April 23, 2010
Wow, it’s gotten quite cold here! Well, cold for Lesotho anyway. This means that instead of sleeping in boxers and a tank-top, I’ve been putting on a t-shirt and capris, and I’ve added an extra blanket on top of my (thin) comforter. I’ve also gone so far as to (gasp!) close my windows at night! The up-side of all this is that I really have no more need for my mosquito netting (thank goodness, its kind of a hassle getting in and out of bed!), and I sleep much better! It also means that the Basotho are bundled up like they’re about to go on some Arctic mission… Most wear hats, gloves/mittens, the thickest coats they can find, and some even wrap heavy blankets around their midsection. Quite frankly, I find it amusing, but I’m sure I’ll be tired of the cold in a month or so… I just really prefer cold to extreme heat. I definitely feel for the students who have to sit in (very cold) classrooms all day, only moving around during their single 20-minute break or lunch. Whenever they get a chance, they’re outside sitting in the sun, next to a building to cut the wind.
The cold makes bathing interesting… I can no longer come home from a run and use water straight from the tap; unless I want to completely freeze, I have to heat the water. I wash my hair much less frequently (yes, I realize this is disgusting), and when I do, I have to wrap up in multiple layers afterwards until my hair is dry. I think I’ll be drinking a lot of tea this winter… warm beverages are the best thing I’ve found (so far) for an instant warm-up. Rest assured that I have plenty of warm things (after all, I’m from Minnesota) and know how to layer my clothes very well (thank you, Grinnell!). School is only in session for another month and a half before we go to winter break (for close to two months!) so I just have to hang on until then.
It was the secretary of our school’s birthday yesterday. Thankfully, she told me about it
the day before so I could bake a cake. It’s amazing how far a small gesture like baking a cake can go – she was so thankful! I’ll admit, the cake was pretty delicious… I’ll also admit that I saved some of the batter so I could bake another (much smaller) cake for my friend who is coming this weekend! Hooray! More cake!
My Form A students are currently writing letters to my partner teacher’s class in America… I can hardly wait to read them! Students here are taught very formal letter writing, so when I told them I didn’t know the exact address of the school, they were absolutely flabbergasted. They wanted to put it on top of the page like a business letter! I managed to conceal my laughter until I got to the safety of my home… They’re so earnest with this letter-writing… “Madam, how do I end my letter? With ‘Sincerely’ or ‘Faithfully Yours’ or how?!” … “Madam, is it okay to draw the beautiful flowers on my paper?” … “Madam, when will the letters arrive? When will the other students write back?” Needless to say, I really hope this class pulls through for me… they have between fifty and sixty letters on the way… I couldn’t choose just one class to write; as soon as I’d asked one of my form A classes, I had to tell the other class too.
AH! HOW COULD I FORGET?! THE CHICKENS HAVE ARRIVED!!!
We have about 150 chickens just clucking around one of the extra buildings (I’m told it is actually meant for chickens!) towards the back of the school. They arrived on Tuesday (shortly after my friend left). Students brought them to their new home and set them up with fresh water and plenty of food… I’m not sure how long it will take for the chickens to start laying eggs, but as soon as they do, I’m going to push full force for a breakfast program to start! These kids need protein, not just Cheetah-like snacks that are primarily air and MSG. I want to find a way to have hard-boiled eggs available for students in the mornings so they don’t have to start their day with a completely empty tummy. I think I wrote more about this in an earlier post (I hope so, at least) so maybe search for chickens or breakfast or something if you want to know more? I’ll definitely keep the blog posted on how the breakfast program is coming (or BrEGGfast, if you will…) I’m still not entirely sure about all my duties as the chicken care-taker, but I think more will become clear as they actually start laying eggs.
Well, I think it’s time to go check on my students as they write their letters… and maybe read through a few of them before I send them away – those letters are going to be absolutely priceless. I will definitely have a “Letters to America: Best Of” post coming soon… until then, thanks so much for all your continued support. It really means the world. I (still) love receiving letters, but even a quick message online is great (and I can respond on my phone now too, hooray!)
Take care, enjoy springtime, smell some lilacs for me – I miss my family’s lilac bushes!
All my love from Africa,
-Katie
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
April 20
April 20, 2010
I’ve been back at site after vacation for two weeks now, and the time really has flown. A week ago, a dear friend from college who happened to be WWOOFing in South Africa showed up at my school and totally made my life beyond awesome for the past week…
She arrived on Wednesday right around the time all the students were rushing out to play sports, and was greeted by a ridiculous gaggle of students staring. I took her to the clinic to introduce her to my Kenyans at the clinic; we enjoyed several cups of tea and a huge bowl of popcorn. Mercy and Henry were warm and hospitable, as always, and I think they really enjoyed meeting Emily. We threw together a pretty tasty dinner (it’s definitely different having someone else to cook for/with!) and chatted a while about plans for the remainder of her stay.
Thursday was sports day. This means there were no classes. Instead, all the students were out on the soccer field, volleyball court, or netball court, playing sports or supporting their classmates. Initially, I thought we would be helping to officiate some of the matches, but thankfully, we got to observe instead. I’d never seen netball played, and was proud to witness my A girls beat the B girls. Volleyball was great fun to watch too, some of these students can really jump! Seeing them play volleyball made me miss my sisters who play… hope your teams are doing well, girls! We bopped around from court to field to court, taking pictures and chatting with my students. It was really great to see the students doing something they actually loved, rather than having knowledge crammed down their throats. After we’d had our fill, we embarked on a run along what has probably become my favorite route here. I cannot even express how nice it was to have someone to run with, especially one of my fellow cross-country runners! In the evening, some of the teachers were nice enough to cook for us – a really nice gesture, and pretty tasty food too!
On Friday, I left early to fulfill my duties as teacher “on duty,” and instead of beating the students with sticks (like many teachers do, unfortunately), I had several of them clear my garden plot. I imagine it was a lot of work, as the plot was terribly overgrown, but there were half a dozen of them, and I truly believe that many hands make light work. I taught my class and when I returned to change for our planned run, I found Emily in the garden, playing in the dirt. She looked right at home and clearly loved it, but I tore her away from the seeds and soil, and we went on our mission. Not only were we running, we each had a plastic bag to collect the wonderful fertilizer so many cows leave on the road. We returned with two plastic bags relatively full; she mixed it into the dirt, and began planting little seedlings in egg trays.
There was a blood drive at school on Friday as well, so my after break class was cancelled… I got a haircut instead. I swear, I was so spoiled with her here – she is one of the few people I trust to give me a good haircut! It was very interesting talking with the other teachers and some students about the blood drive. There were definitely some donors, but not nearly as many as one might have hoped. I think that because few people here have regular access to all the immunizations that we are so lucky to have in America, that they’re not accustomed to having needles jabbed into their arms. For this reason, the idea of having a tube connected to your arm to take away 500mL of your blood is relatively petrifying. So they’re too scared. I told the students (and teachers too) that every time you give blood, you can save three lives, and that may have pushed some over the edge of indecision, but I think some were still too scared. That, or they actually weren’t old enough. In order to give blood, you need to be 16 years old, and 50kg… I think these regulations are roughly comparable to those at home, but I’m not sure about the questions they ask each donor while waiting for the quick (iron?) test results. It seemed there were not nearly as many, and I wonder too if they do any sort of HIV follow-up. I’m certain they test the blood for HIV (obviously, you can’t give a blood transfusion of HIV+ blood, that’s just irresponsible), but if they do find HIV+ blood, do they contact the donor again? I’ll have to do some sleuthing.
Friday afternoon, we headed to another friend’s place to cook some delicious dinner and so I could show Emily the life of another PCV. We made risotto and ate bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar… something I haven’t had (or enjoyed so much!) since my time in Italy. I think/hope she enjoyed it there; I definitely had fun. The next morning, we caught a taxi to town to do some grocery shopping (it had been over a week and a half for me!) and other errands. There we ran into several other PVCs, so she really got the grand tour… We planned to meet up with another friend the following day to climb a nearby mountain, so slept relatively early on Saturday.
