I have attempted to blog several times with no success. I am aware it has been quite some time since my last post and I apologize for keeping you all in suspense. Writing anything at all this year has been a real struggle. The novelty of being a volunteer seems to have finally worn off and I find it hard to continue to identify the humor in situations I encounter on a daily basis; for example, the taxi breaking down EVERY time I am on it. It’s all good fun the first time it happens, but now…
If I have learned anything while in Lesotho it is that I have a relatively short supply of patience, evidenced in my blood pressure levels during my mid-service medical examination. However, despite my shortcomings, it has been an eventful year. Much has occurred in the past…9 months?!
First and foremost I must report an event that took place just last weekend; my COS conference. For those unfamiliar with the PC lingo (typical government organization that it is), COS stands for Close of Service, Completion of Service or, if you are a glass half full kind of person, Continuation of Service.
The COS conference is a conference held three months before each Volunteer group is allowed to leave their country of service, having completed the 27 month commitment they made. At this point, Volunteers are given lots of paper work to fill out (again, typical of the government organization that it is), some advice for the “next chapter” and their official COS date. So, I now know on which day I am allowed to leave Lesotho. Are you prepared? Sitting down? Drum roll, please. Cue the most popular marathon theme song, and…deep breath, December 5th!
Of course, many of you are aware that mom and dad recently replaced Sharity and me with two furry look-alikes -- apparently they have developed similar personalities to us as well. Now, the moment I found out my date I shot mom and dad an email informing them of the good news. The next communication I had from them was an emailed video of the puppies (I get at least one video a day from them) without any comment about the COS date-- that was the confirmation I needed of our replacement, Sharity, in case you were interested. I’m fairly certain Sharity and I have been written out of the will by now. I can only imagine what this year’s Christmas card will look like…
As for the past 9 months in Lesotho, much is as it was last year. Similar school events have taken place, the pigs still roam the school compound (thus, no use in planting a garden, though some teachers did try, to no avail), the taxi breaks down every day, and the computer lab is still just a room in which to charge cell phones. But don’t worry, I have some good things to report as well!
Good thing #1: Cell signal is 100% all the time! Now that I’ve said as much the tower will be struck by lightning.
Good thing #2: I have the most amazing friends in the world! During my winter break my friends Maren Pratt, aspiring dentist, Joy Bulen, aspiring lawyer, and Dany Zemmel, aspiring humanitarian/ecologist, made time in their busy lives to visit me. For two weeks I enjoyed their company, again taking road tripping to a new level (sorry, but how many people can say they have taken a road trip in South Africa with their best friends?). We enjoyed Kruger National Park, Swaziland, St. Lucia Estuary, and a little arts and crafts town called Clarens.
For those who are interested in vacationing in South Africa some day, Kruger was by far one of my favorite destinations. Highly recommended considering I have a video of a pride of lions meandering down the road not 10 ft from the car we were in (yes, we had the windows rolled down). AMAZING! Swaziland was particularly interesting for me because it was given independence from England around the same time Lesotho; yet the development of each country is strikingly different (for elaboration, ask me when I get home). St. Lucia was stunning; particularly the trees—everything was green in a time when Lesotho was all shades of brown— and the hippo and croc signs may have helped with keeping us entertained as well. In addition the avocadoes were the size of large grapefruits, mmmm! Finally, Clarens, a town frequented by people such as Brad Pitt and ……. According to Lonely Planet, was a quaint little town, mostly Afrikaans speaking, with shop after shop of goods and gallery after gallery of local art. We enjoyed ourselves, to say the least. Girls, I owe you!
Good thing #3: I have my COS date!! Pop the champagne!
Good thing #4: Speaking about alcohol! I decided to engage in a personal project. Let’s call it an experiment. Peach wine! During peach season, I took the opportunity to hike into one of the more remote valleys to collect the juiciest peaches. With these peaches (and a little encouragement/package from Joy) I successfully brewed my very own peach wine. Now, it is rather strong so I’m not entirely sure you can classify it as wine, but it hits the spot. Dad would be proud. Which brings me to my next announcement: I have decided brewing is my passion and life goal—I think a father/daughter brewing line is in order. Don’t worry, I will keep my day job.
Teaching is as it has been. My students really struggle with learning mathematics in English. And I honestly don’t understand why they have to. By putting a restriction on the language the subject is taught in they (people in the Lesotho government making these decisions) are limiting the number of natural mathematicians and scientists they could be cultivating. I know, personally, I am not a naturally gifted linguist, but I love science and math has always been easy for me. So I would think the same would apply to many people across the world. Hmm, something to contemplate…
I have also recently become more discouraged by the number of students that are generally not interested in the lessons I present. When the high score in class is 51% you can understand my predicament. My thoughts are along the lines of “if you don’t want to be here, why are you wasting my time?” But then again I realize that a class would be rather boring to me as well if I didn’t understand half of what was being said during the lesson. As I said, this year has been a particular struggle; one that I don’t remember experiencing last year.
Needless to say, I have learned far more than I ever expected to learn through this two-year journey. And now I am ready for the next adventure. Bring on anything.
