Photos around the village

So foggy you can't even see the mountain 

My snowy house

I found a wild ausi!

Grassy path 

Pink and gold

Village houses across the river 

Striped rock

A lone herdboy 

Moooo

Big ol aloe

A chicken coop made of mattress springs 

My little ausi takes a break from helping to cook peas and boil water over the fire 

1 June 2015: Blankets

                As it’s getting cold around here, blankets come more and more into the spotlight. Obviously, when one thinks of a blanket, one thinks of a bed covering. But they are so much more versatile than one might imagine. Let me break it down for you.

1.       Bed covering. Now that winter has definitely hit, my ‘me gave me this huge, fluffy, heavy blanket. She says that each family member sleeps under four of them. FOUR. That’s like 20 of these in one house. One is hot enough; I can’t imagine more. Since I can’t use the iron stove for heat because apparently there will just be smoke all up in the house, I sleep with many layers of clothes underneath my sleeping bag liner, my sleeping bag, my big, ugly blanket I was given as a gift, a small fleece blanket, and now this big momma.

2.       Additional clothing. Of any kind. Wrap it around your waist like a skirt, as is the current fashion among the female teachers at my school. Seriously, every day. If you're not wearing a blanket skirt, are you even a bo-me? Wrap it up higher as one would a post-shower towel. Drape it over your head and envelop yourself in the folds. 

3.       Animal barrier. If you’re a herd boy, you’ll wear a blanket over your shoulders, supposedly to protect yourself from the bugs and dirt and stuff from your animals. Yes, even in the hottest weather, they will still wear blankets. If you’re a herd boy from super rural areas, perhaps this is all you wear because pants aren’t really a thing you can find. I don’t know if this is completely true, but someone got a photo of some way-out-there herd boys wearing only blankets. I’ll just leave it at that.

4.       Formal wear. Wear a nice blanket around your shoulders to any event and be the pinnacle of Basotho fashion. If you’re a man, pin it on the side. If you’re a woman, pin it in front. For some reason, this is a very important distinction and should never be tampered with. Theoretically, you have some wearing-only blankets that you break out for these special occasions. Never use your fancy, wearing-blanket for anything else but these events. (I break this rule every day, as I sleep under mine.) The nice ones are sold at stores for around 600-700 Rand ($60-70), not a bad chunk of change. They are wool and have some pretty spiffy colors and patterns. Each district has its own blanket colors. Apparently, Quthing’s is flames. Sizzle.

5.       Baby carrier. Bend at the waist, hoist your baby onto the small of your back, its face mashed up against your back, and secure the little nugget in place by wrapping and pinning/tucking that blanket around you. Sometimes the little baby feet stick out the sides and it’s so cute.

6.       Anything else carrier. If they’re not feeling like carrying something on their head, I’ve seen women carry heavy items on their back as they would a baby. 

7.       Baby sauna. Wrapping your baby in at least 3 blankets seems to be the #1 method of making sure that your baby will never have a normal sense of temperature for the rest of its life. These babies are sweating profusely under there. Never mind that they can’t yet control their own body temperature. This has been thrown around as a theory as to why Basotho are so sensitive to even the thought of cold and why they wear so many warm clothes all year round. Like when I’m wearing a tshirt, a Mosotho is wearing a coat. I still don’t quite get it. Anyway, to feel even the slightest breeze, even in the heat of the summer, would obviously cause these babies great distress. Sometimes I see women with a giant blanket bundle on their lap in a taxi. I know there’s probably a baby in there…somewhere.

8.       Time/energy suck. Due to everything you’re blanket’s been through, and the widespread Basotho obsession for cleanliness, be sure to wash your blankets frequently, requiring limitless liters of water and elbow grease. You’re gonna want to break out the big wash tub for this, use your feet to stomp the dirt out, then hang your blanket to dry either on a clothes line or on top of a nice, big bush. If I ever decide to wash any of my blankets, I’ll let y’all know how it goes.