On Sunday, armed with several water bottles, some real Clif Bars (from AMERICA!), and some snacks, we headed towards the mountain that is closest to my home. Legend has it there’s a lake on top, where a snake lives. If you see the snake, you die (so it’s like in Pirates, how do you really know it’s there if nobody has survived to tell the tale?). It was quite a climb, and naturally about a dozen students and other village children (who were intrigued by the three white girls climbing the mountain) accompanied us. They would dart ahead and then perch and wait for us to catch up. The top of the mountain is huge, much bigger than I’d anticipated. We walked around a while before the students essentially grabbed us and brought us over to the lake. It wasn’t a lake by Minnesota standards, but I could see why Lesotho would be proud. We didn’t see any serpent of any kind (though I definitely told my students the next day we did), but there was something living in the water making occasional ripples.
The descent was long and tiring. My legs were pretty sore when we finally reached the bottom, and it felt wonderful to be walking on solid and even ground again, even if we did take the long way home. When we finally reached my house, Emily and I each did some laundry and then cooked an amazing (but overly spicy) dinner… and later baked two small loaves of bread, which we devoured. By her estimation (based on time and speed), we put in somewhere around 15 miles on Sunday… no wonder we were so tired!
Monday was busy, as usual. I taught my six classes, she relaxed, did laundry and tidied the house (almost like having a housewife, though she is anything but domestic :) !) After school, the generator was on to help some of the other teachers type papers for their classes, and we went for a nice run. The clouds were amazing that night – there were thunderheads behind us and in front of us; we could see some clouds pouring down rain and moving around. The sunset magnified it all; some clouds were lined with the brightest fluorescent pinks and oranges while others were purple and gold. It was an amazing time (and place) for a run.
In the evening, the teachers threw a small dinner party with more (spicy) chaka-laka and homegrown vegetables, so Emily got to further taste the local “cuisine,” and we were relieved of cooking, yet again. We went for one final farewell run on Tuesday morning, before I had to teach, and then we parted ways. It was definitely strange (after a week of having a house guest) to return home to an empty house! My cooking definitely decreased and I resorted back to some stir-fried veggies and popcorn as my staple. Ha.
Well, I’m sad she’s gone but happy for her that she’ll be trekking across South Africa and soon returning home, just in time for spring! Emily – thanks for a great visit… you’re welcome anytime! (You’ll be amused to know that the awkward teacher was asking when we could plan a visit to CT to see you… HA!) Hugs, girl!
With that, I’m going to bed.
All my love from Africa,
-Katie
I’ve been back at site after vacation for two weeks now, and the time really has flown. A week ago, a dear friend from college who happened to be WWOOFing in South Africa showed up at my school and totally made my life beyond awesome for the past week…
She arrived on Wednesday right around the time all the students were rushing out to play sports, and was greeted by a ridiculous gaggle of students staring. I took her to the clinic to introduce her to my Kenyans at the clinic; we enjoyed several cups of tea and a huge bowl of popcorn. Mercy and Henry were warm and hospitable, as always, and I think they really enjoyed meeting Emily. We threw together a pretty tasty dinner (it’s definitely different having someone else to cook for/with!) and chatted a while about plans for the remainder of her stay.
Thursday was sports day. This means there were no classes. Instead, all the students were out on the soccer field, volleyball court, or netball court, playing sports or supporting their classmates. Initially, I thought we would be helping to officiate some of the matches, but thankfully, we got to observe instead. I’d never seen netball played, and was proud to witness my A girls beat the B girls. Volleyball was great fun to watch too, some of these students can really jump! Seeing them play volleyball made me miss my sisters who play… hope your teams are doing well, girls! We bopped around from court to field to court, taking pictures and chatting with my students. It was really great to see the students doing something they actually loved, rather than having knowledge crammed down their throats. After we’d had our fill, we embarked on a run along what has probably become my favorite route here. I cannot even express how nice it was to have someone to run with, especially one of my fellow cross-country runners! In the evening, some of the teachers were nice enough to cook for us – a really nice gesture, and pretty tasty food too!
On Friday, I left early to fulfill my duties as teacher “on duty,” and instead of beating the students with sticks (like many teachers do, unfortunately), I had several of them clear my garden plot. I imagine it was a lot of work, as the plot was terribly overgrown, but there were half a dozen of them, and I truly believe that many hands make light work. I taught my class and when I returned to change for our planned run, I found Emily in the garden, playing in the dirt. She looked right at home and clearly loved it, but I tore her away from the seeds and soil, and we went on our mission. Not only were we running, we each had a plastic bag to collect the wonderful fertilizer so many cows leave on the road. We returned with two plastic bags relatively full; she mixed it into the dirt, and began planting little seedlings in egg trays.
There was a blood drive at school on Friday as well, so my after break class was cancelled… I got a haircut instead. I swear, I was so spoiled with her here – she is one of the few people I trust to give me a good haircut! It was very interesting talking with the other teachers and some students about the blood drive. There were definitely some donors, but not nearly as many as one might have hoped. I think that because few people here have regular access to all the immunizations that we are so lucky to have in America, that they’re not accustomed to having needles jabbed into their arms. For this reason, the idea of having a tube connected to your arm to take away 500mL of your blood is relatively petrifying. So they’re too scared. I told the students (and teachers too) that every time you give blood, you can save three lives, and that may have pushed some over the edge of indecision, but I think some were still too scared. That, or they actually weren’t old enough. In order to give blood, you need to be 16 years old, and 50kg… I think these regulations are roughly comparable to those at home, but I’m not sure about the questions they ask each donor while waiting for the quick (iron?) test results. It seemed there were not nearly as many, and I wonder too if they do any sort of HIV follow-up. I’m certain they test the blood for HIV (obviously, you can’t give a blood transfusion of HIV+ blood, that’s just irresponsible), but if they do find HIV+ blood, do they contact the donor again? I’ll have to do some sleuthing.
Friday afternoon, we headed to another friend’s place to cook some delicious dinner and so I could show Emily the life of another PCV. We made risotto and ate bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar… something I haven’t had (or enjoyed so much!) since my time in Italy. I think/hope she enjoyed it there; I definitely had fun. The next morning, we caught a taxi to town to do some grocery shopping (it had been over a week and a half for me!) and other errands. There we ran into several other PVCs, so she really got the grand tour… We planned to meet up with another friend the following day to climb a nearby mountain, so slept relatively early on Saturday.
On Sunday, armed with several water bottles, some real Clif Bars (from AMERICA!), and some snacks, we headed towards the mountain that is closest to my home. Legend has it there’s a lake on top, where a snake lives. If you see the snake, you die (so it’s like in Pirates, how do you really know it’s there if nobody has survived to tell the tale?). It was quite a climb, and naturally about a dozen students and other village children (who were intrigued by the three white girls climbing the mountain) accompanied us. They would dart ahead and then perch and wait for us to catch up. The top of the mountain is huge, much bigger than I’d anticipated. We walked around a while before the students essentially grabbed us and brought us over to the lake. It wasn’t a lake by Minnesota standards, but I could see why Lesotho would be proud. We didn’t see any serpent of any kind (though I definitely told my students the next day we did), but there was something living in the water making occasional ripples.
The descent was long and tiring. My legs were pretty sore when we finally reached the bottom, and it felt wonderful to be walking on solid and even ground again, even if we did take the long way home. When we finally reached my house, Emily and I each did some laundry and then cooked an amazing (but overly spicy) dinner… and later baked two small loaves of bread, which we devoured. By her estimation (based on time and speed), we put in somewhere around 15 miles on Sunday… no wonder we were so tired!
Monday was busy, as usual. I taught my six classes, she relaxed, did laundry and tidied the house (almost like having a housewife, though she is anything but domestic :) !) After school, the generator was on to help some of the other teachers type papers for their classes, and we went for a nice run. The clouds were amazing that night – there were thunderheads behind us and in front of us; we could see some clouds pouring down rain and moving around. The sunset magnified it all; some clouds were lined with the brightest fluorescent pinks and oranges while others were purple and gold. It was an amazing time (and place) for a run.
In the evening, the teachers threw a small dinner party with more (spicy) chaka-laka and homegrown vegetables, so Emily got to further taste the local “cuisine,” and we were relieved of cooking, yet again. We went for one final farewell run on Tuesday morning, before I had to teach, and then we parted ways. It was definitely strange (after a week of having a house guest) to return home to an empty house! My cooking definitely decreased and I resorted back to some stir-fried veggies and popcorn as my staple. Ha.
