Family and Christmas

            I apologize in advance for the length of this post; so much has happened between then and now. On the agenda for today is an update on my school then I will jump into my Christmas and New Year’s vacation with my parents and sister. I have also asked that they prepare their own observations and commentary in order to post them here. I want to make sure you get the full picture.

Tiping

            I mentioned in my last post that my school was to receive a computer lab; well, it has been installed. The donating group, CBS (Computer Business Services?), installed 20 computers in an extra classroom along with 6 large solar panels to power them. The organization selected one school from each district in Lesotho as pilot schools for education in computer literacy. Therefore, there are 10 pilot schools throughout Lesotho and Tiping is one of them!!! Exciting!

           

            Even more exciting (especially for me) is that the organization pressured a cell provider into erecting a cell tower on the mountain across from my school which means communication will be easier for me soon, very soon. Now, they have been working on this cell tower for the past 2 months (or more). I went on vacation for two weeks thinking it would be working by the time I came home, but yet again I have fallen into the trap of wishful thinking. I can see it! It looks completed, standing tall and smug, looking down at me, taunting me. My palm is itching, begging to spend endless hours texting my life away. Sigh.

           

            I’m getting ahead of myself.  The real reason I am so excited about the cell tower is that with its introduction there are endless educational developments and opportunities for my students. Granted, we will need to take baby steps with the computers. It might be a while before we introduce the concept of the Internet let alone actual use of the Internet, but for me it will mean better teaching resources, better ideas. I have also been playing with the idea of beginning a film club (since we now have the ability to power a TV without using the generator). I want to teach some of my students about different genres of movies while at the same time exposing them to more English use, reinforcing their reasons to learn English and become fluent. On that note, I am reevaluating my package request list; if anyone is interested in sending a package but don’t know what to include, I would love USB drives with teenage appropriate movies loaded onto them and maybe, if you have them lying around, science, math, or English education cartoons. I see only great things coming from this development. Hopefully I am right.

           

Family Vacation/Educational Experience/Road Trip           

            All right, to the good stuff-- the family vacation; road tripping on a whole new level (that might have been an understatement). Overall, it was a good vacation and we didn’t have any real mishaps; aside from a little back tracking and taking dubious back roads, all was well! But you wouldn’t know that from the amount of cursing coming from the drivers seat. The family arrived in Lesotho at 8 am on the 19^th after almost 24 hours of traveling (they spent 13 hours in the Johannesburg airport on a layover—we could have driven back and forth twice in that amount of time).

           

            Anyway, I had been almost confident that I could get to the airport before they arrived so that I could get it all on video; however, we got stuck (Tishina came with me to pick them up from the airport) in the taxi rank haggling with a taxi driver over the price of a private ride to the airport; a combie to the airport from Maseru costs R9, this guy was asking R180 for two people! Grrr. We got lucky and were able to hop into a combie that was picking people up along the way—combies never leave unless they have every seat filled so I’m not sure how we managed it  (divine intervention, maybe?). We literally arrived on time and they were already in the lobby. Completely unexpected! I thought I would at least have a 15-minute window of time while they were going through customs and getting their luggage, but no.

           

            Well, we did the normal greetings with mom tearing up and dad laughing and saying, “hey sis!”  Sharity, not normally a big hugger, gave me a hug! They were tired but I had a full day planned for them. They couldn’t go to bed at 8 am. Had to kick the jetlag in the butt so I kept them on the move all day. They weren’t too happy with me either. First thing was first though; we had to get the rental car. Dad learned how to drive manual transmission on the left hand side of the road quickly because from the airport we went into the capital city, Maseru. I took them to the Peace Corps office where they were able to meet many of the PC staff, including my Assistant Program Country Director (APCD), Dr. Liphoto, a.k.a. my boss. Mom was mortified that I was taking them to the office when she didn’t even have makeup on! But everyone at the office was excited to meet them, makeup or no makeup—they see dirty PCVs all day, I don’t think they noticed.

