No one told me there were scorpions in Lesotho!

I just got back from a 2 hour hike with my host brother. The family that I am living with lives in Mafoka, a small village in Maseru. Their home is at the bottom of a small mountain range. I got here yesterday and am really enjoying myself. When I got to my host families home, my ‘M’e, or mother, renamed me Rethabile Mothibe. From now on, I am expected to use my Sesotho name when introducing myself.

Their home is made of cinderblock and has a tin roof, which is one of two types of homes I have seen. I have my own room with a bed, table, and cabinets. I think they use this room as their kitchen when they are not hosting volunteers. Last night my ‘M’e made beans and bread for dinner. The bread was really good! She told me that I would learn how to make the bread on Monday! Right after dinner she showed me something in my room, told me goodnight, and closed the door. It was only 8:00 so I cleaned up my room by candlelight and went to bed. Around 12:00 the strongest, loudest storm ever came through our town. I was convinced our roof was going to fly off. The lightning lit up the whole room and the thunder was incredibly loud. When my ‘M’e woke me up this morning, I asked her if the thunder kept her up, she said no! It takes a serious sleeper to sleep through a storm like that.

This morning, I took a bucket bath at 6:00, which is still pretty strange. I managed to get soap in my eyes and water all over the place. I just got back from a hike with my “brother.” I thought we were just going to check out the village, but we ended up hiking to the top of a cliff-like mountain and sitting on the top of a huge bolder for a while. The view was amazing! He laughed for a few minutes when he noticed that I was gripping the rock as hard as possible.
Later today, I will be mapping the community with the other 7 volunteers staying in this village. It’s really nice to have a day to relax.

Pictures from Qacha's Nek

These pictures are from when I visited another volunteer. Her site was really cool, I think I described it in another post. I am going to try and put up more pictures soon!!! The second one down is the bath tub that we use here. I just got my own the other day!!

Qacha's Nek

I just got back from my 8 hour bus ride from Qacha’s Nek!  We got to stay with current volunteers to see how they live and what their site is like.  Meg and I stayed with Kylie, a primary resource teacher.  We left at 5:30 on Monday morning to take public transportation to her village.  I knew that the transportation was not the most comfortable, but actually experiencing it is completely different. 

We got on our Sprinter, which is a van that seats about 15 people.  The Sprinter makes fewer stops because it holds less people, so it gets to its destination much more quickly.  Other means of transportation hold more people and make more stops, so we really lucked out getting the van.  When we got to it, some people were already on the van waiting to leave.  The vans do not leave until they are full, so sometimes people have to wait for an hour or two for them to fill up.  Ours filled up very quickly and then we left!  Brett and I sat in the front row of seats, which is probably the worst spot.  I had to stand up and let people through every time we stopped!  After about 20 minutes, the van was full and people were standing.  A few stops later, the van was very full.  I already had a child on my knee, a woman’s purse on my lap, and my head was being supported by an older woman’s chest.  Just when I didn’t think I could get more uncomfortable, we stopped and let several more people on!  The driver drove sooo fast through the windy roads of the mountains, which made the ride even more uncomfortable.  After about 5 hours, we stopped for a stretch in a small camp town.  During our 15 minute break in the drive, an older woman asked me to switch her seats.  She could tell by the look on my face that I wanted nothing to do with it, so she let me know that it was the passenger seat.  I agreed and jumped in the front seat with my new van driver friend!  Right after we pulled out of the camp town, an old man asked me to hand him the dark bag that was next to me.  He didn’t speak any English, so it took me a while to figure out that he wanted the cooked pig foot that was sitting next to me!!!  He also thought it would be fun to eat it with his hands right behind me!  When he was finished, he started talking to me in Sesotho.  I didn’t know what he was saying, but I did understand when everyone in the front of the bus started laughing!  Apparently, he wanted to take me to get circumcised!  Awkward!

 

Once we got to Kylie’s community, we ate lunch and checked out the camp town, which is the capital of the district.  Later we made our way to her village and hiked up a small cliff/mountain to her rondoval.  It was really cool to stay in her place.  I took tons of pictures and am going to try to put them up soon!  Yesterday we visited her school, so she asked us if we wanted to bathe in her bucket.  I figured I would have to do it eventually, so said OK!  Kylie doesn’t have electricity, so I found myself standing in the dark with an empty bucket and a bucket with a gallon of warm water.  A few minutes later I had soap in my eyes and mouth and jumped when her cat jumped through the window.  I can only imagine how much I talked to myself through that process.