Well, I’m sad she’s gone but happy for her that she’ll be trekking across South Africa and soon returning home, just in time for spring! Emily – thanks for a great visit… you’re welcome anytime! (You’ll be amused to know that the awkward teacher was asking when we could plan a visit to CT to see you… HA!) Hugs, girl!
With that, I’m going to bed.
All my love from Africa,
-Katie
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Back in the Saddle...
April 12, 2010
By my count, I’ve been in Lesotho for 5 months now. Wow.
Sorry to have been M.I.A. for a while… I’m officially back at school now, giving tests and marking homework, same as it ever was. I arrived back last Tuesday after one of the best vacations I’ve ever taken. Considering I was initially planning to run a half-marathon, I would say things turned out as good as if not better than exhausting myself over 13.1 grueling miles (for which I had not trained). We spent four nights an hour or so south of Durban at an amazing hostel, right on the ocean. If you ever get the chance, do yourself a favor and check out Mantis & Moon. The staff was awesome, the facility was excellent, and there were plenty of opportunities for things to do.
It took a while to get there; we left my friend’s place around 6am to pass through the border gate, to meet our hired private vehicle (definitely a nice way to go) to drive to Durban, to catch another ride (for another hour or so) to finally reach M&M.
The first thing to do when we arrived (naturally) was to head for the ocean. I have now swum in three oceans (Atlantic, Pacific and Indian), and as much as I would love to also swim in the Arctic Ocean, I’m not so sure that’ll happen. The waves were pretty intense; we all got heavily thrashed, but we played until sunset and headed back for dinner. South African pizza has never tasted so good.
The next morning, some of the people in our group talked to the hostel staff to try to find out what was available for us to do. We opted snorkeling in the morning and lazing by the beach in the afternoon. A friend and I ran on the beach (which, I contend, is still one of the most perfect running surfaces imaginable, though difficult at times) while others looked at fish and underwater plants. With the exception of a short lunch break, we spent the day on the beach, and by the time dinner rolled around, we were definitely hungry. That night we cooked ribs that had been given to us by another guy staying at the hostel (he claimed they were the best meat we would ever taste in our lives… as a vegetarian, I’m probably not a fair judge, but I did eat some and they were pretty tasty), potato wedges and peppers stuffed with rice, lentils, corn, tomatoes and probably some other good stuff I’m forgetting. We all slept pretty early that night in anticipation of Oribi Gorge the next day. (You should google Oribi Gorge… it’s a pretty amazing place.)
We got up early for the short journey. Four of our gang went white-water rafting while the rest of us and some others from the hostel went on a beautiful 3-hour hike to a waterfall and back. We met up early afternoon before going to the world’s highest gorge swing. This meant getting harnessed in, strapping the harness in to some thick cables, and literally jumping (or falling, in some instances) off the wall of a gorge that is over 100 meters tall. I’ll admit, I was more nervous about it than I thought I would be. I’ve been skydiving before, and the feeling before jumping off the edge is absolutely nothing like skydiving. When I went skydiving, I rode up in the plane all strapped in, so I could tell how high we were, plus I had a parachute (and experienced guide) on my back. This time, I had only a harness and a prayer.
We harnessed in one by one at the top, then proceeded down a very sturdy (but still slightly creepy) ladder to another smaller platform of rocks. There was a sort of waiting area, and down a few layers of rock, there was a man who worked for the gorge swing who helped get the final straps strapped and walked us through the jump itself. He seemed pretty calm and operated with amazing ease so close to the ledge. He was harnessed in as well, but to a much shorter rope, so if he toppled off the cliff, he would only make it about 1.5 meters before crashing into the wall. Ouch.
I was 4th or 5th in the group to go, so I had seen several go before me and return to the top, absolutely beaming and wanting to go again. When I got to the edge, I’d already decided I was going to attempt a front flip, and having heard from a reliable source that they were not so difficult, I was pretty confident. I told the guide this and he sort of looked at me like I was crazy. Well, yes, because I paid money to jump off the edge of a huge gorge, I must be slightly crazy. But, he instructed me where to jump so I didn’t mess anything up (including my pants), gave me the “3 – 2 – 1 – JUMP!” and I was off. I made a lovely front flip (if I do say so myself) and continued to free fall for another second or so. It was absolutely exhilarating, though truly, words can’t do the whole thing justice. The harness caught very gently, and I was left swinging there, in very peaceful solitude, for maybe half a minute before the machine started to reel me in. Wow. Definitely the biggest adrenaline rush I’ve had in the past five months!
In the evening, nobody wanted to cook, so we walked to a nearby restaurant called Rock Bottom (SpongeBob reference, anyone?!), where we all enjoyed cold drinks and warm salty (veggie) burgers and chips (fries). It was strange but very nice to be at a (real) restaurant again after such a long time, especially one where we actually blended in. Any number of volunteers (who are mostly white-ish) at any restaurant in Lesotho creates quite a scene; it’s almost like being a celebrity. In South Africa, we blended right in and only attracted attention because we were a group of 12 Americans who acted like running water and electricity were the greatest things since sliced bread (which, I’m more and more convinced, is true).
The final day, Easter Sunday, we also spent on the beach. We got a relatively early start, made it to the beach around 10:30, and plopped down to sleep, read or write. I went for another run, down the beach the other way this time, and practically bumped into some fisherman’s lines. I’m not exactly sure the logic behind standing halfway up the beach with a fishing pole and a fishing line that’s just waiting to strangle any passersby, but hey, they probably didn’t understand why I was running. When we got back to the field of towels, another guy from the hostel had brought down a soccer ball so we kicked that around for a good hour or more.
We watched the clouds roll around for a while and waited for the coming storm. Luckily, we got cold and tired enough to head home just as the first rain was falling, so it didn’t interfere with our beach time at all. Quick snacks, hot showers and soccer on television – what a life. We dined at the hostel that night on some of the best food I’ve had on this continent: meat (chicken and sausage I think?), beautiful green salad, mushrooms, soft bread, potato wedges and butternut squashes stuffed with a mix of feta, spinach and tomatoes. Oh. My. Gosh. It was amazing. The best part is that the guys at the hostel said they’d cook for me every night if I’d work there… maybe I’ll have to stop back for a few days (months) before coming home…
After supper, I played several games of pool with friends – some of the longest games of my life. For the first two games, the two teams were equally lacking in skill, but the third game, my friend and I (about equal skill level) took on two pros. By this time I was pretty tired of pool, and my friend didn’t want to be playing either, but we figured it’d be a quick loss since the other two were so good. However, they took the game as an opportunity to teach us the ins and outs of pool, and how best to “snooker” your opponent. When it was their turn, they’d hit a great shot and seemingly set us up for an easy ball, but whenever we were about to take our turn, they’d stop us and explain why we did not, in fact, want to attempt that shot. Inevitably, we’d listen (they were good after all), and the game went on a painfully long while, even though it should have lasted only three turns. Needless to say, I learned a lot about pool!
Sunday was a good night; I stayed up late chatting with some guys who were also working or staying at the hostel. Ultimately, I think our group convinced one of them, a great guy from Holland, to visit Lesotho on his next vacation. I’m thrilled he wants to come; it will be so much fun to show him around. Unfortunately, I’ll have to wait a while… probably until September… or later. Thank goodness for the internet and so many means of communication! :)
It was depressing to leave the hostel, especially to head back to relative isolation after having spent two and a half weeks with my friends. The journey home was relatively smooth; the guy who drove us from Ficksburg to Durban picked us up right at the hostel and drove us straight back to Ficksburg. Though there were only twelve of us, we bought out the extra two seats in the car so we could have the extra room to sprawl and sleep (twelve vacationers is a lot of luggage), and control the radio (Brian – thanks for the iTrip! it made the car rides so much more enjoyable!). Several of us southerners had intended to make it through and past Maseru on Monday, but seeing as it was almost 4pm by the time we crossed back into Lesotho, we crashed at a friend’s place for one last night together. The food that night was also delicious (peanut butter sauce over rice and lots of vegetables), but my favorite part was all crowding into her home to watch a beautiful slideshow that contained everyone’s photos from the trip.
