of clothing.

Half my suitcase is filled with exercise equipment, like the TRX, and exercise ball and bands that I’ve been training with at my gym; my school supplies, my hair coloring products (yes, I’m bringing that with me,) and my face creams and sunblock.

We have to dress professionally, which means no jeans,  T-shirts, shorts, or dresses above the knee. I have no idea how to wash my “professional” clothes in very little water, especially cold water, but that is part of our training, and adapting to a new lifestyle.

My suitcases (yes, we’re allowed two,up to 50 lbs each) are already full,and I still have all the other stuff like my sleeping bag, winter clothes, layering, hiking boots etc.

One solution is to have my winter clothes shipped later on, as it will be spring when we arrive in October, and summer in December.

Here is my address in Lesotho, if you’d like to send me a letter, or a surprise. I like surprises!

Sonia Marsh, PCV

U. S. Peace Corps

P.O. Box 554

Maseru, 100

LESOTHO

I leave on Sunday, October 4th for Philadelphia, for “staging,” and our group (30 PCVs- Peace Corps Volunteers) leave on Tuesday for Johannesburg, and then a 6-hour bus ride to Lesotho. I hope to have Internet after the first week, as I’m getting a SIM card in Lesotho, so please e-mail me and keep in touch.

I shall need your support.

Thank you to all my friends.

Sonia.

 

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Check Out My New “Gutsy” Website For the Peace Corps

My “Au Revoir” party and see you when I return from the Peace Corps.

 

Hello Friends,

How do you like the new header and video on my blog?

The round hut is called a rondavel, from the Afrikaans word rondawel. It’s the westernized version of an African-style hut.

I love the one I selected as it has a turquoise door. I might live in a rondavel in Lesotho, while I serve as a primary education teacher in Southern Africa. In case you didn’t know, I‘m heading off to the Peace Corps.

I want my new “look” to fit the changes in my life, and my casual video, and natural curly hair, are part of that change, and the new me.

Did you watch my video?

Here’s what’s happening over the next two weeks, and how the Peace Corps is  sending us off to Lesotho, Africa.

On October 4th, I fly from California to Philadelphia.
October 5th, I meet the 29 or so, other volunteers, who are serving as primary education teachers, or secondary math teachers, in Lesotho.
On October 6th, we leave our hotel at 2 a.m. (Yes! we’re learning to adapt,) and then catch a bus to JFK, airport. Our flight to Johannesburg departs around noon.
The flight lasts 15.5 hours
We board a bus from Johannesburg to Maseru, the capital of Lesotho, which takes about 6 hours.
After our first night in a hotel in Lesotho, we start PST (pre-service training.)
We have morning classes, then meet our Basotho host families where we shall live for the first three months.
Classes start at 7:30 a.m., and end at 5 p.m. Learning Sesotho, the language of Lesotho, is an important partof our PST. We also cover safety and the culture of Lesotho.
Our host family teaches us how to bathe in a bucket, cook local foods, wash our clothes, as help us practice Sesotho.

Water is scarce and here’s what a Peace Corps volunteer wrote about his experience on the PC website.  (Read more on daily water usage in Lesotho.) —Peter Yurich, Ha Khayensti, Lesotho

“There isn’t much water available because we had a very dry winter and no rain this spring. I usually try to use only one to one and a half liters of water a day. This includes bathing, cooking, and cleaning dishes. Once a week I wash clothes, but try to use as little water as possible.

My day starts by boiling two liters of water. I use less than one liter to bathe; I drink two cups of coffee; and then I save the rest for cooking and cleaning dishes. If the tap is working, I may indulge myself by using a little more for bathing.

My host family uses a little more than I do because there are more people in the family. They use a wheelbarrow to carry two 10-liter buckets of water. Right now they use more water because they are making dung smear for the floor and walls of a new building. The building was constructed from rock and held together with a mud mixture that dried and became hard.”

I realize that I have to get used to changing my lifestyle, but when my family lived in Belize, in 2004-2005, water was also a problem. We had a cistern,and due to the lack of rain, we had to sponge bathe.

If you don’t want to miss my “gutsy updates,” please s ubscribe underneath the hut on my landing page.

