January 26

(From January 26, 2010)

The secretary of education was supposed to be coming to our school today, to check on something, though I’m not sure what. True to Basotho time, he/she was supposed to come at 7:30am (which I found out at 7:29am) and we were all supposed to be awaiting his/her arrival. Needless to say, it is past 9am now, and we have no visitor. I should also mention, however, that the weather has not been very conducive to travel in any way, shape or form. It has rained so much recently, I really am surprised we’re not swimming. The past few days we’ve had a thunderstorm in the early morning changing into decent rain until school starts up around 7:15 or so. Then in the afternoon, the thunder and lightning come back… yesterday it was towards the end of lunch. I put on my rain coat and left my house to go back to the staff room, gather my materials and go to my afternoon lesson: a double block of mathematics with the A students. I made it back to the staffroom in my jacket and started getting ready when the rain came even harder. I figured, “Oh, what the heck, the kids have to learn, I’ll suck it up and get wet, no big deal.” After all, this is Africa. The other teachers would not let me out the door. “M’e Katie, you should just wait. I have a class now too but it is too much raining to go teach now.” I’ve heard of snow days. I’ve heard of days that are too cold for any living thing to be outside, but rain? Hmm… I didn’t argue too much though, I literally would have been soaked through, even with my 50 foot walk to the classroom; I figured it would pass soon… 40 minutes later, I finally got to the second half of my class and we managed to hear each other over the rain a little bit. Their energy was high, and mine was low (after having already taught 5 lessons that day) and so at first things were a little stressful. After I finished lecturing and they were working on practice problems, the real magic happened. I got some of those precious teacher moments, when you can totally and completely see the light go on for the student. It made the whole school day worthwhile, and was the best possible note to end on. (Then, needless to say, I got drenched on my way back to the staff room and even moreso on my way home, but it was so worth it.)

Thanks to the rain, I couldn’t run. Sad day. I’ve been absolutely terrible about running or training for this half-marathon. I guess my biggest consolation is that it will be in South Africa where (I think) the elevation is considerably lower, so I’ll at least be able to breathe, even if my legs are killing me. Instead of running, I took to decorating. I have finally begun to hang some of my beloved pictures up around my house. I also have numerous magazine clippings from that first week at Sekameng when I was bored out of my mind for so many days. It definitely feels more like home. It looks as though I will finish the photo-hanging this afternoon since the sky is as grey as ever and it has been sprinkling since the morning rain let up. I would venture a guess that the rainy season is upon us.

My weekend was pretty lazy. I saw friends on Friday, went to town on Saturday, and basically went to sleep on Saturday evening around 5pm. I woke up several times, only to change location from my couch to my bed or lock my door, but otherwise I slept until 8 the next day. On Sunday, my run brought me to another nearby village where one of the teachers from Sekameng lives, and apparently another PCV too (I still need to get in touch with her and let her know I know where she lives!). It also marks the first time I’ve done laundry all on my own (meaning no washer/dryer/help-from-my-host-mom… no comments from the peanut gallery, thank you very much), and my first bath in five days. Yep, you read that right: five days. Not necessarily a fact I’m proud of as I’ve always been the kind of person who very much enjoys showers (right Mom and Dad?!) … but honestly… well, there is no excuse for me not bathing in so many days. Lucky for me, people here just don’t care. I’m told that once winter really hits, I’ll be going weeks at a time, just washing one limb at a time. Interesting… In any case, it is nice to have clean clothes again (even though I will re-wear mostly the same things I wore last week), and especially clean hair!

This week we started on the official timetable, so I have a crazy hectic Monday, not-so-busy Tuesday, and moderately heavy Weds-Fri. Honestly, the teaching makes the time pass so much quicker than sitting in the staffroom listening to the other teachers speaking in Sesotho, but the downtime is nice for processing, writing, lesson-planning and being on my computer when the generator is running (now for example – I’m not using any power of my own battery! Sweet!)

So while the generator is turned on, all the other teachers usually come in to charge their phones. Mine has been plugged in for a while now (my ears perk up at the first sound of the engine starting), probably almost complete, and so as they trickle in, they see me on my computer and ask what I’m doing. I just showed two of them photos for almost half an hour! They love to see what my home looks like, as well as what my life has been like in Lesotho so far! I will have to compile a better photo list for them… (which means you should email me small photos and I can show them off… or just print them and send them!)

