Highlights from Lesotho

The day after IST ended, I, and three PCV friends, went on a ten-day journey to visit the little country of Lesotho, found completely inside the borders of South Africa. Despite its location, it is geographically and culturally very different, which was part of the reason that I wanted to see it. The quick, quick history is that the Basotho people came to this mountainous region and successfully defended themselves from other African tribes as well as the Boers and the British. Under the leadership of King Moshoeshoe I, they negotiated with the British not to be a state when the Union of South Africa was formed, and eventually in the mid 1960s, they became a completely independent nation. Because it was always just one tribe of people, there are only two official languages in the country – Sesotho and English. In rural areas, the English is poor, but we managed nonetheless.

The route up Sani Pass from South Africa to Lesotho.

We started off in Underberg, South Africa and took a public minibus taxi up the Sani Pass, across the boarder to Sani Top, where we stayed for the night. I don’t think any of us realized just how treacherous the “road” up Sani Pass was, which is probably for the best, or we never would have gotten started. The weather was a bit foggy, but even so, we could tell that it was quite a drop on either side of the gravel mountain trail. After making a few inquiries, we were told that there are only three or four taxi drivers that drive the route since it is so difficult, and the trip is done in special taxis that are four-wheel drive with truck tires. Since it was the summer, we didn’t have to deal with things like ice and snow, which I frankly could not imagine encountering. But locals are said to do it all year long to transport goods from one country to the other: mostly South Africa to Lesotho.

The beautiful view at Sani Top.

On Saturday, we woke up early and traveled by public taxi from Sani Top to Mokhotlong. This was a bit of a disaster as we didn’t realize that the same taxi that comes up Sani Pass travels on to Mokhotlong without anyone really getting off at Sani Top. Luckily we figured this out the day before, and paid the woman at the bottom of Sani Pass to save seats for us the next day, so all four of us would be able to fit on the taxi. After arriving in the main town of Mokhotlong, we realized there is absolutely nothing to do, so we headed to our lodging for the evening, St James Lodge. Getting there was not that difficult, although getting back into town the next morning was not as easy, since it was a Sunday. But the experience at the Lodge was worth it.

Local boys wearing Basotho blankets.

The lodge is part of a missionary that works to support the local community and invites people to come and volunteer with a variety of projects. There was also no electricity at the lodge, so I felt right at home! Mostly we walked around the village and took pictures of the beautiful scenery and children, which is more or less the reason we came to Lesotho, so it worked out nicely.

Our goal on Sunday was to travel virtually all the way across the top of the country to the capital of Maseru. It was supposed to be an eight-hour bus ride, which didn’t sound pleasant, but we figured it would be better than a public taxi. We could not have been more wrong. For starters, the bus was packed with people in a way I cannot even describe. I was standing so that I could not move in any direction as the people in front of me and behind me were so close. And then about two hours into the ride, the bus broke down – for four hours. At first it was almost a relief because we had a chance to get off the bus and stretch out. Unfortunately it started to downpour after about an hour of sitting outside and everyone scrambled to get back on the bus to stay dry. So I basically stood on a bus that wasn’t moving for two to three hours. That was not the most fun I have ever had. When we finally got going again, we drove through some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever laid eyes on. It was truly spectacular, although I don’t have any pictures since I was really not in the position to be photographing anything. As we neared Maseru, the bus made a lot of stops to drop people off, which seemed to take forever, but at least a few seats opened up here and there and eventually I got to sit down. I don’t have any idea what time we finally arrived, but it was very late and very dark and we were very lucky we found a taxi to drive us to our backpackers. I think we said two words to each other and all passed out asleep.

Basotho weaving is well-known.

On Monday, we took a day trip to the local craft village of Teyateyanang to get a first hand look at the Basotho women weaving everything from bookmarks to area rugs. They are quite skilled and it was really cool to watch. Then on Tuesday, we traveled to Ramabanta, near the middle of the country, to see the most rural and scenic areas. We had a few days here to relax, hike, and pony-trek – one of the must-do activities if you visit Lesotho. The time we spent in Ramabanta was the highlight of the trip for many reasons. One of which was that it used to be a PCV site. The last volunteer there was Casey, who closed her service in 2008. Since weaving and working with yarn is one of the major cultural aspects of Lesotho, Casey decided to organize a small group of women (about 10) who already knew how to knit, and found a space they could call their workshop. She encouraged them to make just two things, scarves and beanie hats, to sell to tourists that pass through the area. Almost five years later, these women continue to make and to sell their products out of their workshop, as well as out of two very popular hotel/lodges, one in the village of Ramabanta, and the other in the next town of Roma. And, with the help of the lodge in Ramabanta, they are trying to get their knitting into the major gift shop in Maseru. In short, this volunteer did what Peace Corps is supposed to do. She helped establish an extremely functional and sustainable incoming generating project using only local resources, and it has actually grown since she left. It was genuinely inspiring to see, and of course, I bought a scarf and hat, because it’s going to get pretty cold where I live too.