Later that day, we visited one of the three schools that Kylie works in.  Her job is to work with the teachers to improve their lessons and act as a resource as much as possible.  The kids were great and were so excited to see us.  I can’t wait to post pictures of her site and what the landscape looks like.  Kylie’s house is surrounded by huge mountains that are so close to the clouds.  The view is really incredible.  I took a few steps outside once it got dark and couldn’t stop staring at the stars.  I have never seen so many stars!  I also saw a shooting star!!

Well I think I’ve blogged long enough.  Once I get some pictures up, my blog will be more interesting!  I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!  We will be spending it at the Ambassador’s house.  

Pictures?

I'm not sure if this will work, but I'm trying!

Bug bites and dance parties

Hello from a local internet cafe! A few of us decided to walk around the town and check out the shops, but they are all closed because it's Saturday!! I found an internet cafe, which sounds way nicer than it is, and thought I'd say hi!

The past few days have been sooo busy, but I have really learned a lot. I am starting to really get into Sesotho, but am still throwing in some of the few Spanish and Swahili words that I know. Yesterday, some of the current volunteers presented a workshop about classroom management. It was really interesting and helped us to understand what the classrooms would be like at our site. During the presentation, I noticed a small bug bite on my arm. It didn't hurt or anything, it was just itchy. After about 10 minutes, someone else noticed the bite and that it had a nice size rash around it. I was asked by several people to see Dr. J, the Peace Corps doctor. When I got there, he said it was just a bug bite and asked me to take some kind of over the counter medicine and to put some cream on it. Today, the bump is still there, so I might go back to see him tonight. I really don't think it's something to worry about, but we'll see!

Earlier this week, a few of us discovered the local beer store. The night started with us just having a few beers and sharing stories of home...a few minutes later I got a hold of someones Ipod, turned off the lights, grabbed a few headlamps, and it turned into a dance party! It was a great way to break the ice! I'm sooo excited for tonight because we're going out with a few of the volunteers that have been leading workshops all week. It should be interesting!

Sorry this entry is so scattered! I usually type them on my computer and just paste them in, but I only have a few minutes on this computer!!!

Yesterday, we had the chance to take a 4+1 (cab) to the taxi rink. The taxi rink is where people get taxi's (really they are small 10 passenger busses that cram about 15 people in). It is also a local market. It was really neat to walk around and see what people were selling and buying. There were a lot of small stands that sold anything from dead chickens to clothing. The reason we visited the rink was to learn how to navigate on our own. On Monday we will be visiting current volunteers to see how they live and what their Peace Corps experience has been like. They will travel to Maseru, where I am now, and will take us back to their site. My site is in Quache's Nec (I think I spelled that wrong...and the Q is pronounced with a click!).  It turns out that the cite I'm visiting is the furthest away from Maseru.  It will be about a 6 hour bus ride!  

Yesterday we met the US Ambassador in Lesotho.  He is a pretty cool guy and asked us to come over for Thanksgiving and swim in his heated pool!!  So Thanksgiving won't be so sad away from home!  It sounds like it will be a pretty good time!  

Well I have to go!  Hope everyone is doing well!

Lumela!

Lumela (Hello) from Lesotho!  I am exhausted after our second 12-hour day in the classroom.  I might have mentioned before that we have 8 weeks of really long days to learn as much as we can before we are placed at our permanent sites.  Today, we visited a preschool, primary school, and high school, which were about 40 minutes from where we are staying.  The students were very excited to see us and immediately sang us songs at all three of the schools.  The high school had several, one-story buildings with two classrooms in each.  I think I counted 6 classrooms, plus a main office.   The principal was very nice and seemed to have a genuine interest in her students, as did the other principals we met today.  The classrooms were very empty, with a few long desks and benches for the roughly 35 students in each class.  The primary school had far more students, because it is offered free of tuition.  There were about 55 students in one of the 4^th grade classes.  The rooms were a little more decorated, but were still very empty.  The preschool was the last school that we visited.  There school was made up of two very small rondavil’s (homes made of clay and thatched roofing).  When we got there, all 30, or so, of the young children were outside, so it was hard to imagine how they fit in the very small, round buildings. 