           

            We went from the PC office to the one mall in Lesotho (actually, big news, they are building a second mall in Maseru—to bad we can’t even get a Shoprite-big grocery chain-in Quthing). We were able to pick up some groceries there, things that Sharity could eat, lots of veggies—or as dad calls it, rabbit food. From there we traveled to Mohale’s Hoek for lunch where we met Aparna. We should have probably just gotten a hotel room there but I was on a one-track mind to keep them awake and get out to my site. By this point people were getting rather grouchy. After lunch we made our way to Quthing where we dropped Tishina off and finally it was out to my site, but not before Mé Mathabo, my supervisor, had her say. I got call after call from her making plans then changing them. I think everyone was just overwhelmed by this point and Mé Mathabo exacerbated the situation perfectly. And we hadn’t even started in on the gravel roads yet!

           

            The last leg of our journey was the gravel road out to my site. It took an hour and a half to get out there but, to my amazement, the little car we rented did the job. We had gotten about 2 miles down the gravel road when mom asked if that was the worst of it. Now, you have to understand, we had been driving on the good, newly fixed, portion of the road; it was about to get much worse as they soon found out. I don’t know how many times I told them how bad the road is but they never listen to me! We did manage to bottom out a couple times. Dad began referring to it as the ‘goat path. By the time we reached my house it was about 4 pm. They made themselves at home and passed out immediately, happy to have their Odyssey over. At this point I dug out dads iPad and started watching the Dark Knight Rises which dad had brought for me—my equivalent of a Christmas stocking gift. I had a blissful evening.

           

            You would think that they would have slept for hours, but they were up and down all night—something about it being too hot?? Yup, Lesotho with no AC.  Then there were the latrine visits. Because my room is so small and we had every possible floor space covered, when one needed to go to the latrine all would wake due to the tripping, the flashlights and the unlocking of the door. This may be too much information but all volunteers in Lesotho are given a pee bucket when we first arrive in Lesotho. Some volunteers use it on a regular basis but because my latrine is literally right outside my front door I have no problem getting to the latrine at night. I could find it in the middle of the night with my eyes closed if I had to. But I foresaw this being a problem so I got the pee bucket out, just in case. It didn’t get used until the third night and not because no one had to pee.

           

            Even better than the latrine, Ralphy decided to make his appearance around 11 pm on the first night. He was able to find the two people who would appreciate him the least in a matter of minutes. He felt the need to sleep on Sharity’s pillow, eat in her ear, snuggle up with mom then repeat the rest of the night. I trained him well!

           

            The next few days were fairly lazy. Everyone got to experience bucket bathing, cooking and cleaning without running water, and washing a couple loads of laundry by hand. Dad got his watercolors out and began working on some of the scenery while mom attempted to kill flies. One of the primary teachers came out with her 1-year-old twins to meet everyone so we had babies running around slobbering on everything. I also cooked a traditional meal of papa, moroho (greens) and linaoa (beans). They really didn’t respond well to the fare. I guess it’s something you have to acquire a taste for?

           

            The rest of the trip was spent driving through South Africa, making our way to Cape Town along the Garden Route. We played a fun game along the way of guess what the road signs mean. The driving was definitely my least favorite part of the trip though. We learned we have to keep dad well fed if it’s going to be a pleasant drive, wheaties and nuts don’t do the job.

           

            We spent two nights in a little college town about the size of Columbia, MO called Grahamstown, home to Rhodes University. While there we went out to eat at a pub called the Rat and Parrot. Dad was able to satisfy his need for good red meat since he hadn’t had any for a number of days. Like I said…keep him well fed. Also, while staying in Grahamstown we were able to visit the Addo Elephant Park. It is a drive-through safari park—no exiting your vehicle unless you want to be lion doo-doo. We spotted herds (lots of heards) of Elephants, a few zebras and a selection of other animals, but the bush is so thick during the summer months that it was difficult to spot other animals.

           

            After Grahamstown we drove to Montagu, a small town known for its dried fruits (Sharity would have been in heaven if everything hadn’t been closed for Christmas). Montagu was a beautiful little town in the heart of the South African wine country, located on the R-62, a famous scenic route in SA. Again, we spent two days at a bed and breakfast in Montagu before heading through the wine lands of Stellenbosch and Frenschoek to Cape Town. It was a breathtaking drive winding around rugged mountains, emerging into valleys covered in vineyards. So much wine! Anyone who loves wine should make his or her way to Stellenbosch at some point in his or her life.