The whole vacation was a beautiful reminder of a lot of things. My friends are wonderful. I don’t know what else to say without getting too mushy, but I’m incredibly thankful for all the people on that trip. New friends are also pretty great… the guys who worked at the hostel were so welcoming and a lot of fun. They came hiking with us and cooked, as I said, the best food I’ve had in a long time. Plus they all got up (early) to say goodbye to us… doesn’t get much better than that! The other people at the hostel were pretty great too; I might have several extra stops on my post-COS itinerary! :)
My first full day back at school was pretty rough. I struggled to review fractions with a class I’d not seen in almost three weeks. One of the other teachers saw me after I’d fallen asleep in the staff room for almost an hour and told me to go home and sleep there. I did so without complaining. Overall, of my first 50 or so hours back at site, I probably slept for at least 28 of them, no joke. All that vacation really caught up with me…
Thursday was a much better day, especially since I had the morning off. I went for a run, took a quick bucket bath, and felt very refreshed and ready to tackle a full day of teaching. Friday was pretty good too. Unfortunately, the school still has a pretty serious water shortage, so I ended up washing all my dishes and dirty clothes during school hours to ensure I’d have water for the weekend. After I’d finished some odd jobs around school, I went to the clinic to visit the wonderful Kenyans there. I’d not seen them in over three weeks, and it was like returning to a true home after being away. No visit to Mercy and Henry would be complete without tea, but this visit also filled my belly with bread with peanut butter and a beautiful green apple. We chatted until dark about lots of thought-provoking things, and they walked me home.
The rest of the weekend was relatively quiet. As always, some students came to do their work here or tend their crops for agriculture class, but very few knocked on my door. I didn’t mind the quiet though, I had to set exams for all three subjects I teach, which proved to be more difficult than I’d anticipated. I found I’d forgotten most of the vocabulary my students understand. For example, when it comes to reducing fractions, they might understand “simplify” but not “write in lowest terms” or “reduce” … so I had to ponder word choice. I also constructed a makeshift spice rack, of which I am very proud. Time will tell whether or not it will stay together, but for now, it holds my rosemary, Italian herbs, garlic salt, garlic flakes, tomato flakes, cayenne powder, curry powder, pepper and salt very nicely. I’m just awaiting that crash-bang-boom in the middle of the night when it comes crashing down and I have a spice medley all over my dirty kitchen floor.
That brings me to today. Monday has been decent. After arriving to the staffroom around 8:15 (I don’t teach until 8:40 and this late arrival is perfectly acceptable here), I discovered that I am on duty this week. Curses! I HATE being on duty! This means I have to get up early enough to see that the gate is shut at 7am, punish the latecomers (ugh), monitor morning study, monitor the lunch area (yeah, right! it’s crazy in there!), monitor afternoon study, and then see that the grounds are cleaned at the end of the day. To make things worse, the other teacher who is on duty with me was nowhere to be found today! I’m bad enough at being on duty as it is, it sure didn’t help that she wasn’t there to help me…
I had two very bizarre encounters today. First, as I was walking to the staffroom from my house after lunch, a boy walked past a building and slapped a small lizard that was doing nothing wrong, simply sunning itself. Part of the lizard (its tail, I later discovered) fell to the ground and was squirming like I have never seen anything squirm. The rest of the lizard (head, four legs and stub) remained on the wall. When I poked at it with my keys to see if it would move, it stayed still. The body was dead but the tail was very much alive (or dying…). So strange.
Then, in one of my physics classes, we were reviewing for the exam that the students will take tomorrow, and I saw a girl poke a small plastic bag with a pen. To my surprise, the bag chirped and moved. I was quite startled, and I approached her desk to find a very small baby bird (probably suffocating) in a plastic baggie. I asked incredulously what on earth she was going to do with the bird. She giggled and replied, “It is for Matseliso.” I turned around to ask Matseliso what on earth she planned to do with it, and she said with a grin, “But Madam, I will eat it!” Now, I’m a vegetarian, but I know for certain that the bird was way too small to eat. I brought this up to her and she laughed at me and told me that naturally, she would have to let it grow first. Silly me! How could I not know that she would let the baby bird in a plastic bag grow up before she would cook and eat it. My students laughed long and hard at my sympathy for the poor creature, but I guess on the upside, at least she’ll have meat for a meal…
Well, the generator is off now and my computer will likely die soon. I hope this quenches some of your desires for updates on my life… I’ll write more as soon as I can.
All my love from Africa,
Katie
By my count, I’ve been in Lesotho for 5 months now. Wow.
Sorry to have been M.I.A. for a while… I’m officially back at school now, giving tests and marking homework, same as it ever was. I arrived back last Tuesday after one of the best vacations I’ve ever taken. Considering I was initially planning to run a half-marathon, I would say things turned out as good as if not better than exhausting myself over 13.1 grueling miles (for which I had not trained). We spent four nights an hour or so south of Durban at an amazing hostel, right on the ocean. If you ever get the chance, do yourself a favor and check out Mantis & Moon. The staff was awesome, the facility was excellent, and there were plenty of opportunities for things to do.
It took a while to get there; we left my friend’s place around 6am to pass through the border gate, to meet our hired private vehicle (definitely a nice way to go) to drive to Durban, to catch another ride (for another hour or so) to finally reach M&M.
The first thing to do when we arrived (naturally) was to head for the ocean. I have now swum in three oceans (Atlantic, Pacific and Indian), and as much as I would love to also swim in the Arctic Ocean, I’m not so sure that’ll happen. The waves were pretty intense; we all got heavily thrashed, but we played until sunset and headed back for dinner. South African pizza has never tasted so good.
The next morning, some of the people in our group talked to the hostel staff to try to find out what was available for us to do. We opted snorkeling in the morning and lazing by the beach in the afternoon. A friend and I ran on the beach (which, I contend, is still one of the most perfect running surfaces imaginable, though difficult at times) while others looked at fish and underwater plants. With the exception of a short lunch break, we spent the day on the beach, and by the time dinner rolled around, we were definitely hungry. That night we cooked ribs that had been given to us by another guy staying at the hostel (he claimed they were the best meat we would ever taste in our lives… as a vegetarian, I’m probably not a fair judge, but I did eat some and they were pretty tasty), potato wedges and peppers stuffed with rice, lentils, corn, tomatoes and probably some other good stuff I’m forgetting. We all slept pretty early that night in anticipation of Oribi Gorge the next day. (You should google Oribi Gorge… it’s a pretty amazing place.)
We got up early for the short journey. Four of our gang went white-water rafting while the rest of us and some others from the hostel went on a beautiful 3-hour hike to a waterfall and back. We met up early afternoon before going to the world’s highest gorge swing. This meant getting harnessed in, strapping the harness in to some thick cables, and literally jumping (or falling, in some instances) off the wall of a gorge that is over 100 meters tall. I’ll admit, I was more nervous about it than I thought I would be. I’ve been skydiving before, and the feeling before jumping off the edge is absolutely nothing like skydiving. When I went skydiving, I rode up in the plane all strapped in, so I could tell how high we were, plus I had a parachute (and experienced guide) on my back. This time, I had only a harness and a prayer.
We harnessed in one by one at the top, then proceeded down a very sturdy (but still slightly creepy) ladder to another smaller platform of rocks. There was a sort of waiting area, and down a few layers of rock, there was a man who worked for the gorge swing who helped get the final straps strapped and walked us through the jump itself. He seemed pretty calm and operated with amazing ease so close to the ledge. He was harnessed in as well, but to a much shorter rope, so if he toppled off the cliff, he would only make it about 1.5 meters before crashing into the wall. Ouch.
I was 4th or 5th in the group to go, so I had seen several go before me and return to the top, absolutely beaming and wanting to go again. When I got to the edge, I’d already decided I was going to attempt a front flip, and having heard from a reliable source that they were not so difficult, I was pretty confident. I told the guide this and he sort of looked at me like I was crazy. Well, yes, because I paid money to jump off the edge of a huge gorge, I must be slightly crazy. But, he instructed me where to jump so I didn’t mess anything up (including my pants), gave me the “3 – 2 – 1 – JUMP!” and I was off. I made a lovely front flip (if I do say so myself) and continued to free fall for another second or so. It was absolutely exhilarating, though truly, words can’t do the whole thing justice. The harness caught very gently, and I was left swinging there, in very peaceful solitude, for maybe half a minute before the machine started to reel me in. Wow. Definitely the biggest adrenaline rush I’ve had in the past five months!