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE.

Any questions? Don’t hesitate to ask.

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I’m Going Crazy Getting Ready For the Peace Corps

The waterproof hiking shoe I ordered from REI to walk to my school in Lesotho.

I’m Going Crazy Getting Ready For the Peace Corps as I only have three weeks left before I board a plane to Philadelphia for “staging.” Staging is the word the Peace Corps uses for “meeting and training” prior to boarding our flight to our host country.

I’m getting nervous, not because of leaving the U.S. for 27-months, but more to do with packing the “right stuff.”

I’m worried about whether I have the right solar panels, the sleeping bag for snow and frost, the right clothes for teaching (not too Amish, yet still keeping my own style,) the right waterproof hiking shoes, which I still want to “look reasonably good.” I’m sorry, but I still like a little bit of style, so I ordered black leather waterproof shoes that REI recommended for rain and snow.

Since the Peace Corps wants us to dress appropriately to teach, I still have my “desire to look slightly stylish in Lesotho.” Can I give up make-up? face cream? perfume? Not sure yet, but ask me in one year, and I might be a completely different woman.

Lesotho is known for it’s blankets, which the Basotho wear. This is what I call “stylish”and I’ve heard that Peace Corps Volunteers, buy local fabric and have dresses made. Here is one beautiful  model wearing a Lesotho long jacket made from a Lesotho blanket.

Africa textile | Young South African fashion designer Thabo Makhetha uses ‘traditional’ Basotho blankets to make high-end coats. Click on photo to go to Pinterest.

I just finished my two-week working in a U.S. Kindergarten experience; learning how to manage thirty Kindergarteners from one of the best teachers in Orange County, California. Mrs.Irwin managed her class with positive reinforcement, and I am so impressed with her skills. She managed to get thirty Kindergarteners to listen to her and follow directions on her first day.

I have no idea what it will be like to co-teach in Lesotho, until I’m in the classroom,, but I shall always remember how the Mrs.I. taught me to be positive and always upbeat with the Kindergarteners.

Mrs. Irwin. An amazing Kindergarten teacher who deserves the best teacher of the year Award.

 

On my last day, the children hugged me, and several cried. “Will you come back Miss Sonia?” they asked. I cannot believe how close I became to these children. I truly loved getting to know them, and I hope to develop a relationship between the children I shall be teaching in Lesotho, and Mrs. Irwin class.

If we can Skype one day, between both classes, that would be awesome! I hope to connect them in some way.

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Getting Rid of My “Stuff” For the Peace Corps

I was considering a storage unit for my Riccar vacuum cleaner

I never thought it would be this difficult to decide what to keep, what to donate, and what to throw away, before I leave for the Peace Corps.

I only have one month before I leave for Lesotho, in southern Africa, and I’ve debated whether or not to rent a storage unit.

The cheapest storage unit I found was a 5’x5′ unit for $1, 950 for 28 months. Do I want to pay that much to store my clothes, shoes, and some files?

My mother’s silverware is going to my cousin’s house tomorrow, but since my cousin doesn’t have room for my files and my clothes, I decided to box everything, and store it with a friend for 3 months. If I’m not back before then–(I don’t plan on that,) my friend can either keep or donate my stuff to charity.

At first I contemplated a storage unit because I’m attached to my (old/expensive) vacuum cleaner, but then I asked myself: “Are you crazy Sonia? Are you really going to get a storage unit because you’re in love with your old vacuum cleaner?”

I have a thing about good quality vacuum cleaners, and spent a fortune on my Riccar, ten years ago, It still works well, and for some reason, this is one of the items I’m having a hard time releasing. (Any psychologists have an analysis of what this means?)

I started looking at all the “love letters and poems,” I received from my ex-husband when we dated, and during our marriage. That is a hard decision for me right now. Should I get rid of them? Part of me is tempted to, as my new life in Lesotho is starting, and I need to move on.

What about my sons’ Kindergarten and school papers? I cannot throw those away, even though they tell me they don’t want them.

Any advice from my friends? Have you had to make decisions like this? 

 

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Differences Between Teaching a Thai and a U.S. Kindergarten

The wonderful and enthusiastic Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Irwin.