           

            Activities in Cape Town revolved around tours; specifically, the Robben Island tour as well as a wine tour through the Stellenbosch wine lands for mom’s birthday. You can’t go to Cape Town without doing the Robben Island tour. It is a necessary educational experience. The wine tour was probably one of my favorite parts of the trip (not because of the wine, but because dad didn’t have to drive). It was a very good day, relaxed and fun. We learned a lot about the wine making process, South African wines, and pairing wine with cheese.

           

            The wine tour ended the vacation for the family. But if you know my mom, you know that she doesn’t ever go on vacation; she goes on educational experiences. I think it is safe to say that the trip was truly an educational experience for all of us. They flew out of Cape Town on the 29^th (ready to go home, I think) while I remained in Cape Town to meet with some Peace Corps friends for New Year’s Eve. The next few days I stayed at a dingy backpackers (not the best backpackers I’ve ever been to) on Long Street, which, it appears, is where the party is for anyone not from Cape Town. Since I had already completed a lot of the touristy activities there are to do in Cape Town I was able to spend my days shopping (in several different malls), relaxing, taking showers (so many showers!), drinking (moderately, of course), and eating (even better than the showers because of the sushi, East Indian Food Bizarre, pizza, Mexican food, etc. What I’m trying to say is that there was so much variety! My stomach was in food heaven). 

           

            Sadly, it came to an end all too soon. I had a wonderful Christmas season and New Year; I couldn’t have asked for better. Well, maybe…being able to see more family and friends from home could have made it just a little better.

           

Now

            I am now at my site sitting around, twiddling my thumbs. Actually, I really should be doing more than that—I have recently been informed that one of the teachers at Tiping Secondary School, the other math teacher, will not be returning and so I have the opportunity to take on her classes. Therefore, I will be teaching Form A, B and C mathematics while dropping the Form A science class I had last year. It is an increase of 7 forty-minute periods per week. I think I will enjoy it. I have discovered I really don’t care to teach science so this change is a welcome change. I should be preparing!

           

            The next few weeks will be spent reading, preparing and going to my mid-service conference! I have now been in Lesotho for over 14 months. I have been a sworn-in volunteer for just over 12 months. I have less than 12 months to go. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Is it too early to begin the countdown? I know this next year is going to fly by. There is so much I still want to do and I don’t know if there will be enough time. I have torn emotions; I would consider extending if I didn’t need to go back to school and get some kind of professional degree. Seeing family and having a glimpse of the modern amenities I once had were also deterrents from the extending service idea.

           

            As always, I miss you all so very much (another deterrent). I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year (the world didn’t end!!). Let us see what wonders 2013 will bring. I also want to thank you all for keeping up with my blog over the past year. That alone is encouraging and supportive. I am happy I have the opportunity to share my experience with you, to share another culture. I am often asked if I will take photos home to show people what the Basotho culture is like; I tell them I am already working on it. You should see the smiles I get from that.

            Wishing you the best for this year!

                        --Sadie Marie

Dressed to Kill

           I know I’ve made this comment before, but the time in Lesotho is literally flying by. It seems like I always have something going on-I’ve gotten to the point where I treasure the few weekends I have at Tiping to myself. I’m turning into a wanna-be hermit. But I know you are all dying to know what has been going on in the life of Sadie (have I mentioned that I have a Sesotho name? It’s Lerato, and it means love. Fitting, I think.)

           

            Well, the end of the third quarter has come. We now have a week break for the Lesotho Independence Day and then we will begin the forth and final quarter. The month of August was spent trying to plan, organize and implement HIV/AIDS awareness events/activities for the students at Tiping. Since I teach life skills to the Form C class I was able to tie the events into their weekly classes. The first event, as I’ve mentioned, was an HIV/AIDS awareness workshop. It was held over a weekend and I’m fairly certain the only reason I was able to get students to show up on a weekend was due to the food that an NGO, World Vision, was able to have catered. The event wouldn’t have been successful without World Vision or my fellow volunteers in Quthing; many thanks to Tishina, Nancy and our new Community Health and Economic Development volunteer, Molly (she arrived in Lesotho in June and in Quthing August 1^st).