In the evening, nobody wanted to cook, so we walked to a nearby restaurant called Rock Bottom (SpongeBob reference, anyone?!), where we all enjoyed cold drinks and warm salty (veggie) burgers and chips (fries). It was strange but very nice to be at a (real) restaurant again after such a long time, especially one where we actually blended in. Any number of volunteers (who are mostly white-ish) at any restaurant in Lesotho creates quite a scene; it’s almost like being a celebrity. In South Africa, we blended right in and only attracted attention because we were a group of 12 Americans who acted like running water and electricity were the greatest things since sliced bread (which, I’m more and more convinced, is true).
The final day, Easter Sunday, we also spent on the beach. We got a relatively early start, made it to the beach around 10:30, and plopped down to sleep, read or write. I went for another run, down the beach the other way this time, and practically bumped into some fisherman’s lines. I’m not exactly sure the logic behind standing halfway up the beach with a fishing pole and a fishing line that’s just waiting to strangle any passersby, but hey, they probably didn’t understand why I was running. When we got back to the field of towels, another guy from the hostel had brought down a soccer ball so we kicked that around for a good hour or more.
We watched the clouds roll around for a while and waited for the coming storm. Luckily, we got cold and tired enough to head home just as the first rain was falling, so it didn’t interfere with our beach time at all. Quick snacks, hot showers and soccer on television – what a life. We dined at the hostel that night on some of the best food I’ve had on this continent: meat (chicken and sausage I think?), beautiful green salad, mushrooms, soft bread, potato wedges and butternut squashes stuffed with a mix of feta, spinach and tomatoes. Oh. My. Gosh. It was amazing. The best part is that the guys at the hostel said they’d cook for me every night if I’d work there… maybe I’ll have to stop back for a few days (months) before coming home…
After supper, I played several games of pool with friends – some of the longest games of my life. For the first two games, the two teams were equally lacking in skill, but the third game, my friend and I (about equal skill level) took on two pros. By this time I was pretty tired of pool, and my friend didn’t want to be playing either, but we figured it’d be a quick loss since the other two were so good. However, they took the game as an opportunity to teach us the ins and outs of pool, and how best to “snooker” your opponent. When it was their turn, they’d hit a great shot and seemingly set us up for an easy ball, but whenever we were about to take our turn, they’d stop us and explain why we did not, in fact, want to attempt that shot. Inevitably, we’d listen (they were good after all), and the game went on a painfully long while, even though it should have lasted only three turns. Needless to say, I learned a lot about pool!
Sunday was a good night; I stayed up late chatting with some guys who were also working or staying at the hostel. Ultimately, I think our group convinced one of them, a great guy from Holland, to visit Lesotho on his next vacation. I’m thrilled he wants to come; it will be so much fun to show him around. Unfortunately, I’ll have to wait a while… probably until September… or later. Thank goodness for the internet and so many means of communication! :)
It was depressing to leave the hostel, especially to head back to relative isolation after having spent two and a half weeks with my friends. The journey home was relatively smooth; the guy who drove us from Ficksburg to Durban picked us up right at the hostel and drove us straight back to Ficksburg. Though there were only twelve of us, we bought out the extra two seats in the car so we could have the extra room to sprawl and sleep (twelve vacationers is a lot of luggage), and control the radio (Brian – thanks for the iTrip! it made the car rides so much more enjoyable!). Several of us southerners had intended to make it through and past Maseru on Monday, but seeing as it was almost 4pm by the time we crossed back into Lesotho, we crashed at a friend’s place for one last night together. The food that night was also delicious (peanut butter sauce over rice and lots of vegetables), but my favorite part was all crowding into her home to watch a beautiful slideshow that contained everyone’s photos from the trip.
The whole vacation was a beautiful reminder of a lot of things. My friends are wonderful. I don’t know what else to say without getting too mushy, but I’m incredibly thankful for all the people on that trip. New friends are also pretty great… the guys who worked at the hostel were so welcoming and a lot of fun. They came hiking with us and cooked, as I said, the best food I’ve had in a long time. Plus they all got up (early) to say goodbye to us… doesn’t get much better than that! The other people at the hostel were pretty great too; I might have several extra stops on my post-COS itinerary! :)
My first full day back at school was pretty rough. I struggled to review fractions with a class I’d not seen in almost three weeks. One of the other teachers saw me after I’d fallen asleep in the staff room for almost an hour and told me to go home and sleep there. I did so without complaining. Overall, of my first 50 or so hours back at site, I probably slept for at least 28 of them, no joke. All that vacation really caught up with me…
Thursday was a much better day, especially since I had the morning off. I went for a run, took a quick bucket bath, and felt very refreshed and ready to tackle a full day of teaching. Friday was pretty good too. Unfortunately, the school still has a pretty serious water shortage, so I ended up washing all my dishes and dirty clothes during school hours to ensure I’d have water for the weekend. After I’d finished some odd jobs around school, I went to the clinic to visit the wonderful Kenyans there. I’d not seen them in over three weeks, and it was like returning to a true home after being away. No visit to Mercy and Henry would be complete without tea, but this visit also filled my belly with bread with peanut butter and a beautiful green apple. We chatted until dark about lots of thought-provoking things, and they walked me home.
The rest of the weekend was relatively quiet. As always, some students came to do their work here or tend their crops for agriculture class, but very few knocked on my door. I didn’t mind the quiet though, I had to set exams for all three subjects I teach, which proved to be more difficult than I’d anticipated. I found I’d forgotten most of the vocabulary my students understand. For example, when it comes to reducing fractions, they might understand “simplify” but not “write in lowest terms” or “reduce” … so I had to ponder word choice. I also constructed a makeshift spice rack, of which I am very proud. Time will tell whether or not it will stay together, but for now, it holds my rosemary, Italian herbs, garlic salt, garlic flakes, tomato flakes, cayenne powder, curry powder, pepper and salt very nicely. I’m just awaiting that crash-bang-boom in the middle of the night when it comes crashing down and I have a spice medley all over my dirty kitchen floor.
That brings me to today. Monday has been decent. After arriving to the staffroom around 8:15 (I don’t teach until 8:40 and this late arrival is perfectly acceptable here), I discovered that I am on duty this week. Curses! I HATE being on duty! This means I have to get up early enough to see that the gate is shut at 7am, punish the latecomers (ugh), monitor morning study, monitor the lunch area (yeah, right! it’s crazy in there!), monitor afternoon study, and then see that the grounds are cleaned at the end of the day. To make things worse, the other teacher who is on duty with me was nowhere to be found today! I’m bad enough at being on duty as it is, it sure didn’t help that she wasn’t there to help me…
I had two very bizarre encounters today. First, as I was walking to the staffroom from my house after lunch, a boy walked past a building and slapped a small lizard that was doing nothing wrong, simply sunning itself. Part of the lizard (its tail, I later discovered) fell to the ground and was squirming like I have never seen anything squirm. The rest of the lizard (head, four legs and stub) remained on the wall. When I poked at it with my keys to see if it would move, it stayed still. The body was dead but the tail was very much alive (or dying…). So strange.
Then, in one of my physics classes, we were reviewing for the exam that the students will take tomorrow, and I saw a girl poke a small plastic bag with a pen. To my surprise, the bag chirped and moved. I was quite startled, and I approached her desk to find a very small baby bird (probably suffocating) in a plastic baggie. I asked incredulously what on earth she was going to do with the bird. She giggled and replied, “It is for Matseliso.” I turned around to ask Matseliso what on earth she planned to do with it, and she said with a grin, “But Madam, I will eat it!” Now, I’m a vegetarian, but I know for certain that the bird was way too small to eat. I brought this up to her and she laughed at me and told me that naturally, she would have to let it grow first. Silly me! How could I not know that she would let the baby bird in a plastic bag grow up before she would cook and eat it. My students laughed long and hard at my sympathy for the poor creature, but I guess on the upside, at least she’ll have meat for a meal…
Well, the generator is off now and my computer will likely die soon. I hope this quenches some of your desires for updates on my life… I’ll write more as soon as I can.