What a difference between my volunteer teaching in Thailand, and what I’m observing and learning in a U.S. Kindergarten. I’m sure I shall be in for another surprise in Lesotho, southern Africa, where I am co-teaching in January 2016.

Sometimes I wonder how I can use the skills I learned from teaching elementary school in Koh Samui, Thailand, with those in Orange County, California,  while I serve in the Peace Corps during my two years in a school in Lesotho.

Each country is so different, especially the cultural differences, the expectations, and the rules and discipline procedures.

In Thailand, the children are so loving. They come up to you for hugs, even in fifth grade, and unlike the U.S., the teachers use a thin bamboo stick for corporal punishment.

First grade class

In the U.S., the Kindergartners are adorable, but there is no  hugging  and fewer smiles than I experienced in Thailand.

No chairs in Kindergarten in Thail class where I taught

I feel the “stress” on our children in the U.S., to be high achievers and to obey the rules. In Thailand, the children are often distracted, and I accepted this. We had to get their attention with games; standing up and sitting down and touching their toes, etc. We often shouted and got them to do the same while teaching them to repeat new vocabulary words.

In the U.S. Kindergarten, I observed the expertise of the teacher in how to apply “classroom management” skills which are so important in establishing order and guidelines for children to follow during the school year.

As stated in the well-known book by Harry and Rosemary Wong, The First Days of School, How to be an Effective Teacher.

“Effective teachers MANAGE their classrooms.

Ineffective teachers DISCIPLINE their classrooms.”

Mrs. Irwin is the Kindergarten teacher, and through positive reinforcement, she manages to control her new Kindergarten class with thirty students. She says things like, “We’re here to grow big brains, who wants to learn to read? Who wants to learn to write stories?”

She thanks her students, by name, who sit still and announces, “I like the way Logan is sitting still,” or “Get up, give yourself a hug and walk quietly to the door.”

She says, “When Mrs.Irwin is talking, your mouth is not,” and when a child answers a question correctly, she says, “Kiss your brain” and they kiss their hand and tap their head. I just love that.

There are playground rules like counting to 20 when someone is on the slide and your turn is next. Then there are lunch rules, about asking for permission to be excused to play,and rules for entering the classroom. It seems the kids have to follow so many rules in the U.S., but I can see the results of how well-behaved the kids are.

As you can see, everything is neatly arranged, including the box of crayons with each student’s name labelled on the box. You can tell the teacher has spent time getting the classroom organized.

I want to learn new skills on how to get young children to listen, and to do so in a calm manner. During my teaching in Thailand, I felt like I was yelling to get the children’s attention, and although they did keep quiet when I put my right hand up, and my left hand to cover my mouth, most of the teaching was done with shouting the new vocabulary words and getting the kids to repeat, and copy from the board. I did not like teaching this way, but followed the curriculum.

I realize that co-teaching in Lesotho, will be a new adventure that will require being flexible. The best part is I love seeing the differences between cultures, and learning to adapt.

Let’s hope that whatever the method, the kids are always learning.

 

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I Leave for Africa with the Peace Corps on October 4th

Teaching Kindergarten at Ban Bo Phut elementary school, Koh Samui

It’s all confirmed; I leave for Africa with the Peace Corps on October 4th. I called to make sure all my paperwork was in order, as I hadn’t received a confirmation in writing, and I have to sell my car and pay for a storage unit.

My recent Bamboo Project volunteering, was the best thing I did to prepare for the next stage of my life: Teaching primary education in Lesotho, Southern Africa, on October 6th, for  a 27-month period.

Thailand taught me the importance of accepting that things are done differently, to be flexible, and to understand the local “Thai” way of teaching and doing things.
In the beginning I struggled with the way we had to teach. It was so different from what I learned (t) in British English, at my TESOL course in Greenwich in May. Most of the teaching at our school was based on repetition and copying from the board.  I felt like the children did not understand what we were talking about, and asking a question was impossible.  The kids would repeat what I said (out of habit) but apart from one or two in the class, most kids could not answer my questions.