           

            The second event was an HIV/AIDS testing and counseling event. I was able to secure counselors from another NGO based in Quthing, PSI—I forget what PSI stands for, but if you’re really interested you can look it up for yourself. They came out on a Friday morning and tested 35 of my students and 3 of the teachers that I work with. The testing is fast. They prick the finger the way diabetics have to check their blood sugar levels. The blood is then dropped onto a thin strip of paper and a reactant is added. The rest resembles a pregnancy test. It is simple and the results are revealed 2 or 3 minutes after, two lines mean HIV positive and one means HIV negative.

           

            So, the PSI team wasn’t supposed to arrive until 12-noon on a Friday because we don’t finish classes until 12:20 on Fridays—they showed up at 9 (the Basotho usually aren’t on time let alone early—sorry for the generalization, but it’s true). The teachers I work with were wonderful at helping me organize and work around the unexpected change in plans. The students spent their 20-minute break in a group counseling session and then resumed classes. Students were then allowed out of classes 2 and 3 at a time to get tested if they wanted. Everything worked out in the end regardless of my plans and schedule (as usual). The saying ‘If you want to make God laugh, make plans’ never felt more appropriate or true than it did that day.

           

            August was busy and I finally feel like I’ve done something outside of my primary job description. Success! Too bad the projects aren’t sustainable. If I was not here to organize the NGOs for the school these events probably wouldn’t happen for the students. The next step: to get another teacher interested in organizing events such as the ones I planned and show them how it is done.

           

            September has been a little less hectic. I endured a bout of food poisoning or the stomach flu—not sure which. The next day was spent accompanying my students to the district cultural festivities held in Quthing. It would have been wonderful if I hadn’t been running a fever all day. Thankfully, I have another opportunity to enjoy the cultural dances and festivities this coming week at the National Cultural Competition. Tiping is known for getting first place in several of the cultural dances—my students are so good!

            

            My supervisor has been back and forth from Quthing much more lately than normal. She has been overwhelmed with planning for her daughter’s wedding on the 29^th. Initially, I was asked to be the maid of honor but then it was decided that I wouldn’t be in Quthing enough to be able to help out with many of the MOH responsibilities, so I was demoted to a bridesmaid. Even then I wasn’t present to help with many of the wedding decisions or get fitted for a bridesmaid dress (or pay for my own dress) so I was again demoted to the status of honored guest (thank God). I am looking forward to seeing a local wedding but MOH and bridesmaid were titles and responsibilities I have no place holding considering I hardly know the bride. Anyway, this wedding is going to be a great experience.

            Apparently the women ‘dress to kill’ for weddings and I didn’t bring anything to wear that would kill—who knew?? There is also a dress code for weddings; you have to, as guests, dress in the colors of the wedding. Therefore I have to look for a white dress with a little black and hot pink accent Advice for future PCVs in Lesotho; don’t skimp of the nice clothes and Tevas don’t always cut it. Bring your heals!

           

            We started the end of the quarter testing last week but I didn’t have to give my tests until this week so I was sent to Maseru on a mission to find a wedding gift from the teachers at Tiping (we all went in together for the gift). I ended up persuading M’e Lepelesana into going with me (she is the closest teacher friend I have at Tiping—she’s always going through my Peace Corps cookbook and picking things she doesn’t know and wants me to make. I usually end up spending a good deal of time with her in the evenings). Great idea. I saw so much of Maseru that we volunteers never venture into—so many places to find shoes!

           

            M’e Lepelesana’s sister lives in Maseru and works as a seamstress hence the reason M’e Lepelesana agreed to accompany me to Maseru--so she could ask her sister to make her a dress for the wedding. We had to stop by her sister’s shop which is located in the heart of the Maseru taxi rank-I would never have found it if I hadn’t been with M’e Lepelesana. While there talking to her sister, the sister looked my up and down, got her tape measure out and took my waist measurement, nodded and pulled down a seshoeshoe skirt that was hanging on the wall. I was instructed to try it on (keep in mind everything was being said in Sesotho so I really had no idea what was going on because my Sesotho is terrible—but I got the gist in the end); FREE SESHOESHOE! I cannot fully express my level of excitement at such a simple act of generosity. You have to understand that on my living allowance of less than M 2,000 a month, and an exchange rate of ~M8.3: $1, a M500 tailored, traditional skirt is a big deal. So, my trip to Maseru was definitely not a failure.