I really like most of the teachers with whom I am working here at Sekameng, but there is one who is especially wonderful. She asked me (within ten minutes of meeting me) if I liked to exercise. I responded in the affirmative, naturally, and she told me she wanted to lose her tummy, which she hates (haha, don’t we all). I hesitantly offered my running company (not thinking she would actually follow through with it) and she enthusiastically accepted. The next day, she came running with me. Every time I have run since then (granted, this is all of twice), she has been tagging along behind, usually quite far behind because she is just getting into shape, but still, even her presence has been very motivational.

I think I’ve always known that it is the small things in life that make each day worthwhile, but I’m learning it more and more here. After the first day of teaching, she offered to take me to the big shop, the one that is farther away from campus. I was thrilled and jumped at the chance to mingle more with the other teachers. We had nice conversation on our way over and back, and jokingly agreed to cook for each other sometime. As we were walking back, she mentioned the clinic and her friends there, and I told her I would also like to meet them (part of our assignments for the first few months at site are getting to know everything about your village). The next day after we ran, she said, “Let’s go to the clinic so you can meet my friends.” Talk about follow through!

We walked the 10 minutes to the clinic in town and were met at their door with only smiles and warm welcomes. I greeted them in Sesotho and they laughed at me, not your typical response. We began talking and I discovered that they were in fact Kenyans (hence the laughter at my Sesotho), and they have been working here for some years now. ‘M’e Mamosala (the teacher I’m befriending) and I talked with Henry while Mercy bustled about the kitchen, preparing tea, collecting water and doing dishes. She asked how much sugar I took in my tea, and brought over the most delicious (cream and sugar-filled) tea I have tasted in months. Next came a plate boasting a lovely pancake, rolled up with a fork stuck in it. Truthfully, I did not recognize it as a pancake at first, but when she said it was called a pancake, I felt pretty foolish for even asking. It was delicious.

Mercy and Henry were truly a breath of fresh air. We talked about everything, from Peace Corps to the village to the country’s political system to political systems around Africa, as well as education here and in the rest of Africa, and differences between Lesotho and South Africa. Wow, I could’ve cried; talking to them made me so happy. The four of us talked well into the darkness of the evening, so around 7:45pm, we began to wrap up our chat. They both gathered their coats and a flashlight to walk us back to Sekameng, assuring me that their door was always open and that they were very pleased to have met me, As we parted, Henry even told me, “I believe that we meet people for a purpose; you have not come into our lives for no reason” (I know it almost sounds cheesy, but it was music to my homesick ears). Henry is also a pastor at a church in Maseru somewhere (still developing at this point), but he assured me services were held in English and they cater primarily to an international community (hey, that’s me!). I will go with them sometime, and I look forward to it.

Two nights ago (on Sunday), as I was starting to think about what my dinner would be, ‘M’e Mamosala came by, just to say hello, let me know that she was back from her weekend and inquire about mine. She mentioned that she was going to cook papa and cabbage and I chuckled and said that I was also going to have cabbage, but in a soup. I showed her the recipe, and she said, “Yes, I think we can cook this; it looks quite nice.” Just like that, I had a dinner date. We arranged who would supply what (I offered my cabbage, carrots and spices; she provided onions, tomatoes and papa), and I walked over to cook with her. It turned into quite the dinner party! Mamosala is very social, so anyone who passed her open door was practically trapped into eating something with us, but it was a great time. The next day, I brought the former PCV’s cookbook in to the staffroom and every other (female) teacher there told me she wanted to make copies of it so she could learn to cook better, and “not be so fat.”

Last night we finished the soup and added some eggs to the meal. It was very nice, but I think my favorite was teaching her to play solitaire, with a real deck of cards rather than on a computer. Some of the rules escaped her, I think… at one point, we had 10 different piles, because she kept finding kings. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that you could only move a king onto a new pile if that pile is one of the seven and it is empty. I tried to teach her Gin, but she loved the solitaire – I don’t think I’ve ever won so many consecutive rounds!

In other news, some friends and I have put in our bids for the World Cup 2010 ticket lottery. We find out early February (and our credit cards are charged). Cross your fingers that one of us gets lucky and will be able to see some great soccer! (Do not worry; I am going regardless, it’s just a matter of whether or not I’ll be in a stadium, or in town somewhere.)

Well, it seems a waste to pack the computer up when I have two hours until my next class and the generator is still running, but I think it’s time. Give someone a hug for me!

All my love from Africa :)