The Bamboo Project was about more than teaching. I had to live in a communal (student-style) accommodation, where we shared one toilet and two showers among seven people. It brought back fond memories of college dorm days.

Our living room

Living room and kitchen with tiny fridge crammed with our drinks and food

The downstairs shower became my own. Cold water and a handle that popped off every time I turned it.

I loved my new routine of getting up at 5:30 a.m., making Nescafe, and then checking e-mails and blogging. I realized that everyone else stayed in bed until 15 minutes before we were supposed to be at the pick-up stop for school. I have no idea how young people can roll out of bed and be ready in 10 minutes.

Ready for our Jeep Pick-up at 7:30 a.m.

I also enjoyed the nightlife with the volunteers at the ARK,a beachfront night club. You’ll see some amazing stuff from 1:50 seconds into the video.

Amazing fireworks from 1:50 onwards.

Having dinner at Zanzibar cafe after teaching.

Now I start teaching in an Orange County, California, primary school, and look forward to learning some new skills, before I leave for Lesotho, with the Peace Corps.

 

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A Lifetime Experience Crammed into Two Weeks

My First Grade Class in Thailand

I’m having a lifetime experience crammed into two weeks, on the island of Koh Samui, Thailand, working as a volunteer teacher in a local public elementary school.

From now on, I’ve decided to take volunteer vacations rather than regular vacations, as a way to immerse myself in a new culture, meet interesting people from different continents, and remain “young” in spirit.

I share a house with six volunteers. There are 3 rooms and 2 bathrooms and fortunately, I’ve managed to tag the downstairs shower as my own. There is only cold water, and a handle that keeps falling off, but who cares; I’m used to both now.

My Czech friend, Veronika, and I were initially shocked by the lack of hot water in the shower, and now we accept it,  as the weather is so damn hot and humid in Thailand.

What I love about my experience, is the interaction with people from Australia, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, Hungary, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic. English is our common language, and the more time I spend with others, the more I realize we are all the same.

Arm, our local Thai advisor, picks us up on in the Bamboo jeep on the main road each morning at 7:30 a.m. We stop at 7/11 for water bottles, and we discovered a French Cafe across the street with chocolate croissants and strong coffee. I enjoy speaking French with the local expat community. We have a routine on our way to the Boh Phut elementary school.

Our ride to School in the Bamboo van.

When we arrive at the school, the students are impeccably dressed in school uniform, saying their early morning prayers, while facing Buddha. We  wait for them to finish, then head over to our first class. We teach Kindergarten to fifth grade. One of us is the main teacher, and the other volunteers assist, since most of our classes have 40 students.

Sonia teaching first grade with Veronika

At first we were shocked by how the kids are, and how we have to “shout” and make them repeat everything, mainly by shouting louder and louder each time.  I was not comfortable with this, but then I realized this is the way the student are taught.

The kids like repetition and copying from the board. I realize that each country has their own way of teaching students, and next week I shall be in a U.S. Kindergarten volunteering with an American teacher, so that will be completely different, and interesting to analyze.

Kindergarten class in Thailand

I wonder what it will be like to teach in Lesotho, when I join the Peace Corps in October. Another new experience, which I look forward to.

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My First Impressions of Volunteering in Thailand

Team Bamboo Volunteers

It’s been one week since I landed at Bangkok International Airport, and today is my first day of teaching a first grade class how to count numbers one through ten in English.

I’m nervous after observing the students during our initial orientation. Why am I nervous?  Because I truly want to help and for the following reasons:

I have no experience teaching younger children.
The children in our Thai public school have to follow the government’s text book.
The children have not been taught the basics, therefore how do we help them progress to the next level in the textbook?
The children learn by repeating and memorizing, and often repeat your questions without understanding that you expect an answer.
I am a volunteer, and want them to succeed, but how do I get the entire class to pay attention?
It seems that they listen when you’re loud, but I don’t like to shout.
We are only here for a short period of time, so we have to continue with the same methods. I hope I remember the correct steps.

Besides being nervous,and wanting to make a difference, there is the added pressure of adapting to living in a communal atmosphere, and sharing bedrooms and bathrooms with my fellow volunteers who are as young as 17, and as “old” as 38.