Pony-trekking is a common activity for visitors and locals.

View of Ramabanta from our pony-trek.

The markets in Maseru.

On Friday, we were headed back to Maseru, happy with all that we did. Since we got back so early in the day (for once there were no issues with public transport) we found some time to walk around parts of Maseru and see the markets as well as the large cultural center that is in the shape of a giant Basotho hat. Along the way, we noticed a few Christmas decorations as well, which made me laugh since I almost forgot it was that time of the year.

The main Cultural Center and gift shop in
Maseru - in the shape of a Basotho hat.

The next morning, we were up early and out the door to travel by public taxi all the way around to Qacha’s Nek (found in the Southeastern part of the country) and back to South Africa. As Maseru is in the Northwestern part of the country, we knew we were in for a long day, but it went relatively smoothly, and were made it back to South Africa before it was dark. It probably would have been smarter to cross back in at the main bridge in Maseru, but live and learn. Overall, it was quite an adventure that I am happy to say that I had.

A Happy Reunion

The Battlefields crew at In-Service
Training 2012.

After the few days of workshops with our principals in Richard’s Bay, the twelve other PCVs that were also in attendance, headed out on Sunday morning to Pietermaritzburg (PMB) to meet up with the other 24 members of our cohort as well as new counterparts from our schools, for another week and half of meetings and training sessions. As with all trainings in every sector of the workforce, some sessions were quite well done and some sessions had me wishing for a stick to poke my eyes out just so I would feel better. But it was nice to be reunited with the rest of the volunteers, and we stayed at a beautiful hotel with an amazing buffet provided three times a day. I think I gained something like 10 pounds in the last two weeks. Given that I otherwise live on peanut butter and ramen noodles, I thought it was fantastic.

The days were filled with sessions on how to lesson plan, tips for starting a library, implementing a successful secondary project, and the like. Most of the evenings were free to watch TV or movies. There was a small plaza shopping center about a 20 minute walk away and it had a video store that actually let us check out movies. Passport not required. And on this, our last day, we had no sessions at all – the day was completely free! One of the volunteers made arrangements for us to go to a nearby mall, which means….I finally bought a new camera! I was so happy, and just in time for my upcoming vacation. Pictures will be now accompany most of my blog posts.

Since I didn’t have money to buy anything else (I didn’t actually have money to buy the camera either, but whatever), I decided to go see a movie after my big purchase. I really wanted to see “Skyfall” and luckily it was still showing, so that worked out nicely. Perhaps the strangest part of the experience and the reason I mention it at all, is that in South Africa you buy an assigned seat to see a movie. No joke. When I bought my ticket, which cost the equivalent of only $5 by the way, they showed me a screen with a seating chart and asked me where I would like to sit. I was a bit surprised, so I just picked somewhere in the middle. I cannot even imagine trying to implement this system in the US, but everyone there found it perfectly normal. I find it pretty funny that of all the crazy things I have experienced here, one of the oddest happened in the “first world” as opposed to my village. I guess surprises can happen anywhere.

After a great day of shopping and movie-watching, we had small holiday party complete with gift exchange. From what we figure, it will be the last time we are all together as a group until September of 2013, when we come together again for our mid-service training. I hope all goes well between now and then.

Under the Iceberg

On Thursday of last week, the future principal of my school and I headed to Richard’s Bay, a medium sized city on the coast of the Indian Ocean, for a Peace Corps workshop to help us plan for the next school year. For me, it was the beginning of nearly two weeks of meetings and training sessions of various sorts with various people at two different locations, although my principal left yesterday to be back at school today.

In general, the goal of the few days was to make sure that we were on the same page as far as what was to be expected of each other. How many classes would I teach? When would those classes be scheduled? What procedure should be followed if I am not able to come to school? Those sorts of things. I would also have a chance to share some of the observations that I made during my first three months at the school. It was a time for us both to reflect on the past three months since I arrived and to plan ahead so that the rest of my service is as useful to the school as possible and as successful as possible for me.

At one session in particular, I remember an analogy being made that I really took to heart and wanted to try to remember as I move forward in this journey. It was said by the Peace Corps staff member that ran all of the sessions that right now we only see “the tip of the iceberg” when it comes to knowing about each other. That we should not be fooled into thinking we obtained all the information there is to know in three months. If you think about an iceberg, there is far more of it hidden under the water than what we can see above the surface. This does not mean we should be scared or worried, but that we should not be surprised that in the coming weeks and months after the new school year begins we will continue to learn new things about the ways we operate and communicate. I just need to keep this in mind when things creep up on me that I may not like or want to deal with.

I'm Thankful For...

In the last ten to fifteen years, I have not spent that many Thanksgivings with my family in Ohio. Every couple of years I did the drive home; otherwise, I celebrated with friends in New Jersey. This, however, was the first time in my life that I was out of the country for Turkey Day. It was also the first time in my life that I went to work! While I only stayed at school for half the day, it certainly made me appreciate people that regularly work on Thanksgiving year after year.