All my love from Africa,
Katie
Back in the Saddle...
April 12, 2010
By my count, I’ve been in Lesotho for 5 months now. Wow.
Sorry to have been M.I.A. for a while… I’m officially back at school now, giving tests and marking homework, same as it ever was. I arrived back last Tuesday after one of the best vacations I’ve ever taken. Considering I was initially planning to run a half-marathon, I would say things turned out as good as if not better than exhausting myself over 13.1 grueling miles (for which I had not trained). We spent four nights an hour or so south of Durban at an amazing hostel, right on the ocean. If you ever get the chance, do yourself a favor and check out Mantis & Moon. The staff was awesome, the facility was excellent, and there were plenty of opportunities for things to do.
It took a while to get there; we left my friend’s place around 6am to pass through the border gate, to meet our hired private vehicle (definitely a nice way to go) to drive to Durban, to catch another ride (for another hour or so) to finally reach M&M.
The first thing to do when we arrived (naturally) was to head for the ocean. I have now swum in three oceans (Atlantic, Pacific and Indian), and as much as I would love to also swim in the Arctic Ocean, I’m not so sure that’ll happen. The waves were pretty intense; we all got heavily thrashed, but we played until sunset and headed back for dinner. South African pizza has never tasted so good.
The next morning, some of the people in our group talked to the hostel staff to try to find out what was available for us to do. We opted snorkeling in the morning and lazing by the beach in the afternoon. A friend and I ran on the beach (which, I contend, is still one of the most perfect running surfaces imaginable, though difficult at times) while others looked at fish and underwater plants. With the exception of a short lunch break, we spent the day on the beach, and by the time dinner rolled around, we were definitely hungry. That night we cooked ribs that had been given to us by another guy staying at the hostel (he claimed they were the best meat we would ever taste in our lives… as a vegetarian, I’m probably not a fair judge, but I did eat some and they were pretty tasty), potato wedges and peppers stuffed with rice, lentils, corn, tomatoes and probably some other good stuff I’m forgetting. We all slept pretty early that night in anticipation of Oribi Gorge the next day. (You should google Oribi Gorge… it’s a pretty amazing place.)
We got up early for the short journey. Four of our gang went white-water rafting while the rest of us and some others from the hostel went on a beautiful 3-hour hike to a waterfall and back. We met up early afternoon before going to the world’s highest gorge swing. This meant getting harnessed in, strapping the harness in to some thick cables, and literally jumping (or falling, in some instances) off the wall of a gorge that is over 100 meters tall. I’ll admit, I was more nervous about it than I thought I would be. I’ve been skydiving before, and the feeling before jumping off the edge is absolutely nothing like skydiving. When I went skydiving, I rode up in the plane all strapped in, so I could tell how high we were, plus I had a parachute (and experienced guide) on my back. This time, I had only a harness and a prayer.
We harnessed in one by one at the top, then proceeded down a very sturdy (but still slightly creepy) ladder to another smaller platform of rocks. There was a sort of waiting area, and down a few layers of rock, there was a man who worked for the gorge swing who helped get the final straps strapped and walked us through the jump itself. He seemed pretty calm and operated with amazing ease so close to the ledge. He was harnessed in as well, but to a much shorter rope, so if he toppled off the cliff, he would only make it about 1.5 meters before crashing into the wall. Ouch.
I was 4th or 5th in the group to go, so I had seen several go before me and return to the top, absolutely beaming and wanting to go again. When I got to the edge, I’d already decided I was going to attempt a front flip, and having heard from a reliable source that they were not so difficult, I was pretty confident. I told the guide this and he sort of looked at me like I was crazy. Well, yes, because I paid money to jump off the edge of a huge gorge, I must be slightly crazy. But, he instructed me where to jump so I didn’t mess anything up (including my pants), gave me the “3 – 2 – 1 – JUMP!” and I was off. I made a lovely front flip (if I do say so myself) and continued to free fall for another second or so. It was absolutely exhilarating, though truly, words can’t do the whole thing justice. The harness caught very gently, and I was left swinging there, in very peaceful solitude, for maybe half a minute before the machine started to reel me in. Wow. Definitely the biggest adrenaline rush I’ve had in the past five months!
In the evening, nobody wanted to cook, so we walked to a nearby restaurant called Rock Bottom (SpongeBob reference, anyone?!), where we all enjoyed cold drinks and warm salty (veggie) burgers and chips (fries). It was strange but very nice to be at a (real) restaurant again after such a long time, especially one where we actually blended in. Any number of volunteers (who are mostly white-ish) at any restaurant in Lesotho creates quite a scene; it’s almost like being a celebrity. In South Africa, we blended right in and only attracted attention because we were a group of 12 Americans who acted like running water and electricity were the greatest things since sliced bread (which, I’m more and more convinced, is true).
The final day, Easter Sunday, we also spent on the beach. We got a relatively early start, made it to the beach around 10:30, and plopped down to sleep, read or write. I went for another run, down the beach the other way this time, and practically bumped into some fisherman’s lines. I’m not exactly sure the logic behind standing halfway up the beach with a fishing pole and a fishing line that’s just waiting to strangle any passersby, but hey, they probably didn’t understand why I was running. When we got back to the field of towels, another guy from the hostel had brought down a soccer ball so we kicked that around for a good hour or more.
We watched the clouds roll around for a while and waited for the coming storm. Luckily, we got cold and tired enough to head home just as the first rain was falling, so it didn’t interfere with our beach time at all. Quick snacks, hot showers and soccer on television – what a life. We dined at the hostel that night on some of the best food I’ve had on this continent: meat (chicken and sausage I think?), beautiful green salad, mushrooms, soft bread, potato wedges and butternut squashes stuffed with a mix of feta, spinach and tomatoes. Oh. My. Gosh. It was amazing. The best part is that the guys at the hostel said they’d cook for me every night if I’d work there… maybe I’ll have to stop back for a few days (months) before coming home…
After supper, I played several games of pool with friends – some of the longest games of my life. For the first two games, the two teams were equally lacking in skill, but the third game, my friend and I (about equal skill level) took on two pros. By this time I was pretty tired of pool, and my friend didn’t want to be playing either, but we figured it’d be a quick loss since the other two were so good. However, they took the game as an opportunity to teach us the ins and outs of pool, and how best to “snooker” your opponent. When it was their turn, they’d hit a great shot and seemingly set us up for an easy ball, but whenever we were about to take our turn, they’d stop us and explain why we did not, in fact, want to attempt that shot. Inevitably, we’d listen (they were good after all), and the game went on a painfully long while, even though it should have lasted only three turns. Needless to say, I learned a lot about pool!
Sunday was a good night; I stayed up late chatting with some guys who were also working or staying at the hostel. Ultimately, I think our group convinced one of them, a great guy from Holland, to visit Lesotho on his next vacation. I’m thrilled he wants to come; it will be so much fun to show him around. Unfortunately, I’ll have to wait a while… probably until September… or later. Thank goodness for the internet and so many means of communication! :)
It was depressing to leave the hostel, especially to head back to relative isolation after having spent two and a half weeks with my friends. The journey home was relatively smooth; the guy who drove us from Ficksburg to Durban picked us up right at the hostel and drove us straight back to Ficksburg. Though there were only twelve of us, we bought out the extra two seats in the car so we could have the extra room to sprawl and sleep (twelve vacationers is a lot of luggage), and control the radio (Brian – thanks for the iTrip! it made the car rides so much more enjoyable!). Several of us southerners had intended to make it through and past Maseru on Monday, but seeing as it was almost 4pm by the time we crossed back into Lesotho, we crashed at a friend’s place for one last night together. The food that night was also delicious (peanut butter sauce over rice and lots of vegetables), but my favorite part was all crowding into her home to watch a beautiful slideshow that contained everyone’s photos from the trip.