I love young people, and admit that at first, I kept wondering if they questioned why a woman my age, was in this program.

It took me a few days to realize that I should just be myself, and not try to apologize for being older, or wanting to participate in their activities. I am treating this experience as pre-training for the Peace Corps, where I shall be living mostly with young people for 27 months, as a volunteer in Lesotho, Africa.

I’m pleased to say that I’m adapting to life in a foreign country without the luxuries of home. Brushing my teeth in the shower, only having cold water to wash, and often no toilet paper, but a small hose to rinse off, are some of the things I’m getting used to.

Now my frizzy hair, is something I cannot get used to taming, but that will come with time.

I believe that discovering new places, new foods and new people, make up for the lack of luxuries from home.  At least that’s what I keep reminding myself.

 

 

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My First Experience Having Google Banned

I experienced first-hand what it’s like to have Google and FaceBook banned. I was not able to logon to either at the airport in Shanghai, and asked a young Chinese woman working at the airport lounge why I couldn’t access to Google or g-mail. She blushed and in a hushed voice said, “No Google.” It felt like my freedom had been taken away, and apparently Twitter and social media aren’t allowed at all. I’d heard about this on the news in the U.S. several months ago, but thought it was temporary.

I sat next to a German man who lives in Shanghai, and asked him what expats do in China in order to get e-mail. Apparently they open a yahoo account. Yahoo is allowed.

While at Shanghai airport, I noticed that I didn’t have access to several websites and blogs that belong to my author friends in the U.S., as well as bloggers around the world. It was a really strange sensation, especially when one of these websites from a close memoir friend stated, “Access Denied.”

All I could think about was, “How does an expat indie author promote his/her work?” and then, my second thought was, “How nice not to have to compete and constantly promote your books, when you have no choice.”

I realize that we are fortunate to have access to social media, something we take for granted. Here in Bangkok, I have the best Internet. I’m staying in a small, basic hotel, about ten-minutes from Bangkok airport, and the Internet speed is phenomenal.

I’m glad I got to experience seven hours without Google at Shanghai airport, as this will be training for me when I move to Lesotho with the Peace Corps. There, I shall probably only have Internet access a few days a month.

Has this happened to you? If so, how did you feel about it? How would you feel about it, if you didn’t have social media access?

 

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What’s Happened to Me? Let The Adventure Begin

 

What’s happened to me? I used to shop at Nordstrom and Brighton Collectibles, and all of a sudden, I find myself spending hours at REI, Patagonia and other outdoor/camping retailers, looking at fast-drying, microfiber towels that fit in my pocket, and waterproof hiking shoes (for the Peace Corps).

This is the first time in my life that I’ve tried to pack almost three-weeks worth of clothes into one 45L backpack.

I’ve spent hours online, and at REI researching backpacks that pack like a suitcase. I also watched  YouTube videos on how to use packing cubes; something I’ve never heard of before.

Yes we have the same name, isn’t that something!

I took one of the three packing cubes out, for you to see

It’s time for me to start thinking like a student again, especially as I’m off to Thailand, where I shall be sharing an apartment with 3-4 other volunteers. I have no  idea what to expect, and keep my fingers crossed that I shall succeed in getting Baht, from the airport ATM, as well as a Thai SIM card.

I’m supposed to meet a rep at the airport who is driving me to the hotel. It’s all done through the Bamboo-Project organizers, and I trust all will go smoothly, although I have been warned about “Thai-time” which sounds similar to “Belize-time.”

I’m flying on China Eastern airlines to Shanghai, in business, thanks to a free ticket with my miles. Sadly, I read that due to our departure time at 1 a.m., no meals are served, and I was looking forward to a glass of champagne and some “gourmet” dinner. (Not sure if I would pick Chinese or Western food) but this may no longer be an option. Oh well, at least I should have a comfortable seat, and be able to sleep. The flight lasts fourteen hours and then I have a six-hour layover in Shanghai, before leaving for Bangkok.

I checked reviews on China Eastern, and they were not that promising, as far as service and quality, but I’m lucky to be in Business class, and try this for the first time.

I hope you follow me on my journey to Koh Samui, Thailand.

 

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