Actually, labor day isn't celebrated here in Swaziland. But tomorrow is Independence Day, so I have another day off in a two-week span. I don't know if there are fireworks or parades here, but I guess we'll see tomorrow. I'm pretty doubtful on the fireworks, based on what I learned yesterday at church: Swaziland basically runs during daylight hours. Apparently, everyone goes home after work, cooks supper, maybe relaxes a bit, and then goes to bed (and I thought I was just lame). No one goes out to dinner because the restaurants and public transport (which many city workers depend on) close down at 5 or 6. So social time is during the day, and "Missionary Midnight" is at 9pm. A very interesting phenomenon.
This week is already pretty interesting. Besides my work on the grants, I got to see a Swazi demonstration. This week many opposition groups are marching throughout the country. Today they were in Mbabane (they should be elsewhere until Friday if the schedule holds up). So there was a crowd of demonstrators carrying signs, followed by a dozen or so red cross workers, and there were police and correctional officers everywhere. I didn't realize the Swazi police were so prevalent, but they were out in force today, with groups roving up and down the streets, and concentrations of them on corners and near banks. The ATM in the mall was guarded by four police with one shotgun and two machine guns between them. Although this protest is significant for the simple fact that it's happening, not many people (besides the police) are taking it seriously. I think there are some fairly legitimate complaints (I may elaborate further on political developments later), but I'm not sure the protesters realize that their proposed solutions may not help everything. Democracies still have some pretty major challenges.
Anyway, enjoy your days off, and good luck for all those beginning or continuing classes tomorrow.
-Ben
No comments:
Post a Comment