The whole vacation was a beautiful reminder of a lot of things. My friends are wonderful. I don’t know what else to say without getting too mushy, but I’m incredibly thankful for all the people on that trip. New friends are also pretty great… the guys who worked at the hostel were so welcoming and a lot of fun. They came hiking with us and cooked, as I said, the best food I’ve had in a long time. Plus they all got up (early) to say goodbye to us… doesn’t get much better than that! The other people at the hostel were pretty great too; I might have several extra stops on my post-COS itinerary! :)
My first full day back at school was pretty rough. I struggled to review fractions with a class I’d not seen in almost three weeks. One of the other teachers saw me after I’d fallen asleep in the staff room for almost an hour and told me to go home and sleep there. I did so without complaining. Overall, of my first 50 or so hours back at site, I probably slept for at least 28 of them, no joke. All that vacation really caught up with me…
Thursday was a much better day, especially since I had the morning off. I went for a run, took a quick bucket bath, and felt very refreshed and ready to tackle a full day of teaching. Friday was pretty good too. Unfortunately, the school still has a pretty serious water shortage, so I ended up washing all my dishes and dirty clothes during school hours to ensure I’d have water for the weekend. After I’d finished some odd jobs around school, I went to the clinic to visit the wonderful Kenyans there. I’d not seen them in over three weeks, and it was like returning to a true home after being away. No visit to Mercy and Henry would be complete without tea, but this visit also filled my belly with bread with peanut butter and a beautiful green apple. We chatted until dark about lots of thought-provoking things, and they walked me home.
The rest of the weekend was relatively quiet. As always, some students came to do their work here or tend their crops for agriculture class, but very few knocked on my door. I didn’t mind the quiet though, I had to set exams for all three subjects I teach, which proved to be more difficult than I’d anticipated. I found I’d forgotten most of the vocabulary my students understand. For example, when it comes to reducing fractions, they might understand “simplify” but not “write in lowest terms” or “reduce” … so I had to ponder word choice. I also constructed a makeshift spice rack, of which I am very proud. Time will tell whether or not it will stay together, but for now, it holds my rosemary, Italian herbs, garlic salt, garlic flakes, tomato flakes, cayenne powder, curry powder, pepper and salt very nicely. I’m just awaiting that crash-bang-boom in the middle of the night when it comes crashing down and I have a spice medley all over my dirty kitchen floor.
That brings me to today. Monday has been decent. After arriving to the staffroom around 8:15 (I don’t teach until 8:40 and this late arrival is perfectly acceptable here), I discovered that I am on duty this week. Curses! I HATE being on duty! This means I have to get up early enough to see that the gate is shut at 7am, punish the latecomers (ugh), monitor morning study, monitor the lunch area (yeah, right! it’s crazy in there!), monitor afternoon study, and then see that the grounds are cleaned at the end of the day. To make things worse, the other teacher who is on duty with me was nowhere to be found today! I’m bad enough at being on duty as it is, it sure didn’t help that she wasn’t there to help me…
I had two very bizarre encounters today. First, as I was walking to the staffroom from my house after lunch, a boy walked past a building and slapped a small lizard that was doing nothing wrong, simply sunning itself. Part of the lizard (its tail, I later discovered) fell to the ground and was squirming like I have never seen anything squirm. The rest of the lizard (head, four legs and stub) remained on the wall. When I poked at it with my keys to see if it would move, it stayed still. The body was dead but the tail was very much alive (or dying…). So strange.
Then, in one of my physics classes, we were reviewing for the exam that the students will take tomorrow, and I saw a girl poke a small plastic bag with a pen. To my surprise, the bag chirped and moved. I was quite startled, and I approached her desk to find a very small baby bird (probably suffocating) in a plastic baggie. I asked incredulously what on earth she was going to do with the bird. She giggled and replied, “It is for Matseliso.” I turned around to ask Matseliso what on earth she planned to do with it, and she said with a grin, “But Madam, I will eat it!” Now, I’m a vegetarian, but I know for certain that the bird was way too small to eat. I brought this up to her and she laughed at me and told me that naturally, she would have to let it grow first. Silly me! How could I not know that she would let the baby bird in a plastic bag grow up before she would cook and eat it. My students laughed long and hard at my sympathy for the poor creature, but I guess on the upside, at least she’ll have meat for a meal…
Well, the generator is off now and my computer will likely die soon. I hope this quenches some of your desires for updates on my life… I’ll write more as soon as I can.
All my love from Africa,
Katie
By my count, I’ve been in Lesotho for 5 months now. Wow.
Sorry to have been M.I.A. for a while… I’m officially back at school now, giving tests and marking homework, same as it ever was. I arrived back last Tuesday after one of the best vacations I’ve ever taken. Considering I was initially planning to run a half-marathon, I would say things turned out as good as if not better than exhausting myself over 13.1 grueling miles (for which I had not trained). We spent four nights an hour or so south of Durban at an amazing hostel, right on the ocean. If you ever get the chance, do yourself a favor and check out Mantis & Moon. The staff was awesome, the facility was excellent, and there were plenty of opportunities for things to do.
It took a while to get there; we left my friend’s place around 6am to pass through the border gate, to meet our hired private vehicle (definitely a nice way to go) to drive to Durban, to catch another ride (for another hour or so) to finally reach M&M.
The first thing to do when we arrived (naturally) was to head for the ocean. I have now swum in three oceans (Atlantic, Pacific and Indian), and as much as I would love to also swim in the Arctic Ocean, I’m not so sure that’ll happen. The waves were pretty intense; we all got heavily thrashed, but we played until sunset and headed back for dinner. South African pizza has never tasted so good.
The next morning, some of the people in our group talked to the hostel staff to try to find out what was available for us to do. We opted snorkeling in the morning and lazing by the beach in the afternoon. A friend and I ran on the beach (which, I contend, is still one of the most perfect running surfaces imaginable, though difficult at times) while others looked at fish and underwater plants. With the exception of a short lunch break, we spent the day on the beach, and by the time dinner rolled around, we were definitely hungry. That night we cooked ribs that had been given to us by another guy staying at the hostel (he claimed they were the best meat we would ever taste in our lives… as a vegetarian, I’m probably not a fair judge, but I did eat some and they were pretty tasty), potato wedges and peppers stuffed with rice, lentils, corn, tomatoes and probably some other good stuff I’m forgetting. We all slept pretty early that night in anticipation of Oribi Gorge the next day. (You should google Oribi Gorge… it’s a pretty amazing place.)
We got up early for the short journey. Four of our gang went white-water rafting while the rest of us and some others from the hostel went on a beautiful 3-hour hike to a waterfall and back. We met up early afternoon before going to the world’s highest gorge swing. This meant getting harnessed in, strapping the harness in to some thick cables, and literally jumping (or falling, in some instances) off the wall of a gorge that is over 100 meters tall. I’ll admit, I was more nervous about it than I thought I would be. I’ve been skydiving before, and the feeling before jumping off the edge is absolutely nothing like skydiving. When I went skydiving, I rode up in the plane all strapped in, so I could tell how high we were, plus I had a parachute (and experienced guide) on my back. This time, I had only a harness and a prayer.
We harnessed in one by one at the top, then proceeded down a very sturdy (but still slightly creepy) ladder to another smaller platform of rocks. There was a sort of waiting area, and down a few layers of rock, there was a man who worked for the gorge swing who helped get the final straps strapped and walked us through the jump itself. He seemed pretty calm and operated with amazing ease so close to the ledge. He was harnessed in as well, but to a much shorter rope, so if he toppled off the cliff, he would only make it about 1.5 meters before crashing into the wall. Ouch.
I was 4th or 5th in the group to go, so I had seen several go before me and return to the top, absolutely beaming and wanting to go again. When I got to the edge, I’d already decided I was going to attempt a front flip, and having heard from a reliable source that they were not so difficult, I was pretty confident. I told the guide this and he sort of looked at me like I was crazy. Well, yes, because I paid money to jump off the edge of a huge gorge, I must be slightly crazy. But, he instructed me where to jump so I didn’t mess anything up (including my pants), gave me the “3 – 2 – 1 – JUMP!” and I was off. I made a lovely front flip (if I do say so myself) and continued to free fall for another second or so. It was absolutely exhilarating, though truly, words can’t do the whole thing justice. The harness caught very gently, and I was left swinging there, in very peaceful solitude, for maybe half a minute before the machine started to reel me in. Wow. Definitely the biggest adrenaline rush I’ve had in the past five months!