By mid-afternoon, I met up with four other volunteers in the area, headed to a nearby guesthouse, and for the first time, I helped to prepare a Thanksgiving dinner. Luckily, I got lots of recipes and suggestions from friends and family back in the USA, as even the most basic items I (or any of the others) had never cooked before last Thursday. We spent several hours in the kitchen stuffing the turkey, mashing potatoes, boiling corn, and preparing a host of additional side dishes and desserts that are found at a typical Thanksgiving feast. The food was great…well, the food was edible, but the real joy of the afternoon and evening was sharing a great time with the other volunteers and sharing our American traditions with some new South African friends.

During the day, I also had a chance to think about what I am most thankful for in my life right now…as most people do on Thanksgiving. My list is the same as most years, but this year it seems to mean a little more. I am certainly thankful to be here in South Africa serving with the Peace Corps. But I am also very thankful that all my friends and family back in the US are happy and healthy and able to keep in touch with me on a regular basis. It is strange to think that if all goes according to plan, at this time next year, I will still be here, perhaps even celebrating in a similar way.

How Much Sleep Do I Really Need?

It has come to my attention that one thing I do a lot more here than in the US is sleep. Not sure if it is a good thing, a bad thing, an adjustment thing, or just the new way of life. In the US I would try (and usually fail) to get seven and a half to eight hours of sleep each night. The goal was always to be in bed by about 10pm or 10:30pm and then get up around 6am. It was hard to do this in the winter when it was dark for longer and I would want to stay in bed in the morning. It was hard to do this in the summer when there was no school and no real reason to pop out of bed at 6am. I think in reality I got about six hours of sleep a night. I don’t specifically remember feeling tired all the time, but I certainly remember having bags under my eyes. Here, it is almost impossible for me to get less than eight hours of sleep, most nights I get nine, and I can recall a few ten to twelve hour nights as well. Without electricity, when it gets dark there is really not enough light to keep me fully awake, and by about 8:30pm I’m truly exhausted. I actually try to keep myself awake until 9pm most nights, but there are days when that is simply more effort than it is worth. My wake up time is consistently 5:30am and it has gotten to the point where the sun is up so early that I don’t even need an alarm. And most importantly, I have this routine every day – not just Monday through Friday when there is school, Saturdays and Sundays run the same way. There are occasionally still days that I feel tired, but I can say with confidence that there are no more bags under my eyes. I can’t even imagine being able to sleep this much when I return to the US. The lifestyle almost doesn’t allow for it. So I’m going to enjoy it while I can, and see what happens 21 months from now.

Election Coverage

I know that the election has been over for almost a week now, but I think it is worth noting a few things from this side of the world. First off, I am so glad that I missed the ads. The constant stream of negative campaign ads, robo-calls, tweets, updates, etc, that I am sure were littering the airways day and night was never pleasant. Second, in my rural village (the one without electricity) nearly everyone was aware of the fact that November 6^th was Election Day in the United States. I spent the day visiting people in the community, and I was astonished at the number of people that asked me about the election. Many asked how I was supposed to vote if I was here in South Africa. A few asked whom I would be voting for. One or two asked how I would find out who won. I explained that many, many months ago I started the process of applying for an overseas absentee ballot so I could exercise my right to vote and that I would use my phone to keep me updated on the status of the election.

The most incredible part, though, happened the next morning. When I woke up, I checked a few news websites to get the latest on the election. At that point, Obama had been declared the winner. When I got to school, almost every teacher asked my how I felt about Obama being re-elected. Good thing I checked! Despite the news being only hours, perhaps even minutes old, it had been announced via a few standard media outlets (TV but most especially radio) that Obama would serve another 4 years as president. Even with all of the technology that I had, I did not have any more knowledge on this particular subject than anyone that I worked with or lived near. I realized that when the news is deemed valuable or important, people will find a way to get the info, with or without all the latest and greatest gadgets.

Climate Change

It is still cold here. I guess cold is slight exaggeration, but according to everyone I work with, it is certainly colder than normal. Whenever I ask any of the teachers or anyone in my family when it is going to warm up, they simply say that it is usually warm by November, so any day now. I’ll believe it when I feel it. In the mean time, though, most of the Zulus love to use the phrase “climate change.” I hear it all the time. Everything about the weather is because of climate change. The terrible lightning that we have all the time – climate change. The hail storms that comes out of nowhere – climate change. The amount of rain in the past two months – climate change. The fact that it was one of the coldest Octobers on record – climate change. Definitely all climate change. I can’t help but laugh at the fact that this particular phrase has become such a constant in the Zulu language; although they do really like to talk about the weather. I certainly don’t want to argue the point – I am sure that climate change has something to do with the crazy weather that I am living with here. But when I ask anyone to go a little deeper and explain what climate change means or what may be the cause, I do get a lot of blank stares. I’m thinking of a few activities that I can do with the learners next year in Natural Science class to try to bridge this knowledge gap. With my luck, by then the weather will probably be back to normal.