Swazi taxis: Resolved, Joyful, Long Walk, Street Twitter, Sweet Home, It's True, Daddy
A cloud has descended upon my village. All the mountains around me have disappeared. I'm afraid that soon I will too. Spooky.
My neighbor works at the orphanage, and today before I left there to go home, she gave me not one but two papatas (little bread loaf things) that they make there, and then I later discovered that she put little smacks of peanut butter on them. Those papatas are delicious enough, but two, with peanut butter? I died of happiness.
And while I waited for the kids I tutor to get back from school, I got to play with all the tiny nuggets there, one of which chants sing songily "Meeeeee Senate! Meeeee Senate!" When she sees me coming. What started as a boring school day quickly turned into a great day.
Everyone on my taxi is asleep except me and the driver. All I see are hanging heads bob and sway in unison as we drive.
I'm at that Pizza Hut. I'm at that Taco Bell. I'm at that combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.
I just got a mail in ballot. I didn't request it, but whatever. Maybe Mom did. I open it up, realize it's from the 2014 election. A year and a half late. WTF, post system. Get it together. This after another envelope clearly labeled for "Lesotho, Southern Africa" came super late to me with a stamp saying "Mis-sent to Uganda." Ach.
It's a typical Friday with me and only one other teacher at school. Then she leaves because a passing truck is gonna pick her up. That leaves just me to supervise the circus that is my school. What are they thinking?
The other day, I was in my village shop buying eggs when this Ntate asks me what I'm buying. Eggs, I reply. Then he says something about me and eggs that I don't understand. I ask for clarification- what does this one word mean? I don't know it. He kindly tries to explain in English, then the shopkeeper lady is like "Ach. Ke Lesotho." "Ugh. This is Lesotho." As in, this is Lesotho; speak Sesotho. As if I were speaking Spanish in the US and someone was like, "This is America. Speak English." Well jeez, lady, I'm terribly sorry that I'm not completely fluent in Sesotho after only a year. I'm just trying to have a learning moment, ok? Don't kill my vibe.
It always makes my day when a little old lady calls me "moratua" (loved one) or "ngoaneso" (my younger sibling). Gotta love those bo'me.
I was wondering why things were exploding in my burning trash pile. Then I remembered I put some dead batteries in there. Whoops.
You've gotta be careful with these similar Sesotho words:
Matekoane= a famous rich guy
Matekane= weed
Masupha= the royal family's last name
Masepa= sh*t (noun)
Ho nyala= to marry
Ho nyela= to sh*t (verb)
Cama= comb
Coma= penis
Today one of my students said to me, "When you laugh, it's like a child. No. Like a baby!" Uhhh, thanks?
Must...resist...nap...
As I was walking home from school, a toddler (as they typically do), yelled out "Lekhooa!" [white person] to me. And as I always say back, I told him that I have a name, and not to call me Lekhooa. Then the Ntate in the background goes, "Yeah. Don't call her Lekhooa." Yes, I thought, people are finally catching on! Then he follows with, "Call her 'Me Lekhooa" [Ms. white person]. No. So close, yet so far.
Overheard on whatsapp: how Jeff hurt his knee on a hike and got medevaced
"Oh okay so a herd boy was running at me like he was going to attack so my fighting senses kicked in. It was only due to my high level of training and awareness that I noticed he was running past me out of fear as opposed to at me. With another glance I saw a thokolosi [Basotho demon] approaching. This thing was huge! So after getting a sense of my surroundings I saw that upwards of 20 herd boys were cowaring away from this thing. I then realized what I must do. Using only my Sesotho I gathered the now men into formation. I then led them in a carefully led assault at the beast. There were only 3 casualties when one of the herd boys gave me a leaping boost into the back of this atrocious abomination. Then using only a sick, I gouged both of its eyes out and managed to break its neck. As the beast fell forward I stood up on its back and rode it to the ground. That's when I realized that I kinda landed funny on its shoulder blade. So I denounced myself injured and well the rest is history."
Summer = peach season. All the peaches on all the trees. Come and gone. Winter = orange season (oranges from SA I'm guessing). Right now. So delish.
The day I got back from Swaziland, I was still in a sleepy yet blissed out daze due to exhaustion, but it was so good to see my students again. One of them said, "'Me Senate, you look so happy today!" And that I was.
"I'm restless as the devil and have a horror of getting fat or falling in love and growing domestic." -F. Scott Fitzgerald, This Side of Paradise
Man buns. Man buns everywhere.
My weather app says sunrise is at 6:56am. This morning, the sun hit me in the eye at precisely 7:56am. That means my mountain is cutting off exactly an hour of daylight each morning. Maybe that's why it's harder and harder to wake up nowadays.
Other volunteers tell me about infestations of spiders, ants, scorpions, mice, etc. in their houses. Is it too much of a humble brag to say that I have a few ladybugs running around mine?
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