We visited these schools to help us understand what a typical classroom looks like in Lesotho.  We will also be living in these communities for two days and will practice teaching in the classrooms.  I think we are doing this next week, which is really exciting!  I will be working in the primary school and helping to teach levels 4 and 7, which are made up of children of all ages. 

Once we got back to where we are staying, we ate a huge lunch with fish, beef stir fry (kind of), potatoes, salad, and squash.  Right after lunch, one of the Peace Corps doctors came and explained all of the things in our medical kits.  Our kits include everything from Pepto-Bismol to suntan lotion.  She wanted us to explore our kits, which no one wanted to do, but made it fun by making it a game.  She gave an orange to the first person to find the item she called out.  I really didn’t win often, but I got an orange in the end.

After that, we had a tea break and then our 1.5 hour Sesotho lesson.  They split us into groups of three for the next few weeks and I really feel like I’m learning a lot.  My group’s teacher is N’tante Paul.  So far, I’ve learned how to ask where, when, what, and how questions.  I can also greet people and have a very simple conversation with them.  It looks something like this…

Lumela!  (Hello)

U mang? (What’s your name?)

Ke abuti… (I am…)

U phela joang?  (How are you?)

Ke phela hantle.  (I am well)

Just a little sample!

The last thing we did tonight was to attend a Gender and Diversity workshop that was presented by two current volunteers.  They had 4 charts made and asked us to discuss stereotypes and typical gender roles for men and women in the US and Lesotho.  It was really interesting to hear how women are treated in Lesotho.  Some Basotho were there to discuss gender roles for men and women in Lesotho.  It was really difficult to hear them discuss the expectations for men and women from their point of view.  It was interesting to see how similar the list was for men in the US and the men in Lesotho, and the women, too. 

Now, it’s almost 10PM and we’re all exhausted.  Hope everything is well at home!  I LOVE seeing all of the comments you post!   I hope this makes sense!  It's really windy, which I love, but is making the internet really slow.  If I can find a better connection, I will definitely put pictures up!  They just aren't loading!  I heard a hotel down the street has good internet, I might try to take a trip on Sunday!  

Hello from Lesotho!

I'm in Lesotho!  We got here early yesterday morning and the weather has been beautiful!  When we got to the airport a few of us were missing some luggage.  After talking with some people mine turned up without anything missing, but other people had a ton of stuff stolen from their bags.  They handled it really well.  

Right now, I'm at the Peace Corps Headquarters.  It's so nice!  We have a guard on duty 24/7...just in case, a staff of people that are working on showing us around and teaching us the language.  The next 8 weeks are full of 12 hour days where we'll have language classes and all kinds of other classes to help us learn about the country.  The food they are cooking for us is great, we're eating a lot of chicken and fresh vegetables.  They are mixing in some Basotho (People of Lesotho) food, which isn't bad.  The food, people, and landscape really reminds me of Tanzania.  I keep catching myself greeting people in Swahili instead of Sesotho.  

I am pretty sure today is our first and only "free day."  Sunday's are typically our day off, but I think after this week we will have cleaning, studying, and other small projects to work on.  A lot of us are taking time to write letters and just relax today, which is sooo nice!  Earlier today, we walked around the city and checked out some of the local shops.  I was really surprised to walk into the local grocery story and see 15 isles of stuff.  It was comparable to any nice grocery store in the states!  It made me feel so much better to know that I could get anything I could possibly need in the city.  I met a volunteer that has been here for a year.  She lives about 3 hours away and comes to the city at least once a month.  

I will be staying here for about 8 weeks before I am place in my permanent village.  Until then, I should be able to get online 2 or 3 times a week!  I am working on getting a cell phone!  I'll post the number soon!

Byeee!!

And I'm back in Johannesburg...

All 19 of us met in the lobby of our hotel at 4:00 this morning.  My roommate decided to go for a run or something around 2 and I rolled over before he had a chance to have a conversation!  Things went really smoothly at the airport and we were all so excited to get to Lesotho.  When we walked onto the actual runway to get on our plane, I was shocked to see that it only held about 3o people.  It was so small and we weren't sure if it would hold all of our luggage - especially mine!  Our flight was only supposed to take an hour.  Right around the one hour mark, the pilot came on and told us that the weather was bad, we couldn't land, and that we were going back to Johannesburg.  We all looked out our window and agreed that although there were tons of huge, white, fluffy clouds, there was no bad weather!  After waiting about 5 hours in the airport for the next flight, they cancelled it!  Anyway, I'm back in the Southern Sun hotel and am going to take full advantage of the shower, buffet, and bed.  I thought about going to the gym and even put gym clothes on, but I fell asleep for a few hours!

