Weekend at the Beach

he weeks sail by here at Mountain High with office duties, occupational therapy for the patients, shopping for handcraft materials and gardening in our vegetable garden. The garden was started shortly after we arrived in Sept. and has not been a great success as it was devoured by some hungry goats and their kids and then vandalized by 4” long locusts that found the veges tasty morsels. The 60 mealy (maize) plants were a pathetic bunch after they had been severed at their waist by the goats and finished off by the locusts. This week we called it quits with the mealy and pulled the pathetic plants out. Toads have moved into our flat but are day sleepers and generally very quiet roommates. Showering at night requires toad inspection before hopping in the shower. Our toad hunting technique has improved and we keep a large piece of white lace handy for netting the toad and throwing him out into the night.

However, the ravaged 80 cabbages have made comebacks and are starting to thrive. The nasty goats went straight to the heart of the cabbages, took two bites out of the apical meristem and went on to the next plant. Time has healed their wounds and we now have 60 plants with small heads that look like they are food. Other plants that are thriving are the non Zulu foods like spring lettuce, basil, parsley, and thyme. The tomatoes and green beans gave us a short run for the money but were eaten or died during our weeks of travel. The one acre plot in front of our flat has been plowed- it is time to plant the winter crops. The lemon and guava trees are bearing fruit which will be welcome when it ripens. Mango season has just passed. They are sold on every street corner and are eaten with everything. One of the great condiments of South Africa is a green mango chopped relish with chili oil and bits of seed called Ache. This is one sauce that people either love or hate.

Work has been busy with plans for Employee Computer Training and curriculum for introducing computer literacy to very rural people. We also developed plans for running a camp for AIDS Orphans and Vulnerable Children in July to deal with their psycho social problems and give them a break in the mountains for a week. South Africa is populated with OVCS (as they are known) and it is disturbing to consider how they will achieve productive adulthood with the handicap of losing their parents from AIDS and also the burden of taking care of younger siblings. The communities here do not turn their backs on the OVCs but the resources are spread very thin with some women acting as “Aunties” to provide some adult supervision. Other services are Drop-In Centers where children can get a meal or adult company, and full-time centers where 24 hour a day support is offered within the village. Social workers are in very short supply and are sorely needed to provide assistance with getting the grants that the children are entitled to. However, the first step in obtaining the grants is producing birth certificates or identity documents which may not exist due to the OVC status. The worrisome fact in this situation is that the OVC problem will continue and the society has been cheated out of its parents and breadwinners. Grandmothers (gogos) have taken on the job of raising the children in some cases but their lives are also a struggle on a daily basis.

This weekend we traveled to Richard’s Bay for the Peace Corps monthly “weekend out” and enjoyed being back in the first world and tested our ability to have a good time without a car. The local bus taking us down the mountain was an hour late and we worried that we would miss the Greyhound but we arrived in time to board and travel the 3 hours over the mountains to the beach city of Richards Bay, home of birding, beach going and shopping in American style malls with cinemas. The town is tropical with high heat, high humidity and gorgeous flowers and palms everywhere. We found a motel next to the Greyhound stop which advertised “All you need in a hotel.” After one night it may have been all I needed (noisy and hot) but my psyche begged for more that I wanted so we grabbed a taxi and found our way to the beach which had beautiful hotels, restaurants and swimming pools with clean water. Brendon is turning 59 this week so we celebrated with dinner out on Sat. at a Swiss restaurant with posters of St. Mortiz and cheese fondue. The setting in the 90 degree heat (remember this is summer in Africa) was a little bizarre but a lot of fun. Today we shopped at an Indian spice store in the mall and had a great time buying tandoori spice mixes, rice condiments, saffron, curry powders and talking about the Indian culture in South Africa. Curries are on every menu here and are always different and delicious.

Richards Bay has many lakes, ponds and marshes in addition to a beautiful beach facing the Indian Ocean. However it is confusing to see the sun setting over the ocean as it rises on the ocean side and sets on the mountains. We enjoyed a long walk down the deserted beach and wondered where were all the beachgoers on the beautiful summer day. A short walk from our hotel we found a charming resort with cabins in the woods, birds everywhere and an outdoor restaurant on the pond populated by yellow weaverbirds and ibis’s honking away. It was an ideallic setting for breakfast before we headed back to our mountain by taxi, bus, taxi van and hiking down the dirt road. A great weekend to restore health, happiness and that sense of discovery.