In the evening, nobody wanted to cook, so we walked to a nearby restaurant called Rock Bottom (SpongeBob reference, anyone?!), where we all enjoyed cold drinks and warm salty (veggie) burgers and chips (fries). It was strange but very nice to be at a (real) restaurant again after such a long time, especially one where we actually blended in. Any number of volunteers (who are mostly white-ish) at any restaurant in Lesotho creates quite a scene; it’s almost like being a celebrity. In South Africa, we blended right in and only attracted attention because we were a group of 12 Americans who acted like running water and electricity were the greatest things since sliced bread (which, I’m more and more convinced, is true).
The final day, Easter Sunday, we also spent on the beach. We got a relatively early start, made it to the beach around 10:30, and plopped down to sleep, read or write. I went for another run, down the beach the other way this time, and practically bumped into some fisherman’s lines. I’m not exactly sure the logic behind standing halfway up the beach with a fishing pole and a fishing line that’s just waiting to strangle any passersby, but hey, they probably didn’t understand why I was running. When we got back to the field of towels, another guy from the hostel had brought down a soccer ball so we kicked that around for a good hour or more.
We watched the clouds roll around for a while and waited for the coming storm. Luckily, we got cold and tired enough to head home just as the first rain was falling, so it didn’t interfere with our beach time at all. Quick snacks, hot showers and soccer on television – what a life. We dined at the hostel that night on some of the best food I’ve had on this continent: meat (chicken and sausage I think?), beautiful green salad, mushrooms, soft bread, potato wedges and butternut squashes stuffed with a mix of feta, spinach and tomatoes. Oh. My. Gosh. It was amazing. The best part is that the guys at the hostel said they’d cook for me every night if I’d work there… maybe I’ll have to stop back for a few days (months) before coming home…
After supper, I played several games of pool with friends – some of the longest games of my life. For the first two games, the two teams were equally lacking in skill, but the third game, my friend and I (about equal skill level) took on two pros. By this time I was pretty tired of pool, and my friend didn’t want to be playing either, but we figured it’d be a quick loss since the other two were so good. However, they took the game as an opportunity to teach us the ins and outs of pool, and how best to “snooker” your opponent. When it was their turn, they’d hit a great shot and seemingly set us up for an easy ball, but whenever we were about to take our turn, they’d stop us and explain why we did not, in fact, want to attempt that shot. Inevitably, we’d listen (they were good after all), and the game went on a painfully long while, even though it should have lasted only three turns. Needless to say, I learned a lot about pool!
Sunday was a good night; I stayed up late chatting with some guys who were also working or staying at the hostel. Ultimately, I think our group convinced one of them, a great guy from Holland, to visit Lesotho on his next vacation. I’m thrilled he wants to come; it will be so much fun to show him around. Unfortunately, I’ll have to wait a while… probably until September… or later. Thank goodness for the internet and so many means of communication! :)
It was depressing to leave the hostel, especially to head back to relative isolation after having spent two and a half weeks with my friends. The journey home was relatively smooth; the guy who drove us from Ficksburg to Durban picked us up right at the hostel and drove us straight back to Ficksburg. Though there were only twelve of us, we bought out the extra two seats in the car so we could have the extra room to sprawl and sleep (twelve vacationers is a lot of luggage), and control the radio (Brian – thanks for the iTrip! it made the car rides so much more enjoyable!). Several of us southerners had intended to make it through and past Maseru on Monday, but seeing as it was almost 4pm by the time we crossed back into Lesotho, we crashed at a friend’s place for one last night together. The food that night was also delicious (peanut butter sauce over rice and lots of vegetables), but my favorite part was all crowding into her home to watch a beautiful slideshow that contained everyone’s photos from the trip.
The whole vacation was a beautiful reminder of a lot of things. My friends are wonderful. I don’t know what else to say without getting too mushy, but I’m incredibly thankful for all the people on that trip. New friends are also pretty great… the guys who worked at the hostel were so welcoming and a lot of fun. They came hiking with us and cooked, as I said, the best food I’ve had in a long time. Plus they all got up (early) to say goodbye to us… doesn’t get much better than that! The other people at the hostel were pretty great too; I might have several extra stops on my post-COS itinerary! :)
My first full day back at school was pretty rough. I struggled to review fractions with a class I’d not seen in almost three weeks. One of the other teachers saw me after I’d fallen asleep in the staff room for almost an hour and told me to go home and sleep there. I did so without complaining. Overall, of my first 50 or so hours back at site, I probably slept for at least 28 of them, no joke. All that vacation really caught up with me…
Thursday was a much better day, especially since I had the morning off. I went for a run, took a quick bucket bath, and felt very refreshed and ready to tackle a full day of teaching. Friday was pretty good too. Unfortunately, the school still has a pretty serious water shortage, so I ended up washing all my dishes and dirty clothes during school hours to ensure I’d have water for the weekend. After I’d finished some odd jobs around school, I went to the clinic to visit the wonderful Kenyans there. I’d not seen them in over three weeks, and it was like returning to a true home after being away. No visit to Mercy and Henry would be complete without tea, but this visit also filled my belly with bread with peanut butter and a beautiful green apple. We chatted until dark about lots of thought-provoking things, and they walked me home.
The rest of the weekend was relatively quiet. As always, some students came to do their work here or tend their crops for agriculture class, but very few knocked on my door. I didn’t mind the quiet though, I had to set exams for all three subjects I teach, which proved to be more difficult than I’d anticipated. I found I’d forgotten most of the vocabulary my students understand. For example, when it comes to reducing fractions, they might understand “simplify” but not “write in lowest terms” or “reduce” … so I had to ponder word choice. I also constructed a makeshift spice rack, of which I am very proud. Time will tell whether or not it will stay together, but for now, it holds my rosemary, Italian herbs, garlic salt, garlic flakes, tomato flakes, cayenne powder, curry powder, pepper and salt very nicely. I’m just awaiting that crash-bang-boom in the middle of the night when it comes crashing down and I have a spice medley all over my dirty kitchen floor.
That brings me to today. Monday has been decent. After arriving to the staffroom around 8:15 (I don’t teach until 8:40 and this late arrival is perfectly acceptable here), I discovered that I am on duty this week. Curses! I HATE being on duty! This means I have to get up early enough to see that the gate is shut at 7am, punish the latecomers (ugh), monitor morning study, monitor the lunch area (yeah, right! it’s crazy in there!), monitor afternoon study, and then see that the grounds are cleaned at the end of the day. To make things worse, the other teacher who is on duty with me was nowhere to be found today! I’m bad enough at being on duty as it is, it sure didn’t help that she wasn’t there to help me…
I had two very bizarre encounters today. First, as I was walking to the staffroom from my house after lunch, a boy walked past a building and slapped a small lizard that was doing nothing wrong, simply sunning itself. Part of the lizard (its tail, I later discovered) fell to the ground and was squirming like I have never seen anything squirm. The rest of the lizard (head, four legs and stub) remained on the wall. When I poked at it with my keys to see if it would move, it stayed still. The body was dead but the tail was very much alive (or dying…). So strange.
Then, in one of my physics classes, we were reviewing for the exam that the students will take tomorrow, and I saw a girl poke a small plastic bag with a pen. To my surprise, the bag chirped and moved. I was quite startled, and I approached her desk to find a very small baby bird (probably suffocating) in a plastic baggie. I asked incredulously what on earth she was going to do with the bird. She giggled and replied, “It is for Matseliso.” I turned around to ask Matseliso what on earth she planned to do with it, and she said with a grin, “But Madam, I will eat it!” Now, I’m a vegetarian, but I know for certain that the bird was way too small to eat. I brought this up to her and she laughed at me and told me that naturally, she would have to let it grow first. Silly me! How could I not know that she would let the baby bird in a plastic bag grow up before she would cook and eat it. My students laughed long and hard at my sympathy for the poor creature, but I guess on the upside, at least she’ll have meat for a meal…
Well, the generator is off now and my computer will likely die soon. I hope this quenches some of your desires for updates on my life… I’ll write more as soon as I can.
All my love from Africa,
Katie
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