Some things I have learned:

1. Most important thing is to find people and organizations that are motivated and that you can work with, for education volunteers there are plenty of teachers that you will not be able to work with. So learn to identify the people and areas you can help in and avoid wasting time doing things which do not bring you joy because these things will  mostly just bring you frustration and not much else.

2. Adjusting to the community takes time more so than anything else, it will not happen overnight.

3. Learning even a little bit of the local language goes a long way towards smoothing social relationships, but beyond beginner level it is up to you how much you want to use it.

4. Maintaining connections with other volunteers is important.

5. You will probably have a lot of “spare time” learn to do things to occupy yourself: lots of people develop into cooks, learn another language, write poems, start personal gardens, read tons of books, join soccer teams, or run marathons.

6. Stay in touch with the friends and folks back in America.

7. Do not get too angry about the way people act or think here, there’s a lot of attitudes (racial, gender, etc) that you may find extremely wrong-headed or hard to swallow, and a lot of things that go on in this country that will drive you crazy when you are faced with them. Try not to stress yourself out about them too much, focus on the good and do not dwell on the bad.

8. Probably wise to leave site at least once a month it’s a big country and your village or neighborhood is only a tiny corner of it.

9. Follow your gut, if you feel your site is unsafe or your work is just horrible, change sites, too many people wait for too long to do what needs to be done, make sure you communicate with Peace Corps staff if there are problems, be persistent and annoying as possible if you do not feel they are taking you seriously.

10. Keep the faith. Always keep in mind the reasons that you came here and what you are getting from it as well as what others are getting from it. Peace Corps is probably the most deeply personal experience you will have in your life, you are on your own, you will get a new perspective on your place within the world. Remember you are a volunteer and you are here to help and to have an adventure, it’s up to you how it plays out.

Other than that, I recently returned from my brother’s wedding in America which was an excellent experience, I was only there for two weeks so it wasn’t too hard coming back to South Africa. Not a whole lot else… things with my organization have pretty much ground to a halt due to the fact that they don’t have any funding now, so 100% of my focus is on the youth activities. Yesterday I went to a HIV testing event and got a t-shirt for getting tested.  I am also looking towards my plans for when I return to America which is (amazingly) only 6-7 months from now I need to find employment and a place to live.