           

            Matthew 10:8 says ‘without cost you have received; without cost you are to give’. I thought that Peace Corps would be my opportunity to give back for the endless number of fortunate circumstances I have found myself throughout my life. However, the Basotho people I have met make that a difficult task due to their endless giving. Not only have I been blessed to be placed amongst a wonderful local population, but Quthing also has an abundance of generous ex-patriots. Remember how I was complaining about how I have a metal roof that only serves the purpose of allowing heat to escape my frigid little room? Not anymore! I now have an insulated drop ceiling because a friend of ours, Andrew, decided my roof was ridiculous. Andrew is a South African engineer who has worked all over Africa for various engineering firms. Right now he is in Quthing supervising an electrical line going out into rural Quthing (in the opposite direction to my region). So, I continue to be on the receiving end of all sorts of good things. The only thing I seem to be able to give is my cooking.

           

            I am doing well! However, I can say that the stars have left my eyes. I am seeing my experience in Lesotho as just that, my experience. We were told in training that we shouldn’t expect to change the world, or even change our communities. The best we can probably expect to do is build a few lasting friendships and share our culture. While that was a hard realization, I am coming to accept it and enjoy it.            

            Finally, while in Maseru I also stopped into the Peace Corps office to talk to one of the staff members about a tuition assistance program for some of my students. I walked out with plans to help in training the new group of education volunteers arriving in mid October—only 3 weeks away! Another sign that time is flying. I can’t believe one year has already come to a close. So, October and November will be busy with training new education volunteers, Mom, Dad and Sharity will arrive mid December to visit me-yay-and then the new year will be upon us. Christmas with my family this year is a great thing to look forward to!

            A few more minor updates: I still bathe everyday and shaving the underarms is a must. J It was difficult in the winter but the past few weeks have been beautiful and warm so I really have no excuse not to bathe everyday. I have also successfully made homemade deep-dish pizza with an abundance of mozzarella cheese that I found in Maseru. It was another cultural education for my colleagues. The pizza places in Lesotho don’t use a tomato based sauce or mozzarella cheese so I had to make my own tomato sauce and the mozzarella was an exciting find. My colleagues enjoyed the pizza (I had to make several pizzas after the first one because they liked the tomato sauce and mozzarella so much) and asked for the recipe. Finally, I have eaten a chicken head. It wasn’t too bad; less crunchy than I thought it would be, but it tasted like chicken!

            As always, there are more updates to come. I must close for now, but I hope you are all doing well. I miss everyone so much! Hugs and kisses all around.

Khotso, Pula, Nala (Peace, Rain, Prosperity)

Love, Sadie

P.S. the marathon training has been put on pause due to the preparations for the Cultural Arts and Crafts Festival on Friday. Go figure. There go my plans, again!  

                                                            ****            ****

             

            I wrote this post the week before I attended the cultural festival and wedding but they have both come and gone and I have yet to actually upload the post. Both events were an adventure and as usual, all day events. The morning of the cultural festival we left the school at 4:30 am in order to arrive in Morija on time. I took lots of photos of my students and more than enough video. We had to return the students’ home that same day so it was 12.30 am the following morning before we arrived at Tiping. I was exhausted. However, I then received a call from my supervisor, M’e Mathabo, the mother of the bride, at 5 am asking me where I was and telling me I needed to get dressed and ready for the wedding that was supposed to start at 10. Hell no.

           

            The wedding was very westernized with the bride in the white dress and three bridesmaids, guys in tuxedos and flower girls in matching dresses. The ceremony was all in Sesotho so we couldn’t understand most of what was being said, but at one point, when the bride and groom were supposed to exchange vows, there was an uproar of laughter; apparently the groom had fallen asleep. The ceremony lasted no more than an hour and there was a reception after the ceremony. I took over 200 photos but it’s too expensive to upload them onto my blog so I apologize for the lack of visuals. I had hoped to see something a little more traditional but the girls looked like they were dressed to go out to a club; skin-tight dresses and platform pumps. Next time I’m told to dress to kill I will keep the club in mind. Overall, it was a fun couple of days but I’m ready to get back to a normal routine.

