Happy Thanksgiving!

All the trainees, some current volunteers, and staff are at Wendy's (country director) house chilling with some Xbox, Internet, and TV (oh, and running water). I  so thankful for having such a great group of people to be around for the next two years, not to mention my family back home who supports me much. I will post more about my daily escapades and what life is like later when I have more consistent electricity at my permanent site, so look out for that next month. Later!

Here are some photos from training. Enjoy! More photos to come, but my internet sucks right now...

The view from my school

My new digs in Ha Makoae

Update: I'm alive

I'm here in the camp town with semi consistent Internet, so here are some quick updates: Lesotho is beautiful and the mountains in the sunset are amazing. Training is getting to be tedious, but the people (Basotho and other trainees) are great. I will start actually cooking for myself today, which is awesome, seeing that I get 90% empty carbs for food from my host family. To find where I am, look for Teyateyaneng (camptown of Berea district) and Ha Koali/Ha Mothebesoane (my training village) on a map. I buzzed my hair off an have plans to sell it to a witch doctor. I have become the "official" PCPT (peace corps personal trainer - peace corps loves acronyms.) for our group along with my friend Lee. All the little kids here love to do handstands, so I fit right in. More info to come later. I love you all! Keep on being awesome. 

I'm off! and SEND ME STORIES!

Hello, internet audience! 2 orders of business here:

1. I hope y'all are doing well. I am sitting here in the middle of piles of clothes and other stuff as I finish packing up. I'll be going to Philadelphia on the 6th to meet up with my training group, then on the 7th/8th we will fly to Johannesburg and then to Maseru, the capital of Lesotho. I meant to make a post outlining what I packed, but I probably should have done that as I was packing so I could remember exactly what I put in my bags. Maybe I'll do that once I unpack. 

This past month in Dallas, I have been living it up while I can. Activities of excitement included: stuffed my body full of tacos and other tex-mex every chance I got, had an old school birthday party at the gym complete with playing camp games and an obstacle course, swung and flipped from a trapeze, spent way more money than I ever normally spend on clothes and gear, downloaded a zillion audiobooks, songs, and e-books to keep my mind occupied, wrote a list of as many bodyweight exercises I could think of to keep my body occupied, went to an empty Hurricane Harbor and went on all the rides worth screaming for, biked around downtown, went to a Ranger's game, celebrated Mom's birthday, and went to the State Fair and got my fill of fried junk food that I hope will satiate that need for the next 2+ years. 

It's been great having so many friends and family wish me well as I head out. I will definitely miss everyone, but please remember to send me emails and normal mail so that I can keep myself connected to everyone back in the good old US of A. According to the post office, a normal letter costs $1.15, a small price to pay for what will surely be a good anecdote and a doodled picture that I will send you in return. Also welcome are items airlifted and dropped from blimps.

2. I want your stories! Especially you, family members that have agreed but haven't produced anything. I have gotten a slim few, but I am looking to amass a larger collection. Sometimes when I'm bored, I will ask people, "Tell me about your childhood." This is your prompt. Generally what I have found is that talking broadly about your growing-up environment/situation will lead you to remember a good story or two. This is what I need from you: record a story on your phone/computer/professional audio recording equipment, save it, and email it to me (julie7sushi@gmail.com). Whether it's two minutes long or two hours long, I will be forever grateful and entertained while I'm alone in the booneys. 

Catch y'all on the flip side! (Literally. Make no mistake, I will continue my ymnastics activities with many a flip in the grass.)

Mom, stop crying.

Leso-coup

As I was a few hours into my epic road journey back to Dallas from DC, enjoying a burrito and trying to get anyone to call me to save me from my solo boredom, one of my friends alerted me of an article he saw about a coup in Lesotho. Now that a lot of the initial events have blown over, here's what went down:

On the Peace Corps side, I have been informed that the Lesotho volunteers and staff in Maseru have been temporarily moved to South Africa to avoid any potential violence, but my staging and training are scheduled to go on as normal. 
Update: They have been placed back at their sites in Lesotho since the police force has been reinstated and the situation seems to be safe now.

• In June, Prime Minister Thomas Thabane suspended parliament fearing a vote of no confidence ("A vote of no confidence is a vote in which members of a group are asked to indicate that they do not support the person or group in power, usually the government.") which might oust him from power.
• There was then a power struggle between Thabane (who has the support of the police) and deputy prime minister Mothetjoa Metsing (who has the support of the army). Thabane unsuccessfully tried to remove Army chief Lieutenant General Kamoli.
• On August 30, the military surrounded Thabane's residence in the capital city of Maseru, attacked the police headquarters, and stole weapons from the police. Thabane fled to South Africa, fearing for his life.
• The next day, Metsing assumed responsibility for leading the country in Thabane's absence.
• On September 3, Thabane was escorted by South African guards back into Maseru.
• After the unsuccessful coup, Kamoli hid out in the mountains with about 200 other soldiers and a large stash of weapons. He has since been seen back in Maseru.
• Lesotho's deadlocked political parties failed to meet a September 12 deadline for a peaceful solution to the crisis sparked by the coup attempt, as well as a decision regarding when to reopen parliament.
• This prompted Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa, to call an emergency meeting of regional leaders of the SADC (Southern African Development Community). They are basically acting as mediators, pushing for a peaceful political resolution even when local Lesotho leaders push for military action.
• Kamoli is warning of an imminent "bloodbath" should he be forcibly removed.
• September 15: Since the current coalition government is clearly not functioning as it should, the election currently scheduled for 2017 will be held early, with the election date being announced as soon as possible. 
• SADC will send an observation mission for three months. ""They need to go back to the electorate," said the minister, "but they need to be assisted so that political challenges don't get mixed up with the security challenges.""

Thabane:

Kamoli: 

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Lesotho_political_crisis

http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Too-risky-to-arrest-Lesotho-coup-leader-report-20140914

http://thisisafrica.me/next-lesotho/

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/01/lesotho-tom-thabane-south-africa

http://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/lesotho-pm-turns-to-zuma-again-1.1750516#.VBenR_mwKU4
http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Lesotho-to-hold-early-vote-to-end-political-crisis-20140916

If anyone needs me,

you can find me at this address:

Round House #4
Mountain Village, Lesotho
Southern Africa

I already have a photo of the location. Isn't it great?

Naw, I'm kidding. But when I do know my address, I'll be sure to let y'all know so you can send me snacks keep in touch.

Edit: Actual address can be found in "Mail me things" tab

If anyone cares to learn Sesotho along with me,

I'm making flash cards:
http://quizlet.com/julie7sushi

...anyone?

Raise your hand if

you have to go to like seven different medical-related appointments this week.

...

Just me? Ok.