We're trying our flight again tomorrow at 7AM and if the clouds are still too big, the Peace Corps is going to bus us into Lesotho.  I have my fingers crossed that we don't have to take a 5 hour bus ride!

Hope everyone is doing well!  Miss you!!!  Hopefully the next time I talk to you I'll be in Lesotho!

Hello from Johannesburg!

Hello from South Africa!  It doesn't even feel like I'm in Africa.  Everything is so beautiful and we're staying in an awesome hotel!!  Someone at the airport told me that the whole country is getting ready for the world cup in 2010!

Our flight was about 18 hours long.  We took a quick pit stop in Dakar, Senegal to fill up and let some people on and off.  I slept the whole first 6 hours!  When I checked in, I asked if I could switch from the middle seat to the isle seat.  Ended up being a great move because I had the whole row of 4 seats to myself.  Right after we ate, I flipped up the arm rests and passed out for 6 hours.  After we left Dakar, I watched "Beat the Drum."  Great movie...it's about a boy in South Africa and how he learns about AIDS.  Then I slept for another 5 hours.  I'm pretty well rested!! 

I just got finished eating dinner in our amazing hotel!  I really didn't expect to stay in a hotel this nice in the middle of South Africa.  The rooms are really modern and feel like something I would find in a big city in the US.  I got in the shower and realized that the wall was a tinted glass and that my roommate, or anyone else in the room, could see my silhouette when I was in the bathroom! 

 

For dinner, we ate in the hotel restaurant.  We all ran through the buffet line several times.  I couldn't believe they were serving lamb, beef, mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables, and about a dozen salads and desserts. 

My next flight is at 6, so we're leaving the hotel at 4.  Next time I'm on, I will be in Lesotho!  Byeeee!

I'm in the airport!

Hey everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm in JFK airport and am bored out of my mind.  We've been hanging around here for almost 4 hours and our flight leaves at 5.  I will be in the air for 17 hours and then will stay over in Johannesburg, South Africa.  We need to be out of the hotel at 4AM to make our flight...blah.  I'll be in Lesotho at 7Am on Friday...it will be about 12:30 Am our time.  

The 19 people in my group seem pretty cool.  I think we're going to have a great time!  I think I'll have internet access in South Africa, so I'll be back on then!!

Miss everyone!!!!

I'm in Philadelphia!

My flight left Pittsburgh at 9:35 this morning and got me to Phili around 10:45.  The plane was soooo small, but it was a nice flight.  I'm sitting in the lobby of my hotel now trying to relax and get past the idea that I will probably have more luggage than anyone else.  I am still not sure how I managed to pack 100.5 lbs of stuff into those bags!  People thought I was out of my mind when I was in the airport trying to waddle around with all of my stuff.

At 2:00 today, I will get to meet all of the other volunteers and will go through an orientation.  Thennnnnnnnn, Alli and Amee are picking me up and we're going to dinner!  I'll try to get on here again before I leave, but I might not be able to for a few days.  My address and everything are in a previous post, pleeeeeease write me!  I'd love to hear from you!!

Talk to everyone soon!  

Surprise Party!!

On my way to dinner with my friends Kristin and Justin, we took a pit stop at La Bella Bean to turn off the alarm that accidently went off after closing.  I thought it was so cool that Kristin and I just happened to be a few streets away from the coffee shop when Ashley called to ask me to swing by and take care of the alarm.  As soon as I walked in, the lights went on and some of my friends from work, my family, and neighbors yelled "SURPRISE!"  As it turns out, everyone knew about it and planned a great party.  I couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate one of my last nights in Pittsburgh than a party at the Bean! 

I'm the worlds worst blogger...but you get the idea!!!

Happy Thanksgiving/Merry Christmas/Happy Easter Dinner

My family celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday so I wouldn't miss it as much for two years.  As it turns out, we celebrated Easter and Christmas, too!  My family decorated our house for each of the holidays!!  It was so great to have everyone over and the food was amazing.  My family got me some really great gifts to help me out when I'm in Lesotho.  I can't wait to pack my bags and try out some of the awesome stuff I got. 

I have a little over 1 week left!  I can't believe how quickly the days are going!!!