I love pork

            Life in Lesotho is literally a comedy of errors most of the time, at least whenever the pigs on my school compound are present. There is so much to say in such a limited amount of space. Chronologically, there have been several PC trainings, a vacation to Mozambique, the start of the second semester, more run-ins with the pigs (which, in one case, ended in a very tasty meal) and a successful (and stressful) HIV/AIDS life-skills workshop for the Form C students at my school. As always, I am learning ngata (lots) and constantly being challenged to keep my mind open. I often find myself wondering what the hell I’m really doing here and then I experience something new that reaffirms my initial desire to… wait, why am I here again? But really, the little things truly make my day-to-day life worthwhile.

            The winter months have been rather hectic. I have been busier than I initially thought I would be during the school break. Much of that is due to the PC workshops and training sessions my education group has had to attend. The trainings are helpful but they take up so much time!

           

            July 17^th was spent in Mohale’s Hoek, the district to the north of Quthing, celebrating the King’s birthday. Every year there is a celebration in one of the districts and the districts rotate the responsibility. I was able to see the King of Lesotho! But from really far away so I’m not sure if it really counts. At one point a plane flew over the crowd and parachuters came tumbling down from the sky trailing signs that read happy birthday in both English and Sesotho.

           

            The day following the King’s birthday I started off at 7:30 am for a vacation in Mozambique with two other volunteers, Tishina and Aparna. We spent a total of 36 hours trying to get to our destination on the beach by traveling on public transport. We took a combie to Maseru early that first morning, crossed the boarder, spent 5 hours on another combie that took us into the sketchy taxi rank of Johannesburg just as it was beginning to get dark. After hearing all sorts of stories from PC staff about muggings and theft we were weary of the area but as always we managed to avoid any danger. From there we boarded an overnight bus that took us directly into Maputo, the capital city of Mozambique. When we got into Maputo we had to find another combie that would take us up the coast to a backpackers in Tofu. What we thought would be a 5-hour combie ride (because that’s how long we were told it would take from other volunteers) turned into 9 hours cramped and tucked away in the stifling 90-degree weather- here I am complaining about the heat when I just got out of the snow. At this point, my ankles were swollen like those of a late term pregnant woman’s.

           

            We spent 3 beautiful days at the beach, soaking up the sun (in my case burning because apparently the anti-malarial meds I had to take make people more sensitive to the sun). After 3 months of frigid temperatures, the 36-hour trip to Tofu was more than worth it. In so many ways Mozambique looked like what I thought Lesotho was going to look like. I’m not sure how to best explain that, but there were palm trees everywhere as was the sand. The infrastructure was different in many ways to Lesotho. In many ways Mozambique seemed more developed, such as the road conditions and the capital city of Maputo. But once we were outside of the capital city it turned into grass huts and farmland, children without shoes (as is also common in Lesotho) and few conveniences. The local people spoke a mix of Portuguese and various native tongues but very little English. It was a more difficult way of traveling given our limited language abilities, but it all worked out in the end! It was a nice break from the cold weather and stress of trying to make a difference in our communities. Perfect vacation, and cheap! We were happy to get back to Lesotho where we knew at least the general idea of what people were saying in Sesotho though.

              

            By the time we came back from Mozambique, school was just around the corner. Back to the grind! I am happy to say that I have received support from a couple of my high school science teachers, Dr. Berrey and Mrs. Nothdurft! They took time out of their lives to compile notes, assignments and tests they had used for my science courses in school, put all the information on a flash drive and sent it to me. I now have additional materials to be able to enhance my teaching. So far it has been a blessing and I am sharing the wealth with a couple of my fellow science teachers. We are extremely grateful for the additional information.

            Last weekend I organized an HIV/AIDS workshop for my Form C students. I worked with a Christian non-government organization called World Vision. They were extremely helpful in organizing food for the students; the students received fully catered meals the entire weekend (breakfast, lunch and dinner), more than making up for the fact that they had to go to school on a weekend. The workshop focused on HIV prevention strategies and given one in four people in Lesotho are known to be infected with HIV we decided to also focus on how people could live longer, healthy lives even thought they are infected with HIV. There are many misconceptions when it comes to HIV in the rural areas and it was a good opportunity to spread more knowledge about HIV to the upcoming generation. I was very happy with how everything went and the questions my students had about the subject. I feel like I have finally done something worthwhile for my community. This coming weekend I am taking the HIV/AIDS training a step further and have organized for another non-government organization to come out to counsel and HIV test the students and anyone else in the surrounding community interested. I pray the testing event is as successful as the workshop turned out to be. Planning is difficult due to my lack of cell phone coverage so if I want to go to town and work with these organizations I usually have to miss a day of school. I feel like it is counter-productive but what can I do? It usually works out in the end so I’m not terribly concerned.

