Yes, Dear Reader, I realize this post is many moons late. My mother would probably chalk this up to laziness, while I might say it's a slight case of apathy. No matter the excuse, here are some more words and photos for you to ponder about. Just pretend you're time traveling. It's fun, isn't it?
Yesterday, I “taught” form A computer, in which I just went up and drew the parts of a computer on the board. I did this because the computers were not set up yet (the mess of extension cords and labrynths of cords back there would make a rat dizzy) and I didn’t have a list of who had paid for computer classes yet. The students pay about M300 per year to take computer, which pays for the electricity and, supposedly, repairs done to the computers. Those computers are probably well over 10 years old and only half of them are functioning. They were donated by some South African foundation a few years ago. I have yet to see any of the broken ones being repaired… Anyway, not one student in that class had ever used a computer before except the ones repeating form A who I taught last year. This drawing a computer on the board and explaining the different parts took only 20 minutes of a 40 minute class. So for the rest of the time, I went around and asked everyone’s name, village, and their favorite food. Then after 4 people in a row said “papa” as their favorite food (I forgot they eat papa at least twice a day and they don’t really know much else, and they like it because it’s very filling. Bad question), I decided to change the question to favorite color. Or “ favourite colour” as I wrote it on the board.
After computer, I booked it back home to pack up, since I would be riding with my principal to town “after lunch,” she told me. I had to go to my PC mid-service conference and she had to do something or other in Maseru. At home, I finished packing up and making some papa for the Bo dog. I chained it up so it wouldn’t follow me back to school, where I would be leaving from to go to Quthing town. But when I was crossing the 2nd stream on the way to school, I heard the jingle of a collar. My ‘me must have let it loose, thinking I was well out of range for following. I was surprised that the dog knew the way all the way down there on its own, and I’m kind of flattered that it just wants to be with me all the time, but I really just needed it to stay at my house. I let the dog follow me back to school, as I had to hustle to get back to teach B and C math.
Lo and behold, we didn’t even get ready to go until 4pm. “After lunch” my foot. Normally, I would have been pretty peeved that my plans had been so rudely changed, but I’ve just learned to let it go. TIA, after all. We’re on Lesotho time. I just used my waiting time to read AN ENTIRE BOOK. That’s how long I waited. The book was The Giver, a book I apparently should have read when I was a little kid. But, I wasn’t much of a reader then, so I’m catching up now. I just love dystopian society novels like this one, but sometimes I feel like they hit a little too close to home and to what I can see the near future to be. Scary stuff.
I had asked my principal if we could pick up Lea on the way to Maseru, but she said no because apparently “the police would give her trouble” for taking so many people and not having a public transit license. Then WHAT IS THE POINT OF HAVING A BIG VAN THEN, HUH? I pretended to believe her, but that was an immense load of bull honkey right there. I don’t know if this was another bout of Basotho passive aggressiveness, but I’m really not a fan. Not wanting to deal with her anymore, much less stay at her house, which is what I would have had to do, I decided to get off when we got to Quthing town and I found a taxi to Mohale’s Hoek on the road. I got there, took a quick shower at the hotel, and crashed with a PCV friend who lives a 5 minute walk from the hotel.
In the morning, I waited for Lee to get his butt up out of bed and be my hitch buddy. He met me at the braai place (the best tested hitch spot) and we almost immediately found a ride with an electrical worker who estimated our monthly salary at M10,000. Hah. I wish. In Mafeteng, we got a ride with 2 guys, the driver silent and the passenger a lawyer with flawless English. He worked on violent and criminal cases, and said that he went to law school in Lesotho because it was better than the law schools in South Africa. Shocker there. We talked about the Lesotho-becoming-part-of-South-Africa debate, and then about ridiculous politicians who basically compete to out-corrupt each other.
After arguing incessantly with a 4+1 driver to take us to the hotel where this mid-service conference would be held, we finally arrived. At the hotel, it was weird to see the people who live in the north who I never see. People have definitely made friendships based on location. I repped my district as the only Quthing resident by wearing my new “Quthing: my natural habitat” tshirt. The staff especially liked it.
The sessions were mostly BS required-by-DC stuff, and brought back bad memories of days like this at training. Other than the useless stuff, we talked about rewarding and funny things that had happened to us, then made a poster about successes, things learned, and things we want to do before COS [close of service].
Here are some notes I took. These were my own as well as others’ answers to various questions and other sessions and just talking to other people:
How has your perspective changed since you arrived in Lesotho?
-More desensitized
-The new plan is having no plan- if your schedule suddenly changes, don’t get butthurt. Just bring your kindle and wait for stuff to start happening.
-Choose your battles
-Realize your power of being a role model
-More open, more trusting
-Understanding the reasons behind things
-Expectations drastically reduced and/or eliminated althogether
Sprouting beans
-Soak 12+ hours in water and baking soda
-Drain, put in cloth for 3 days
-Rinse 1-2x/day = sprouts
-Cook with baking soda
Challenges
-Language barrier
-Basotho have no motivation
-Cultural differences
-Corporal punishment
-Communication with PC office because of lack of resources
-Extracurricular activities clashing with school
-Teachers not attending lessons
Lessons learned
-Patience
-Greetings are imperative
-Perseverance and resilience
-Include community in decisions
-Integration is key
HIV
-Lesotho is #2 in the world (according to who you ask) with around 24% infected
-Perpetuated by systemic failures- people don’t report rape, poverty leads to transactional sex
-Adolescent girls are at the greatest risk
-1000 new infections per day worldwide
Most rewarding experiences
-Hiking
-Solid poops
-What staff does things right
-Passing 100 books read
-Learning new things due to boredom
Funniest things
-When Lea’s chair exploded at phase 3
-Hitching and having weird conversations with random people
-Sesotho mixups
-Taxi names
-When I ran into the sliding glass door in Durban [I think Jen’s still laughing about that…]
My successes
-Solid relationship with family and students
-Dog still alive and kicking
-Traveling a lot
-Ponytail!
What I’ve learned
-How to be bolder and take more risks
-Just accept things sometimes. TIA.
My wishes for the remaining time
-Community projects like a girls’ group
-Work more with the orphanage
-GRE
-More excellent vacations
-Continue to write
-Finish classroom project
-Not go so stir crazy in my village
-Win the bet against Jen
Some relatively random photos for your viewing pleasure:
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