Today a new training group is arriving from stateside. Since I was already in town, having come in from my school yesterday to work on the Peace Corps Volunteers newsletter, I decided to take a break and hitch out to the airport and welcome them. It is a popular thing to do if you (mostly guys) are available and in town, because you can scope out the newbies, in particular, the women.  I too, liked to scope the women, but mostly I just wanted to welcome the newbies, and remember what it was like when I arrived there, 8 months going on a lifetime ago. They get off the plane  looking tired from the 18 hour long flight from the States, clothes wrinkled, and eyes agoggle from being in a new country. They always look so clean and innocent.

The hitch was pleasant, and my ride was in the back of a pickup truck, so I enjoyed the ride down the long hill from Mbabane into the Ezulwini valley, which means the valley of heaven, where the airport is, with flowers all around that smelled great, and a paved road that did not cover me with dust like my trip on the dirt roads in from my school does. 

The vans from the training camp were parked on the ramp awaiting the new arrivals. I walked over, and as the luggage was unloaded from the plane, I helped load it on the truck to be taken to the camp. There were 3 or 4 other volunteer guys who had come to see the newbies. Some were actually helping load the luggage, while the others were just chatting up the new women.

I passed the training Director, arms loaded with bags, and stopped for a moment to say hi. He was talking with one of the new trainees. She looked at me askance, in my raggedy shorts and flip flops and bandanna, and asked the director if I was a Peace Corps teacher.

“No,” he replied, “that is just a homeless guy who hangs around at the airport. I’d stay away from him if I were you, and keep a hand on your wallet.” He grinned and winked at me as I took the bags to the truck.

A bit later, as I was lugging the last of the luggage to the truck, the woman who had been told that I was a homeless guy came over to me, and very nervously said, “Mister, please don’t mess with my backpack.” She looked distressed.

I laughed and said, “Don’t worry darlin, I really am a Peace Corps Volunteer teacher. My name is Sam. That guy over there is my mentally challenged brother who meets every plane, and pretends to be the director. He is always saying stuff like that. I promise I am not trying to steal your luggage. You will meet the real training director when you get to Sibebe, the training camp.” She looked at me doubtfully, but relaxed some when I chunked her backpack on top of the mountain of luggage in the truck.

So, the director started dividing the new trainees between the two vans, and loading them up. The other guys who had come to scope out the newbies started scrambling to get in the vans with the girls that they most fancied, for the ride back to the training camp. I was tying rope over the luggage, and was the last person to get into a van. I got the last seat, and it turned out to be beside a total babe with pretty eyes. Hubba hubba!

Me: Hi, my name is Sam. I am a woodworking teacher at Elulakeni High School. Welcome to Swaziland.

Total Babe: Hi, My name is Louise. I am from New York. I think I am going to be a math and science teacher.

We smiled at each other. She was so cute.

Me: You look tired Louise. I can help with that. Give me your feet.

I patted my lap for her to put her feet there. Amazingly, she put her feet in my lap. I took her Birkenstocks off, and started massaging her feet. She leaned back and closed her eyes.

Louise: That feels so good.

Me: I went to massage school about 6 months before I came here, so just relax and enjoy it. We  will be at the training camp in about half an hour.

Louise: How does a guy who went to massage school wind up being a woodworking teacher in the Peace Corps?

Me: Just lucky, I guess. Before massage school, I was a carpenter.

As she sat there, eyes closed, letting me massage her feet, I sang her one of my favorite songs from John Prine, Grandpa Was A Carpenter. That caused her to open her eyes for a second.

Louise: And you sing too?

Me: Yes, I was in a band back in Austin, Texas, y’all. You are the first person I have ever met named Louise.

I sang her a song by Bonnie Raitt named Louise. “They all said Louise was not half bad, It was written on the walls and window shades…”

We arrived at the camp, and I put her Birkenstocks back on, and put her feet back on the floor.

Me: We have arrived. Go see the training director and he will assign you a cabin. Nice to know you, Louise. I am sure I will see you around.

I got out and helped unload the luggage from the truck, and carry the bags and backpacks to the cabins. When that was done, I walked across the road to the hostel where I was going to cook me a delicious repast, take a bath in clean water, and spend the night. Fun day, a new friend. Life is good.

Peace Corps. Where autonomy makes a big difference. <3