            New bits: The pigs on the school compound are the bane of my existence. I spent a weekend early in May trying to get a garden planted with peas (they are winter hearty) and they were doing well until the pigs at the school got out of their pens and destroyed it about a month ago. I was NOT happy. I had been looking forward to fresh peas this spring! We had one pig butchered about two weeks ago so I have exacted part of my revenge. The others need to be looking over their shoulders…

            I recently tried chicken feet. The Basotho eat chicken feet as snacks and so one of the teachers I work with asked me if I had ever eaten them (no), and proceeded to cook a batch for me. They were chewy… but not bad! Next on my list—chicken heads; I hear the brains are tasty.

            I have been training for the Makhotlong Marathon with a group of students after school for the past two weeks. I’m excited to say I think I have a couple students who could go somewhere with running. The purpose of taking them to the marathon is to expose them to something new and teach them dedication to something that is not always fun or easy. So far they are doing wonderfully! The only problem is that they currently run in their school shoes, which are not running shoes. Thus, I am currently trying to figure out a way I could get them shoes to run in.

            Finally, just for the farmers in the family, you have been asking mom and dad what the temperatures are like in Lesotho during the winter; when it snows the temperatures are typically around 10 or 15 degrees F. I think it probably reached negative temps only once since I’ve been here. During the day, if it hasn’t been snowing it reaches 40 or 45 degrees F. Recently it has been getting up into the mid 60s. It makes me so happy!! Warmth at last!

            I apologize for the length of this post. I have not written in so very long that I actually have much more to say. However, I am tire of typing. J I hope everyone is doing well! As always, I love and miss you so much! Stay well and enjoy the fall football season.

First Snow

View of mountains from the Quthing camp town after the first snow.

My Room

Just to give you all an idea of what my living conditions look like. My bathtub is on top of my wardrobe. The wine bottles function as candle holders, and I have to dry my underwear inside because it is considered inappropriate to hang them outside on the line.

This is my kitchen. My water is underneath the table on the right, my sink consists of the two blue basins on top of the table, and my stove is attached to a gas tank hidden in the corner.

Twists

 

To avoid having to wash my hair so much I decided to have my hair twisted. There is fake hair twisted in with my real hair. And it did the job!

Reason #3 why you don't linger in the latrine

           It has been some time since I last posted but I wanted to make sure I had something good to report this time instead of the same ol’ teaching is difficult blah blah (by the way, I have a newfound respect for my teachers growing up—they definitely do not get paid enough to deal with moody adolescents all day, everyday). Needless to say, I now have something interesting to say—at least I think!

           

            Fro the past couple months Lesotho has been gearing up for their national elections which they have every five years for the role of Prime Minister. Lesotho is a constitutional monarchy set up much the same as England, and has been governed by the same Prime Minister for 15 years, Masisili (Ma-see-see-dee). Before I go any further you have to keep in mind that I have learned most of the following information by word of mouth and often my sources are politically biased. Also keep in mind that I am not allowed to take sides or make any kind of politically charged statement as a volunteer.

            I haven’t written about the political situation until now because things were fairly tense leading up to the final election and I wasn’t sure if I would be seeing many of you sooner than I had previously expected. But here goes: Many people in Lesotho are ready for change, they believe the government, especially Mosisili, is corrupt (go figure). About two, maybe three, months ago Mosisili split from his political party to form his own party due to rising tensions between his old political party, parliament, and him. This meant there were now three major political parties vying for control. This really isn’t all that exciting until you understand that there was rioting during the 1998 elections due to similar circumstances that ended up burning the capital city, Maseru, practically to the ground and leaving the country in a state of unrest. So the Peace Corps headquarters in Lesotho has been extremely on edge throughout this whole process, preparing all of us volunteers for the worst.

            During the last week in May (the week before elections) I was confined to my site, forbidden to travel around Lesotho, especially not to Maseru. You should be happy to know PC was on top of the situation taking all the necessary precautions. And you can rest assured I kept mother abreast of the situation (possibly leaving out a few details here and there).

            Well, that week, two of the member on the Tiping School Board decided to expel one of the teachers at my school for allegedly telling the students who to vote for (brainwashing). The voting age is 18 and I teach the equivalent of 8^th, 9^th, and 10^th grades yet many of my students are of voting age. The teacher is not on contract with the ministry of education, which means the school was paying him out of pocket (not a lot) to teach, so he could technically be considered a volunteer teacher. The two members of the school board not only failed to follow correct protocol for expelling a teacher, but they also brought the matter directly to the ministry of education without informing my principal beforehand. It was also made known to me that the two school board members were supporters of the current PM and their jobs were at stake if he was not re-elected (remember, I was only getting one side of this story). The teachers at my school were all in a huff about the incident and my principal refused to allow me to remain at Tiping during the weekend of elections, thus, I spent the weekend in town waiting out the election results with Tishina and another volunteer in Quthing who had gun shots in her village leading up to election weekend.

           

            As I am still in Lesotho, still doing my job you should have been able to figure out that nothing serous happened in Lesotho to merit the PC pulling volunteers out of country. The Prime Minister was defeated and the new Prime Minister was sworn in only a week ago. All that fuss for nothing! As for the teacher who was expelled at my school, I will keep you updated as soon as I am aware of what is going on. We are now on winter break (yay!) so I am not sure what is being done.

            On to more exciting news—I have a two month break! I am to spend the break thinking and planning and beginning to implement ‘secondary projects’ or projects that help the community I am serving, not just the school I teach at. Considering I have no central community/village this is somewhat of a challenge for me. I am sure I will come up with something though. Anyone know anything about making goat cheese?! You think I’m joking but I’m not.

            Even more exciting, we had our firs snow of the season the day we closed for winter break. All I can say is a small block room with corrugated metal roofing and winter are not a good combination. I’ve been sleeping with a hat and gloves on for the past month and I can see my breath almost all the time (in my room). I do have a gas heater but that is really only good for heating my roof. To be perfectly honest, it only gets really cold during the night—if the sun is shining during the day it is rather nice, but if there are clouds in the sky I’m screwed. All I want to do is crawl under my covers and stay there for the rest of my life. I am going through tea and hot cocoa (and coffee on a good day) like crazy just trying to stay warm. Which brings me to reason #3 of why you don’t linger in the latrine; you quite literally freeze your butt off. J Thank you for the warning Grandpa John A, but I just had to experience this one for myself for some reason…

            Finally, what I know you have all been waiting for, the bathing situation: I do, in fact, still bathe everyday. Of course bathing is a loose term and can apply to the kind of sponge bathing I have to do in the winter instead of the traditional, sitting in a tub of hot (and sometimes murky) water that we are all familiar with, but it counts! I have not washed my hair in three weeks though due to my new hairstyle; I got it twisted by one of the teachers at my school. It has made my life so much easier and it is a great topic with the local people. They LOVE that I styled my hair like they do.

            I also have to mention that I have successfully made Grandma Rosie’s cinnamon rolls and I think this is a particular accomplishment because I have to bake on a gas stove. They were delicious and almost as good as grandma’s (I couldn’t find powdered sugar to make the icing). My teachers were all amazed and thrilled with the new treat I’ve introduced to them. Cross-cultural learning and connections--check.

            Anyway, as always, I love and miss you all so much (but not as much as I miss central heating). I hope to hear from you, because your letters honestly make my day-to-day living more enjoyable. I also hope that everyone is enjoying the warm summer weather and if you could send some of it my way I would be grateful!

XOXO

Sadie

P.S. In case you were wondering what reasons 1 and 2 are for not lingering in the latrine they are as follows; the smell (obviously), and the bugs that wait to ambush you while you are trying to take a moment for yourself, specifically the spiders. My overactive imagination could have something to do with the second reason, but I can’t shake the feeling that as soon as I sit down to do my business something big, with lots of legs is going to come out from it’s hiding place and crawl where it shouldn’t. MMM!